# Can I keep a cottontail?



## spiritedrose (Apr 19, 2011)

We found a cottontail bunny in the yard today. It is about 4.5 inches long and very sweet. Lets me pet it and is very gentle. Can I keep it? Will it live in captivity?


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## Nancy McClelland (Apr 19, 2011)

Doesn't sound like a typical cottontail to us. Can you send pictures. As far as keeping it, if your going to give it a good,loving, forever home, why not.


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## MiniLopHop (Apr 19, 2011)

If it is a cotton tail please do not keep it. Wild rabbits do not make it very often in captivity. It quite possibly is also illegal without a wildlife rehabilitation lisence.

Can you post pictures? It may be an agouti domesticated rabbit if it was caught that easily.


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## spiritedrose (Apr 19, 2011)

How do I post a picture?


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## LindyS (Apr 19, 2011)

That's crazy! Everytime I see a wild bun it takes off as soon as you blink.


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## Marrie (Apr 19, 2011)

Upload a picture to photobucket or image shack and link it here. 

A lot of states have laws against keeping wild (native) animals, so if it is indeed a cottontail, I would contact a wildlife rehabilitation center.


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## LindyS (Apr 19, 2011)

Yeah because chances of any wild animal walking around acting out of character is sometimes connected to rabies. Not saying the bun has rabies but possible.


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## spiritedrose (Apr 19, 2011)




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## spiritedrose (Apr 19, 2011)

She looks 100% healthy. Not dehydrated. Good flesh. Quiet and not sickly looking in any way.


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## MiniLopHop (Apr 19, 2011)

Personally I think it looks like an agouti colored domestic. Granted I havn't seen every wild rabbit out there, but I have never seen one that had white on its head.

You may want to check with a local wildlife rehab place and see if they can tell you for sure. If it is a domestic rabbit that perhaps fell through a hutch bottom or got loose somehow then it would be wonderful to take it in. Does anyone in your neighborhood have rabbits outside?


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## spiritedrose (Apr 19, 2011)

We are in the country, so it's a definite possibility. Someone "dumped" a black kitten last fall that ended up at our place.


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## DIpitydane (Apr 19, 2011)

Baby cottontails rarely survive in captivity and their better bet at that size is to be released in as safe an area you can find. Her odds are better alone in the wood without mom than in captive care. Cottontails are self reliant much sooner than domestic rabbits and are weaned as early as four weeks. Even those who seem unstressed and eating well nearly always die from stasis. It is even difficult for an experienced rehabber to get them to make it. Not saying that it cannot be done, but the odds are very unlikely in most cases.


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## DIpitydane (Apr 19, 2011)

Looks very much like a baby cottontail right down to the little trademark white spot on his forehead that a lot of them carry. Here is a baby Eastern.










And another


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## nochoramet (Apr 19, 2011)

That looks exactly like the baby cottontails our dogs would bring up to us. I would try to take her to a wildlife rehabilitation place because we never could keep ours to survive...


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## nochoramet (Apr 19, 2011)

Here are some baby cottontails - and yes the babies can have the white spots on their foreheads


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## hln917 (Apr 19, 2011)

That is a baby cottontail. Did you check around for the nest? The mother may come back to look for it. I do not suggest taking it in unless you know for a fact the mother is dead or abandoned the baby.


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## JadeIcing (Apr 19, 2011)

If it is not injured it should be left alone. If you were to keep it and it ever needed medical assitance you could not take it to a vet.


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## SablePoint (Apr 19, 2011)

That's a cottontail alright! The babies are out now. She looks just like my baby Brinca, a cottontail I used to own.

Be careful though. Brinca was healthy but she was covered in ticks and they got on Mr. Bun Bun(he babysat her cause she only got along with the rabbits).
When I caught Brinca, I wanted to "rescue" her cause all of the other baby cottontails barely if not never make it throughout the year in our area. She was amazing. She instantly learned to eat from a bowl and drink from a water bottle. But she would NEVER let me pick her up. The closet I got was by petting her on the head. 

Unfortuantly, I only had her for about 4 months. I found her dead, laying stiff in her cage one day. I'm still not sure what the cause of death was. 

Wild rabbits are a popular "wild pet", along with squirrels, foxes, chipmunks, raccoons, birds, herps, and other common wild animals. Though I do own wild pets( 2 turtles) myself, I DO NOT support the keeping of wild animals as pets.


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## SablePoint (Apr 19, 2011)

*JadeIcing wrote: *


> If it is not injured it should be left alone. If you were to keep it and it ever needed medical assitance you could not take it to a vet.


