We adopted a very cute black & white bunny last night. The woman we adopted her from gave us a small cage for her but we plan on building her a 2 floor condo out of those office cubes tonight. We do have two 10 month old kittens and so far things are going well. Bunny lived with cats before so she is unfazed by them. My kittens are curious about this furball that doesn't quite look like a cat. They go up to the cage and sniff her and that's it. No hissing or poking or anything. I'm proud of them. My question however is this...we put her cage in our bedroom so the cats wouldn't be near her but my bf and I kept waking up in middle of night because the bunny was trying to burrow in the cage. Is this normal? She kept trying to dig but the cage has a plastic bottom so it makes a lot of noise. We eventually had to place her in the computer room and shut the doors so we could sleep. So is this normal? Is there ways to stop this? Is it because her cage is a bit too small at the moment?

And here is a pic...

My bf and bunny. She LOVES being cuddled.

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Slightly worried

One of my buns is acting a little weird today. She was eating earlier, hay, green leaves and a couple of cranberries. But after the cranberries, I threw in some carrot pieces, and she didn't go for them. Not that my other bun minded.

Since then she hasn't touched any of the treats I've tried to tempt her with. I pulled her out, and her tummy was soft. And I let her down on the floor and she ran to her favourite spot, and attacked the cardboard and wires before I told her no. So I thought she was fine.

But then I put them back and fed them their daily pellets, and she hasn't touched them at all. Sooty has, and has left her a decent amount. It's been over half an hour and she hasn't even gone to sniff them.

I've given them a big heavy bowl of water as well as the bottles. And they have plenty of hay.

I know she's eaten something today, but I'm still worried. Especially as she is moulting. They both are. She's still preening herself and Sooty. I've brushed them today and last night to hopefully get rid of the excess fur(They've only just started moulting).

Do I need to rush her to the vets, or just see if she eats in her own time? It hasn't actually been that long, I'm just a big worrier.

Thanks in advance.

P.s. I would post some pictures, but I haven't got any new ones. So here's a link to the album of pictures from before they moved in together: http://picasaweb.google.com/icklevics/Bunnies#

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что это может быть за болезнь?

крольча почти не ест, у него понос, сильно выпадает шерсть, сзади уже голая кожа где-то 5 кв.см...
что это может быть?
жил у друзей 2 недели, но уже месяц как дома... у них попугай... вообще заразиться врятли чем мог. но в этом году не прививали

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we lost my sweet (or not so) zelda today.





