How to Care for Infant Cottontails

You may come across a nest of infant cottontail rabbits that seem to be abandoned or in need of care. Household pets and children often find baby bunnies and disturb their nests. Always check with a veterinarian or wildlife rehabilitation center before you decide to care for infant rabbits. Many nests that seem abandoned are not. Cottontails usually feed their young from sunset to sunrise, making it rare to see the mother rabbit at the nest during the day.

Things You'll Need

  • Cardboard box
  • Heating pad
  • Blankets
  • Plastic bottle
  • Oral electrolyte solution
  • Sugar
  • Salt
  • Eyedropper or pet nursing bottle
  • Syringe
  • Milk replacer powder
  • Zoologic Milk 30/55
  • Heavy whipping cream
  • Cotton balls
  • Rabbit chow
  • Vegetables
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Instructions

    • 1

      Check the baby cottontails for injuries and move them away from danger, including pets, lawnmowers and young children. Contact a veterinarian or wildlife center as soon as possible if the bunnies appear hurt or sick.

    • 2

      Warm the infant cottontails if they feel cold. Place them in a box and place a heating pad set to low halfway under the box. Place clean blankets inside. If you do not have a heating pad, fill a plastic bottle with hot water and wrap it in a towel. Place the bottle in the box with the babies, making sure it cannot roll over and hurt the bunnies.

    • 3

      Treat infant cottontails for possible dehydration by giving them clear oral electrolyte solution or a mixture of sugar and water in an eyedropper or pet nursing bottle. Give fluids at room temperature every hour for the first six hours. To make sugar water, dissolve 3 tsp. sugar and 1 tsp. salt in 1 quart warm water. Cool the mixture to room temperature before feeding.

    • 4

      Mix one part milk replacer powder and 1/2 part Zoologic Milk 30/55 with 1 1/2 parts water to make a formula to feed infant cottontails after they are rehydrated. Use one part milk replacer powder and 1/4 part heavy whipping cream with one part water if you do not have access to Zoologic Milk.

    • 5

      Build up to full-strength formula by giving infant cottontails formula that gradually increases in strength over a 12-hour period. Feed one part formula and two parts water every two hours for the first four hours. Every two hours for the next four hours, feed one part formula mixed with one part water. Mix two parts formula with one part water for the next two feedings at two-hour intervals for the last four hours.

    • 6

      Wrap the baby in a warm cloth to keep it warm and secure while feeding. Use a 1 cc syringe to feed the bunnies. Place the tip of the syringe to the rabbit̵7;s mouth and allow it to lick at the formula.

    • 7

      Stimulate the babies to urinate and defecate by rubbing a damp cotton ball over the genital area. Only very young babies who still have their eyes closed need this stimulation.

    • 8

      Place a shallow dish of water in the box after the babies have their eyes open. Wean the rabbits off formula by supplementing with a self-feeding diet. Use rabbit chow to make up 75 percent of an older cottontail̵7;s diet. Clover, wild grasses and dandelions should make up 15 percent. Cut up slices of kale, spinach, carrots, squash and broccoli into dime-sized pieces to make up the last 5 percent of the infant cottontails̵7; diet.