I was condemned by certain wild animal rescue groups for recommending the use of milk. They stated that rabbits are lactose intolerant and should be fed Pedialyte. Due to these groups' pressure, I changed my website to recommend Pedialyte. I have since received at least two emails from really sad people stating that Pedialyte killed the bunnies. I therefore now retract my recommendation of Pedialyte. That should speak for itself. I have been rehabilitating wildlife for about 15 years including I do scald it to remove the strong enzymes that the young cannot digest but thats what has worked the best and I endorse this constantly.
I believe that is the best source of milk as it is made naturally by all mothers I have too had some conflict front our Ministry of Natural resources but after getting regular updates and pictures of my many success stories they dont bother me. Actually it was a gal that i found on the internet in Texas that started me with the cows milk after I had lost a baby squirrel using kitten milk replacer and was desperately searching the internet for answers to save the second one Then I found her and never looked back..
Good Luck Debra from Canada I now feel vindicated in my statement about cow's milk. You don't have to prepare much milk because they don't drink much.
For over 30 years we have known that rabbits can be successfully raised on formulas based on goat milk. But it is sold by Meyenberg in a more concentrated powdered and an evaporated form that can be the basis of cottontail formulas.
When you have decided which formula you will use, mix up enough for one day and store it in the refrigerator. Use the same degree of sanitation and cleanliness you would for a human infant. The formula should be warm to the touch but not too hot — the same temperature that you would choose for a baby human infant.
Microwaving formula can cause hot-spots that scald the baby, and repeated microwaving or freezing and thawing destroys vitamins. Just run hot water into a pan and drop the syringe into that until it comes to temperature. I prefer a 1cc tuberculin syringe with removable needle.
Your veterinarian should have some. Use and re-boil them between feedings until they no longer hold vacuum. As the babies grow, switch to a 3ml syringe. For very small or weak bunnies, I place a 22Gu soft intravenous catheter on the tip. Some rehabilitators prefer a rigid stainless steel feeding tip. A pet nursing bottle can be used for the largest babies — but only if they are bright and chipper. Squeeze pipettes also work well — you can draw out the tip when it is softened over a cigarette lighter.
Teat canulas can also be used for tips. Here is a photo of some of the supplies I find useful:. Bunnies like to take their time nursing. That is fine when you have one or two babies — never rush them. But nurturing baby cottontails that way consumes too much time when rehabilitators are drowning in rabbits. In those cases, the babies can be feed more rapidly and safely with a gastric tube. Do not attempt this without instruction — it is very easy to deliver too much milk causing pneumonia or suffocation.
However you feed, do not depress the plunger of the syringe any faster than the baby swallows. When you coax it, most cottontails will lick or lap up the drop of milk on the end of the syringe. Advance the plunger down slowly as need be. You will need to actually put the end of the syringe in the mouth of small babies that still have their eyes closed.
You will find many different suggested feeding amounts. That is because the amount that needs to be given will vary considerably depending on the richness of the formula you feed and the frequency at which you offer it. Never continue to encourage them to swallow when they are no longer enthusiastic about it. Feed the baby until its stomach has filled out but is not so much that it becomes firm, taunt or hard.
When in doubt, feed less but feed more frequently until you are confident the cottontail is thriving. If it is steadily gaining weight, you are doing fine,. Once they are nibbling, they feed less or skip feeding if their weight gain was sufficient during the day.
I feed cottontail babies every hours during my waking hours until their eyes open. There is no need to try to duplicate their natural twilight and nighttime feedings. Then I gradually reduce my feedings to every hours during their 2nd to 4th week. If the babies do not appear to be hungry, I try again a few hours later. Feeding less frequently decreases the rehabilitators work load, but it greatly increases the chance that the baby will accept a greater volume of formula than is healthy for it.
At this stage, what the rabbit needs is the fluids in the milk to combat any dehydration it may have suffered and it needs to become accustomed slowly to the ingredients in its formula it is not used to.
Your formula is not going to be identical to what it was drinking in the wild. If the baby is not alert, if it is limp or weak or if it is cold — these initial fluids need to be given subcutaneously by injection — not by mouth. I try to hold the babies in a position I imagine they would suckle if they were feeding on their mom.
I do not hold them upside down on their backs because I feel they are more likely to aspirate the milk in that position. Tilt their head slightly higher than their posterior and hold them firmly, but not so tight as to make it difficult for them to suck or breath. Wrap them loosely ,like a burrito, in a soft sock or section of cloth to sop up the drips and give them a sense of security.
