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› Forum › HOUSE RABBIT Q & A › Found another rabbit
Today I heard there was a yellow house-rabbit in our community garden, so I went up there with some parsley and my camera and a faint hope of spotting the rabbit.
And there he was, right where he was said to be. I sneaked up on him and grabbed him and put him in my bunny Bam’s outdoors hutch/run. He’s been seen outside for a few days so he apparently copes with the cold well. I gave him pellets and hay and water. Checked if he was boy or girl too, he’s a boy. After a little while he started exploring the cage/run, grromed himself and seemed curious the way a healthy rabbit would.
I took care not to bring my coat inside to Bam and I showered before I interacted with him, because I don’t want to transfer sth to him. I’m posting ads on the Internet hoping s o is missing him, otherwise I don’t know what to do with another male bunny.
Here’s a picture, does anyone know what kind of rabbit he might be or what the colour is called? He’s a bit bigger than Bam who wiights about 5 pounds.
He looks like a Harlequin mix to me!
Thanks! He isn’t very cute because his eyes are smallish. And then again he IS cute. I bet so has got bored with him and set him “free”. And stupid me has to go and catch him, he could have been fine in the wild perhaps, spring probably will come sometime soon even if night-temperature its still below 32 F (0 C). He was very scared and cried out and tried to get away sth frantic. Not at all as calm and complacent as Bam was when I found him. I’ll go check on him as soon as I’ve had my morning coffea (my allotment is about a mile away).
I don’t know. I’m mostly afraid he’s got some disease or parasite that could be a risk to Bam.
We don’t have rabbit-shelters in Sweden.
He is beautiful…. I love his colours…. When his Spring coat comes in his eyes will probably be bigger. I have noticed in rescue cats in the past that they often had small eyes when first found due to being undernourished when younger. After a few weeks of love and good food their eyes double in size. I suspect it is the same for rabbits if he has not been fed properly when in human care (or lack of). When I got Pascal from the shelter his coat was quite coarse, he was well loved and cared for but being one of 80-100 rabbits needing daily care he did not get the spoiling he gets now. His fur is now thick and like silk.
A vet check should be able to clarify if he has any parasites or diseases. I know many people with successfully bonded male pairs.
Thank you for rescuing this gorgeous boy.
Thank you!
He seems fine today as well, I’ve been with him all morning, but I suspect he’s been living outside for a while because he will only eat grass growing on the ground – even if I’ve given him a choice of parsley, dill, carrot, oxbow pellets and fresh hay. He does graze though, and he grooms himself and runs in the tunnel and into the hidey-box and he sits in the digging-box and periscopes. It’s a very good sturdy cage/run, all netted in for safety and with a wooden house above ground, he’ll be fine there – I’m thinking I’ll quarantine him for about two weeks, if no signs of ill health has manifested themselves by that time, I can start thinking about keeping him. He’d have to be neutered of course and vaccinated and insured.
It’s not nice of people to let their bunnies out to fend for themselves, but I guess they can’t give the bunny away and they can’t bear to kill it, so they hope s o will find it and take care of it.
In Sweden his colour apparently is called yellow/black Japan (or Japanese), s o told me when I’d posted his pic on a Found pets-page.
Have to bump this up: New bunny had small blackish or perhaps brownish/red insects on his face today. Does anyone have a clue as to what they can be? They climbed around on the surface of his fur, then “dove” into it. I caught them and crushed them with my nails, they were difficult to kill. Don’t think they were ticks, they were too oblong – about 0,5 mm long. Two of them were in the fur on his ears. Inside one ear there was small pinkish marks as from small, small insect-bites. The other insects were on his face, nowhere else.
Of course you can’t know what insects we’ve got in Sweden =D, what I mean is: Does my description remind you of fleas, lice, mites or some other skin-parasite common in rabbits? I checked MediRabbit, found nothing resembling.
Otherwise his fur is lovely, silky, the skin uncompromised, white and creamy just like a rabbit’s skin should be.
He sat so still in my lap today and let me pet him and search through his fur for the longest time, he closed his eyes and even started to grind his teeth a little. He’s eaten his carrot + cabbage and he tasted a pellet. There’s no fat on him.
Maybe bird mites? I remember having a few on my arm and they hurt when they bite! I wouldn’t hv even noticed them if it weren’t for the bite because they were so tiny.
He’s cute. Thank you for taking him to safety. Have you contacted your local humane society to see if anyone is missing a rabbit. Most likely a cast off Easter Bunny. At least he is safe for now.
Sounds like fleas to me. Are they sort of flat looking, like this: Fleas are hard to kill and crushing them with your nail is the only way to kill them.
A dose of Revolution would help him out.
