New to the site. My husband and I found a baby bunny in our yard over the weekend that appears to have been born with their back legs paralyzed...His eyes are open and he has the white streak on his head so we are estimating that he is around 6 weeks old. We brought him in over the weekend.
I called a few local rehabs and no one in the area will take cottontails, especially disabled ones. We don't want him to die in our yard or get eaten because he is slow, but he seems totally healthy otherwise. He has been active with an appetite and energy. He has been demolishing the dandelions and hay we have been leaving for him. He doesn't appear to be in pain and it really looks as if he has been paralyzed since birth because he is well acclimated and his front legs are strong. He also has regular poop and bladder function.
I am totally at a loss! I guess I wanted to ask what anyone's experience with having/raising/taming a cottontail is. Since he is so young, will he acclimate? We don't want him to die in the yard...and we don't want him to get euthanized if he is otherwise healthy...
Our thought is probably to get him strong enough and maybe build/buy him a bunny coop for our yard when he's bigger? It's better than death right?
I called a few local rehabs and no one in the area will take cottontails, especially disabled ones. We don't want him to die in our yard or get eaten because he is slow, but he seems totally healthy otherwise. He has been active with an appetite and energy. He has been demolishing the dandelions and hay we have been leaving for him. He doesn't appear to be in pain and it really looks as if he has been paralyzed since birth because he is well acclimated and his front legs are strong. He also has regular poop and bladder function.
I am totally at a loss! I guess I wanted to ask what anyone's experience with having/raising/taming a cottontail is. Since he is so young, will he acclimate? We don't want him to die in the yard...and we don't want him to get euthanized if he is otherwise healthy...
Our thought is probably to get him strong enough and maybe build/buy him a bunny coop for our yard when he's bigger? It's better than death right?