Picture added! Cecil the rescued bunny!

[rattietayls]

So I have grown up raising animals that needed to be rescued, such as stray kittens, bunny with mom that had died etc.....
But anyways!! We found a baby bunny, and the mom was taken by a fox... so we rescued him 
It was a year since our last rescue baby, so I'm super happy. But don't worry, we have been rescuing animals (bunnies counted) many MANY times before  We don't feed them kitten formula or any pet store formula, we have a very good formula we have raised many bunnies on.
I just had to share this exciting news!!!  My sister and I are debating on Cecil (sess-ill) or Marcellus (mar-sell-us)
Which do you like best?

I am just so excited!!!     

UPDATE: ok, Cecil it is! or Ceciley if a girl 
Hes doing great by the way.

UPDATE: Sorry i didn't get the pictures on, I will soon 

UPDATE June 1st: Cecil is doing good, he is getting a new cage tomorrow, and he loves people now.
He wouldn't drink his formula for a little  but now he is drinking and eating very well. I'll try to add pictures
tonight, its just been busy in my family  I'm trying to ignore the fact that I still have to pack but I must face it this weekend 

UPDATE June 1st: Yay! I have the photo finally  here is Cecil!!!!

[RatAttack59]

Good for you and good luck!  Any idea how old the baby is?  Eyes open yet?
I like Cecil or maybe Sebastian? Our Nasty Bunny (we love him but he's NOT very nice) is Cinnabun.

[MiniMuffin]

Isn't it illegal to keep native animals without proper permits?

I would highly suggest you get it to a wildlife rehabber so that it can eventually be released back into the wild. A bunny that is really used to humans is not going to do well if you release it.

[rattietayls]

Isn't it illegal to keep native animals without proper permits?

I would highly suggest you get it to a wildlife rehabber so that it can eventually be released back into the wild. A bunny that is really used to humans is not going to do well if you release it.

We don't release our rescues, and no, its  not illegal (atleast not in our area). Just so you know, when you get a "permit" they wont actually give it to you, they just put your animal to sleep. Animals can never be put back into wild if they are raised by humans, unless you do it the right way, which means no social contact, no self feeding. You have to put the bottle in through a cage, and trust me this is NOT the best option. I have had 5 years of experience and the rest of my family has had 12 years. As I said, we know what we are doing.

[zoocrew26]

Good for you! I wish you many good times with him! 

[rattietayls]

Good for you and good luck!  Any idea how old the baby is?  Eyes open yet?
I like Cecil or maybe Sebastian? Our Nasty Bunny (we love him but he's NOT very nice) is Cinnabun.

Maybe 2 weeks? Eyes wide open. We can't name our animals Sebastian, it's bad luck  they usually die when we name them that  ill add pictures tomorrow!  hehe, cinnabun

[rattietayls]

Good for you! I wish you many good times with him! 

thanks

[MiniMuffin]

We don't release our rescues, and no, its  not illegal (atleast not in our area). Just so you know, when you get a "permit" they wont actually give it to you, they just put your animal to sleep. Animals can never be put back into wild if they are raised by humans, unless you do it the right way, which means no social contact, no self feeding. You have to put the bottle in through a cage, and trust me this is NOT the best option. I have had 5 years of experience and the rest of my family has had 12 years. As I said, we know what we are doing.

I would say that leaving a wild animal wild is FAR better then trying to keep it as a pet. I'm totally against taking wild animals with no intention of releasing them. It's part of life for some animals to die, and they don't belong in a pet setting.

[rattietayls]

We don't release our rescues, and no, its  not illegal (atleast not in our area). Just so you know, when you get a "permit" they wont actually give it to you, they just put your animal to sleep. Animals can never be put back into wild if they are raised by humans, unless you do it the right way, which means no social contact, no self feeding. You have to put the bottle in through a cage, and trust me this is NOT the best option. I have had 5 years of experience and the rest of my family has had 12 years. As I said, we know what we are doing.

I would say that leaving a wild animal wild is FAR better then trying to keep it as a pet. I'm totally against taking wild animals with no intention of releasing them. It's part of life for some animals to die, and they don't belong in a pet setting.

Do you think dogs, cats, and rats were originally domesticated?

[Eileen]

Just wondering,rattietayls, where do you live? (state/country)?

[rattietayls]

Just wondering,rattietayls, where do you live? (state/country)?

Pennsylvania, United States

[fluffy pluffy]

What a sweet little guy! I swear,he has the same gray markings on his head,like our Thumper does! He's a brown rabbit too!

[nancycccslp]

He's brown because he's WILD.


