As I said, I release my babies at 7-8 weeks old. I think they are a good size at this time, and seem to quite capable at their speed and manuevering abilities.
If you have had to keep any babies seperated up until this point, please transport them in seperate carriers. I had put two bunnies in the cage that had been living together under the table, then I added another bunny that had been caged alone, then my Big Boy that had been living in my sons room for a few days, and a huge fight broke out. My deduction was that possibly the 2 bunnies from under the table were females, and then the next bunny I added was a male, which was ok, but then the last bunny was maybe a male also, and 2 males with 2 females was apparently not a good thing. So please keep them seperate when transporting them.
Make sure you have a well picked out spot, no known predators, no cats roaming, lots of brush piles, bushes, woodpiles, etc. Those are good places to hide. If possible, leave a bowl of their pellets and or oats, a few carrots or other treats. They may not need them with all the wonderful abundance of grass and other things they'll find to eat, but they may enjoy finding them, and you may have a chance to continue to see them coming around if they know there is a good food source being left.
If you plan on releasing them in a park or something of the sort, please be careful regarding your laws. It is against the law in my state to release any animal in a park, just be careful so youre not caught. But to me, these places are full of predators, so I never considered them. A graveyard may be suitable, but I worried about the big mowers scaring them.
When you release them, some may take right off, happy at their freedom, some may be reluctant and may need a bit to adjust. My idea was that if I could walk back up to them after a few minutes and pick it back up, then maybe it wasnt ready to go. I watch mine until they are out of sight. I once noticed one bunny cowering by a log appearing frightened, so I picked it back up and put it by another bunny that was munching under a tree and then it seemed to be more comfortable.
They dont stay together after being free, but in those first moments maybe that bunny was comforted by being near another. Most of my bunnies ran right out of sight to explore or out of reach to happily munch. If you notice your bunnies losing patches of hair, please consider seperating them into smaller groups, as there is no doubt fighting going on amongst them. Consider giving your bunnies a few things to play and hide in. PVC pipes, shoeboxes, empty or filled with shredded newspaper, a small box full of sand to dig in, they also like to roll in it.
Wild bunnies can jump much higher then a house bunny,(at least in my opinion) so if you are blocking off an area for them please make sure you use something plenty high. My bunnies would hurdle a 32 inch high gate like it was nothing.
I would also like to add, for those who are able to maybe weigh their babies, if it is helpful in determining the correct age or size to release them if their age is unknown, my Cody that I brought back home for a few days before releasing him sucessfully weighed 1 and 1/4 pound. He was average size in comparison to the others and actually only weighed 1/4-1/2 pound LESS then my baby Monty, even being 1 week older then Monty, but he looked so much smaller. Monty had all that hair that made him appear larger.
I would also like to warn you that no matter what age they are when you find them, please check them thoroughly for fleas and ticks!! I have found both on my babies and their eyes werent even open. Whether you have other animals or not, most people do not want their houses inhabitated with those disgusting parasites. If you do find any, it is best to discard of any nesting you may have brought in and change the bedding entirely after disposing of the fleas and ticks. |
