Musta-Eyolf-Pedes
Well-Known Member
Until the last few days, I never really thought of rabbits as good pets. I've had friends who had rabbits for pets and they never really had an appeal to me; looked like more hassle than they were worth. Then a few days ago, this guy found his way into my life (literally):
I'm not sure exactly how it showed up. I was in my bedroom with the younger of my two dogs eating dinner, and my older dog was in the hallway. The rabbit somehow made it past 2 people in the front room, up to 4 cats (all of which are active and aggressive hunters that regularly catch wild rabbits) and both dogs to hide under my bed; not even running, just kind of loping along at a calm pace.
The most obvious theory is that one of the cats brought it in and it got away, though its calm demeanor at the time and its current lack of fear toward the cats lead me to believe otherwise (as well as the fact that once I caught it I examined it for injuries and found nothing obvious).
It took me about 24 hours (and Brutus' help) to finally catch it and once I did I gave him food and water. Catching it wasn't all that difficult, once I was able to get to it. It didn't run and hasn't tried to bite me (at least, not aggressively. I've had a couple skin tags nipped off for not paying attention!) while handling. It does lick a bit excessively, which I thought was strange for a rabbit.
(I didn't know at the time not to feed it carrots or iceberg lettuce and to give it hay. I was unprepared!)
Over the last couple of days I've made his little basket increasingly nice.It's only a temporary home until I can get something set up in my room and he easily climbs in and out whenever he wants unless I cover it with a blanket.
(I've also gotten it a small mineral block for rabbits)
It likes to be held and even purrs already
And it loves to sit under the window where it can see outside!
Whether it wandered into my home through the mesh screen or was brought in by one of the cats, it's here now and it's clearly not wild. I obviously don't want to let it back into the wild (in fact I was already in the process of live-trapping two large, clearly domestic rabbits I'd seen in the wild) and I would feel bad if I took it out of "freedom" only to give to my friends who raise rabbits to put in a cage for its whole life.
So here I am now. If anyone has any suggestions or advice for a first-time, impromptu rabbit owner, I'd be happy to hear you out (especially if they're tips on how to quickly litter box train, since that's one of the contingents of not giving it away). My aforementioned friend, Kim, said that it's a Harlequin rabbit which is also what this site's identification key brought me to, so I'm fairly confident that's the correct identification in which case I'll need a much larger basket. As for now though, it's demanding to be petted, so I shall end my tirade here and explore the site further.
I'm not sure exactly how it showed up. I was in my bedroom with the younger of my two dogs eating dinner, and my older dog was in the hallway. The rabbit somehow made it past 2 people in the front room, up to 4 cats (all of which are active and aggressive hunters that regularly catch wild rabbits) and both dogs to hide under my bed; not even running, just kind of loping along at a calm pace.
The most obvious theory is that one of the cats brought it in and it got away, though its calm demeanor at the time and its current lack of fear toward the cats lead me to believe otherwise (as well as the fact that once I caught it I examined it for injuries and found nothing obvious).
It took me about 24 hours (and Brutus' help) to finally catch it and once I did I gave him food and water. Catching it wasn't all that difficult, once I was able to get to it. It didn't run and hasn't tried to bite me (at least, not aggressively. I've had a couple skin tags nipped off for not paying attention!) while handling. It does lick a bit excessively, which I thought was strange for a rabbit.
(I didn't know at the time not to feed it carrots or iceberg lettuce and to give it hay. I was unprepared!)
Over the last couple of days I've made his little basket increasingly nice.It's only a temporary home until I can get something set up in my room and he easily climbs in and out whenever he wants unless I cover it with a blanket.
It likes to be held and even purrs already
And it loves to sit under the window where it can see outside!
Whether it wandered into my home through the mesh screen or was brought in by one of the cats, it's here now and it's clearly not wild. I obviously don't want to let it back into the wild (in fact I was already in the process of live-trapping two large, clearly domestic rabbits I'd seen in the wild) and I would feel bad if I took it out of "freedom" only to give to my friends who raise rabbits to put in a cage for its whole life.
So here I am now. If anyone has any suggestions or advice for a first-time, impromptu rabbit owner, I'd be happy to hear you out (especially if they're tips on how to quickly litter box train, since that's one of the contingents of not giving it away). My aforementioned friend, Kim, said that it's a Harlequin rabbit which is also what this site's identification key brought me to, so I'm fairly confident that's the correct identification in which case I'll need a much larger basket. As for now though, it's demanding to be petted, so I shall end my tirade here and explore the site further.
