It was mentioned in another thread that my updates about the crazy adventures of my bunnies are a bit all over the place and difficult to find, so I thought I'd start a thread here to keep it all together. I'll do a catch-up post first, and then I'll do regular updates about the babies!
So, catch-up time! My adult bunnies were originally Miranda-Jayne Andrea J(surname) and Samantha Snow J. Mirandy was the original fluffball, but on the drive home from getting her I decided she would be lonely and needed a bunny buddy. As soon as we got home I started searching for an available friend for her, and found a breeder on the other side of town with a doe almost a week younger than Mirandy, so in the space of about 2 hours I made an impulse bunny buy, and it's the best decision I ever made!
Miranda started out seeming like the better 'pet type' rabbit, happy to sit in our arms while Sammy was always exploring and refused to stay still. She'd also pee and poop on people. After a while though it became clear than Sammy was the explorer, but she was by far the more affectionate. As miranda became more confident she learned to make it very clear than she didn't want to be picked up, whereas Sammy would come running when we entered the room and reach up for cuddles, giving big licks and snuggles often. I became extremely attached, and to this day Sammy owns my heart like my own daughter and one of my dogs do. I love all my pets, but have special bonds with some that just can't be manufactured. My sister has a similar bond with Miranda and the other dog.
At nearly 4 months the sex change fairy visited, and Samantha became Samual. He was a humpy little bugger, which Miranda rolled her eyes at and patiently ignored him, until her hormones decided to go crazy and she had a phantom pregnancy. We had a tense few weeks, but thankfully no babies arrived. Miranda was far too young for babies, on top of the fact that I didn't want them breeding. Sammy got desexed, but there was another pregnancy scare when my 6 year old brought Miranda inside to get her out of the heat and unknowingly put them together when Sammy still had silly hormones. Again, no babies, so we relaxed.
Even though Miranda wasn't desexed she and Sammy have had an amazingly close bond from the beginning, becoming destructive and depressed respectively whenever they were separated. They have never had any aggression towards each other and are very snuggly. All was well and normal for a few months and Miranda and Sammy settled into the family life as indoor/outdoor bunnies.
One month ago, while outside overnight, Miranda dug out. They have a two story hutch with 3 metre run attached for when they're outside unsupervised, and the cheeky bugger decided that since her nasty mummy made her husband infertile, she would find a sperm donor. She was actually back in the run when found the next morning, with her face stuffed in her food bowl while Sammy wandered the front yard. They were brought inside again and the hutch and run relocated to a much safer position. I figured since Sammy had stayed close and Miranda had come back all was well. The next day I spotted another escapee lop bunny in a yard the next street over. It was about the same size as mine, so either a mini lop or a larger type but young, and was mostly while with darker around his nose and ears, so from what I could see I figure either seal point or a charlie I guess. Anyway, that was the day after the escape, the next street over, I had no idea of gender or even whether it was full grown, Miranda had been back in the run and Sammy had stayed close, so I figured they had both stayed in our yard and there was nothing to worry about.
Then Miranda built a bit of a nest two weeks later, with some pulled fur. I figured it was a false pregnancy again, maybe from the excitement of the escape, and the timeline would be right. I didn't worry. Then she built another nest, big this time, and her body started bouncing. I moved her inside with me and stopped taking her back out overnight, but for 5 days she ignored the nest completely. I started thinking maybe I'd imagined things.
The night before last I woke up at 3:15am to the sounds of Miranda pulling fur to add to the nest. 10 minutes later she started grunting away in there, and wihin 15 minutes she had left the nest. You'd think she'd be exhausted after all that, but she had more energy than the entire week before, and kept me awake the rest of the morning running around and binkying and digging the ground behind the nest furiously. I'm thinking she was pretty proud of herself!
So, catch-up time! My adult bunnies were originally Miranda-Jayne Andrea J(surname) and Samantha Snow J. Mirandy was the original fluffball, but on the drive home from getting her I decided she would be lonely and needed a bunny buddy. As soon as we got home I started searching for an available friend for her, and found a breeder on the other side of town with a doe almost a week younger than Mirandy, so in the space of about 2 hours I made an impulse bunny buy, and it's the best decision I ever made!
Miranda started out seeming like the better 'pet type' rabbit, happy to sit in our arms while Sammy was always exploring and refused to stay still. She'd also pee and poop on people. After a while though it became clear than Sammy was the explorer, but she was by far the more affectionate. As miranda became more confident she learned to make it very clear than she didn't want to be picked up, whereas Sammy would come running when we entered the room and reach up for cuddles, giving big licks and snuggles often. I became extremely attached, and to this day Sammy owns my heart like my own daughter and one of my dogs do. I love all my pets, but have special bonds with some that just can't be manufactured. My sister has a similar bond with Miranda and the other dog.
At nearly 4 months the sex change fairy visited, and Samantha became Samual. He was a humpy little bugger, which Miranda rolled her eyes at and patiently ignored him, until her hormones decided to go crazy and she had a phantom pregnancy. We had a tense few weeks, but thankfully no babies arrived. Miranda was far too young for babies, on top of the fact that I didn't want them breeding. Sammy got desexed, but there was another pregnancy scare when my 6 year old brought Miranda inside to get her out of the heat and unknowingly put them together when Sammy still had silly hormones. Again, no babies, so we relaxed.
Even though Miranda wasn't desexed she and Sammy have had an amazingly close bond from the beginning, becoming destructive and depressed respectively whenever they were separated. They have never had any aggression towards each other and are very snuggly. All was well and normal for a few months and Miranda and Sammy settled into the family life as indoor/outdoor bunnies.
One month ago, while outside overnight, Miranda dug out. They have a two story hutch with 3 metre run attached for when they're outside unsupervised, and the cheeky bugger decided that since her nasty mummy made her husband infertile, she would find a sperm donor. She was actually back in the run when found the next morning, with her face stuffed in her food bowl while Sammy wandered the front yard. They were brought inside again and the hutch and run relocated to a much safer position. I figured since Sammy had stayed close and Miranda had come back all was well. The next day I spotted another escapee lop bunny in a yard the next street over. It was about the same size as mine, so either a mini lop or a larger type but young, and was mostly while with darker around his nose and ears, so from what I could see I figure either seal point or a charlie I guess. Anyway, that was the day after the escape, the next street over, I had no idea of gender or even whether it was full grown, Miranda had been back in the run and Sammy had stayed close, so I figured they had both stayed in our yard and there was nothing to worry about.
Then Miranda built a bit of a nest two weeks later, with some pulled fur. I figured it was a false pregnancy again, maybe from the excitement of the escape, and the timeline would be right. I didn't worry. Then she built another nest, big this time, and her body started bouncing. I moved her inside with me and stopped taking her back out overnight, but for 5 days she ignored the nest completely. I started thinking maybe I'd imagined things.
The night before last I woke up at 3:15am to the sounds of Miranda pulling fur to add to the nest. 10 minutes later she started grunting away in there, and wihin 15 minutes she had left the nest. You'd think she'd be exhausted after all that, but she had more energy than the entire week before, and kept me awake the rest of the morning running around and binkying and digging the ground behind the nest furiously. I'm thinking she was pretty proud of herself!