What do you plan to do with this cutie? Again, thank you for helping him. Who knows what may have happened had you not stepped in.
Thanks, it could be fleas. Flat and difficult to kill they were. Goodness, then the outdoors-cage will be infested by now =( The fleas could be cured with the same med you use for cats, Advantage, but how on earth does one clean an outdoors run properly? I’ll have to look it up, lots of breeders of show-rabbits keep their rabbits outside all year.
Or perhaps they were baby-ticks, newly hatched – yesterday was the first spring-day with any sort of warmth and when that happens, ticks hatch like crazy. I hate them. Just in case I treated my dog against ticks, it’s a must in the spring/summer/fall.
Bird-mites are perhaps also a possibilty.
There are no humane societies in Sweden and we don’t have the Easter bunny tradition, but people keep buying bunnies for their kids and then the kids get bored and the rabbits get let out and perhaps that’s preferable to be neglected in a small cage all alone all day long for years and years. It’s prabably better to be killed by a cat or a bird than to have a life like that.
I’ve put up notes in the neighbourhood where he was found and on the Internet and there will be an ad in the local paper thanks to a friend who works there. When I found Bam I called the police because that’s what you’re supposed to do with found pets, but they don’t do anything and I never heard from them again.
If this bun is healthy and nobody wants him, then I’ll have to keep him. But I don’t want to become a crazy bunny-lady, like a cat-lady, the kind who can’t say no to another stray cat and ends up filling her house with sick, starving, mangy cats she can’t really care for and who pees all over the house so the flooring has to be torn out in the end.
If I get him neutered you guys could perhaps help me bond him with Bam. Poor little yellow beast. He was so sweet yesterday.
Definitely sounds like fleas… Revolution is the best product just make sure it is suitable for rabbits. Many of these products are poison to rabbits.
Revolution Puppy and Kitten is safe and they have the dosage for rabbits inside the packaging, advantage also do a good product just make sure it is the one for rabbits (I believe it is a combination one for cats, rabbits and ferrets). Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you use Frontline, it is toxic and will kill rabbits… This HRS link covers fleas and dealing with them about midway down the page. http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/groom.html. If you are treating the bun with a spot on product this will usually treat the area he is occupying too, but a good wash down should help to remove some of the fleas and eggs that are already there. Bear in mind that flea eggs can travel in soil and sand so if you have been working in your allotment recently aside from time spent with the bunny it is possible you have already taken some fleas home and may need to treat Bam too.
Thanks! It’s probably fleas, then. I know about Frontline. There are lots and lots of wild rabbits on my allotment so flea-eggs in the soil would be an issue even if I hadn’t found this little bunny boy. I’ve taken great care to put my boots in a plastic bag and change clothes and and shower before going anywhere near Bam.
I feel so sorry for this little creature. I’m heading up there later today.
Poor little man…. Hopefully it won’t be long till you can get an all clear and bring him home where he’ll have company and play time. If there are other wild rabbits it’s probably a good thing you found him when you did. He could have been attacked by the local buns and hurt.
Years ago s o told me it’s like that with male rabbits, female buns can get accepted by the wild rabbit-population but male rabbits are seen as enemies. I guess it must be true since you’re saying it as well.
A good thing then I came along =) There are often 5-6 rabbits in my allotment only when I co there. They stare insultedly at me and the dog, then they WALK into the hedge and through the fence where the dog can’t reach them. She knows that, so she doesn’t even chase them anymore. I used to be a bit annoyed with them because I have to put chicken-wire around my veggies or they’ll be eaten, but since I got Bam I have a different view on rabbits. They are so cute, I think God made them as a special gift to his wife, he just took all the prettiest and sweetest features he could think of and put them togeather and so the rabbit was created =) (I’m not really religious, though. Hope this wasn’t blasphemic.)
More pics of him! No insects on his fur today. Maybe the UltraShield did the trick.
😮
He’s so adorable!
He actually is adorable =/ He immediately smelled the cabbage I’d brought with me and came running to have a piece. Then I put him in my lap to check for more insects, and he sat so still and let me search through his fur. I found nothing. I looked especially closely around his ears, eyes, in his neck, on his feet. He even ate a piece of cabbage sitting there. Then he lowered his head and just let me pet him.
Squeee! So so cute! I hope you have luck finding his owners!
Beautiful little bunny! Harlequin is my favorite color.
Btw, harlequin is both a breed and a color, so he can be the harlequin color without being the harlequin breed. Though he does look similar to the harlequin breed as well – getting his weight would help narrow it down.
I hope you can find his family, but I agree that people probably got bored and dumped him 🙁 If you keep him, we’ll definitely help get him bonded to Bam.
He is super cute!! How big is he? Hard to tell from the pictures. He looks like a solid little guy.
