In article , Peter wrote:

What do I feed a baby rabbit ??


Due to all the mowing in the neighborhood, and a few hawks and crows
I've somehow adopted a baby rabbit.

Seems to me about 5 - 6 weeks old... has a full coat, but still
can't figure out how to use the hind legs. I'm assuming he/she/it
was either being weaned by mother, or mother is no longer available.

Nope, it wasn't a nest, no siblings either.

So, I've tried banana, dandelion's, grass, softened rabbit
pellets..... (I live with another rabbit... mature male, no hope
there). Baby rabbits usually feed only at night, so I'm not sure
if it's eaten anything since yesterday evening...

Would any rabbit owners / breeders out there have a suggestion ??

I think it's almost ready for solid food, but don't want to take a
chance on losing it due to starvation...

How about bread moistened with cow's milk?? Would baby
formula kill it ???

Cage is a pen with grass, plants, available water from a shallow
pan, no bottle at this time. (although a bottle is available).

Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions !!!

Baby wild rabbits have a white dot on their foreheads. If this dot is
absent, they are already old enough to be on their own. As an orphaned
baby matures, when that dot disappears, it can be released (if it is
healthy & if it has been rehabed with other orphans. A bunny raised alone,
unfortunately, will likely not adjust to the wild, as it will never learn
from you how to socialize with rabbits, & unsocialized rabbits are quickly
killed by the established rabbit population). If you can find a squirrel &
rabbit rehabilitator near you (& such rehabilitators exist everywhere)
they will be able to raise the orphan with other bunnies & keep it from
becoming human-focused, so it can be released & survive in the wild.

To start looking for a rehabilitator, this may help:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/%7edevo0028/
or call local vets who should have a rolodex of rehabilitators. Most are
in no way "professionals" though they do know exactly what they're doing;
they'll usually ask for or at least hope for a donation, but you can
always dump off an animal without donating anything & it'll get the same
care.

If you decide to do it yourself, likely the loner will be doomed for lack
of socialization at this important point in its life. And if you try to
keep it as a pet, it won't be like a nice domestic bunny that's had a
thousand generations in captivity. If it's a male it'll become stinky &
mean at maturity; if it's a female it'll become skittish especially around
strangers even if it continues to like you personally for having raised
it, & increasingly aggressive until you'll have to have it put down (or
release it to die miserably). And it'll be so fantastically destructive
you'll never be able to let it out for exercise, it only takes about three
seconds to cause amazing ruin by urinating in the most absurd places or
gnawing whatever it is you most cherish (domestics are hard enough to
control but it can be done; even hand-raised wild bunnies, though, will in
the best of conditions retain wild traits). It could also be illegal to
keep it without special Fish & Wildlife permits that are usually only
given to rehabilitators.

Obtain infant formula from the veterinarian quickly. The home recipes
might be sufficient for a rabbit with its eyes open, though premix rabbit
formula is always WAY better. Here's one of the many recipes that have
been used with varying degrees of success, & not too unsafe after the eyes
are opened:
1) Half a cup of goats milk.
2) 2 tablespoons cream
3) 2 tablespoons sweet corn syrup.
4) 1 egg yolk
This will last in the refrigerator for a day or two, but each feeding must
be warmed up just as for a human kid, to about 80 degrees. But really you
should get a commercial premixed rabbit formula & mix fresh for each
feeding. Changing formulas in rapid succession can be enough to kill the
little critter.

At all times keep the baby warm in the 85 to 90 degrees F.range. That may
seem hot but it's absolutely essential, & even 98.6 would be too warm for
them. It won't be able to digest anything at cooler temperatures & would
ordinarily be as warm as its mother's underbelly. If you do get it to eat
something while it is chilled, there's a every likelihood it will die.

Keep the baby in the dark; it would not experience light before it is
personally ambulatory.

Handle as little as possible. They are more delicate to handling than are
baby squirrels or rats or kittens just about any other mammal one is
likely to find orphaned. They can literally die of toxins their own body
releases when they're frightened or stressed.

If it is really 5 to 6 weeks old it is old enough to eat adult food &
should be fully ambulatory -- if it isn't, it is already injured; if
warming it to 85 degrees doesn't cause it to recover within an hour, it
may never recover. Howver, it could be younger than you think; the eyes
can be open & they can be fully furred at 2 weeks, & already able to eat
tender greens, wetted rabbit pellets, but may still need some infant
formula.

If you have a mail scale, weigh the bunny. It needs to eat about
one-quarter of its weight per day. When the eyes are fully open, feeding
twice a day is sufficient, a third feeding only if they don't eat the full
daily amount in two sittings. (When eyes are closed its much harder --
formula six times a day). Don't force to eat more in one sitting than its
willing to eat, or they'll vaccuate undigested food, & become dehydrated,
which kills them quickly. After feeding you have to "play" with its tummy
& genital area, nice soft strokes & pettings for a furred baby (infant
will need to be washed on belly & genitals with a semi-moist warm cloth,
but furred, you can just use your fingers). If you don't don't do this, it
won't pee properly, & will become toxified & die.

After each feeding & belly-tubbing ceremony, return them to their warm
dark nest. It may seem sad to think of them alone in there, and really it
would be better if there was a litter instead of one, but the stress of
handling is much worse for them. Wild mothers do not spend much time in
the nest except to nurse & lick up the poo, then leave again, so you
abandoning the orphan after it is fed is natural to it, though being
without littermates is unnatural & you'll need a heating pad to make up
for it not having the considerable heat generated by a pile of bunnies.

Change nesting material daily, as they will **** it up quickly.

Failure is likely. If the bunny gets diarrhea, it'll dehydrate with a
couple of hours to the point that its kidney & liver function stops dead,
& the bunny is dead. This page will help you avoid that:
http://www.squirrelworld.com/RabRehab.html

I'd say it would be easy to succeed with a fully furred wide-eyed
youngster, except you note it is not able to walk properly, so I'm not as
hopeful.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/