Bringing up a Leveret

02/10/2013 - 10:30

We now have a new addition to the family here, a orphaned leveret. It is only about 8 days old now, but seems to be doing quite well and putting on weight. Feeding it a kitten milk mixture. Anyone else had experience of bringing them up??

Comment

Well done you Badger!

Thanks. It is something we have never done, so a real challenge at the moment to make sure it survives.

I assume it's similar to an orphaned kitten, just regular feeds and gently tickle its tummy to make it pee. Good luck.

I'm sure kitten milk will be okay for a day or two, but surely a young hare is more akin to a rabbit than a kitten, so when you get round to weaning it I'd guess it will want lettuce rather than fish! They are regularly raised, commercially, to stock hunting reserves, so no doubt a google.it search on alimenti per lepre will trawl up something useful. Good luck, it might make a nice pet - or a big dinner for a cat.

Thanks for the answers. I looked on the hare preservation trust UK website and it said to feed it the kitten milk for some time, as that is the closest to the mothers milk. It now has fresh grass in with it as well to nibble on, so it is getting the best we can do for it at the moment. We have no cats, but the Setter likes it, Maremma, still to find out if it will be ok. Qui Gia ... yes did rub its tummy and it peed over the wife's jumper!!!

You are doing a great job, Badger. I must say that it is not easy to raise a leveret or a young rabbit. ONe of our daughters has been a volunteer at "Save a Bunny! for quite a while and babies are difficult to raise. You will find plenty of information and help on the Internet. On the other hand, keep in mind that it will be practically impossible to release it into the wild, as raising it by hand and getting it used to human contact will change it into a domestic animal. It would not last one hour into the wild. In any case, you are doing a wonderful thing and I wish you, and the leveret, lots of luck. Please keep us posted.

Badger - is this what one would call a hare raising experience?

Well done Badger, best of luck!, we have friends that have hand reared tiny kittens and their two Maremmas were very gentle with them.

Update. It is putting on weight daily now. Setter is not disturbed with it running over it. Maremma has not got to see it yet!!

Well done! Hopefully, Maremma will get used to it. Keep us posted.

Well done mummy bunny didnt know they had any wild animals left round here :-)

ANY LEFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's becoming a very big problem around here the numbers of wild animals i mean.we have foxes, badgers,wild boar,roebuck,red deer,porcupines,stoats ,weasels,buzzards,now even as low as Amandola wolves..you'd be suprised at how many there are as agricultural land declines and woodland increases..

i nearly had a car accident on the main road servigliano-amandola the other day with a full grown deer (not a capriolo)

On Sunday the hare was its usual bouncy self, so we put in the outside run. When we checked on it later in the afternoon after bringing it back inside, it was on its side and having spasms. Called the vet and went to the surgery, where it was given a antibiotic, a anti inflammatory, plus a x-ray. She thought it may have got meningitis. Anyway brought it back home, but unfortunately it died a few hours later. So sad as it was so affectionate.

So sorry Badger...... If anyone ever needs advice re sick/abandoned/injured wildlife, just contact these guys..... http://www.brentlodge.org/ I make no apologies for advertising.... This Charitable Trust near Chichester, was founded by my uncle over 40 years ago. They do wonderful work and will gladly offer all the help they can without actually being able to see or admit the creature... A "like" or a "share" on Facebook would be greatly appreciated if nothing else.....

Very sorry to hear the bad news. Bacterial encephalitis is common amongst rabbits and leverets.

Sorry to hear the sad news.

Oh I am so sorry!.

Thanks for the kind messages from you all. It is always sad to see a animal pass away, even a wild one.

Sorry Badger....sad news.......And thanks Maggi for the link, we never know when we might need help / advice.

I know Brent Lodge, used to live not far from them in Sussex, have done a Like on FB.

Thank you Angie & Robert... They need all the support they can get.

For all those interested in rabbits, the House Rabbit Society at rabbit.org has plenty of information and advice. I just found out that there is an Italian branch www.aaeconigli.it

Sebastiano. May have been one of the ones that escaped the "Parco di Cervi" some time ago, as none have been seen there since. About time the signs to it were taken away!!