Thanks! The ad was in the local paper today, but noone has called. I don’t know his weight, but he’s skinny. His spine is prominent. I’d say he’s about the same size as Bam who is 5 pounds, but he’s not at all the same shape as Bam. He looks much more like a wild rabbit. Longer tail, bigger ears, very broad cheeks and pointed nose. His head may just look big because he’s so skinny.
Today he’d eaten his Oxbow pellets like a good boy =)
Here’s a pic of me holding him, he didn’t like that. I am supporting his back/butt with my right hand.
Well, now he needs a name. I’m calling the vet as soon as they open at 9 AM to book him in for vaccinations.
He seems healthy. The diseases I fear are of course myxi and VHD, no need to get a rabbit to a vet to check for those diseases, if a rabbit has one of them it will die regardless. But this little boy looks very well and alert. And so sweet!!! I need to start a blog, I could go on and on about him =)
The names I’ve been thinking of are Hatchiko (the film with Richard Gere) or Yohio http://www.uniprice.com/en/magazine/yohio-about-the-eurovision-song-contest-%22the-clothes-will-definitely-be-visual%22?aid=298 or perhaps Kenzabur(r)o(w) Oe. But I need more suggestions!
Bam this sounds crazy, but I think he looks like a Jupiter!
=)
I gave the name Yohio to the vet, but of course I can change his name later. We are due at the vet’s at 2.20 pm today.
So, now I’ve a new family-member!
Here’s a pic of him coming to get a piece of carrot. He is a very interested little bunny. I don’t think he’s very old.
He’s such a cutie. I find him quite unique looking. Yohio is a cute name.
Best of luck at the vet!
Squeeee! So adorable
He is a lovely rabbit! About how old did the vet think he was? The coat still looks like a mildly baby coat but the size seems considerable. What did he weigh in at?
The vet thought young but fully sexually mature. He was stressed and punched the needle right through the skin so the vaccine squirted out all over my hand and a new dose had to be given. It was a very young vet, not one I’ve met there before. Yohio behaved very well! He weighed in at 1,7 kg which is 2,2 lbs.
This was of course not a full vet exam, this was just a quick appointment. The vaccines need 2 weeks to kick in properly and IF he’s already carrying one (or both) dreaded diseases he can still die. This is just step 1. Step 2 is exam + neutering. The vet saw no evidence of skin-parasites. If sth should come up, there’s Stronghold which is the same as Revolution.
I’m dreading this. But I dread easily =/
I’m so thankful for your support and advice. This sweet little bun deserves a good life and I will try my best to give it to him.
Now I’m wondering about the line on his face, as seen on all pics of him. There doesn’t seem to be any scarring underneath, the skin is fine. Is it just sth that some rabbits have? Sth like a crown vertex on a persons scalp? It remains there even when I “comb” through his facial hair with my fingers. Is it sth to worry about or does it seem normal to you?
May be just the way he molted or is molting. If you begin to see hair loss though, you may want to have him checked out for mites, but other than that it just might be how his hair is growing/molting at this point. It does look like normal molting patterns
Ok! There hasn’t been any shedding except right when I caught him, but I suppose that was a stress-reaction. He cried out and tried to get away sth frantic. My dog shed hairs the same way once when she was sick and we went to the vet and they took her temperature.
I’ve used Ultra Shield on him, it kills mites, I used it on Bam who had mites when I found him and the mites went away altogeather. (Got it from a person who knows a breeder of show-rabbits).
I’ve bought insurance for him now.
Next step is neutering but that can’t be until 2 weeks after the vaccine-shots, the vet said.
Can’t wait to bring him home =)
I certainly wouldn’t worry about it… Just looks like a deeper continuation of the crown of fur round his nose. If he is anything like mine it will change during his next moult.
He is simply gorgeous.
I might be mistaken but I think his eye’s look bigger already…. That would be a very good sign he is benefiting fro fresh water and a good diet already.
Roberta, I thought I was mistaken for thinking his eyes look bigger already =) He has a good appetite for his oxbow BB and his veggies, but he goes nuts for the pieces of carrot.
I’m going up to see him now.
The mark in his fur looks far less pronounced compared to his first photo’s and his eyes are definitely bigger and rounder.
He is such a beautiful bun, I don’t know how any one could have abandoned him. So glad he has you now and a loving home to enjoy.
I have to actually admit, I wish I had him he’s that gorgeous! He’s going to live an excellent life with you though, I can tell!
Bam, my bun has a similar mark on his nose, I think it’s just the shape of his head lol. I’m always teasing him about how round he is compared to my girl
Love the pics of him with his little buddy!
› Forum › HOUSE RABBIT Q & A › Found another rabbit