Eileen and I have covered this.
http://www.goosemoose.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,118/forum,rat/topic,4037383.msg4377661/,#msg4377661

and covered this.
http://www.goosemoose.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,118/forum,rat/topic,4034958.msg4357117/,#msg4357117

So here goes again
A wild animal is wild.  It stays still because most of its predators track movement; it is praying that if it doesn't move, you don't see it.  It may, in fact, need rescuing but being kept in a cage the rest of his life and poked by humans is not living HIS life. 
Your animals don't die because they are named Sebastian.  They die because they are wild and overhandling stresses them to death.
Here is the website to find a licensed wildlife rehabilitator in Pennsylvania.  http://pawr.com/
I have no idea where you got the misinformation that keeping wildlife is not illegal (it is), or that wildlife is put to sleep (it's not; wildlife rehabbers raise and release) or that raising wildlife to be wild is not the best option (it is).  It makes no difference to me how long your family has been doing the wrong thing, it's still wrong.
Wild is wild.  My phone is ringing off the hook and I'm constantly singing the "leave it alone" song.........Eileen's wildlife center is full and her phone there is clogged with multiple calls every day and people are yelling at us all the time and in one breath they want to know if the bunny has rabies then they want their kids to keep it as a pet then we tell them that the poor stressed out bunny doesn't WANT to be a pet then they keep it anyway and it dies anyway and they call us again and tell us how it's all our fault that the bunny died and their precious kids are crying and we just don't CARE.................

None of this is going to make any difference to you.  You are going to keep this bunny whether or not it's good for him, because it's fun for you.  He may survive; I put his chances at less than 20%.  If he survives to puberty, he will hate you and try to escape every chance he gets.  He will never get to tootle around and make a little den, choose what grasses he wants to eat at sundown, find another bunny to get "bunny" with.  And what did he do to deserve that?

Make the choice you can live with.  Hopefully it's the choice HE can live with.

Nancy, the fully licensed, very experienced wildlife rehabilitator who happens to specialize in Eastern Cotton Tails.

[ZooKeeper83]

Rattietayls, I'm sorry but it does seem you have been misinformed somewhere along the way.  It's great that you and your family want to help orphaned wildlife, but it is illegal as Nancy said, unless you are licensed.   I live in Eastern PA and volunteer at a wildlife rehab in New Jersey.  We take in ANY and ALL smaller wildlife that comes our way (our director won't take in larger animals like bears, adult deer, etc).  I have seen many animals raised from a few days old turn around and try to bite the same people that kept them alive as soon as they're older and ready to be released.  It's their instinct.  I've also seen animals, bunnies especially, die of fright while we were simply trying to keep them alive.  They are prey animals and we are the predators.  It doesn't matter to them that we are trying to help them.  It's not something they can understand.

Taking in orphaned kittens when you're know what you're doing is one thing, but taking in wildlife is completely different in how it needs to be handled.

Please do listen to Nancy or Eileen.   They are the people that do this day in and day out.

I am curious...what did you mean by 'when you get a permit, they don't actually give it to you and put animals to sleep'?

Oh, and if you do want to help raise wildlife and release it, maybe you could check that link in Nancy's post and see if there are any rehabs you could volunteer at in your area to see how they handle everything.  You might be a little young for most (our age limit is 16), but it's something to think about for the future. 

~Melissa

[nancycccslp]

Any update?

[rattietayls]

As I said.... Its not illegal in our area
Update: Cecil is doing great, he really likes people, and snuggles with us. He drinks from the bottle with our formula from our vet
(he has had 30 years of experience) He also eats wild bunny food from an online store.
I would appreciate if everyone would not criticize me and my family, we actually know someone that was a rehaber, and she agrees
with us.

[nancycccslp]

Sorry kid; the only "wild bunny food" is not sold online; it's called grass and weeds.  If it doesn't exist in the wild, they don't need to eat it.

Your vet is breaking the law by encouraging you and helping you to keep this bunny, and he knows it.  Vets are NOT allowed to keep wildlife; they have to transfer care to rehabbers. 

You may know one person who WAS a rehabber, but I take multiple courses from multiple rehabbers, study to improve my skills, and interact with multiple licensed rehabbers.  The bunny is not cuddling, he's huddling.  That's a fear response.  He does not hop to you; he does not like you.  Right at this very moment he may tolerate interaction to get food; he won't always.  And raising a wild animal to be locked in a cage; what kind of a life is that?  What vet or rehabber thinks that's okay? 

It's one thing to say what people think, but the laws are pretty clear and are saying the opposite.  And that's just simple fact.  But like I said, you guys are obviously going to keep this bunny and make sure that he can never be released to be wild like he was meant to be.  He's going to spend his life jammed in a cage when he's perfectly capable of bouncing around being happy and wild.  I just have no idea how this is what's best for him.  Can you tell us why?

[Eileen]

Any update?

[fluffy pluffy]

Any update?

Rattietayls is at camp for two weeks.

[nancycccslp]

And she's been back for 2 weeks; what's the update?