Sebastian's Fashions

Hello all. Long time no post Life's been really busy but both Seb and I are well. I've got a lot of cute pictures that I'll be uploading in the next few days. Seb and I spent a week at my parents' home for thanksgiving and I was quite afraid that he'd be freaked out by the experience. However, he really surprised me.

I set up his pen, litterbox, and carrier in the guestroom that is my room when I visit. Same setup as here but he was like a completely different rabbit. I was afraid he'd be stressed by the fact that he had to ride in the car and that he was in a totally new place and that the floors were all hardwood. On the contrary, as soon as I set up his pen and let him out, he immediately hopped into his litterbox to use the bathroom and was fine. More than fine in fact. He spent all week begging to come out and explore the room and would happily come up to you if you were sitting on the floor for a pet and a sniff, he'd even hop onto your legs. He wasn't bothered by the hardwood at all and showed off some rather spectacular binkies.

However, when we came back here, it's back to hiding a lot ( whereas at my parents he'd be out in his litterbox or exploring, only going into his carrier for sleeping at night ), not coming out of his pen if I leave the door open, and being much less friendly in general. :? He's a bit more friendly than before our trip, but not the same social butterfly he was at my parents' house. I'm trying to figure out why. Y'all will get to see the photos of where he was kept so you'll see that that room is much larger and more open. His pen was set up basically in the middle of the room versus here where it is against a wall on one side and a bed on another ( the other 2 sides of the crate are open to my room and my closet) I'm thinking maybe that gave him a better sense of his own space/security in that he could easily see everything around him, versus here where when I'm in bed/sleeping I'm slightly above him?

I feel bad that maybe he isn't as comfortable here but there's no where else I can keep his pen :/ I am moving in the spring to a larger house and at that point he can obviously be set up in a living room but for now, tiny apartment living dictates where he can be. I've expanded his pen so he has the same amount of room he had here as he had at my parents' home ( who needs to be able to walk into their closet directly from their room? Mine's got an extra entrance door in the hallway) Anyone else have a bunny come out of their shell much more in other locations?

A few photos from last week Seb's slowly becoming less of a potato. He may get a chance to strut his stuff in the future; while Black and Tan isn't currently a recognized breed color, I've been talking to his breeder and apparently there's talk of doing a Black and Tan class at a few shows that Belgian Hare people will attend just for fun since so many people like the color His derpy ears that do not stand straight up will probably be frowned upon in a show ring, but my gosh they are my favorite thing about him. They're just so dorky.

That is really strange that he seemed more comfortable at your parents! Is there any scents at your house that could be bothering him (ie dogs, cats, other pets?) I can't really thinkmof anything else, other than the setup you mentioned, maybe someone else can weigh in.....

Otherwise, he is looking regal as ever and is such a handsome boy glad you had a great thanksgiving!

I was really shocked lol I was expecting him to freak out over the fact that my parents' dog barks quite a bit, that he wasn't home in his element, that the cat likes staring at him, that the hardwood is slippery, etc. etc. And instead he had a ball. Guess he had to prove me wrong The only scent I can think of here that might bother him would be the smell of the other rabbit -shrug- But they've never come in contact with one another and Walter certainly hasn't changed since Seb came home.

He is so gorgeous. I love the picture where it looks like his whiskers are glowing. I just want to give him little nose kisses and tell him how pretty he is! I think this blog needs to be updated with pictures frequently!

He's an absoloutly beautiful bunny! I agree, we need pics more often

Just a couple of thoughts. Maybe all the comotion at your parents house made him feel more at home sort of. It was probably crazy and there were lots of other animals around at the breeders. Also maybe he likes the wood floors better than what he is on now? I know that a lot of rabbits do not like slippery floors but he might be an exception to the rule. Do you leave a radio or tv on in the room he is in when at your apt? If you do not, I would try that. I have seen lots of people leave radios/tvs on for their animals while they went away on vacation. (I petsit in my spare time).

:yeahthat:

How is the bonding going? is he still afraid of you?

Thanks for all of your replies everyone And I love that picture with his shining whiskers too. I was trying really hard to get a photo of when he was sitting more in the light spot because it would light up his eyes and make them really light brown and pretty looking but he's pretty quick. I'll try and keep the thread updated with interesting pictures more often

In regards to Seb being more comfortable at my parents- he's started to really come out of his shell here as well so maybe the trip just happened to coincide with a little breakthrough in his bunny brain that not everything is scary? Bonding with me has been going extremely well, when he's not in his cage he's fine with people walking around him and if I lay down or sit down he will come up to me and investigate and even permit some face kisses. I actually had the honor of being chinned today lol He also allows petting if you start from the nose first and I've been using a few strokes on the face as a cue that he's going to be picked up, which he's pretty okay with. Not a huge fan but no crazy struggling if I can get him scooped up in one fell swoop either ( I don't pick him up much ) When you pet him, he just lays down and becomes flat which I've read can be a fear response? I don't think its fearful in Sebs case, as if he doesn't want to be touched he'll simply bolt away from your hand and look annoyed. I'm pretty careful to make sure he sees me before touching him.

He's been enjoying free-ranging in our living room the past few days, however he seems to dislike hardwood flooring here despite being fine on all hardwood at my parents I tried having his pen be all hardwood for two days in case he preferred it, but he just stayed on the little towel I gave him except for getting food and water, so I put a large beach towel under most of his pen. Someone is too smart for his own good and figured out how to pop all of the foam letters out of the alphabet mats I was using to keep under his pen and I was afraid of him ingesting too much foam so those had to go. There's a stretch of uncovered hardwood between my room and the carpet in the livingroom so he's very hesitant to come out to the living room and he'll run to the front of his cage clearly interested in coming out when I open the door but not leave, so I've been giving him a little bridge fleece blanket when he's out to help him be able to get back and forth without slipping.

Furthermore, Seb is a hay diva. I forgot my box of hay at my parents when we were leaving to go back home and I've been using the hay that my roomate feeds her rabbit. Its perfectly fine, the other rabbit loves it, its a large bag of kaytee but smells almost exactly the same as the obxow that I buy. Its definitely harder than the oxbow but is fine in a pinch as I haven't had time to go buy more oxbow hay. However, Seb has been a diva about it and has been eating a lot less hay and tossing it around his pen a lot more since I've betrayed him with lesser quality hay I'm considering ordering a bag of crazy tasty for him since the only store that sells oxbow is a bit of a drive from here anyway and I've heard good things about rabbits taking to it. Another odd thing about Seb and his hay, he's far more enthusiastic about timothy than he was alfalfa. I bought a bag of timothy once since the store was out of alfalfa and he just adores it. Just an odd quirk

Also I'll look into getting a radio to leave on for him in the future; I don't own a TV or radio since I just run everything from my computer lol

Sorry for the long rambling update!

You know, I know people say not to disturb bunnies and let them be because they are timid by nature but sometimes it is good to get them out of their comfort zone once in a while, otherwise, as you said, it will never click into their bunny brains that not everything is so scary

As for the floors, if you refer to my blog you will see giant anti-fatigue mats are all over the floor in my condo for Phoenix to run on, I got them for about 11$ at walmart and I can always fold em up easily.

Seb is a very gorgeous bunny!

Yes he is gorgeous!

That is so great that he is bonding with you and settling in more! I agree that maybe the trip did wonders for him in bringing him out of his shell a bit more. He sure is handsome glad things are going good!