Caring for Orphaned Wild Cottontail Bunnies

"I was mowing the grass and accidentally went over a cottontail rabbit nest. Some of the babies are still alive".

Or: "My cat just arrived home with a baby bunny and presented it to me as a present". Or, my kids just brought one home. What should I do?

Or: "I just found a nest of baby bunnies and their mother seems to have abandoned them"

If you just happened to stumble on a nest, you need to understand that nursing wild mother cottontails only feed their babies during the night and for a few minutes in the early morning hours. That is the only time you will see the mother at the nest. So you might falsely assume that the mother is neglecting her litter or that she has completely abandoned them when these babies are actually in no danger.

Also, young cottontails can live independently at a surprisingly young age. Baby cottontail eyes open at 6-8 days. Mothers wean their offspring at 4-5 weeks of age, but they will accept sold foods as early as three weeks of age. If it is over six and a half inches long from tail to nose, re-release it where it was found The mother is still near by. Some are better relocated to a safer place free of cats, dogs and children. The exceptions are rabbits with bite punctures from cats or dogs or lawnmowers. They really need to see a veterinarian to suture closed the wounds. It is best not to use oral or injectable or topical antibiotics after the bunny's ears are erect. I clean these areas with hydrogen peroxide before I close them. If the bunny can’t be released, find an experienced wildlife rehabilitator in you area who will accept, raise and release the rabbit. Should you decide to attempt raising this orphan on you own, you need to follow the following guidelines:

You need a container to keep them in. I usually use a plastic bowel with Kleenex tucked around the babies. The bowl gets larger as the bunnies grow and eventually it needs a lid when they begin to jump. Rabbits can jump surprisingly high at a very young age. They can also injure their backs if not held properly supported Hang towels around the sides; keep the box on the floor if you don’t have dogs and cat or little kids to prevent the rabbits from injuring themselves when they jump. As they mature, place fresh clover and unsprayed (no chemicals) grass in the box so that their first sights and smells will be natural. The box should be cleaned frequently A heating pad set on low under the container can be removed when the bunnies are fully furred and beginning to eat on their own.

I use 1 part powdered formula KMR (buy the dry and mix per directions before each feeding) powdered Hartz kitten formula from Wal-Mart) to 3 parts warm water, some add an additional 1 part heavy cream. Add 2-3 drops of balanced liquid vitamins per cup of formula (human pediatric multivitamins from Wal-Mart, Visorbin, Equate, etc.) Rabbits eat best if the formula is warm to the touch. I microwave it and then shake it well so there are no hot spots. I only mix enough for a morning’s feedings. I have made up a lot, put it in ice cube trays and then to baggies and thaw just the one I need. Sour milk will cause scours. I often carry them around in my shirt pocket and feed them between clients. I personally like 1 ml one-piece styrene pipettes that come with a lot of veterinary test kits. You can heat the end with a lighter and draw the diameter of the tube down to any size.

You can feed the babies with an eyedropper, syringe, or pet-nurser bottle--depending on the size and age of the rabbits. No one agrees on how often to feed baby rabbits – I find that frequent small feeding are a lot better than large infrequent ones. Too much and not often enough is a bigger problem than the exact formula you use. If the stools become thin, cut the concentration of the mix. A lot of bunnies are dehydrated when you get them and need a boost of Lactated Ringers solution under their skin to get them started. Some folks recommend not feeding them more often than every 6 hours – I carry them around in my shirt pocket. My animal care volunteers have had success, when the bunnies' eyes are closed, by feeding them about every 2-3 hours from 7 AM to 11 PM. Some folks seem to have a natural green thumb for it – others don’t so I split the litters up between people so some will survive. The time between feedings is lengthened as rabbits eat more per feeding. We have also had success feeding every 6 hours. A poor eater may require more feedings a day than a vigorous eater. Some volunteers have slowly worked up to 6 hours between feedings with healthy vigorous bunnies but don’t do that until they are fully furred and bright eyed. With pink, hairless bunnies, feed about 0.2-0.5 cc of warm formula every 2-3 hours. Bunnies with their eyes tightly closed and ears flat to their head but fully furred will eat about 2 eyedroppers- full (approximately 2 cc) per feeding. The amount increases as their size and weight increase. The stomach should be full and round- but not tight.. The. Feed slowly with the bunny in a walking position so that the formula is not aspirated into the lungs. Food in the lungs or bubbling out their nose increases their susceptibility to pneumonia. When I get these in, I add a few grains (15mg/kg twice a day) of trimethoprim/sulfadiazine (or sulfamethoxazole) to the formula for seven days. Some antibiotics can kill a mature or weanling bunny but don’t seem to be toxic to infants. Their G.I. flora is still not quite as important while they are nursing. Don’t be discouraged if bunnies do not feed well at the first 1 or 2 feedings (remember the SC fluids). They say rabbits have a nervous system, which does not easily adapt to new situations or to changes. This is why they are so easily stressed. A hard syringe or eyedropper in the mouth is best covered with a piece of gum rubber tubing at the end. If bloat or digestive problems occur, you can add small amounts of OmnigestEZ from Wal-Mart to the diet.

It’s also hard for wild bunnies with their eyes open to adjust to the new odors and sounds. Be patient and persistent. Some volunteers acquire an extra box and sit it on the floor at feeding time. They feed one bunny, place it in the extra box (so as to be to tell which they have fed) and do the same for each bunny in that litter They then feed the bunnies in reverse order from the extra box back to nesting box. This procedure is done to make certain each bunny is fed and gets two chances to fill its stomach. If you hold them up to a strong light in a dark place you can see the milk through their body wall.

