A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 Thorny - I caught the rabbit !

Hey, Thorny, I caught her. I put out wild birdseed and she came in the backyard for it. While she was eating, I sneaked around the house and blocked the open space under the gate.
When she went to get out, she seemed surprised but not fearful.
Tonight I'll turn a large trash can on one side and put in an electric blanket on low, and also drape it over the can.
That can be her house until I get an igloo doghouse.
The backyard is safe and has about 1/8 of an acre so she can still be free-but no more running around the neighborhood.
She can't live indoors because of pepper (my feline child).
I'll get her the proper foods, and if she doesn't use the water bowl by tomorrow I'll get a drip bottle. She's probably used to lapping at sprinkler heads.
Anyway, I have a rabbit !

Good! Now bring her to me. Two Bean is lonely.

Very funny... !
My little niece has named her "Saltflower". How cute !
Because pepper's name is actually "Pepperlily".

I LIKE that. You sure you don't need any black and white polka-dotted half lop-eared, half regular eared baby bunnies?

That would be cute.
Let's think of names...

Flopsy......erm......Mopsy......erm......Cottontail............PETER!!!

Oops....he's a boy !
Still gonna be named "Saltflower" though !
Thorny, seriously, after I had the rabbit in the backyard, I suddenly realized that if it was female it might be nursing babies somewhere ! That freaked me out, so I checked and he's a boy.
Whew !

There's NO mistaking a boy rabbit's......erm......assets! Two Bean's are Quite obvious.

You think male bunnies are masculine, check out a MALE squirrel sometime.

Uh, I'll pass....

Thorny, I got him a rabbit water bottle, but haven't seen him use it yet.
He really chows down the rabbit food. Poor little rat, er, rab, he has probably never had real rabbit food before.
He still won't let me pet him, but he's safe and as well cared for as his wildness allows.

You have to build trust slowly. I KNOW! GIVE HIM SOME CHOCOLATE!!!

Can't do it... I have always been taught that chocolate is toxic to all animals except one primate species.
But it's so nice to watch him doing so well. He really likes the rabbit food. It has vitamin "cookies" in it as well.

Gummi worms then! Two Bean Bags LOVES Gummi worms. or......APPLES!

The food is Kaytee Fiesta.
I tried apples-he's not interested.
Can a domestic rabbit breed with a wild western cottontail?
There's one who lives in the backyard, and I've wondered if their paths have crossed.
Where I used to live, remember I had a whole gang of cottontails that I fed every night? They loved apples and birdseed-this wild one won't touch any of it.

I use Manna_Pro rabbit chow. 20 pounds for $10 at Tractor Supply Company.

Thorny, now the rabbit comes up to me and lets me pet him.
But if I try to pick him up he struggles and squeals like guinea pig. Sure is strong !
Right now he's under a bench in the backyard, to keep out of the rain, and it's raining like mad.
I'm going to make him a house, I thought of a large clean trash can on its side with a blanket inside.
To see how he likes it and if he uses it, before investing in a small doghouse for him. Usually he sleeps under a heavy planting of ferns, but I want a better set up for him than that.

That should work! ALL rabbits struggle when you pick them up. Even Two Bean Bags does if I am not careful. Rabbits are terrified of heights even ones of a couple of feet. To pick them up, put your hand under their rib cage, behind the front legs and use your OTHER hand to cup and hold their tail, bottom, and back legs. Right now it is best to just develop trust and friendship with the bunny. Let him get used to you rubbing and petting him. They LOVE having their ears, head, eyes, and nose scratched and rubbed. Just don't touch their mouth, that makes them angry. You may notice the rabbit rubbing his mouth, cheeks, and jaws on you and things in his living area. This is called, "chinning", and is the rabbit's way of marking the things in his life that he LOVES and considers his. Rabbits have their scent glands for territorial marking in their cheeks. They secrete a dry, colorless, non-messy, and to humans, odorless scent onto the things in their territory. So when a rabbit comes up to you and starts rubbing you with his mouth, chin, and jaws he is saying, "You are mine......and I lOVE you!"

OK, I'll keep these tips in mind and thanks.
He doesn't rub his mouth on anything yet.
I know what you mean though, like cats do.
I saw a tick in his ear today. Now what? Vet?
I want him to have a check-up and any vaccinations needed, so I guess it's time to trap him and get him into pepper's carrier for a ride to the vet.
He's easy-I just drop a laundry basket over him while he's eating. That's what I did the time I picked him up.
For the trip to the vet, I'll just guide him under the basket into the carrier.

I made the warm house awhile ago. With a large plastic trash can and wrapped around it one of those ultra heavy duty trash bags. An old blanket is folded and fluffed inside the can.
The whole thing is on the patio out of the wind, rain, etc. And of course the can is on its side and the trash bag isn't covering the entryway.
He seems content to live in the yard now. Remember when he was depressed and hung out by the gate?
I have the gate blocked with boards now, and I'm hoping he doesn't dig out. So far he hasn't.
If he uses the trash can house habitually, I'll get him a small igloo doghouse.

Try some different food treats that you can feed him by hand. Rabbits ADORE sweets! Almost anything with sugar is a favorite for them. Two Beans loves gummiworms and gummibears, candy canes, frosted mini-wheats, and the pet stores sell these fruit, seed, and nut bars cemented together with hardened molasses or honey, especially made for rabbits that clip on to the side of their cage. Two Beans goes gah-gah over those treat bars!

You might want to get your bunny a ball to chase. Bunnies like to push, chase, carry, and throw things around. I wad up sheets of newspaper into balls. Then Two Beans flattens them, grabs one edge in his mouth, throwing the rest of the paper over his head like an umbrella and then spins around and around in a tight circle like a dog chasing his tail. When he gets tired, he'll tear the sheet of paper into strips and make a bed out of them. Rabbits are EXTREMELY playful and are constantly inventing new games to play.

Just went to Petco today and asked questions. I never knew there was so much involved !
I bought salt and mineral licks, wooden carrots for teeth maintenance, timothy hay, and made an appointment for a van that comes to the house and does some kind of neutering. Laser or something.
I didn't know that a rab's teeth grow and have to be kept short by chewing. Now I know why he was chewing on the wood chips in the flower beds.
I didn't get him a toy because he has so much to do in the yard, but if you think a ball is a good idea I'll get him one.
I had already bought the sticky treat balls, and he likes those now as well as the pellet mix. He takes carrots from my hand, and likes dark green lettuces, spinach, and apples now too.
Good news-the tick came out of his ear and the wound looks good-clean and dry. I'll have the vet take a look though.

Probably not necessary to have him neutered Two Bean bags isn't, course there's no cute little Bunnettes around either. As long as you don't have both sexes around spaying and neutering are sort of pointless. Two Beans used to have an erm......uhhh....... CRUSH on our fuzzy, fluffy, gray dust mop. But he doesn't seem interested anymore.

We have wild cottontails here and I don't know yet if they and domestic rabs would breed, but I'll ask the vet.
He has to get vaccinated too.
Saltflower, not the vet !