david was pacing thru the living room when he motioned me over to take a quiet look in the bunny cage. as i came over, we saw zelda laying on her side, in the way a contented bunny flops over.
we first assumed she was sleeping, but she didn't respond to us tapping on the cage, so as david turned on the light, i opened the cage door to touch her. i will never forget that touch and hope i never feel it again. she was cold.
after i sobbed my heart out (and it's still not empty yet), i thought back on this week. normally link and zelda reside together, but since i had an appointment for her to get fixed tomorrow, i separated them for a few days so she could try to stay in good shape.
see, for the past week or two, it seemed that perhaps link had been a bit agressive in his grooming of zelda, but now i'm not so sure. her fur had been and was very patchy; not in a bald way, but in a way that looked like someone had given her a haircut and not trimmed it all evenly. i was hoping she would look a bit better for the vet trip.
since i separated them and changed the under-cage litter pan, it didn't seem that she had been performing normal bodily functions. there was no signs of anything except for a few loose poops perhaps leftover from link. i noticed it at the beginning of the week, and then discounted the thought, thinking it had to be somewhere.
well, there are still no signs in the cage of any of her functions.
aside from those two facts, today when i went out to see her, she didn't move when i opened the door. normally she's very agressive and doesn't like to be touched. usually she would rear back and either nip at you or lunge to get you to back away. today she didn't move, but lay in bun-loaf form in the back. i didn't suspect anything, and thought that perhaps after several months, she was finally warming up to me. she lay there and let me groom her, pulling out several chunks of loose fur. afterwards, i decided to flip over her floor mat to a cleaner side. she barely moved, and i had to practically pick her up to get it in place. since she got very dirty from loose bits of food crumbs and hay falling on her, i decided to try her out for her very first bath. so i wrapped her in a towel (which was surprisingly easy, considering her agressiveness), and took her to a sink with warm water in it. my son and i tried to get her clean and again, she never moved. afterwards, i decided to put her in link's cage and swap them for a few days so she could have a slightly cleaner environment until she recovered from surgery. she hopped out and laid in bun-loaf form in the cage.
i took link out and bathed him too. he acted like himself, and kept hopping on to the counter to see where he was. (don't worry, i had at least one hand on him at all times!)
i thought nothing of anything, except for the oddness of zelda's apathy until we saw her flopped over this evening. i came undone.
after david and i discussed it, i first decided i would bury her out on the hill (we live in the back of a housing track which opens onto many miles of hills, valleys and natural land), but after some thought, decided on something different. (putting her in the trash was just out of the question). there are many coyotes out on the hill, who are struggling to survive because of constant development going on around them. i decided i wanted to give back to nature and let zelda return to it; trying to continue the cycle. i hope you know what i mean and don't think ill of my decision.
so david and i walked and walked until we got to a part of the path that was well out of the way of the housing track; maybe a quarter of a mile in. we then turned off the path for a long way, so you couldn't see the path anymore. along the ridgeline was a perfect spot of bushes forming a circle with a small clearing in the middle. it was the perfect size for her. david settled her down and arranged her peacefully, and we left.
after returning link to his cage, he seemed to know. he sniffed around a bit and then seemed very sad, and kind of put out with me. he's just been laying around, mostly, but still acting like himself, so i don't think it's something contagious to him.
anyhow, that's what happened.
i feel like crap because if i had been paying more attention to my intuition and the little signs, she might still be alive. as it is, i almost called the vet today because of her behavior, but just figured she was having mood swings, just a bit more severe than usual.
so moral of the story is: pay attention to the facts and listen to yourself. maybe you'll save your bunny.

edit: now that i remember, she also hadn't eaten all week either. i figured she was just being a picky eater and taking her time, since normally link hogs all the food and eats it in one go. maybe she was just old? we don't know her history, so maybe she had a decent or long life and this was just her time. if so, explains why she was always so cranky!

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Conflicted

I'll start off with happy news. Bunbun did his first binkies today =D I missed all but one but my friend saw him. Following the cosmic rules he didn't do a thing when I pointed a camera at him lol.

Now for the hard part. I took Bunbun in with the thought I would give him to my friend (the son of the lady I got him from) when I had to move. But he's grown a lot on me and I'd like to take him with. It just might not be fair to drag him cross country on a flight to live for an unknown date in an hotel till we find an apartment. I only have about a week ad a half to figure out what to do. I of course have to clear it with the boyfriend and roommate first. Then I don't know anything about flying with a pet and going about all of that.

So what do you guys say? Give him up to the friend and get reports on how he's doing. Or if it's allowed take him with me? I want to do the best thing for him but I also wanna keep my bun.









And plop.

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winter bunnies

I have two 11 week old female dwarf lops (sisters) who have a lovely hutch attatched to a 6foot run outside. Here in England, the weather is starting to get pretty cold, and was wondering if people could advise me on how best to look after them in the colder months. Unfortunately them living isn't really an option because I live in a fairly small shared house. I'm looking for good foods for them, and basically advice on how to look after them and make sure they are warm, cosy, and healthy. Thanks

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Hello!

I've been a member for a bit now but haven't got round to posting as I've not got a working camera to post piccies of my adorable Dwarf Lop, Sargent Poosicle, who's having two of his favourite appendages (if you know what I mean!) removed on Tuesday.
I am moving into a new house next week to give my bun more space to run around, as he's gotten far too big to keep in a hutch all day.

Here lies the rub: I'm not down with stressing out my little chum. Will moving so soon after the snip cause him distress? He's into everything, so I know normally he'd enjoy a new environment, but after surgery I don't know if it'll be too much for him.

