Found a baby rabbit sitting on the road 3 days ago. He's been with us ever since and is really friendly and soooo small. We think he's a jack, but i'm not sure if they're even THAT small. He licks water off your arm when he's hungry...but i'm guessing he needs milk. I dont think he can have regular though. We phoned the Humane Society and they told us to maybe just put him back where we found him...He can barley walk though and is so small. One of the neighbours dogs will get him for sure if he's not run over. Should we keep him or let him go? I know their mothers need to teach them everything like how to even go pee. We've handeled him a lot so the mother probably won't come back? or is that not true
Found a baby rabbit...what should I do?
I'm not sure. Baby rabbits need to get certain bacteria from their mother to survive--they get them from eating special "droppings" that she makes. (Yuck, but it works for them). I once had a cat that brought home three cottontail babies that were so young their eyes were still closed and we weren't even sure what they were. They screamed! I was too ignorant to know that hand-raised rabbit babies almost always die because they cannot be inoculated by their mother and develop fatal bacterial diseases. So I fed them condensed milk with a tiny silver spoon. They all survived and I evenutally was able to release them very healthy and happy. This is apparently very unusual.
If your rabbit is a cottontail, it is probably fine to let go. They are very tiny when they leave the nest, but since they are blind and deaf when they are born (like a kitten), if they are fully furred, hopping around and eating solid food then they have probably left their mother already. Hares, like the Jack Rabbit, on the other hand are born fully furred and with their eyes open. I don't know how to tell how old then are or when they leave the nest.
Maybe an animal rehabilitor out there can answer?
If the bunny has his eyes open and is bigger than an egg, he is probably capable of getting by on grass, clover and other greens. They seldom drink water from a dish so dampen the grass or vegitation if it is dry. At that age I have great success by putting them in a cage with a hardware cloth bottom so the grass can come through and they can eat ti. Toss a sheet or something over the cage so it doesn't become startled by everything going by. I also use a small box or something that they can crawl under to hide. Hw qill eat spinach and other commercial greens, but not cabbage or head lettuce. Try a chunk of apple or cut up carrot. They also appreciate a twig or apple or maple to test their teeth on. By the time they are a little bigger than a tennis ball, they are ready to be released.
It's true about the mothers pellets and if you have no goat milk or puppy milk, diluted evaporated milk is ok. To feed a baby you use an eyedropper and place the milk on the upper lip (is it called a lip on a rabbit?), in front of the mouth. The rabbit will suck it in drop by drop. Babies are fully weaned inh their third week.
Hope this helps.
It wasnt eating any of the grass...i'm pretty sure it needed it's moms real milk. It just died a few mins ago :(
I'm so sorry! There may have been something else wrong as well. You were there for it when it mattered and did your best. Animals know.