cottontail babies

Question
I have three cottontail bunnies that some students of my mothers disturbed their nest and took them out.  It has fallen to me to try to raise them as I'm the animal "softy" of the family.  I don't know how old they are but they do have their eyes open and their ears are erect.  They eat formula like little pigs and I have introduced alfalfa leaves and grasses and blackberries (things I can find around our pastures)  The issue I have is one of the little ones appeared to be dying last night - lying on it's side panting heavily, eyes closed, flopping around.  I know that bunnies are a difficult crew to raise so I chalked it up to stress since he had been eating and healthy just hours before.  I wrapped him in a towel and put him back in the crate with the others thinking he would be dead by morning.  This morning he's still alive, out of the towel and had alfalfa hanging out of his mouth, chewing on it.  The issue is, I would compare him to a stroke victim, his head lolls to one side, his back legs seem strong but when you put him down with nothing supporting his sides he flops over.  I held him cupped in my hand so he could stay upright and he ate both formula and alfalfa this morning.  Any ideas and am I now going to raise a "handicapped" bunny for the rest of it's life?  :)  Also, it is over 100 degrees here in TX right now and I don't know if it's a good idea to move the bunnies outside some to get them away from the air conditioning.  Also, sites I have been reading say to feed clover and such but we don't have any here.  I went on a fun hunt but am not sure which weeds/plants are good for the babies and which are not. (except for the cottonwoods that I know the big rabbits eat every time we plant them!)

Answer
Dear Brandi,

If possible, I would get that little sick one to a good rabbit vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets

to see if s/he has an ear infection causing tortcollis.  You can read more about this here:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/tilt.html

though with cotties and other wildies it's often hard to tell exactly what's going on when they're sick.  If the alternative is death, then a course of Baytril would not be a bad thing to try.

I would not put them outside if the heat is that high, but do get them in an area that's not very cold so that they will be able to eventually make the transition to the outdoors.  You might have to wait until the temperatures are more normal before you release them, though Texas cotties have evolved to tolerate such high tempertures.  It's still a good idea to gradually acclimate them, though.

For more information, this might help:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/wildbabies.pdf

Good luck!

Dana