Another major issue is that my brother's girlfriend decided that she's bored with her rescue bunny and wants a dog, and just instructed my brother to get rid. Which, I despise. It's disgusting to take a bunny who was abused (he was kicked in the face and had to had his front teeth removed) then shunt him on when your next whim comes along. So, I've ended up saying that when I move he's coming with me. That's not a problem, I earn good money and can pay his vets bills etc, and he's a proper cuddle bun who loves having his face hair hand groomed and a proper fuss making of him.
The one thing I'm concerned of, is that not having front teeth will he have trouble in setting up a relationship with The Sarge? He won't be able to nip to set boundaries, or groom the other bun (as far as I gather). Has anyone got any experience on bonding a dentally disadvantaged rabbit? I don't want him to end up downtrodden!
Thanks in advance!

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yoga with Guru-ji Sri Sri Moe Moe

We all know that stoneware food dishes (one large for salad and one small for pellets) are practical and aesthetically pleasing to eat from. But also, when they're empty, consider incorporating them into your bunny-vinyasa. Drag them around and rearrange them. Feel the weight of the stoneware as it slides across your grass mat. Listen to the resonance of the clanky noise they make when they strike each other. And if you get them aligned just exactly right, you can squeeze in between them and dangle an ear into each dish. A true yoginbun can then fall asleep in this position (Parsleyasana) with his feet kicked out behind him. Not recommended for beginners! If your ears don't flop, this asana may require modification. See how long you can maintain the posture before your person starts chuckling and taking pictures of you.

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Time to neuter Sasquatch

The time has come to neuter Sasquatch. Does anyone have any personal recommendations in the Houston area? I have the list from Bunny Buddies.

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MOLTitasking

I think my Moe Moe is molting! Suddenly last week he started shedding like mad, and now every time I pet him, great floofy tufts of fur come off and drift on the air. I used to brush him weekly but now I'm doing it daily. First we tried the FURminator that all my cat-owning friends rave about (it's an undercoat rake) but I found it a little too sharp and unwieldy. Instead, we like the rubber Zoom Groom tool that they sell in the dog grooming section of Petsmart; it doesn't look like much but it's very effective and the bunny seems to enjoy the feel of it. I can really get in there and rough up his coat every which way and pull out whole hamsters' worth of hair, all while he's lying down with his contented little chin on the floor. The trouble with this grooming position is that it limits me to reaching his head and back and bum and sometimes a paw or two, and he won't let me get to his underside. I'm making sure he gets lots of hay, to keep his system going if he does ingest more fur than usual. For me, I have a lint roller and a carpet scraper.

The Internets tell me that this happens a couple of times a year, and can take anywhere from a couple days to several weeks, depending on the bunny. Poor booboo, I hope he's almost done. He's like a dandelion gone to seed. Poof! When I got up the other morning I could tell exactly where he had been sleeping the night before, and in what position, because on my dark-colored rug there was a thick layer of pale fawn fur in a perfect lying-down-bunny shape.

I don't have any specific questions, just wanted to hear your stories of/ experiences with bunny-molt.

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Bella Update #1

First, I'd like to thank all of your for your comments of support. I can't express how much you guys mean to me; no one around here understands the love and dedication a person can feel for a rabbit so having a network of support like this community helps a lot.


Bella survived the anesthesia. The vet has called Oklahoma University to try to get a better recommendation on how to proceed. The x-ray discovered that her entire bottom jaw is calcified and her teeth are broken at the base, inside of her jaw. I have never felt so infinitely depressed and furious simultaneously before. This could have been taken care of the very first time I took her in for the abscess, but none of the vets she saw bothered to check the cause; they'd simply lance her and send her home. By the sounds of it, she has had this bone infection for a very long time and the vet is basically telling me that proceeding with any treatment is risky. I will not be accepting that as an answer. I will find someone who can help her, I don't care if I have to leave the country to do so, but I am not willing to give up on her until I have tried everywhere and everything.

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Our new bunny

I am a new bunny owner.

Last April, my 10 year old wrote me a long letter about how he wanted a bunny.  It would live in his room, he would take care of it...you know the rest. I told him we had some vacations planned, but we could talk about it again at the end of August.

His bunny desire didn't wane over the summer, so we went to the local shelter and adopted Thumper.  Now, I knew going into it that Thumper was going to be my responsibility.  He lives in the breakfast room and is absolutely adorable.

The 10 year old rapidly lost interest, but my five year old adores him.  And more surprisingly, my HUSBAND is the one who pulls the bunny out to let him run around in the evenings, and lets Thumper sit on the couch while he's watching tv.