If you are uncertain if a newly arrived bunny will bolt or jump, feed it sitting close to the floor. New arrivals will often jump suddenly when you least expect it. Even rabbits that have been with you for some time need to be supported firmly to prevent them from injuring there legs and spines. Drinking from a syringe must seem very odd to the bunny at first. It is used to sucking on a warm, soft nipple. Just be sure the bunny does not swallow this tubing. Do not save left over milk from earlier feedings.
Try to avoid contaminating your reconstituted refrigerated supply as little as possible. When in doubt as to freshness throw it away. Feeding multiple litters from the same container is to be avoided. These formulas tend to settle to the bottom on standing. Stir them well before you use them. The lips to the rear form a natural pool that allows the rabbit to get small a taste of the formula before it associates the syringe with mealtime. It is important to be sanitary when feeding a wild bunny.
These cottontails have all been stressed, and stress lowers immunity to infection. I prefer boiling, microwaving and baking to destroy bacteria over the use of bleach and other antiseptic products. Many rubbing alcohols have nasty bittering agents added to them to keep people from consuming them. Hygiene becomes particularly important when large numbers of bunnies are being fed and cared for.
This is because in large groups, there is always one or two that are ill and you do not want those illnesses to spread. Wash your hands between animals, feed rabbits before other wildlife and feed the weaker ones and new arrivals last. It is unwise to keep large numbers of bunnies in close proximity to other wildlife or pets. When animals live crowded or in close proximity, disease organisms in one, eventually move to all the others despite your precautions. I also prefer that one individual take total care of a specific animal and I encourage them to do that at their own home.
This is only necessary for bunnies whose eyes have not yet opened and those that are not moving about on their own. After feeding, use a moistened Q-tip to gently stroke their genital area. If you place white paper towels on the bottom of their box, you will see the yellow stains that show that they have begun urinating on their own. Be gentle. If you want healthy wild bunnies, feed them what they were designed to eat. When cottontails begin to become curious about the taste of things around them, give them the plants they would normally encounter and for which they were designed.
Pick a variety of these wild grassland plants and hays and offer them to your bunny:. By then the rabbits should have received sufficient cecotrophes from you to digest plants. Observe what wild cottontails are browsing on in your area and include plenty of that as well. Plants are most nutritious when they are still growing. So pick in irrigated areas and select tender buds, shoots and new growth.
Farther south, St. Augustine grass and hibiscus flowers are fine to include. You are always much safer feeding a large variety of plants, not just one or two. You can supplement wild diet with supermarket- bought greens: endive, kale, romaine lettuce, watercress, turnip tops, chard, etc. Try to obtain the outer leaves the staff throws away.
Supermarkets have always been more than willing to donate those products to me. I do not offer cottontails rabbit pellets, although some folks do. If you do, pick the lowest caloric, name brand one you can find — not a finishing pellet. I do not wash or disinfect the wild plants I gather — the food of wild rabbits is washed by the rain. The microscopic organisms that are naturally on them are particularly important if you are uncertain that the bunny received adequate cecotrophes.
As soon as the rabbits begin to consuming or nibble on these plants, I eliminate my noon formula feeding and begin to lessen the amount given in the AM and PM feedings. The stomach and intestinal conditions and bacteria required to digest plants are different from those necessary to digest formula. That is why I do not use powdered formula or supplements as a top dressing. By weeks, they should no longer be receiving formula. Once bunnies are out and about in their cage, I add a small crock of water.
Jar lids are fine if you fill them with marbles. At this stage in their life, they are getting plenty of liquid through their formula, but I want the security of knowing its there if they want it.
Sipper tub bottles are OK as well, as long as you are certain it is working as it should and that the rabbit understands how to use it. Coat the end of the sipper tube with molasses or peanut butter until you are certain it does. The top of the cage is hinged for access. You can use larger mesh, but I prefer this size because the cages are stiffer and they keep out mice. I wash new cages with a vinegar solution before use. Do not use pressure treated or painted lumber.
Change it often. Add some cardboard shoe boxes for it to hide in and some fruit-tree branches to nibble on. If these cages are out-of-doors, they need a piece of sheet tin as a roof and placement to avoid the heat of the day. Rabbits' formula is very different from human, dog or cat formula.
