# Found a baby rabbit under the car



## fatrat (May 14, 2012)

So my brother was gardening and he said our cats started going crazy and he heard a squeaking. He saw a lil rabbit under the neighbours car and called me out to get our cats inside. I put his gardening gloves on expecting it to bite and struggle but it barely twitched as I wrapped it in some scrap rat fleece. I put it in a small cage in our dining room with water + grass. It looks fine, no obvious injury, no cuts, just a bit dirty. I think it's a girl. It's maybe 5 weeks old, very thin.

So, questions - what do I do??? How can I tell if it's wild or not? Have I done the right thing so far? Shall I take it to a field? We live in the countryside but it's a fair walk to the fields from here. We don't get rabbits near the houses at all. I don't know what to do! I know next to nothing about rabbits 

Another question: could it pass viruses onto my rats?


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

I have no idea about bunnys, but you will get more answers in the rabbit section so I will move this over there, hopefully someone who has raised a baby rabbit (Lil Miss) will find it over there.


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## fatrat (May 14, 2012)

Ok thanks!


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

can you get a picture of it? a picture will help determine if its wild or not, if its wld it will probably be best to release it in a safe place, if not then to release it would be a death sentance


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## fatrat (May 14, 2012)

Ok thanks, managed to get some pics of it, poor thing 

This one shows how skinny + small it is:









This one shows its fur markings quite well:









What do you think? If it is wild I don't want to keep it caged but if it is domestic I don't want to let it go and have it dying  it is very thin.


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

not the best pictures, however the shape of the face in first picture is much too flat (in my opinion) to be that of a wild rabbit, and the back feet are too short. so i would say domestic OR she could be a wildie cross, either way, i would not release 

she doesnt look in a very good way either looks very poorly to be honest, and too young to be away from mum, have you got any full cream goats milk? or cimicat formula? what food have you offered her to eat?
i would defiantly get her checked out by a vet  the way shes sitting doesnt look good at all


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## fatrat (May 14, 2012)

Right ok thanks, the poor thing was squirming too much to get any decent pics but yes like you say she/he (no idea how to tell!) has very short back legs indeed, quite stumpy. It doesn't look very happy at all, I can't see anything physically wrong with it but I'm worried about internal illnesses.

I don't have any of those foods  I have full fat cows milk? I gave it grass, bread, and a ryvita cracker - I have no clue what rabbits eat but I'll be buying it some rabbit mix and rabbit-friendly fresh veggies tomorrow.

I'll take him/her to the vets ASAP, then. I hope she's ok!  Ideally I'd like to find a nice rabbit sanctuary for it to go to eventually. I don't think I could keep it as I have zero experience with bunnies and 24 rats to look after but I want to do the best for it  poor thing.


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

no cows milk isnt rich enough and will upset her stomach where abouts are you? she would be welcome to come here but it may be a bit of a trek to get her here or maybe not possiable at all 

lay off the bread and crackers, grass is better then nothing but if she isnt used to it could upset her stomach and cause bloat, bread will most likely cause bloat too.
do you have any baby food in? (with no meat onions or garlic in it) 
has she eaten anything at all or drunk?
she could have internal injuries, sadly that was the case with one of the last 2 i found, she had internal injuries from a possiable cat attack and was too weak to survive, she only lasted 7 hours after she would found 
her brother on the other hand is thriving and growing up beautifully, he will soon be old enough to go outside and meet a friend or 2

i would also lay off buying any veggies in as if she hasnt had any before they could cause bloat, a young buns stomach is very sensative, hay is very important, and i would buy a high quality pellet such as science selective (easiest to get hold of but most expensive) or alan and page natural pellets

full cream goats milk is the closest thing to rabbit milk


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## fatrat (May 14, 2012)

I'm in Derbyshire. I would be very willing to travel, I go to Wales and back regularly so it's no big problem. Whereabouts are you? It would be great if you could take her, although my younger brother is getting quite attached. I will try and talk him out of it because I doubt he'll maintain interest after a week or so and I really want this little one to have a great life after what she's been through 

When I put the bread in she went straight up to it and started nibbling, was that a good sign? I haven't seen her drink but I've left her alone for some peace and quiet and I know she has definitely eaten some bread and grass.

I have banana yogurt baby food in that I am giving to my rat to have her Baytril with, I could try that? I could buy some more baby food tomorrow as well as pellets and hay.

I'll look into goat's milk as well, thank you. Do you think she is still young enough to need milk? I keep wondering how she got so far from her mum 

I'll see what the vet says tomorrow, I hope it's nothing serious and only a mild case of shock, poor baby 

I should say: my cats didn't do any damage to her, they barely got close enough to do anything more than scare her, but I can't tell whether or not she's been harassed by other cats


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

she only looks about 4-5 weeks old, so i would offer goats milk, i feed it by syringe to start with then when they know what it is you can put some in a small bowl and they will lap it up, i would offer goats milk for atleast 1 - 2 weeks

if shes eating the bread you could try to toast it, well done toast is much less likely to cause bloat, it is good that she has eaten something though, rabbits are designed to eat most of the time, and when they stop they can easily fall into gut stasis

im in sheffield


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## fatrat (May 14, 2012)

Goats milk it is then  Do they sell it at normal supermarkets?

Sheffield would be no problem, that would be great, if you would really be willing to take her? I'm just hoping she survives the night and doesn't have any internal injuries


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

most supermarkets should sell it, you want to get the full cream stuff

yes i would take her, as long as my mum agrees (which she should, shes as big a push over as me)


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## fatrat (May 14, 2012)

I'll have a look in Morrisons tomorrow then, thank you 

That would be great!  Well I will keep this thread updated with all her info and vet stuff etc and hopefully she pulls through, poor little thing


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

fingers crossed she pulls through the night, keep us posted


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## eggeggegg (Mar 22, 2012)

she/he survived the night  looks a lot brighter this morning will take her to the vets later today  x


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## SammyJo (Oct 22, 2012)

Fingers crossed for the pretty little baby :001_wub:

Its so nice of you to be helping him/her and Lil Miss to offer to take him/her in


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

great news, how she looking today?


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## Funky (Dec 8, 2012)

I am so glad to read that she is ok.
Keep us updated after vet visit.


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## fatrat (May 14, 2012)

Well it turns out her vet visit is tomorrow instead but they have said bring her in earlier if anything goes downhill. She looks much better today and has eaten some toast as well as some rabbit mix and the rest of her grass  

I have contacted a local rodent rescue who is going to pick her up at some point in the next week or so but nothing is definite until I know what the vet says.

She is happily eating her solid food though, which is good news


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

Toast and rabbit mix will do her more harm than good. 

I will happily vouch for Lil Miss, she has had many many rabbits most who have not had the best start in life I'm sure this bunny would have a fantastic home with her.


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