I never thought I'd be a bunny owner, but I have to admit, he is pretty darn cute.  He seemed to be litter trained already, so that's been nice.  He loves carrots, kale, and apples.  He chewed through his first electrical cord, though, so we had to go and bunny-proof the few remaining cords he could reach.  The only bad thing is that he likes to hide under the couch, so it's really hard to get him back in his cage once he's been out. 

Here are a few pictures of our bunny.

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Long Lasting Guilt

I don't know where it came from, but last night I started thinking about my first rabbit, Stormy.

She was a beautiful grea angora given to me by my boss at a horse ranch. I was 10, maybe 11, when I got her and knew very little about how to properly care for rabbits. She was born & kept outdoors until I brought her home. I recall wanting to keep her indoors, where it was warm & safe but my family insisted she stay outdoors - at least during the summer. My brother had a bunny, too - Thumper (naturally) - so we built a large cage on the lawn for them to be more free and happy. However, it was poorly constructed and they both escaped a few times - always eventually caught, until the day Thumper never returned. We lived at the foot of a mountain, so there were numerous animals that would have preyed upon the poor fellow.

After that, I kept Stormy in a small wooden cage that was better built. She was allowed to run up & down the porch, but spent most of her time in the tiny enclosure. At some point I decided to put her in our unused camper trailer, kept warm with lamps and space heaters in the winter. She seemed much happier in there, having the run of the place. A local "wild" rabbit even came to see her on a frequent basis, and one day I decided to keep him inside with her, which pleased them both to the point of having litters. The babies didn't survive long, though I was told at the time that the first litter or two that a rabbit has rarely survives (much the way women have miscarriages without knowing it). Still, it was heartbreaking to return home from school and learn that another kit had died that day. The longest to survive was a sweet black kit - he took after his father - whom I looked after for my best friend. She lived a few hundred kilometres away and wasn't allowed to have a rabbit, so I kept him in her honour. One morning in the dead of winter I went to feed the Stormy, Perky and Sir Hops-a-lot, who had all been fairly happy in that trailer. When I entered the trailer I nearly collapsed in shock: poor young Perky was dead, in the most horrific way. I couldn't believe it. I still can't believe it. The heaters broke overnight, causing the trailer to dip greatly in temperature. I believe that he froze to death, and fell into his water dish, which in turn froze around his little body. It's a vision I can never remove from my mind.

Soon after that, I released the semi-wild bunny (he was part of a string of rabbits that were once family pets but left to fend for themselves at some point) and took Stormy back inside. Some time later, we moved to another town and I kept Stormy in the basement of that house. It was a very unwelcoming spot, and she was kept in the little cage again; I honestly don't know why she wasn't allowed in the house, aside from the fact that it wasn't a very large one. At any rate, I was 13 any distracted by my young, irresponsible life. Since she was in the basement, Stormy was often the last thing on my mind every day. She was fed and watered regularly, but I rarely let her run about anymore - I wouldn't have let her run on the basement floor, and we didn't have a porch. At that time, I didn't think of just letting her run in the livingroom, especially because we had dogs that would have gone after her. So there she sat, in her little pen, day in, day out, probably waiting anxiously for the next feeding. I don't recall what I fed her - pellets, and veg, but probably more of the former and veg only sparingly. That was her life. Food, and a tiny pen.

Within a few months of moving to this new place, Stormy died. I went down to the basement one day after school, and she was sprawled out in her pen, unmoving. I lost it. I screamed and cried and a massive wave of guilt overtook me. My mother assured me that Stormy died of old age, but she would have only been 2, nearly 3 years old. I think she died of loneliness. I've never gotten over the guilt - that I didn't give her more of a free life, that I didn't play with her more often or let her run around inside. I'm sorry that I neglected her, even though I loved her. I'm sorry that the idea of a rabbit was more important to me than taking care of her. I'm sorry that I was too naive to know how to properly care for her, and that the death of Perky didn't encourage me to give Stormy the most fulfilled life possible.

I'm sorry, Stormy.

