How to Feed Cottontail Rabbits
For the most part, domestic rabbit breeds originated in Europe, but cottontails are all American. While domestic and cottontail rabbits can interbreed, there are some differences in their care. The biggest difference is in their native diets. To have a healthy cottontail in captivity, whether you're nursing it back to health after an injury or found a litter of orphaned kits, you must feed it what it's used to eating in the wild--or at least come as close as you can.
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Instructions
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Pile on the green. While domestic rabbits do just fine with hay, commercial rabbit food and the occasional fresh treat, cottontails are used to eating a green diet of fresh vegetables, garden greens (turnip tops, carrot tops, lettuce) and freshly cut or pulled weeds.
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Don't overdo the water. Cottontails are used to getting most of the moisture they need from the fresh greens they eat; they don't need very much drinking water. Provide it, but be prepared to replace most of it with fresh water at the next water change.
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Adjust for the cold months. Since green, leafy food is not generally available to wild cottontails in the winter, offer them small twigs, roots and tree buds until the world outside your door is green and lush once more.
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Allow the cottontails to ingest their feces. Cottontails practice coprophagy, which is the act of eating their own feces. They produce a fecal pellet called a cecotrope that is rich in nutrients.
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Tips & Warnings
Do not try to feed your domestic rabbit a diet completely made up of vegetables, garden greens and weeds--and little to no water. Your bunny will very likely develop a nasty case of diarrhea and could also be overdosing on calcium.
