![]() Do not take the bunny inside or feed him! IT IS A MATTER OF HIS/HER SURVIVAL AND UP TO US AS HUMANS TO LEAVE NATURE BE AND LET THE MOM CARE FOR HER YOUNG. Mom will be coming back at night to call and feed him only once in the middle of the night. If your dog disturbs a nest, or you find a wild bunny with his eyes open, please put him back if not injured. If you come across a nest of wild bunnies, and the mother is nowhere to be seen, please DO NOT disturb them. You can pick up the babies and see if they are feeding by checking the size of their stomachs (should not be sunken in), the pinkness of their skin and activity level (they should not be blue in color or sluggish in movement) and the amount of time that you hear them crying (baby bunnies should be quiet most of the day….if they are crying constantly then they are not getting fed). For domestic/pet rabbits, do not force a mother rabbit to sit in the nest box. They build a nest with fur and grasses which helps to keep the babies warm in between feedings. Mother rabbits do not “sit” on the babies to keep them warm as do some mammals and birds. The milk is very rich and the babies “fill up” to capacity within minutes. Both wild and domestic mothers will be in the nest early in the morning and then again in the evening. Rabbit mothers nurse their babies for approximately 5 minutes a day. Baby bunnies who have fleas are compromised and should be immediately taken to a wildlife rehabber or humane society, rabbit vet. She will scrabble away the surface area to feed her babies beneath her and then scrabble the earth, grass, leaves, back over the nest to hide it again so it’s pretty easy to see if the string has been disturbed and if the babies are warm.īabies should never be put back into a nest that has been flooded with water, has bugs/ants visibly crawling in and out, or if a baby has been killed and there is blood in the nest. A moved nest should always be covered with string in a tic tac toe pattern and monitored to be sure the mother found it and came back to the babies. If need be, you can move the nest a few feet away where safer, even up to 5-6 feet away. If a dog has discovered the nest, keep your dog away from the area and reconstruct the nest with grasses. If you find a nest that has been disturbed, do all you can to restore and protect it. Rabbits hide their nests in plain view, often putting them in the open, sometimes in the middle of the lawn, as well as in brush piles and long grass. ![]() I/My Dog/My Cat Found a Rabbit Nest! What Do I Do? You can call your Humane Society for referral and also check here: If you find a baby with eyes open, and he appears healthy, leave him be. Also search your state + wild rabbit rehabbers. If injured, please contact a wildlife rehabber or rabbit vet immediately! You can search Google for your state/country and wildlife rehabber. ![]() The best thing you can do is put the bunny right back where you found him, in the general area, as the mom will only come back at night to call and find him. The reality is fewer than 10% of orphaned rabbits survive a week, and the care that people attempt to provide can be illegal, unnecessary, and potentially harmful. Often they wish to “rehabilitate” them with some advice from others. Wild baby bunnies are most often not orphaned! Many people mean well when they contact HRS after discovering an “abandoned” nest of wild rabbits. ![]()
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