Rabbits are vegetarians and don't digest those formulas well. Also, a mother rabbit usually only nurses her babies for about 5 minutes per day. Therefore each baby probably only gets about a minute to nurse in a 24 hour period. Therefore the mother rabbit's milk is extremely high in calories and fat. That is not the case with dog and cat formulas you will find at local pet stores. Rehabilitation of a baby cottontail is very hard but it is not impossible. I actually found a baby cottontail when its eyes were still closed.
It was likely only days old. It was lying alone on a hot sidewalk. It was probably dropped by a cat that removed it from its nest. The nest could not be found and the rabbit looked close to death so I brought it inside.
I knew nothing about baby rabbits at the time but I read all I could. I first hydrated the bunny with drops of pedialyte and an eye dropper. I then switched to puppy formula mixed with probiotics for rabbits.
I kept the bunny in a covered aquarium with a heat lamp on one side. It's a very long story from there but that was two years ago and the cottontail is now a house pet. He eats rabbit food, hay and veggies like a domestic rabbit would. He lives inside my house in a huge 3 floor cage and is litter box trained! He's skittish and doesn't like to be picked up.
However, he lets me pet him and he will eat out of my hands. I made the decision not to release him to the wild because I felt he probably would not survive. I live in the woods with bobcats, fishers, fox and coyotes. The rabbit has learned to ring a bell when his food dish is empty. Obviously, that is not going to work well in the woods. He seems very happy. I'm sure he doesn't miss the wild since he has never experienced it. No Wild animals should be kept as pets. It is illegal. Plus, the fact that you asked if you need to feed it differently suggests you haven't even researched.
The best bet to keeping the little one alive is taking it to a rehabilitation center. You must always keep it warm, as a rabbit's normal temperature is about degrees Fahrenheit. To keep it warm, fill a sock with rice and heat it up, make sure it wont burn the bunny, then put it in a shoe box with holes poked in the lid with a soft cloth on the bottom.
Then put the rabbit in. It should keep the rabbit warm while on the ride. Sign up to join this community.
The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Can I make a baby wild rabbit a pet? Ask Question. Asked 8 years ago. Active 1 year, 9 months ago. Viewed k times. Can wild rabbits raised as a baby be good pets?
We have other rabbits will the wild rabbit present any risks to them? Do I need to feed the wild rabbit any differently than a domestic rabbit? Improve this question. Zaralynda Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Improve this answer. James Jenkins James Jenkins 29k 32 32 gold badges silver badges bronze badges.
SOURCE Tamed just means that it does not fear a few specific humans not that its natural instincts and needs have been suppressed.
Community Bot 1. Saber Saber 41 2 2 bronze badges. Moe Moe 31 1 1 bronze badge. Rabbits are not native to New Zealand, Domestic rabbits were commonly carried on sailing ships and sometimes released on islands It is very possible you actually have a domestic house rabbit. He groomed himself very well -- he was always very clean. Similar to a domesticated rabbit, he snoozed all day and was more active at dawn and dusk. I hope this helps a little, and I hope your cottontail is happy and healthy!
BunnyBaby BunnyBaby 61 3 3 bronze badges. A good answer, but two things you might want to add. Wild rabbits will likely have fleas and parasites, all of which can transfer to your domestic bunny it is important to treat all the rabbits and visit the vet regularly 2. Legality, it is illegal in some place to keep a wild animal as pet. Thanks for your comment, James. I commend User9 for saving the helpless orphan. Pretty scary, right? The reality is, the cottontail rabbit will be the happiest in the wild with its bunny family.
But if you have to foster, nurture, or otherwise keep a cottontail for any reason, you need to give them hands-off care if you can.
First of all, never startle the bunny. So, to be their absolute happiest and healthiest, they need to be free from domestication entirely. In their natural habitat, cottontails begin to breed early in the year, starting in February. Females usually have litters per year, but they can have up to 7 litters. If you found a litter of bunnies in your yard, try not to interfere, as their mom is probably close by. Unfortunately, cottontail rabbits are not the right candidates for a lavish pet lifestyle.
These beautiful animals have lived in the wild for eons, and that is where they should continue to stay. Again, if you have found a wild cottontail, do your best to release them back to the wild or get a professional to help you with the situation. Ashley Bates is a freelance dog writer and pet enthusiast who is currently studying the art of animal therapy.
A mother to four human children— and 23 furry and feathery kids, too — Ashley volunteers at local shelters, advocates for animal well-being, and rescues every creature she finds. Her mission is to create awareness, education, and entertainment about pets to prevent homelessness. Her specialties are cats and dogs.
Skip to content. May 17 Eastern Cottontail — this is the most common cottontail, existing all over North America.
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