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This is Fluffers McBunny. It's hard to get a good pic of the little guy..the flash completely blanks him out, and without the flash is a bit blurry. I went with blurry. ;)
DH found him in the bunny pen. We don't know which nest/burrow he came out of. Could be the doe just dropped him there and left him, but most likely he was either kicked out or escaped from the nest.
Little Sis is attempting to hand raise him. It's hard to do that with rabbits. We've had some success in the past, but not enough. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Fluffers lives, as she's getting attached to him. It's hard not to love something so tiny and helpless. Our guess is that Fluffers is now about four to five days old.
Update:
Poor Fluffers didn't make it. Little Sis took it better than I'd expected. She's learned a lot about the 'circle of life' since we moved to the country.
Past experience has been that if we find a bunny out of the burrow, it won't live. The mom has usually rejected it because there's something wrong with it. The ones we've successfully hand raised were the healthy ones rescued from flooded burrows.
We're hoping that not all of the burrows were flooded with the heavy rain. As soon as the little ones hop out, she'll be nabbing one for her 4-H project.
7 comments:
Good Morning! I am new to the bloggin' world but just wanted to let you know that I really love your blog! I am so sorry that someone is trying to sabotage your efforts. May your chainsaw find its target!
Janet
wow! you're braver than i am! i would have just tried to get one of the other does to foster him! good luck!!!
Thanks, Sweetpea!
Jayedee, we've tried the foster mom project before, but they really don't like babies that aren't theirs. Our best results have come from bringing a nursing doe inside to feed the baby bun.
Aww, poor little thing. If I may offer a few possible suggestions? I spent 7 years as state and federal wildlife rehabilitator and although avian species were my expertise, I also worked with mammals and had good luck with orphan bunnies.
Wrap the bunny in some sort of cloth as you feed it. I often used a soft dishcloth and as I fed it, belly down by the way, I would often rub its head and little body to keep it stimulated. Almost as if the mother was grooming the baby as it nursed (make sense?). It also helps if you rub its little bottom before and after it feeds with a barely damp cloth as that is what the mother does to stimulate it going to the bathroom (she licks the baby’s bottom). A baby bunny that is getting enough to eat should really tinkle for you and this will help you know if it is getting enough.
Baby bunnies are known to get diarrhea, which is hard to deal with once it happens. One diet I did well was with Isomil by Similac, which is a soy based formula. If you buy it, you can freeze what you don’t use and save it for another time.
Keep the baby warm, but make sure he can move away from the warmth if he gets too hot. One way you can do this is by placing a heating pad, set on the lowest setting and wrapped in a cloth, under part of the blanket he is cuddled in. If he needs more warmth, he will root toward it and if he needs less, chances are he will root away from it. Warmth is essential, particularly when an orphan is first found. Don’t worry about feeding it first thing but rather, concentrate on getting it warm before trying to feed it.
Anyway, I hope some of what I said made sense and might help at another time.
Thanks for the info, Mrs. K. I may have to try the Isomil next time if we don't have a nursing doe available.
Aw, poor little helpless thing. Great learning experience though, I guess. Thanks for posting this. It's a great story.
Awww, too sad. Sorry to hear it didn't make it.
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