Exercise

I took Stew out this afternoon to stretch his legs for about an hour. He had fun, though he still won't go onto the top floor of the bunny vacation villa. I then took Jenna and Conner (the pellet marking maestro) out for an hour as well. Jenna seemed rather subdued, so I hope she's feeling okay. She has some matted fur around her butt from urine (not true urine scald). I have her on almost no pellets, so I'm sure that is messing her system up a bit. (She needs to lose weight again.) She ate weeds for most of playtime, so that was a good sign.

A neighbor walking by couldn't believe how fuzzy Conner was and took some pics of him with his cell phone. I picked Conner up so he could feel him. Conner looks like a hopping afro right now, so I need to give him a haircut tomorrow if the weather stays okay. Too windy today to do it. I end up eating way too much fuzz when I do it as it is without Mother Nature blowing more into my mouth.

Mama

Disappearing Stew

This morning, I was giving everyone their breakfast, leaving cage doors open until I'm done with each bun. I look over at Stew's house at one point, and I don't see him. Now, he's a big boy, so it's not like he can hide easily like one of the Lionheads can.

I thought, "Hmm, now if he'd have jumped out, I'd surely would have heard him hit the floor." His house is as high as Caspian's (see post below), but I still looked around on the floor to see if he was around. Nope. I walk over to his cage and I see that Stew is hiding beside his litterbox, keeping it between him and me. When we were visiting Grampy back in May, Stew would hide behind his litterbox, but he hasn't done it much at home here, and certainly hasn't done it in the middle of getting breakfast. I don't know what prompted his "I've gotta hide" instinct, but it sure gave me a scare for a second.

I think the buns are trying to "Gaslight" me, I swear!!

Mama

I'm Very Proud of Caspian

Yesterday it seems I forgot to close Caspian's cage door when giving everybun their breakfast. Amazingly, he was still in his house when I got home. Mind you, his house is on top of Calvin's two-story bunny condo, so it's quite far off the ground. (Caspian and I are at eye level when I'm standing in front of his house.) Still, Cass doesn't exactly have great common sense, so I was so happy that I didn't find a dead bunny boy on the floor after breaking his neck jumping out or after eating whatever the stuff is in Damp-Rid (which works well to get rid of humidity, by the way).

So, I'm very proud of Caspian. Maybe some lingering effects of wearing those glasses at the Spa Day are in play here....

Mama

Caspian in Wonderland

Photos from the Alice in Wonderland themed Spa Day at Red Door, a Chicago shelter that rescues rabbits and where I adopted Calvin and Jessica. Caspian is so attached to me that I had hoped he'd be a good sport about getting his pictures taken in costumes. His expression says it all, I think.






These two remind me of the Who song "I'm a Boy"




And yes, I told the wonderful ladies doing the photos to dress Cass up in drag, for I knew the pics would be priceless. And they certainly are.

Mama

Stew in Wonderland

Photos from the Alice in Wonderland themed Spa Day at Red Door, a Chicago shelter that rescues rabbits (and where I had adopted Calvin and Jessica). I had to take Stew since he's my white rabbit.

I love this big lug :-)

Mama

Cadence the Floozy

Poor little Cadence doesn't seem to realize that all the attractive boy buns in my warren are all neutered. When I get home, I let her out into a pen to get some exercise, and she is constantly flicking her tail up and down. It's not like when Jessica would wiggle her tail like a duck (when she was being mischievious) - it's more like when a mare "winks" at a stallion, a come-hither of her nether region. I tell her that none of my boys can help her out in that department (and I tell the boys to stay away from that crazy unspayed girl), but of course she can't understand.

She also likes to circle my feet and bite at my ankles when I enter the pen to put her back into her house. I guess when you're in the mood she's in, any attention is good attention.

Mama

Pics of Cadence

Finally, pictures of Cadence. (Pics of Heath, Jake, and DeVille coming soon - want to take them outside in the yard and the weather was spotty all weekend.)




She's 4.4 lbs., so too big to be a Polish. Her face/head doesn't look like those of any Havana buns I've seen, so she's probably a dwarf mix of some sort.




She takes photos really well, posing and holding her look until after the pic is taken.




She's quite the looker. Here's hoping I can find a home for her. If not, she'll join the rest of the crew. :-)

Mama

Cadence is Settling in Well

Cadence (pics coming soon) ate a baby carrot and a few craisins I gave her as a welcome treat last night. She folded the newspaper in her litterbox over the hay. I tried to fix it for her this morning, then got to see her EDS come out. (EDS, as my vet will tell you, stands for Evil Doe Syndrome. She half lunged at me and growled. Not intimidated, I started to pet her, where she started some moans and vocalizations like she was afraid. Poor thing.) She flipped the paper right back where it was, so I gave in and just gave her more hay on top of the paper, and she started munching away on the hay right away.

She learned two lessons today:

1. Mama isn't impressed with my inexperienced displays of EDS.
2. You can't eat hay if it's buried under newspaper, but Mama will give you more on top of the paper.

She was stretched out on top of her salad when I left for work this morning. She takes the phrase "A bed of lettuce" a bit literally. :-)

Mama

Hi, I'm Cadence

Hi. I'm a chocolate dwarf bunny girl who was dumped into someone's backyard garden. Harumph! I'm a sweet girl, and I don't know what I did wrong. Anyway, the guy who found me (I let him catch me pretty easily - I knew there were hawks in the area and didn't want to be anyone's snack) called Mama's landlady, who then called Mama. Mama promised me that she'll either find me a forever home who will value me for the gorgeous girl I am or will keep me herself. I'm letting her see a bit more of my personality, so she'd better polish the diva crown, for I'm gunning for it

Cadence

Sunday Play Time

Yesterday, the buns got play time outside. The weather was great, and I set up a double pen for twice the space for them to zip around in and sample the weeds. Only two buns were brave enough to go upstairs in the cardboard playhouse - Capsian and Stew. Neither went to the top floor, and both did jump out the window a few times. I was worried that Stew would weigh too much, but he was fine.

Calvin and Julia had another date yesterday. She solicited a groom from Calvin, and he obliged her for a lick or two, then groomed himself. Hmm, not overly friendly, and it certainly seemed narcissistic. Poor Julia was left "hanging" with her head down and thrust towards him for quite a while before she moved. Still, it showed some promise. Julia has been very lonely lately, and hopefully she and Calvin can finally work out their differences. She just wasn't that into DeVille, and Stew, Caspian, Heath and Jake don't like her. Poor girl.

The buns reacted to a very odd occurrence last night - the furnace kicked on around 10:30 last night! I had it set to 50-something, and it clearly read 72. The buns were thumping, so they knew something weird was going on, too. I had to turn the furnace off by a switch on the unit itself (and the gas, too). While I know I was safe at that point, the rest of me didn't, and I lay awake half the night unable to sleep. I installed a new thermostat today (works fine, and it has an off switch that works), so the buns and I should be able to spend a peaceful night.

Mama

RIP Carson

I found out today that a former foster bun, Carson, passed away unexpectedly last night in his forever home. Rest in peace, little one.

Mama

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