# wild bunny emergancy



## kmtangelkrystal (Apr 24, 2011)

ok i know what the initial responce to anything concerning wild rabbits is but honestly the conservation and vets offices won't accept orphaned bunnies and will kill them in my town.

My cousin ended up hitting a wild baby with a weed wacker. It sound fine given the injeries but i need to know a few things. The damage report was as fallows; 

Gash to the forehead (minor)
gash to the side, first layer wound no blood
hind leg seems to be hurt

they said that the poor thing is hiccuping and i know that can be a sigh of stress because my babies did that when they were young if you startled him. his movement is increasing to normal and he is breathing out of his nose and mouth. I am going to get a look at them and see if it can be saved. i need tips though. i've never tried to feed a wild kit before and from the way they said the length of the body was, he seems 2 mabey 3 weeks old. he's small still. they found him alone and they have had him for a while now so i know the mom won't come back for it.

i have the stuff to feed him but i was wondering if the breathing could be a sighn of a collapsed lung? mouth open breathing like he has hickups. they said he didn't come into contact with water so it couldn't be water in his lungs i don't think... anyways pm me or respond please.


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## DIpitydane (Apr 25, 2011)

Poor baby...wild kits only rarely make in in captivity when healthy...I'd say that unfortunately such a severely injured baby has even lower odds....The open mouth breathing likely signifys compromised lungs or air passage ways and tho it may not be water it is possible that due to type of trauma there could be some bruising, bleeding into the lungs, or even a diphamatic hernia. None of these things make for a very good prognosis for the little baby. ray:


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## GorbyJobRabbits (Apr 25, 2011)

I know people will jump on me for this, but I would put it down. Just because there is only a gash, you have to take into consideration something so tiny getting hit with the speed of the weedeating, is doing some internal damage. The open mouth breathing is NOT good. not to mention speaking from someone who works with wildlife, bringing him into your home, while legal in a lot of areas, he can bring in disease to your animals, not to mention what disease domestic rabbits have, can easily wipe out wild ones.


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## EileenH (Apr 25, 2011)

I don't see an update with how he is doing now, but open mouth breathing is not a good sign. If he is still with us, he needs veterinary care.

Feeding him is the last of his problems; he needs medical attention. A good rule of thumb that we tell people that call our wildlife line is, if you were in a car accident, would you go to McDonald's or to the hospital? 
The injury to his side is worrisome..


What state/town are you located in? I agree that most vets would just put him down, but you can find a rehabilitator who, if he can be helped, would do their best.
Here is one link:
http://wildliferehabinfo.org/ContactList_MnPg.htm
and another:
http://www.nwrawildlife.org/page.asp?ID=214

Call your local DEC/DNR offices, they will have a listing of state rehabilitators.
Even if ones on that list are not near you, call them anyway; most rehabilitators have their own lists of resources to help.


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## Sweetie (Apr 26, 2011)

*GorbyJobRabbits wrote: *


> I know people will jump on me for this, but I would put it down. Just because there is only a gash, you have to take into consideration something so tiny getting hit with the speed of the weedeating, is doing some internal damage. The open mouth breathing is NOT good. not to mention speaking from someone who works with wildlife, bringing him into your home, while legal in a lot of areas, he can bring in disease to your animals, not to mention what disease domestic rabbits have, can easily wipe out wild ones.



I would love to know what diseases domestic rabbits have that can wipe out wild rabbits?

Shouldn't it be the other way around, the diseases that wild rabbits have can wipe out domestic rabbits?

I don't see how the domestic rabbit population can have diseases that can wipe out wild rabbits. I don't see what diseases domestic rabbits have anyway.


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## Yield (Apr 26, 2011)

DIpitydane wrote:


> Poor baby...wild kits only rarely make in in captivity when healthy...



[align=center]Really? That's crazy! I didn't know that... :shock: I've taken care of three wild baby bunnies. Two when I was young, 5 or 6 (I have a pic of me holding one) and one around two summers ago. It was before I even had bunnies of my own. But they had all been separated from their mothers (my dad is a landscaper and accidentally killed the mother =((( so he brought the babies home.)
Anyways, all were released safely.

I wish you luck on this bun, kmtangelkrystal. =(


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## DIpitydane (Apr 26, 2011)

*Yield wrote: *


> DIpitydane wrote:
> 
> 
> > Poor baby...wild kits only rarely make in in captivity when healthy...
> ...



Yep it's true...baby bunnies rarely make it in captivity more than a couple of weeks...evenwhen they doit's thought that many ofthe ones "released" by layrehabberslater parish because of unforseen stasis or bacterial infections. Good for you for being able to care for them so well because often even a seasoned expert cannot make it happen. More baby cottontails are killed by people "rescuing" them than being left alone. The reality is that if a baby has it's eyes open and is hopping around it is most likely capable of being on it's own and stands better odds even without mom in the wild that in captivity. Most baby bunnies do not need rescuing but only let be or if needed moved to a safer location. Obviously this little guy did eed helpand I wonder yet what his outcome was....I am guessing not good [/align]


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## GorbyJobRabbits (Apr 26, 2011)

*Sweetie wrote: *


> *GorbyJobRabbits wrote: *
> 
> 
> > I know people will jump on me for this, but I would put it down. Just because there is only a gash, you have to take into consideration something so tiny getting hit with the speed of the weedeating, is doing some internal damage. The open mouth breathing is NOT good. not to mention speaking from someone who works with wildlife, bringing him into your home, while legal in a lot of areas, he can bring in disease to your animals, not to mention what disease domestic rabbits have, can easily wipe out wild ones.
> ...



It's early so I will fully reply later. It's just like us going over seas, you have to get vaccinations because our immune system is not what it is over there. If you hold a wild animal in captivity, you're not suppose to release it, because stuff our rabbits have, or any animal, is different then in the wild. I stated in my paragraph it works both ways. Wildones can bring stuff in, yours can send stuff out with it.


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## CCWelch (Apr 29, 2011)

Wild rabbits before they have their fur and eyes open generally do not do well in the care of humans, once their eyes are open and they are furred out, looking like the cute fuzzy bunnies all little kids seem to love, they do all right in human care.


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