What couldn't he/she take it to a vet? I took my box turtle to the vet to be de-wormed and get antibiotics.


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## DIpitydane (Apr 19, 2011)

I know that here it is illegal for a veterinarian to treat wildlife without the knowlege of the game and fish commission IF it is not on the list of wildlife permitted to be owned. But, here in Arkansas you are allowed to take from the wild and keep a certain number of certain wildlife with a permit. Basically any of those that can be hunted. Cottontails are on that list. SO here it would be completely legal for a vet to treat provided you had the proper licensure. Anywhere else would just depend on your state laws.


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## mistyjr (Apr 19, 2011)

yup. looks like a cottontail.. Michigan Cottontails also have a white on their forehead.


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## KatieGirl95 (Oct 6, 2012)

yeah i found a baby cotton tail a couple hours ago, these neighborhood kids brought me him their cat had gotten ahold of him, he has a split ear and his hairs ripped of a little on his butt, not anything serious though, i put some antibiotic cream on him, and now hes resting in the cat create wrapped up, where he burried into the towel, laying on a rice heat pack, if he makes it through tonight, what should we feed him? i mean he is tiny! no pics yet though, dont wanna stress the little guy, and how do you tell if its a him or her? i have raised bunnies before just never paid attention to him or her, just went by what the breeder told us.. so? can you help? and if he dose make it, he should he was hoping around and alert, so now broken bones or anything, i could keep him? i have read alot online saying they are mean and stuff, i just cannot see mean in him.. im a big animal lover, figured this would be the best place to get info from..

thanks!

:biggrin:


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## LakeCondo (Oct 7, 2012)

Wild rabbits in the US are a different species from the domesticated rabbit.


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## hln917 (Oct 7, 2012)

You need to find a wildlife rehab so they can care for it. You can try giving it kitten formula via dropper.


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## Imbrium (Oct 7, 2012)

about how old is it? (is it fully furred, are the eyes open, how big relative to your hand, etc.) depending on the age, it should be fed KMR (kitten milk replacer) and/or some grass/fresh plants that are hand picked and not treated with pesticides or fertilizer.

your best bet for his survival is to get him to a wildlife rehab as soon as you can, especially since he's injured. wild rabbits don't fare well in captivity ><

or, if his wounds aren't very bad, you can place him back in the area where you think the nest is located (or better yet, the actual nest if you can find it) - the mother will come back to look for the missing kit and they won't abandon a baby just because you've touched it.

here are some good sites on baby rabbit care:
http://www.mybunny.org/info/newborn.htm
http://www3.telus.net/raisinghouserabbits/orphans.htm
http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/orphan.html


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## KittyKatMe (Oct 7, 2012)

I have a friend who had a nest of bunnies in her backyard. She knew not to disturb them, but when the babies were a week old, she found the mother dead close to the nest. So, they tried bottlefeeding the four babies, but only one survived. She named it Latte, and by the time he was weaned, he was actually very tame. Having other bunnies, she kept him. He is now neutered with a bunny girlfriend and thriving at 5 years old. He is the tamest of all her bunnies. But this is rare, and I wouldnt reccomend doing it unless you have experience with rabbits.


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## Bunnylova4eva (Oct 7, 2012)

For one thing, YEARS ago I actually tried this with a bunny of the same age. It was a terrible idea, and I'm really ambarassed to even share that I did it. But, I'm sharing it as a help to other buns. The one I did this with lived several weeks and then died. These rabbits are made to & and used to living in the wild. It doesn't matter how old (or young) they are, or what you feed it. If it really is a docile as you say however, I would really worry about it, there's a very good chance it had some sort of disease. Not to be a party pooper, but I'd find a rehab ASAP or release it if there is not one nearby. Looking in the best interest of the bunny, that it the best option.

One more thing, recently I rehabbed a litter of 8 cottontails. They did GREAT. Or so I thought. As it got closer to the day I was going to let them go (4 weeks of age) they were growing, eating solids, doing WONDERFUL. Then, the morning I was going to let them go, I go to get them out of their cage, and all except 3 had died. No change in care to speak of, but they died. They had gotten to the point of being stressed in the cage and it was too much for them. Even though me caring for them was all they'd ever known, their instincts told them to be scared of me and it did them in. On the other hand, the 3 I released have thrived and I've gotten to watch them grow up in their natural environment they were designed for. For months now I've been able to see them every few days (sometimes every day) in the back yard hopping through nibbling the lawn. They won't come to me, just like any other cottontail, but they live in the area.

The bunny in the picture shown is definitly old enough to be on its own. Once they weigh 100 grams they'll be fine on their own in the wild.


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