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So, I just had to drop Bella off at the vet and sign a waver saying I won't sue them if the anesthesia they need to administer to x-ray her jaw kills her. Not helping matters at all, the vet assistant, when taking Bells from my arms, said "I'm not used to rabbits!" and laughed. Yeah. Not a funny thing to say to someone as you pry their love and joy from their arms upon informing them of a risk of death. I've never wanted to slap a vet before.


I noticed Bella's teeth were ungodly long a few days ago and immediately freaked. Called the emergency 24 hour clinic in complete hysterics. They calmed me down and convinced me that they had been long for a while and waiting one more night wasn't going to hurt her (I disagreed but let it go). Made an appointment with her normal vet the next day to get them clipped, but I also noticed she had grown another abscess on her chin (her 5th in the two years I've had her). No vet ever bothered to question why her abscess was so reoccurring and in exactly the same spot every time. They must have just assumed she wasn't well taken care of, and vets around here don't really seem bothered at the idea of a neglected rabbit. But that rabbit is seriously treated better than I'd treat humans. She's my baby. Well, the vet opens up her mouth a bit to check her teeth and notices she doesn't have any bottom teeth, and that there is puss coming from where the teeth should be. He thinks it's a bone infection. He also thinks she has a broken jaw as it was swinging a little too freely.


To say the least, I feel like I have failed her. I should have noticed. I should have checked. Now all I can do is wait and hope like hell she gets through this.

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A question for lop owners

This is going to sound really weird and/or stupid, but do your lop bunnies tend to be seriously snuggly or is it just mine?

All the rabbits I have ever owned have had the following list of priorities, in order of importance:

1. Food
2. Freedom aka out-and-about time
3. Affection from people (holding, petting, etc.)

#3 was always about as far down the list as you could get, especially once they got a taste of #2. They never minded being held and petted until the very first day they got to roam outside the cage, then it was "putmedownputmedownputmedownputmedownputmedown". The occasional petting was accepted, but in general, they were completely uninterested in socializing. Even Karnage, who would circle my feet and grunt his love grunts at me, had little interest in being held or petted for the most part. I have gotten used to this, and it's never been a problem; as long as they were happy, I was happy.

Mickey, however, is a whole 'nuther kettle of fish. This is his list of priorities:

1. Affection
2. Affection
3. Affection
4. Affection
.
.
.
10. Freedom
11. Affection
.
.
.
.
25. Food

When I open his cage in the morning, he's looking to get petted. He wants his nose stroked and his chin scratched, and how dare I actually interrupt this by trying to feed him? Anyone who opens his cage door had better be planning on petting him for at least an hour, otherwise he's not interested. He will stretch out on my chest and watch TV with me for hours, tooth-purring and clucking away while I pet him. He especially likes a good shoulder or tummy massage and a scratch just above the cottontail. If I stop, I get my face licked until he decides it's time to be petted again. His exercise time is about the only time that he's not as interested in being petted, but he'll still bop over to me regularly for attention when he's not flopping on the floor or tossing things around. When I finally allowed him to roam the house the other night, I figured that would be the end of him wanting to sit quietly and watch TV when he was out of his cage, but surprisingly, that was not the case. Tonight, it was 3 hours of him flopped on my chest while we watched baseball and he was about the happiest bunny in the world.

I'm not complaining about all this, mind you; I absolutely love having this snuggly bundle of fluff keeping me company, even when he's nipping my neck on occasion, chewing on my shirt or leaving a mass of fur on my clothes. It just seems odd to me that he craves so much affection when I'm used to my rabbits generally snubbing me. It's like having cats for years, and then suddenly getting a dog. It doesn't appear to be a case of loneliness; he's in an area where he can see and be seen and he generally gets attention from everyone who passes his cage. It just seems like the more affection he gets, the more he wants. I had a golden retriever like that once; if you could pet him 23 hours and 59 minutes out of the day, he'd want to know why you didn't pet him that one minute. Is this something common to the lop or could it be the result of his early neglect? From what I could gather from the humane society, he didn't get much of anything from his previous owner except the bare necessities, so I'm wondering if that had an impact on his personality. Any input would be appreciated.

@темы: behavior

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Good news!

In case any of you were wondering..
All of the surviving bunnies from the Buffalo Rescue [I posted here about it roughly a month ago] have been placed in permanent homes [as of last Thursday], and the three children that were also found in the home are alive and well.
Thanks for all of your support!

