DeVille the Lockpicker

I came home last night, set my bag down, grabbed the bag of baby carrots, and went into the bunny room to give them their treats. And what did my eyes behold but DeVille's door wide open and no DeVille in his house.

He came out from his hiding place, then dove back in when I tried to grab him. He's small enough to fit between the other cages and the wall, so he can get into some very unreachable places. I managed to snag him and put him back in his house.

At least I don't have to worry about any cords being chewed, since he doesn't have his front teeth. Still, what a little troublemaker :-)

He was still in his house this morning, though he did dart out when I opened the door to give him his salad. I managed to catch him, and I put him in a carrier for a time out while I refilled his pellets and water and gave him more hay. I think I might have bumped his door yesterday morning and undid the latch. Or he's able to get it open on his own. I sure hope not. I've had escaping buns before, and it's hard to think of ways to outsmart them. Dumb bunny my foot!

Mama

Lionhead = Fraggle?

Yesterday, I had to catch DeVille (another lionhead that had to have his front teeth extracted) as he scooted out of his cage when I was giving him dinner. When I caught him, I noticed that his mane was waving in the breeze from the ceiling fan much like the feathers on a Fraggle or Muppet would.

I have a feeling the escape-from-Mama game will be a twice daily attraction in the bunny room. I wonder if it'll make me late for the train one of these days....

Mama

We Have Cohabitation :-)

Today was litterbox cleaning day. I did Jenna and Conner last, putting them in a small pen in the bunny room while I cleaned their houses. I did Jenna's house first, then let them out of the pen while I did Conner's cage. Well, Conner moved in. He was in her house a few weeks ago, and Jenna kicked him out. Today, they're getting along!!

I have Conner's cage attached to the door of Jenna's house, so she can kick him out if she wants to. They've already lay side by side with Conner grooming her, so I think we're gonna be okay. There has been a little bit of chasing, but Jenna has a hiding box to get away from Conner's attentions. Conner does listen to Jenna when she tells him to stop or that she doesn't like something (although he often forgets and does it again), so she's whipping him into shape, so to speak.

I thought back to when Jessica moved into Calvin's house. It had been on Mother's Day. Today being Father's Day, I think Jenna and Conner are going to do just fine :-)

Mama

Funniest Video of Binkies/Racing

I checked out a webpage of another bunny person this morning, and there was a hilarious video of a dwarf bun doing binkies and the Bunny 500:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HiO9rzU_aw&feature=player_embedded

I just had to pass it along. Enjoy :-)

Mama

Conner's Fetish?

I trimmed Conner's and Jenna's nails yesterday, then left them in a pen for another date. They're really doing well together, though I have one question. Can rabbits have a fetish?

Conner seems obsessed with grooming Jenna's ears. Jenna will tolerate it, but she sometimes groans, like Conner is too rough or she's just tired of it. I've never seen a rabbit mostly groom just one place on another rabbit. Calvin would groom Jessica all over her face, and Jenna would groom PJ the same way.

So maybe Conner has the same thing as men who are "leg men" or "breast men"?

Mama

PS When I was feeding everyone this morning, Jenna actually wanted to come out of her house (I usually leave the doors open until I'm done putting in everything). She went over to Conner's house to talk to him through the bars. I'm going to do another date today (hopefully outside if the rain that threatens holds off). They might be further along than I thought. It'd be nice to have one less house to clean!

The Lionheads are Back

Heath (chocolate lionhead) and Jake (black lionhead) are back in my care after their incisor removal surgery. A peg tooth still might grow back in either of them, so I have to keep watch. I guess Jake is a lot calmer than Heath and can actually take being handled. Heath has a wild gleam to his eye, so I'm thinking he's going to be an interesting boy.

I might try making a trio, trying to bond them with Julia (I don't think Calvin would mind) or even with one of the other boys in the warren. If it doesn't work, well, I'll stick with the current dating scene and have a bonded boy pair.

Pics coming soon. Heath had some of his mane trimmed because he was getting really messy when he was being fed Critical Care, so I might wait until he looks like what he should look like.

Mama

Back from Vacation

The buns and I spent a great vacation in NW PA. "Grampy" got to meet Stew and Conner, and I took Caspian out to meet a friend. Everyone thought he was cute. (He is my poster child for cuteness, and rotten-rabbitness - he's so stubborn!) It's a 6 1/2 hr. car ride to and from, so the kids were tired when we got there. Grampy got us some awesome hay, too (even better than what I've been able to get lately around here). I certainly had no room in the car to bring my own, so we really lucked out :-)

I did 2 bonding sessions, one with Calvin/Julia and the other with Conner/Jenna. Dad was surprised at how Cal and Jules fought. I'm telling you, rabbits can really fight! It wasn't a bad fight, but a big ol' chunk of fur was torn out of Julia.

On the way back, we got stuck on the Indiana Toll Road for a while because of President Obama's motorcade (he spoke at Notre Dame's graduation). I didn't even get to see it because he was way ahead of us.

I rearranged the bunny room a bit when we got home. There was a thumpathon that night as they adjusted to being in different places, with I guess different sounds and stuff. At least it was before I went to bed.

Mama

The Scary Ceiling Fan

With the warmer weather, I decided to turn on the ceiling fan in the bunny room. Conner, who is in a cage closest to the ceiling, practically had a heart attack when I turned it on. (He's not right under it, and he's not at eye level with it, either.) Strange thing moving on ceiling must mean that it's going to kill him. He eventually settled down after I spoke to him soothingly. He freaked a little bit yesterday, too, even when I turned it off - as the fan slowly spun to a halt, it must have looked scarier or something.

This morning, Conner didn't even flinch when I turned it on. None of the other rabbits even noticed the fan, I don't think, though they did stand at attention when Conner was thumping and freaking out, to see if there was something they should be concerned about.

Poor buns - Mama just wants them to stay cool, and Conner thinks I'm out to get him. In all fairness, he was sold as a meat rabbit, too, so maybe the ceiling fan brings him nightmares of being at a Beni Hannas or something.

Mama

Pet Expo

Well, the Pet Expo appearance was a bit of a bust. I got to talk to a few people about rabbits, but I didn't really get to pass out much information. No donations, either, so next year I'm thinking about doing a raffle for a gift certificate or something.

Stewbun and Caspian did really well. Caspian is still mad at me for some reason. Stew got a little spooked at times, but he was a brave bun. I put on the sign hanging on his pen that he was raised as a meat rabbit, and people were touched by that story. Some people didn't know that rabbits were raised for meat, and he helped put a face on the idea of eating rabbit meat. I had a few people say that they couldn't eat a cute bunny like him, so maybe a few seeds were planted that will help rabbit rescue in the future.

Mama

Special Appearance

Capsian, Stew and I are going to a pet expo tomorrow at the Porter Co. Fairgrounds in Valparaiso, IN. Since I don't have foster buns any more, I've decided to drag the two buns of mine that should be the least freaked out when they see dogs and things. I'll have a display set up to talk about the Indiana House Rabbit Society and rabbits in general.

I was there last year for the IHRS, and not having any rabbits there hurt us, I think. I'll have printouts of the rabbits in the foster system, and I'm hoping Stew can change the thinking that pink-eyed buns are evil looking. Stew's such a sweetie, and his curious nature should mean that he'll handle the crowd well. Caspian will just be happy to be with me all day.

While I didn't get to do a lot of stuff that I wanted to in preparation for this year's event (like creating a game or quiz that people could take for a prize), I think having the buns there will help.

If any of my readers are in the NW Indiana area, please stop on by :-)

Mama