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Cottontails are the animal most often taken by well-meaning people who thought they were helping, and they are one of the hardest animals to rehabilitate. Stress alone kills them. For baby rabbits, the right answer is almost always: leave it alone.
Call or text us first: 901-340-6534. TWRA is clear on this — contact a permitted rehabilitator BEFORE you pick the animal up. We can often tell you in one text whether the animal needs us at all.
Is it old enough to be on its own?
Rabbits grow up astonishingly fast. Eyes open at about a week. They leave the nest at two to three weeks. They are fully independent at three to four.
It does not need you if it is roughly softball-sized — four to five inches — with its eyes open and its ears standing up.
The simplest test there is: if it can run away from you, it does not need you.
You found a nest
Mother rabbits only visit the nest about twice a day, at dawn and dusk. They stay away deliberately so predators do not follow them to it. An unattended nest is a normal nest.
To check whether she is still coming:
Lay string, yarn, or grass stems across the nest in a tic-tac-toe pattern, as straight as you can.
Leave completely. Go inside.
Check the next morning — at least 12 hours later, up to 24.
Pattern pushed aside, nest re-covered with fur and grass? She is visiting. Leave them be.
Pattern untouched AND the babies look thin and weak with loose wrinkled skin? Now text us. In the morning their bellies should look round and full.
Do not keep going back to check. Your scent at the nest draws predators to it.
The nest got destroyed — mower, dog, or landscaping
Rebuild it in exactly the same spot. She will not go looking for a nest that has moved, even a few feet. Put the fur and grass back over the top.
And for the record: handling baby rabbits does NOT make the mother reject them. That is a myth. Still handle them as little as you can, but do not abandon a nest because you touched it.
Protecting a nest from mowers or pets: put an upended laundry basket over it during the day with a weight on top, and take it off before dusk every single night so she can feed. Do not mow within ten feet of an active nest.
DO NOT FEED IT. DO NOT GIVE IT WATER.
DO NOT FEED A BABY RABBIT ANY KIND OF FORMULA. You will kill the animal.
No cow's milk. No goat milk. No kitten or puppy formula. No Pedialyte. No water from an eyedropper. No carrots, no lettuce. Not a drop of anything.
What it actually needs is warmth, dark, and quiet. That is it.
How to contain it safely
A small box with the original nest material if you have it. Punch the air holes BEFORE the animal goes in.
A soft cloth on the bottom — an old t-shirt or fleece. Not a terrycloth towel; the loops catch claws and nails.
Heat under HALF the box only, so it can move away if it gets too warm. Always put cloth between the animal and the heat.
Dark, quiet, indoors, away from bright light. A closet or bathroom is perfect. Away from kids, pets, and the TV.
No handling. No peeking. No photos. Human attention is stress, not comfort.
Wash your hands afterward.
Call us immediately if you see any of these
Bleeding, an open wound, or a broken bone
It has been in a cat or dog's mouth — ANY cat contact is an emergency, even with no visible injury. The bacteria alone will kill it without antibiotics.
Small white specks that look like grains of rice — those are fly eggs — or flies hovering around it
Cold to the touch, wet, or crying nonstop
You know the mother is dead
What not to do
Do not chase one. Rabbits can die of capture myopathy — a stress reaction that kills them hours or days later, with no injury at all.
Do not keep it. It is illegal without a permit, and cottontails almost never survive in a home.
Do not relocate it. Moving wildlife is prohibited in Tennessee.
Wildlife emergency? Text us at 901-340-6534