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Where do you buy your bunny supplies?

Where do you buy your food/hay? I usually just get some at the store, but the prices seem cheaper online - except for the shipping costs! Does anyone know of any good websites or places that offer free/cheap shipping?

Also, there's a farm nearby that offers Timothy hay for sale by the bale. I feel like this would be cheaper, more environmentally conscious, and more convenient, but I'm not really sure what I'd do with an entire bale of hay when I only live in a small house! Does anyone have experience with getting hay for their bunnies locally?

And a photo of the lovers just for good measure:

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I haz a troublesome bunneh....

So my Lucy was spayed yesterday. She was fine, if a little dosey. I checked her wound this morning - everything looked fine, stitches all in place. I get back this evening - and of course, she's pulled out all of her stitches.

The wound itself still looks fine - not inflamed, still closed. She's being her normal self, too. Eating and drinking and hopping around her cage quite happily. It's too late to ring the vet this evening to ask if she should be brought in - I'll contact them tomorrow to see whether they think it should be re-done. In the mean time, is this an emergency? Should I be ringing the out-of-hours emergency vet number? Is there anything I can do to make sure the wound stays closed until tomorrow?

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Give a wabbit an inch, part 2

(Part 1 can be read here.)

Once Mickey figured out how to get on my computer chair mat, it didn't take him long to figure out how to make his way along the other mats in my dining room area to give himself some more space for running around. Of course, true to his rabbit nature, that satisfied him for all of five minutes, then he decided he wanted to get in the living room. He's been in there plenty of times, but only when being held, not to run around. Since I was on the computer and didn't feel like supervising him in the living room, I had the entrance blocked off with some large boxes that I happened to have handy. That only served to make the goal more challenging; I spent most of his exercise time shooing him away from those boxes. At one point, he actually leaped on top of the biggest one, then sat there a little stunned ("Whoa! I made it!"), which gave me just enough time to grab him and put him back down on the floor. I took some pictures of this, which I will post as soon as I get a chance to upload them.

Last night, since my son was going to be in the living room for a while watching football and I didn't have to be on the computer, I decided to give Mickey a trial run in the living room. Of course, when he found he could actually go in the living room, he was a little hesitant at first, but soon enough, he was bopping all over the place, especially once he figured out that he could make a full circuit from the kitchen to the dining room to the living room and back to the kitchen again. I don't think I've seen that foo' wabbit run so much before. Lots of bunnydancing going on as well, when he wasn't trying to explore every inch of the living room. As always, it was the spots we wouldn't let him in that were most fascinating; each time he came into the room, he would try to get behind the loveseat and behind the recliner, and my son and I would shoo him away. He'd give us the "you're spoiling my fun" look, then he'd move on for a bit until it was time to try again.

Overall, it appeared to be going well--until he hopped up onto the couch. I should have immediately put him down on the floor, but no, I decided to let him sniff around a bit.

Bad move. He sniffed around for a bit...then peed on the couch.

Thank goodness for stain-resistant fabric and Zero Odor Pet, that's all I can say. The cushions got cleaned and rotated to the loveseat (which doesn't get sat on as much). Mickey was allowed to run around for a bit longer, but it was becoming clear that he was less interested in running around than he was in getting in the forbidden zones, so I moved him back to the kitchen, closed the living room door, and put up his gate at the kitchen doorway. He responded by trying to get into my laundry room area, which is usually blocked off by his gate, so I blocked that off with some boxes. Once he realized he wasn't going to be allowed anywhere but the kitchen, he decided he'd had enough playtime, so he went back into his cage, gave me the Dread Glare of Sulk and then flopped down in his cage for a nap. I tried not to laugh as I closed his cage door.

I'll probably let him into the living room again at some point, although obviously not on the couch, but I'm definitely going to have to get a second gate to keep him in the kitchen for days when I want to let him out but can't supervise him as closely as needed to let him run around the house. As is, it'll be interesting to see what he does when I bring him into the living room for our regular TV-and-snuggling sessions. Now that he's had a chance to run loose, will he be happy just to sit and be held?

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Expense...

I obviously misunderstood the vet this morning when I took Fraggle for her dental and to get the lump removed.

I have had to pay a bill of