How to Take Care of Baby Hare

With the increasing number of hares in urban areas, the probability of detecting a rabbit hole is higher than ever. Unfortunately, nests are often left unattended, and young hares removed by humans are unlikely to survive without the help of a veterinarian or skilled wildlife officer. high care. In many countries, it is illegal to care for hares, unless you are a licensed conservation worker. If you need to take care of baby rabbits in the meantime, take them to the vet or wildlife conservation officer, then you should read this article for more help.

Table of Contents

Prepare Habitat for Rabbits

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You need to determine the rabbit that really needs to be taken care of. Mother rabbits can be very discreet; it leaves the nest to scare away predators, but never abandons its young. If you find a rabbit hole, don’t touch it. If they need help (such as a mother rabbit who died on the road), you need to take them to see a veterinarian or wildlife conservation officer.

Wild cottontail (USA) under-weaned often have a white spot on the forehead. Others are born without spots. Some rabbits will remain “spotted” for the rest of their lives, and others will lose them after adulthood. The presence or absence of spots is not necessarily evidence of the rabbit’s age or need for care.
In the case of baby rabbits being removed to avoid a dangerous situation (such as avoiding predators), this is only a temporary measure. Keep the baby rabbits in a safe, quiet place until the danger has passed, then return them to the area where they were found. The mother rabbit will not abandon the baby rabbit if it smells human. This is the best chance for the rabbit to survive. However, if a baby hare is attacked by a cat, any infected wound caused by a claw or tooth will KILL the baby rabbit within a few days. You need to take them to a wildlife conservation officer or veterinarian to provide rabbit-safe antibiotics.

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Prepare a shelter for the rabbit to stay until help is available. You should take a wooden or plastic box with a high side and fill it with clean, pesticide-free soil, then add a layer of hay on top (do not use wet grass). Fill the box with pesticide-free soil, and cover with a layer of hay (do not use wet grass).

Line a circular “nest” inside the hay for the baby rabbits. You can line it with a real litter or a domestic rabbit’s fur. Do not use the fur of other animals, especially carnivores.
If you don’t have rabbit fur, you can line the nest with a paper towel or soft cloth in a thick layer.
Place a heating pad, hot bottom layer, or incubator under the side of the nest to keep warm. Only warm one side of the box so the baby can move away if it feels too hot. ^{[1] X Research Source}

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Place the rabbit gently into the nest. You can use gloves to hold them. Baby rabbits can carry diseases and bleed from bites. Most adult hares are infected with fleas, but young rabbits are not, but there may be a few ticks that need to be removed. If you feel uncomfortable with this parasite, you can ask an experienced person to handle it. You need to be extra cautious with ticks because they CAN spread disease to humans. It is best to keep rabbits within a range away from areas inhabited by humans (and other animals). In addition, you can still let the baby bunny get used to the smell of people. They will return to their wild instincts as adults.

Avoid petting the baby rabbit too much. This can stress them out from being overly disturbed and die. ^{[2] X Research Source}
Spread some fur, tissue, velvet or cloth over the rabbit to keep it warm and safe.
Note that hares can transmit disease to domestic rabbits. Therefore, you should adopt careful hygiene procedures after touching hares, or their droppings, especially if you have several other rabbits.

Plan to feed the Rabbit

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Cottontail rabbits that have not yet opened their eyes need formula feeding. If rabbits can walk, they only need fresh greens, hay, and water. You can put the food in a shallow dish for your large rabbit. Once they’ve eaten their greens (no pesticides or herbicides) and run around, they’re ready to move on to a better area with plenty of shelter for this tiny creature.

When caring for hares, you need to constantly feed them hay, water and fresh vegetables, just like in the wild. Even young rabbits can nibble on greens and hay.
At first, baby rabbits left alone often do not get enough water. You need to give them Gatorade Lite instead of Pedialyte for the first few feedings. Pedialyte is good for most species, but provides too much starch for rabbits.

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If your baby rabbit needs formula milk, you should give the baby a formula made from goat’s milk. Mother rabbits breastfeed at dusk and dawn for about five minutes, so baby rabbits (depending on size and age) only need to be fed twice a day. However, this formula is not as nutritious as breast milk, so you should also breastfeed your baby rabbits more often. Baby rabbits at the age of suckling always have a small round belly (not distended). When the belly is full, then it’s time for you to feed them again. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

Most conservationists usually feed rabbits a mixture of KMR (Kitten Milk Replacer) and Multi-Milk, which is available at the store in the sanctuary. You should add Probiotics to the mix, if any. This mixture needs to be thickened because the mother’s milk is thicker than most other small mammals. This means you need to mix about 3 parts solids (by volume) and 4 parts distilled water.
Do not warm the mixture directly, instead warm it in a water bath: boil warm water and place the bottle of mixed milk in it. Use the included pipette or the small Miracle nipple syringe that comes with it. Use a 2.5 cc syringe for newborn rabbits and switch to a 5 cc syringe as the rabbit’s stomach capacity increases. Hold the baby rabbit in a sitting position so it doesn’t choke! You’ll need a tissue by your side to QUICKLY dry the milk that gets into your rabbit’s nostrils!
ABSOLUTELY DO NOT give rabbits cow’s milk. Cow’s milk is meant for young calves, not rabbits.

