What do you need to do for your wild baby bunny to sleep?

Answer 1

· Make sure that the rabbits actually need to be taken care of. Mother rabbits are very secretive, and it may not look like she is caring for them. If it is obvious that they need help (the mother is dead on the road, for instance), you will need to raise them.

· 2

Prepare a place for the rabbits to stay. A wooden or plastic box with high sides is quite ideal. Line the box with pesticide-free soil, and follow with a layer of dried hay (not wet grass clippings).

· 3

Scoop out a circular "nest" in the hay for the babies to stay in. If you can, line it with some type of disinfected fur (if you have a pet that sheds, you can leave a pile of hair from their hairbrush out in the sun for a few days to kill any bacteria). If not, line it with a thick layer of tissues.

· 4

Place one end of the box on top of a hot pad, heated bed, or an incubator to keep it warm.

· 5

Gently place the rabbits inside of the nest. Use leather gloves to handle the rabbits. They can carry diseases and can draw blood from a bite. Also, it is best not to let them get used to human scent.

· 6

Gently place a little of the fur (or a tissue) on top of the rabbits.

· 7

Feed the rabbits every three hours during the day. At night, you do not need to feed them.

· 8

Outfit an infant's bottle with the smallest nipple you can find (sometimes, dog supply websites will sell these, or you can look at your local store). Look for a small plastic baby kangaroo feeding bottle. You may need to cut the teat down to size.

· 9

In a jar, mix together three ounces of homogenized milk and a teaspoon of baby cereal. Place the jar in a little warm water until the milk is just warmed. Or you can use non flavored pedialite, also warmed. Or, prepare a formula of newborn baby "Farex" or similar baby cereal product and add warm water with 2 teaspoons of milk.

· 10

Fill the bottle. Check that the milk comes out fairly easily.

· 11

Pick up a baby rabbit and place it on a towel in your lap. Tilt it slightly backwards, slip the teat between its side teeth, and then slide the teat around to the front. Gently squeeze the bottle to allow a small amount of formula to come out. It should begin nursing right away, although some individuals need more patience and time. Be very gentle and slow, and soon the rabbits should all be fed.

• If they are so young as to have their eyes only partially opened, it can help to wrap them in a small warm piece of cloth covering their eyes and ears, so as not to scare them. Tilt them slightly backwards and proceed to get the teat between their side teeth. Note that it is impossible to try straight between their bucky front teeth!
• Once the teat is in between the side teeth, proceed to slide it around to the front. Gently squeeze the bottle to allow a small amount of formula to come out and within a couple of minutes, the baby rabbits should start sucking.
• Continue to feed the with this formula for around 3 to 4 days, about 3 times a day, with the last feed being about 7'ish each night. If possible, have them sleep in or near your bedroom for the first 3 days in the shoe box, then graduated to a small hutch in another room such as the lounge room.

· 12

Place a screen on top of their box once they can walk to prevent any rabbits from jumping out. They may just be a few weeks old, but they are very adept at jumping!

· 13

Let them spend a few hours in a wire cage out in the lawn each day to eat grass as soon as all the baby rabbits can walk.

· 14

On the 4th day, put a small flat container lid of water and a small flat container lid of the formula in the hutch. Keep a vigilant sneaky eye on the rabbit babies to see how they are doing and you might be surprised by them eating the food and drinking the water.

• Check the hutch for wetness in case they spill the food and you can check at the same time for food eaten and water drunk. Refill both lids and by morning, check to see what has gone.

· 15

Continue this routine for another 4 days with a few added extras:

• Fresh picked grass
• Dry hay looking grass
• A small broccoli head and leaf
• Cauliflower head and leaf
• Cut carrot
• Celery
• Spinach; and
• Cabbage leaves.

· 16

Continue this every day, with fresh water only and no more formula.

· 17

Reduce the number of feedings to every five hours once they can eat grass. Supplement their diet with pieces of bread, clover hay, timothy hay, pieces of apple and oats. Make sure they have fresh water at all times.

· 18

When they are somewhat self-sufficient, wean them off the formula and set up a wire cage outside (one with a roof). Make sure the bottom is wire, so they can graze, and check that all the holes are small enough that they cannot slip through.

· 19

Upgrade them into a larger hutch outside on the grass and continue to feed them all the extra veggies twice a day. Perhaps withdraw handling them at this point if you intend to return them to the wild.

· 20

Release them in a safe place when they are about four or five inches long in a sitting position. If they are not self-sufficient, keep them a little longer, but do not let them grow to maturity in captivity. If a rabbit cannot provide for itself, give your local conservation office a call. They'll know what to do for your particular situation.