Can anyone tell me about rabbits, please-UPDATE-WE GOT BABIES!

[old fashioned]

DH & the boys caught a rabbit in our neighborhood. We don't know for sure if its wild or someone's lost pet, but we have no clue about caring for one. DH did already build it a framed cage/hutch with a small pet carrier for a temporary indoor shelter.
I did look online about feed & it said basically veggies, greens & grasses. So with our garden we should be good on that end.
We don't even know if it's a girl or boy bunny (it won't hold still enough to check under it's tail :/ )
Does anyone have any ideas, suggestions, etc??? Or know of something else we might miss?

Thanks for any & all input.


ETA~~Needless to say, we still have the rabbit & Jackie Chan is female. The boys went out today to check & feed her & started screaming--WE GOT BABIES! We can't tell for sure how many there are but we think 3 or 4. We don't want to get too close or interfere so I guess we'll just have to wait & see. We are all so excited.

I had noticed the other day that JC had put a bunch of grass we'd given for food into the pet carrier & had seen several tufts of fur in there also. I was thinking there was something wrong with her & never considered she was making a nest. Especially since we'd tried checking 'down there' & thought it was a male. Obviously we didn't check close enough. After checking online about mom's & babies, I was glad to find out all is okay.

Now I have to figure out what to do with them once weaned-besides putting them in seperate cages.

I'd love to provide pics, if I knew how. I can get the pics from the camera onto the computer, I just don't know how to get them onto the forum. Anyone???

 

[pioneergirl]

I know my meat rabbits will eat only what they like. For example, they love radish tops from the garden, but won't eat the pea pods. They like grass, and will pick out the weeds they don't want. I also supplement with pellets, but typically cut fresh alfalfa from my small patch each day and let them eat on that. Before the alfalfa came up, they were on "free feed", basically as much as they want, but typically a cup in the morning and one in the evening.

For checking if its a boy or girl, you need to scruff them, and if done right they'll hold very still when you do.....put them on their back and go to the private area. Gently part the hair "down there" and typically if you GENTLY push the skin , as if pinching, a boy's parts will protrude, girls' will not.

Make sure it has plenty of clean water (without a water bottle, they tend to poop in their bowl), and keep them well ventilated.

Just be careful, since you don't know if its wild or not, or has any disease or not, be careful of scratches and bites.

 

[lorihadams]

Pics? It probably is someone's pet that escaped if the boys were able to catch it. I would get it some rabbit pellets to supplement the greens, if it was a pet then chances are it was being fed some kind of pelleted food. Make sure it has plenty of water and some place to get shade and out of the rain/wind if necessary.

 

[TanksHill]

I am thinking pet too. Other wise they probably would not have been able to catch it.

 

[Rebecka]

I hate to be the one to bring this up, but a wild rabbit that is sick is pretty easy to catch. I would make sure nobody gets bitten or scratched and washes really well after handing it.

 

[tortoise]

I'm with Rebecka and others - is it sick?! Be careful. Rabbits can scratch and bite something awful! A full-grown (not mini) rabbit can bite through the palm of a hand. For real.

 

[old fashioned]

Thanks to all for the info.

It doesn't look or act sick in any way & likes grass, weeds & veggies over pellets. And it hasn't showed any aggression in any way just fearful but getting more friendly. That does lead me to believe it's someones pet & I'll check the neighborhood for any owners. The boys will be disappointed since they've already named it----Jackie Chan

 

[FarmerDenise]

In case it is a pet, you might want to put a litter box in the pen with some hay in it. Our found rabbit was litter box trained
Also per my vet, it is important to feed them timothy hay. It is high in silica and will keep their teeth ground down. Rabbits teeth keep growing like fingernails. If you can't get timothy hay, oat hay is a second best choice. They also love to chew on the bark of fruit trees, especially apple. We also give ours peach, plum, persimmon and grape sticks.
Give fruit including carrot in limited amount as a treat, since they have a high sugar content and can cause a caged rabbit to gain too much weight. Rabbits also like grains, but those should also be an occasional treat.

 

[ducks4you]

You need to post some pics. If your rabbit is wild, let it go. It won't live long in captivity and you'll get to watch it die trying to escape.
If your rabbit is domestic, feed rabbit pelleted feed, provide fresh water, do NOT use cedar shavings--pine is best, stall dry is great, too--give your DOMESTIC rabbit a small piece of wood to chew down their always growing teeth with, provide a salt spool (hole in the middle to put string through to tie to the side of the cage). Then, spend time daily to tame him/her. Watch that your rabbit doesn't bite you or bite holes in your clothes.
Here's a thread to look through that might help.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=313038

 

[dntd]

Most rabbits will litter train. my meat rabbits who lived on a farm in a hutch ( make was 1 year already the females were 4 months)now use a litter box almost all of the time.