We are taking care of a young cotton tail that my mother's dog caught when it was about 2 1/2 weeks old. Anyway, recently we aquired 4 ( now 2wk 1day old) domestic bunnies that were orphened last saturday when their mother died. A friend of ours asked to help care for 4 of the 8 survivors ( saddly his 4 died friday). Well my husband had let our cotton tail out to allow her some exercise away from her cage. My daughter and I had finished feeding the babies when I decided to introduce our cottontail to the babies (VERY CONTROLED SITUATION BTW). Not only did she surprise me she went one step furthor by actually standing on my chest to guard OVER the babies in my lap. She licked them, sniffed them and even tried to clean them. Well she did this again today only this time, she actually nudged them back INTO the box that we are using for their bed. Is this Normal for a Wild rabbit? Most domestic Doe's kill young not their own.
SERIOUS,HONEST,KNOWLEDGABLE ANSWERS ONLY PLEASE.
2006-06-11 16:38:22 · 4 answers · asked by wildfire1696 3 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
One other thing, the young cottontail is about a month and half old. No sign of agression to the babies what so ever more of a motherly protective attitude. Thus my question on if this is a normal reaction with a wild bunny. Again please only those who have had experiance with wild rabbits (rehabilitation) and raise domestic rabbits as well or have raised rabbits before. This seems completely out of char. to me but I have little experiance with Wild Rabbits as this is our first time caring for one.
2006-06-11 16:42:33 · update #1
*smile* no worries on the heat, the babies and the cottontail are kept indoors in seperate cages. We have a Large doe that has cottontail in her as well as Giant, her daughter which has Rex in her; my netherland Dwarf buck and his two girlfriends who are dwarf/rex combo's.
Most bunnies are social by nature btw. Sometimes a buck will get agressive if he's protecting a mate. However the girls with our buck are sisters and sleep close together with the buck. Same with our large doe and her daughter. Maybe it's just how we are caring for them? I just don't know. The daughter to our Doe liked the cottontail at first but after the 2nd meeting actually went so far as to chase and attack her which surprised me totally.
Same with how our cottontail is acting so domestic and hasn't wilded out like many do about now. If she doesn't by the time she's 6 months old she won't wild out from what I have learned. I've sent an e-mail to a rehaber I have been keeping close contact with as well about this
2006-06-11 17:06:51 · update #2
To Ctwitch: ( btw interesting name you have there *smile*).
The cottontail is truly wild, as I said my mother's dog managed to capture her and was wagging her around in her mouth for a good 10 or 15 min's before my mother realized the dog had something and interveined quickly. At the time she wasn't quite the size of a baseball and still drank milk. She was checked by our family vet ( who's my daughter's grandfather) and allwoed to go back with us due to our experiance with rabbits and having the space and time to work with the bunny unlike his employees ( we live in Texas btw)
From day one she's been more domestic than wild in char. licking, snuggling etc like a typical domestic. We kept her seperated from all our other rabbits till we knew she was healthy as we were told to do. The babies however are Domestic babies and only 2wks and 2 day's old. Thus my reason for the question in regards to our wild cottontail's actions.
2006-06-12 06:34:16 · update #3
Though I haven't had much experience with wild rabbits, I do have two domestic rabbits. They are "motherly" with our guinea pigs whom they are housed with. They cuddle and clean them (particularly my older bunny). As with other animas I suspect it has more to do with the individual rabbit and its personality rather than a species characteristic.
My two "mothers" ,by the way, are both male. Talk about what should be out of character!
Hope all goes well. Good luck.
2006-06-11 17:12:28 · answer #1 · answered by Tookie 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm a wildlife rehabilitator in Connecticut and have had much experience with cottontails. It sounds as if there are some instincts coming from your rabbit. Is it domestic? You said it was a cottontail which is a species of wild rabbits. I would not recommend you introduce wild to domestic as the wild rabbits can have diseases that can transfer to your personal rabbit.
If the baby rabbits are the size of a baseball with their ears erect, they are on their own. Their mother in the wild would not be caring for them any longer. That surprises many people.
It is very important that because they are wild animals that you limit contact with them. Stress is the number one killer of wild animals. It is not surprising that 1/2 of the litter has died already; cottontails are one of the highest stressed animals and can die of a heart attack to loud noises. Cottontails will also seemingly be very healthy looking and will suddenly drop dead...this is usually a sign that they need to be released back out into the wild...pending they meet the criteria of size.
Depending on what state you live in, it is illegal to keep wild animals as pets unless you have a permit.
2006-06-11 20:47:55 · answer #2 · answered by ctwitch24 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it is strange. I had rabbits and they would gang up on the weakest and kill it. I had to keep them separated. I think your case is unusual. Don't let them get too hot. They may need a fan if it is hot there.
2006-06-11 16:52:34 · answer #3 · answered by peaches 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
sounds to me her motherly insticts kicked in. not sure if thats true at such an early age. u might want to call your vet and see what they have to say about it. i have a male dwarf bunny. he is 2 yrs old and will attack any animal who comes near him when he is out of his cage. good luck with your bunnies
2006-06-11 16:46:56 · answer #4 · answered by missindy46 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