Friend's dog found a warren and tried to play with the babies last week. Two did not survive a 70 pound doofus of an adolescent goldendoodle's idea of playing, momma abandoned the warren and two more didn't make it. This little guy is tough and survived so he is nursing him until he's strong/old enough to survive on his own. His eyes opened yesterday!
Are you doing to do science on him?
In reply to Mr_Asa :
The only science to be done is cuteness observation.
He reeeeeally likes people and feels uncomfortable when not snuggling someone. I'm thinking he might have imprinted too much to do well in the wild, but who knows.
YOU may not know it yet, but HE knows he's not going back to that scary outside world!
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
100% imprinted, I bet. Also, he might be cold. He's just a little guy
A couple years ago my wife found some in the snow in our yard that had been abandoned. Raised them on goat milk and such and rereleased them. I have a feeling you'll end up keeping yours, but for what's it's worth it'll probably do fine on its own
Also a ps I guess. I spent several weeks moving them out of the bathtub every morning as the cage I had we were afraid they would escape as the bars were pretty wide. It was a rewarding experience. Proud of you for taking care of the little one!
In reply to Lobsterpennies :
Yah, he's eating a huge amount of goats milk.
Given what we've been reading about the little guy, he's an eastern cottontail, probably only a day or two old when rescued. The only question is if the dogs think of him as family or toy.
Does he have a Mom somewhere?
They do pretty well about not imprinting. I had a wild male cottontail that was kicked out of it's nest due to a botfly prior to him opening his eyes. Around 4 months old he started spending more time outside then inside (and we didn't have a hutch). The wild rambunctiousness will take hold. Zoomies like no dog has ever managed to have. For about 2 years he'd go outside to run free every morning then within a half hour of sunset he'd bang his rear foot on the front door to come in at night. The only time he'd entertain the idea of coming inside during the day was for water. He was crated with food and water when I wasn't able to keep a very watchful eye on him. Wires and cords were trouble and he enjoyed far too much sneaking up under kitchen cabinets. After about 2 years he started socializing more with other rabbits and stopped coming in at night. If I sat on the front steps after work he'd still come up, especially as it got closer to getting dark. I was curious as to whether or not he would seek to come back in at night once late fall came, as he had never previously hibernated, but he fell in line with normalcy.
You will pick up upon how crazy observant and receptive they are. When it comes to fight or flight, they only know RUN! So unless they're getting into something that's dangerous or potentially expensive, do not give chase. They love fruit, moreso then even veggies, but fresh fruits and veggies work great as bribes. Years after mine stopped coming in at night, he'd hop onto my lap to enjoy some fresh peach.
I found a nest with a riding mower once. This has a much happier ending. So far.
Mr_Asa said:Are you doing to do science on him?
So I'm at work today, and I'm humming something, and it all clicked when I realized I was humming Still Alive. And that I was wearing my Aperture Labs shirt yesterday.
d'oh!
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Does the little one have a name yet.
Cool little bunny! Thank you for sharing the ongoing story!
In reply to captdownshift (Forum Supporter) :
Oh, he had imprinted for sure! Glad to hear that that didn't prevent him from reintegrating into the wildlife.
Great story, and so cool to know he'd still hop into a lap.
Awww. We have bunnies in the neighborhood and, by extension, our yard. The dog likes to look for them. We came across one during tonight's walk. The bunny froze, and our dog started to walk vewy, vewy slowly. We got within 10 feet--the dog was on a leash--when the bunny finally split.
Our dog is an Irish Wolfhound, so has quite a bit of speed-- at least when she was younger.
It's amazing to watch her gain ground on a rabbit for a bit, but it never lasts. A rabbit can make a right angle turn at speed. The dog, not even close to that.
What's even more amazing/terrifying to see is a Wolfhound go through a four strand barb wire fence without even slowing down. Somehow they just hurdle/limbo through.
03Panther said:In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Does the little one have a name yet.
I like Nugget / Nug. Apparently his provisional name is Ray, because when they first got him he would bob around like Ray Charles.
as if any pet ever has only one name.
914Driver said:Does he have a Mom somewhere?
Probably? She abandoned the warren, which is why two of his siblings died the next night. Someone had to step in to adopt the little bugger.
Apparently these rabbits have 3 or 4 litters per season, average five each, on the "quantity over quality" scale of reproduction, so it makes sense to abandon a warren and any offspring still in it if it has been compromised. She can always just make more, but not if a predator knows her hidey-hole.
We have had lop eared bunnies for about 10 years. I think we have had 7 total, we are down to one and I think he is going to live to 15 because he is an shiny happy person. Ours live in our Florida room most of the year but are brought in for a few months in the summer because the wife says it's too hot for them(don't get me started)
One bunny will be your best buddy but you have to interact with them every day or they forget you aren't there to kill them. Get another one and they don't need you anymore. They are the cutest most useless pet I can think of.
Name it Hasenpfeffer.
Bunny suckling on a hand while half asleep after a foodfest.
Trying to determine if this is food or not.
14 year old girl mode: It is friggin' cute to watch him groom himself with his tiny little tongue.
Be prepared for him to become a major wiggle worm in the next week or 3. Their bones are also super frail (not an age thing, just a design thing) once he becomes a wiggle worm hold him low to the ground as a fall from 3ft can cause injuries that effectively call from euthanasia.
I'm only bringing it up now because they grow up fast. Enjoy all the snuggles until extreme wiggle worming. Right now he wishes and thinks that he should be with his littermates soaking up their heat, which is why he's drawn to and is enjoying yours (and they do love their gentle scratches near the top of the head as well)
In reply to captdownshift (Forum Supporter) :
Oh he is a wiggle worm already! Holding him is a handful because he always wants to romp around.
He loves to snuggle under shirts. We've discovered that he also really likes boobs.
Bunny's official name is Bean!
He will always be Nug to me, though.
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