Meet Will! He belongs to a girl at uni, who has gone to Spain for Christmas and so i'm looking after him for a couple of weeks! He's an un-neutered male mini lop. The picture below is an old one of him that his owner sent to me.
Things I have learnt since Will arrived at half 11 yesterday morning:
1. Unneutered male rabbits STINK! I don't know how his owner can keep him in her room. Then again, she was just using wood shavings for his litterbox. I've changed it for carefresh, which "eliminates urine odours", so hopefully that will keep some of the smell away.
2. I MUST wash my hands between handling Will and handling Bruiser.
I had Will out yesterday evening for a bit of a snuggle and to make sure he was settling in alright. I then, without thinking, went and took Bruiser out for a cuddle in the sitting room. When I put him back in my bedroom Smirnoff took one look at him and charged. Bits of white fluff went flying and I got bitten hard enough to draw blood twice trying to pick Bruiser back up. It was only then that I realised my silly misake. I took Bruiser back out and put him down in the kitchen whilst I washed my hands and got the bunny carrier to put Bruiser in whilst I decided what to do.
I took a towel and rubbed it over Smirnoff and then Bruiser and then Smirnoff and then Bruiser etc. to try and make them smell like each other. I put him on the floor, with Smirnoff shut in the cage. Bruiser went over to the cage, Smirnoff sniffed him a couple of times, grunted, charged at the wire and tried to bite him. So Bruiser went back in the carrier. I then took some soggy paper from the titterbox and rubbed that over Bruiser and let him out again. This time Smirnoff was less inclined to try and charge but still grunting. So I put them both in the carrier, put a towel over the top and shook it about on my knees for about 10 minutes. I then let them out in the bath and they acted fine. So I carefully let them back out in the bedroom. After that there was a bit of humping by Smirnoff, some chin rubbing and then a few small groomings too.
After watching them for a while I gave them some nice carrot treats to share and went to bed, very carefully listening for any signs of fighting.
This morning when I let them out there were Brilliant Bruiser Binkies and Small Smirnoff Binkies (which is amazing, because she doesn't normally binky at all) an what I think was play chasing. They were chasing after each other like they were fighting but the one running away was binkying. And it was Bruiser chasing Smirnoff rather than the other way round.
So I think we're all alright again. But I do not want to ever have that experiance again! From now on hand-washing is a must between handling Will and handling Bruiser!
In completely other news, Bruiser's confidence is coming on in leaps and bounds! He will now come up to me and climb on my lap if I'm sitting on the floor or try and climb up my leg if I'm walking around. He also tried to jump on my bed for the first time today! I say tried because he failed and fell off. He also went up to the door of my room, which doesn't sound like much but he normally stays away from it like it's going to eat him! This is all a far cry from the bunny who refused to leave his cage when I first bought him home. I'm so happy about it!
x-posted to bunny owners and partly my own journal
Things I have learnt since Will arrived at half 11 yesterday morning:
1. Unneutered male rabbits STINK! I don't know how his owner can keep him in her room. Then again, she was just using wood shavings for his litterbox. I've changed it for carefresh, which "eliminates urine odours", so hopefully that will keep some of the smell away.
2. I MUST wash my hands between handling Will and handling Bruiser.
I had Will out yesterday evening for a bit of a snuggle and to make sure he was settling in alright. I then, without thinking, went and took Bruiser out for a cuddle in the sitting room. When I put him back in my bedroom Smirnoff took one look at him and charged. Bits of white fluff went flying and I got bitten hard enough to draw blood twice trying to pick Bruiser back up. It was only then that I realised my silly misake. I took Bruiser back out and put him down in the kitchen whilst I washed my hands and got the bunny carrier to put Bruiser in whilst I decided what to do.
I took a towel and rubbed it over Smirnoff and then Bruiser and then Smirnoff and then Bruiser etc. to try and make them smell like each other. I put him on the floor, with Smirnoff shut in the cage. Bruiser went over to the cage, Smirnoff sniffed him a couple of times, grunted, charged at the wire and tried to bite him. So Bruiser went back in the carrier. I then took some soggy paper from the titterbox and rubbed that over Bruiser and let him out again. This time Smirnoff was less inclined to try and charge but still grunting. So I put them both in the carrier, put a towel over the top and shook it about on my knees for about 10 minutes. I then let them out in the bath and they acted fine. So I carefully let them back out in the bedroom. After that there was a bit of humping by Smirnoff, some chin rubbing and then a few small groomings too.
After watching them for a while I gave them some nice carrot treats to share and went to bed, very carefully listening for any signs of fighting.
This morning when I let them out there were Brilliant Bruiser Binkies and Small Smirnoff Binkies (which is amazing, because she doesn't normally binky at all) an what I think was play chasing. They were chasing after each other like they were fighting but the one running away was binkying. And it was Bruiser chasing Smirnoff rather than the other way round.
So I think we're all alright again. But I do not want to ever have that experiance again! From now on hand-washing is a must between handling Will and handling Bruiser!
In completely other news, Bruiser's confidence is coming on in leaps and bounds! He will now come up to me and climb on my lap if I'm sitting on the floor or try and climb up my leg if I'm walking around. He also tried to jump on my bed for the first time today! I say tried because he failed and fell off. He also went up to the door of my room, which doesn't sound like much but he normally stays away from it like it's going to eat him! This is all a far cry from the bunny who refused to leave his cage when I first bought him home. I'm so happy about it!
x-posted to bunny owners and partly my own journal