Adoptions!

Greta, my shy little Dutch girl, got adopted on Sat. She's going to be bonded to a cute little lop boy. She's settling into her new home pretty well right now, after a bit of a shaky start. (She was on a hunger strike. But she's eating and pooping, so she's doing good. Funny how excited bunny parents can get over good ol' #1 and #2....) I really miss Greta, and it was really great to see her gain some confidence while under my care.

Jodi, the lop girl I rescued from a local shelter, went to her forever home on Sat. as well. I didn't get to interact much with her new family at all. I was facilitating the bunny dates, so that kept me busy. I'm sure she'll settle in fine. Jodi actually likes to be held and loves attention, and her new family has a daughter that will probably spoil her rotten.

Kristie took Jodi's spot at another foster mom's house, so I'm down in the single digits again - I only have 9 buns at my place. Wow, huh?

I'm going to get down to 7 in a few weeks, I think. I'm getting surgery at the end of Oct., so the fewer mouths for "Grampy" to feed and care for while I'm in the hospital and recovering, the better :-)

Mama

Attention All Humans

This is Greta, the foster rabbit, with an important message for all human parents of rabbits. We hate, I repeat, HATE, to have our shedding tufts of fur plucked off our butts, backs, or anywhere else. As primates, I know that these tufts must really bug you. I even understand your misguided sense of trying to help us not ingest this fur when we groom ourselves. However, this fur plucking must cease.

My fur looked like a badly mowed lawn the other night, when Mama started plucking my butt. She had tried brushing me first, but so much came off that she just gave in and started yanking away. After conferring with the other rabbits, I decided to sneak into the study today and post this on the blog. While I can't quite call it a No Plucking Manifesto, I can say that you can all consider yourself warned. Further plucking will be undertaken with the understanding that blood or appendage loss may be involved.

Greta

Two Adoptions and Carson is in Petco!

Nadia, my second foster bunny to graduate to living at Petco, was adopted on Sunday. There were two approved adopters meeting the 8 rabbits we have available up here. Nadia went home with a young woman who doesn't have kids (a quieter home was best for Nad). The other approved adopter was a family with a 10-year-old or so daughter.

The daughter met everybun (except for Cassandra), and it was down to Greta and Joshua (Josh being one bun I brought back from Indy on 7/3). The girl picked Joshua!! They're getting him tonight. I had a vet visit scheduled to get a handle on Joshua's sneezing and stuff, to see if there was anything I should be doing for him, and they're going to be there for the exam, too. He and the girl really hit it off, and he just loved being petted. I think she'll have a great confidant and snuggler in Joshua.

Since Nadia had been living in the Merrillville Petco, her being adopted left an empty hexi. I had mentioned Carson to the chapter head before, and she felt it'd be fine to enroll him into the IHRS system. It was hard leaving him at the Petco, but I'll know he'll do great there. He's such a sweet guy, and he'll love everyone who comes to see him. I'm trying not to think about my "empty cage" syndrome, and I know it's for the best that he's at the Petco. A lot of people will get to see him and fall in love with him. Hopefully his forever home will find him soon.

Mama

Bunny Swap

Well, all sorts of things have been going on in the warren in the last few weeks. Kristie, my first foster bunny "graduate" who went to live in Petco, is back with me. She was getting stressed out at the store (she'd been there for 6 mos., I think).

Greta, Kristie, and I went down to Indy on June 22nd for bunny dates. Harrison came along, too, and he went to a different foster home and I got Cinnabun to keep my big bun slot filled. Kristie was pretty cranky on the first date, so she was left alone for the 2nd date and the meeting with a potential adopter of a single bun. Greta did okay on the dates, but the first boy bun didn't really hit it off with the girl buns there. The adopter of a single bun, though, did pick her. I was going to hand her off to her new Mama that following Saturday. Kristie, Cinnabun, Greta, Jazmine (a bun for another woman in NW Indiana to foster), and I all came back home.

That following week, Greta stopped eating. We were at the vet every day getting X-rays and other tests done to see what the problem was. Unfortunately, her new Mama (a first time bunny owner) decided that she should probably choose another bun instead - Greta has a few other issues that might cause problems in the future. Poor Greta. She's pretty much back to normal now. I did get to learn how to give subcutaneous fluids, though, which was a goal of mine.

Then after work on July 3rd, I drove down to Indy to trade Cinnabun for Cassandra, another former foster bun of mine who has gotten into some trouble. She had bit a few of the volunteers at the Petco store where she was, and this last one nicked a blood vessel. So the decision was made to pull her from the store, and I brought her back home to live with me. She is a lot sweeter than she used to be, but she did nip me on my wrist when I was putting the refilled pellet bowl back into her pen. It didn't bleed, but it bruised right away.

I also took in 2 short-term foster buns because their old foster Mama had to take in a relative who needs surgery and there are allergies. Honey, a gray-ish agouti Dutch, is 11-12 years old, and I feel very honored to be caring for this matriarch of IHRS. She's finally starting to warm up to me - dried fruit treats really help, as do great butt scratches I give her. Joshua is the other bun I took in. He's a brown agouti and has upper respiratory issues at times. He's pretty sweet.

I certainly have no more room at the Bunny Inn!!!

Mama

Bunny Swap

Well, Lil' Miss went back to her old foster home yesterday. She's going to be a regular foster rabbit instead of a Petco rabbit. She'd do much better in regular foster care, and I don't think she'd do well in the store when space became available.

So, now I have Greta. Greta is the most scared of all the rabbits from the big rescue of Dutches that the IHRS did (basement breeder, so the rabbits weren't socialized at all). Nadia came from that group, and she's doing great at Petco.

Greta freaks out when you walk into the room, so she's going to need some special TLC to bring her around. She has a box to hide in, and she dragged her salad into it last night. She opted not to come out for play time, but hopefully tonight I can entice her out.

I put Greta in Marja's old cage and moved Marja to the "big girl cage" - it's above PJ and Jenna's cage, so I have to pick Marja up to bring her out for play time, hence the "big girl" (ie, mentally and emotionally ready for being picked up) part of the name :-) Marja is being bolder, and she likes being up higher. Plus she puts her head down as I walk by, asking for a headrub, so I indulge her. Hopefully I can get her to demand headrubs (rip book out of my hands so I pay attention to her instead, etc.).

Mama