How to Raise a Baby Jackrabbit

Mother jackrabbits nurse their young for only 5 minutes per day. They will sit with their babies in the morning, leave for the day and return to the nest in the late evening. This makes it especially hard to determine if baby jackrabbits are orphans or simply waiting for the return of their mother. Care must be taken not to handle baby jackrabbits if their mother may return. Only take on the task of hand-raising a baby jackrabbit if you know for sure that the mother is dead or never coming back to the nest.

Things You'll Need

  • Cardboard box (shoebox)
  • Towel or old shirt
  • Heating pad
  • Kitten milk replacer
  • Eye dropper
  • Human acidophilus capsules
  • Syringe water bottle
  • Rabbit pellets
  • Timothy or alfalfa hay
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Instructions

    • 1

      Place the baby rabbits into a cardboard box, such as a shoe box. Place an old towel or shirt into the bottom of the box for the babies to cuddle within.

    • 2

      Maintain a room temperature of 65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Baby rabbits cannot endure extreme heat. If the room is colder than 65 degrees Fahrenheit place a heating pad under one end of the towel or old shirt. Set the heating pad to low.

    • 3

      Feed the baby jackrabbits twice a day using a kitten milk replacer, according to Pet Place. Use an eye dropper to feed the babies the milk. During the first week of the rabbit's lives, feed them 2 to 2.5 cc/ml per feeding twice per day. Increase the milk to 5 to 7 cc/ml per feeding twice per day when the babies reach 1 to 2 weeks of age. Increase the milk to 7 to 13 cc/ml twice a day when the jackrabbits reach 2 to 3 weeks of age. From 3 to 9 weeks of age, feed the baby jackrabbits 13 to 15 cc/ml twice per day.

    • 4

      Add one human capsule of acidophilus into the milk once per day until the baby rabbits reach one week of age. Open the capsule and sprinkle the tablet into the milk prior to feeding the baby rabbit. The acidophilus will help add much needed bacteria to the rabbit's digestive tract that it would normally receive from its mother.

    • 5

      Hold the baby jackrabbit in an upright position when feeding. Gently depress the eye dropper so small drops of milk enter the rabbit's mouth. The rabbit will eat slowly, do not rush the feeding or it could asphyxiate on the milk.

    • 6

      Feed the baby rabbits timothy hay, rabbit pellets and alfalfa by placing it in the box. The baby rabbits will learn to nibble the food and gradually wean themselves over the course of the next six weeks.

    • 7

      Provide a syringe water bottle when the baby rabbits reach 3 weeks of age. They will gradually learn to drink from it.

    • 8

      Release baby jackrabbits back into the wild when they reach nine weeks of age. If they are kept in captivity much longer, they become too tame and will never adapt to the wild, according to the House Rabbit Society.