Bunnies over seven days old do not need stimulation after each feeding in order to defecate and urinate--they will eliminate on their own. Bunnies less than a week old, however, do need to be stimulated after each feeding. When the eyes are open, continue adding lots of fresh new grass and , dandelion greens, plantain, clover, romaine and wheat germ to the floor of the box each day. This is when the right bacteria are important. Some folks place some formula in shallow jar caps until it is obvious that they are feeding well. Gradually, over a period of several days eliminate formula feedings. Provide a vitamin E/antioxidant formula such as Comfort Antioxidant Microcaps opened and used as a food dressing - rabbits are quite sensitive to a lack of vitamin E or selenium. Since selenium can be toxic, I prefer formulas without it added. Although bunnies get some moisture from the greens, it is advisable to a small jar cap of water to the box after weaning. The greens should be picked twice a day--morning and evening. Be sure vegetation is free from any toxic sprays. Commercial rabbit pellets can be added also. Use pellets with the lowest protein content available - most rabbit pellets are too rich. Indications that they are feeding well on their own are normal looking fecal pellets with plant debris in them and noticing the difference between how much natural food you put in and how much is left. Apple and fruit slices are too high in sugar. They acidify the cecum and will kill of the bacteria these bunnies need. You can tell if the bunny is eating on its own when you see that it is perky and plump and that its tummy is rounded when no formula has been given for 4 hours or more. At this time it will have a disinterest in formula. You may not actually see them eating but you might see pieces of grass in the corner their mouths.

It is very common for baby rabbits to die quite suddenly at the time they are adjusting from a protein-rich diet of milk formula to their mature protein-poor diet of coarse vegetation (3-4 weeks of age). During this conversion, the bunny's intestinal environment and pH change completely to deal with these new coarse food sources. Prior to eating vegetation, the intestinal tract of healthy rabbits is almost devoid of the bacteria of adult Cottontail rabbits. The rabbit does not obtain these healthy"intestinal bacteria until they begin to eat solid food at the age of 3-4 weeks. They obtain these bacteria from the feces of their mother as they nose curiously about. Also, it is common for rabbits to re-eat their soft stools produced at night. That particular stool is looser and called "night soil". These good bacteria reside in the cecum and the large intestine. When rabbits convert to roughage eaters, these gram positive bacteria and fungi are present in enormous numbers (Bacteroides fragilis , Bacillus subtilis, etc.). The central "processing plant" for these bacterial activities is the cecum, a pouch located where the small intestine meets the large intestine. The cecum is the largest organ in the bunnie's abdomen. Guinea pigs and other plant-eating rodents share a similar cecum. In ruminants, similar fermentation occurs in their multiple-chambered stomach. The rabbit cecum contains a "brew" of these bacteria and fungi that are normal and beneficial to the rabbit. In fact, a rabbit cannot live without them, because these cecal microorganisms produce essential fatty acids, nutrients and vitamins that rabbits cannot produce on their own. This is because their natural diet of leaves, shoots, grasses and hay do not contain them. If, during conversion, rabbits accidentally ingest the bacteria and fungi that are normally on human hands and in the environment (coliform bacteria - including Escherichia coli (E.coli), Clostridia, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Bacteroides, Streptococcus faecalis, sporogenes. and fungi including Saccharomycopsis sp.) they will die of acute enterotoxemia (these misplaced human intestinal bacterial produce deadly toxins). This disease is similar in signs to toxic shock syndrome in women. One minute the bunny appears healthy and active and the next it is comatose or dead. Once a healthy gram-posative flora is established, the rabbit is much more resistant to diseases caused by these "bad" organisms. Most of these "bad" organisms reside normally in our own intestines and those of carnivorous animals such as our cats and dogs where they cause no harm and are quite essential. So during this period, wear food-handler's gloves when handling the rabbits and be very careful not to contaminate them. Also during this period, the less you handle the bunnies the better because you want them to grow up spooky and fearful of humans and other animals. Otherwise they will not survive in the wild. If you have a source of rabbit fecal pellets from visiting wild bunnies, it is a good idea to "seed" their water crock with a fecal pellet to "inoculated" them with the correct bacteria. The water must not be chlorinated and must be at room temperature. An amount no bigger than a pin-head is sufficient if it gets directly into the rabbit. I would do it several times. Old-time vets used to do something similar. They would "steal the cud" from a healthy cow and give to one that was sick and needed the bacteria. You can also use a paste designed for cattle to "reseed" them after antibiotic therapy. Do this as soon as they begin to nibble and sniff about their enclosure.

Many small animal veterinarians and health food stores sell a paste containing Lactobacillus acidophilus . It is used commercially , together with Streptococcus salivarius, in the production of yogurt. Unfortunately, the intestine and cecum of rabbits on a diet of roughage is not acidic enough for these lactobacilli to survive. So giving lactobacillus paste will not help your bunnie.

A piece of very non-essential information is that rabbits are not rodents. They belong to a slightly different Order and are called lagomorphs. Lagomorphs have two sets of upper incisors (the long teeth) one set behind the other while rodents have one set. Also, lagomorphs can pucker their noses.

Remember that it is not the destiny of more than a few infant bunnies to survive to maturity. If it was, the World would be over-run with rabbits.

The photos are courtesy Google Images, I can't seem to find mine at the moment. I had some really great ones. So if you can supply me with better ones, please do, particularly if the age of the baby is known. This will greatly help readers who have just found a baby and wish to know it's age. The link for this is at the bottom.

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