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Never overfeed your rabbit. Bloating as well as diarrhea from overeating are common causes of death in hares. The maximum amount per feeding depends on the age of the rabbit. You should note that cottontail rabbits are small in size and should only be fed in less than standard amounts. Here are some general guidelines regarding the appropriate amount of food for rabbits: ^{[5] X Research Source}

Newborn to one week of age: 2-2.5 cc/ml per feeding, twice daily
1-2 weeks old: 5-7 cc/ml per feeding, twice daily (less if rabbits are very young)
2-3 weeks old: 7-13 cc/ml per feeding, twice daily (less if rabbits are very young)
When your rabbit is 2-3 weeks old, you can feed them ‘cat’s tail grass’, oat grass pellets and water (add fresh greens for the hare)
3-6 weeks old: 13-15cc/ml per feeding, twice daily (less if rabbits are very young).

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Stop feeding at the appropriate time. Rabbits are usually weaned for about 3-4 weeks, so you should not breastfeed them for more than 6 weeks. The long-eared hare is weaned after 9 weeks, so after the 9th week you should slowly replace the powdered milk with bananas and chopped apples.

Feeding Newborn Rabbits

Bring Rabbit Outdoors

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Let the rabbits spend a lot of time outside eating grass. As soon as baby rabbits can walk, they should practice walking on the lawn for a few hours.

Put the rabbit in a protective steel cage. You need to keep an eye on them to keep them safe from enemies and other dangerous situations.

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Start feeding your rabbit on its own without assistance. When the rabbit is four days old or older, you should put the milk and water tray with a lid in the cage.

Watch the baby rabbit’s actions carefully. They should start eating and drinking without help.
Check the humidity in the rabbit’s cage. You need to add new formula instead of spilled milk to ensure they are fully absorbed.
Fill with powdered milk and water in the evening and in the morning. You should pay attention to the amount you put in so that the rabbit does not eat too much.
Do not overfill the tray near the rabbit’s cage as they can drown. ^{[9] X Research Source}

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Change to new food after 4 days. After the baby rabbit has become proficient in eating, you can change the food in the cage. Some typical foods are:

Fresh grass
Hay
A piece of bread
Clover
Cat tail grass
Sliced Apples
Oat

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Always provide clean water. Rabbits need to drink clean and fresh water. This helps in digestion and keeps the body hydrated and healthy.

Moving Rabbit Out into Nature

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Wean the rabbit. Once your rabbit is able to eat on its own, you should stop giving them formula and let them eat grass and other plants on their own. You need to make sure that the rabbit is old enough to be weaned (3-5 weeks for cotton rabbits and more than 9 weeks for long-eared hares).

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Stop acting on rabbits. Rabbits need to prepare to be released into the wild, so you should stop touching them if possible. Then they are less dependent on you and more self-sufficient.

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Move the rabbit outdoors the entire time. Confine them to a covered steel cage outside your house. ^{[10] X Research Source} The bottom of the cage should be woven with a large hole for the rabbits to eat, and the size of the hole should be checked so that they cannot get out.

Move the cage to different points in the yard so that the rabbit can access new plants regularly.
Continue to provide plants other than grass.

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Move the rabbits to a larger cage when they are fully grown. Build a new cage on the lawn in the yard and continue to feed the rabbits with greens twice a day. The cage should have an opening or bottom woven with wire that leaves holes and is strong to avoid predators.

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Release the rabbits into the wild. When rabbits are between 20 and 23 centimeters in size in a sitting position, they are large enough to be in the wild in a safe place. ^{[11] X Research Source}

In the case of rabbits that are not yet self-sufficient, you can keep them for a little longer, but they should not be allowed to mature in captivity.

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Call your local wildlife conservation office for help. If your rabbit is old enough to be released into the wild but is still not self-sufficient, then you should contact a professional. They have a solution to your particular situation.

Advice

Always feed newborn rabbits at the same place. They will then begin to associate the place with the food, making each session easier than the previous.
If you can’t remember which rabbit you’ve fed, you can draw small dots with nail polish on the tips of each rabbit’s ears. Then you should feed them in a certain order (such as the order of colors in a rainbow).
Use a window covering to cover the roof of the barn. The weight and ease of release make it easy to get up and down, but the rabbit can’t knock the film to the ground.
You need to make sure the rabbit can breathe. If you put them in a box with a tight-fitting lid, you’ll need to poke holes in them to let air in.
Keep your rabbit’s habitat quiet and avoid human contact.
You should not name rabbits because then you will become attached to them, and make you want to keep them around.
Orphaned newborn rabbits, when cared for by humans, still have a mortality rate of up to 90%. So you should not become too attached and take care of them gently and slowly. ^{[12] X Research Source}
Keep quiet near the rabbit. Rabbits are easily frightened by loud sounds.
Keep rabbits safe and out of reach of other animals.

Warning

Don’t give your rabbit too hot milk. They will not drink hot or sour milk.
Do not give your rabbit spinach, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, or similar foods. These foods can cause diarrhea or gas. Rabbits can’t digest gas, so this group of vegetables will bloat their stomachs!
Be especially careful when dealing with wild animals. They can carry many pathogens.
Adjust the heat source used for the incubator not to overheat and not to set the rabbit house on fire.
Wild animals should not be kept in captivity for longer than is necessary to care for them.
Never feed a rabbit with carrots. Rabbits never eat carrots in the wild, so you shouldn’t feed them in captivity either.

Things you need

Wooden or plastic box with one side high
Clean and soft soil
Clean cattail grass
Disinfected animal hair (or tissue)
Nursery, heating pad or hot soil layer
Leather gloves
Glass bottle
Milk bottle
Small rubber nipples
Milk
Cereal for newborn rabbits
Cotton towels
Purdah
Wire cage (with canopy)
Clover (or cattail)
Oat
Bread
Bowl of water

Steps