Hello! I’m a first-time rabbit caretaker, and this is my first time posting on the forum.

So my story is that my family started noticing rabbits (and some quite obviously domestic rabbits) in our suburban neighborhood when there haven’t ever been any before, but they were also disappearing shortly after we’d see them a few times. (We think they met unfortunate demises.)

Eventually, my mom and I spotted another white rabbit with brown patches.

It was small, adorable, and had a special affinity for our yard and the meager protection our neighbor’s fence lent her.

My mom and I were worried that she wouldn’t survive either, so we thought up an elaborate ploy to catch her. (It was hilarious, but it worked and didn’t freak her out!)

I now have the rabbit (which we named Cookies because it’s just so precious and sweet!) in a rather large dog crate with a removable plastic tray until we can get her a better housing situation. (Henceforth, I’m going to refer to the rabbit as ‘her’ because I’ve been unable to detect any male parts, lol.)

She’s living on aspen chips, because that’s what I had on-hand and use for my backyard chickens. She has a water bowl, a litter tray (also filled with aspen shavings), a feeder filled with Timothy hay 24/7, and a little nook she likes to sleep in.

I’ve given her garden-grown mint, oregano, basil, and sage. (She doesn’t like sage, lol.) But her absolute favorites are organic parsley and cilantro from the grocery store. (I’m trying to root my own so I can have it on-hand when I need it.) And I’ll give her half a baby carrot or a sliver of banana every other day or so. I haven’t given her any rabbit pellets, because I want to research to make sure I don’t end up giving her junk-food.

I’ve had her for four days now, and it’s been so amazing to see how quickly she’s gained confidence!! At first, she was terrified and would just stay in her ‘safe nook’ most of the day.

But I’ve been bribing her with herbs and really working with her. Just yesterday I got to stroke her for the first time without her freaking out! She’s showing curiosity and a little bit of sass, and she’s just adorable!

When we caught her, we were planning to immediately take her to a rabbit rescue, but unfortunately they were full and refused to take her. We do have a family friend that is indifferent but would take her for us. But he’s going to be keeping her in an outside enclosure, and she’s such a sweet girl that I want her to get a house-rabbit-bliss life with her forever owners, lol. I’ve also noticed that she just really doesn’t like being outside.

Anyway, now I’ve gotten so attached to her that I DEFINITELY want to keep her. I’ve started carrier-training her so we’ll hopefully be able to take her to the vet soon, or transport her to whoever we find to keep her.

If we decide to keep her, I need to know if she’s microchipped (yikes), how old she is (and therefore whether she needs to continue eating Timothy hay or needs to start alfalfa), and if she has any health issues or parasites.

I also suspect she’s underweight, so I want to know what a vet would say about that. Maybe substitute with alfalfa?

I’ve done a lot of research about keeping rabbits over the years, but I’ve never been able to get one even though I’ve wanted one for a long time. Now I’m doing even MORE research, lol.

I guess I’m starting this discussion because I know I’m going to have a lot of questions, and I want to give her the best environment and care possible while I have her. (Unfortunately, it’s not up to me whether we can keep her or not, but I’m hopeful.)

I guess the biggest thing I need to know right now is her approximate age so that I’ll know if I’m feeding her right.

I’d also LOVE to know what breed y’all think she is. (I’m thinking maybe a mini-rex? Her fur doesn’t seem super poofy, but other than that, she looks like one to my inexperienced eyes.)

Are there any tips or potential pitfalls I should be aware of?

I haven’t been able to confirm her gender since I’m not comfortable handling her that much yet. She doesn’t let me pet her unless I’m holding her favorite treat, so I won’t be able to check until we build a LOT more trust.

I’m going to try to upload a picture of her… I hope it works!