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Mellykins

Mellykins

Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2011
Messages
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Location
West Texas, Texas, USA
We adopted/rescued our first Bun on Saturday 4/30/11. We have always had pets in our home and we currently have an 8 year old Pug Princess named Lola, she was rescued 2 years ago and she rules the roost. We have an outside dog, Sadie, she is a 5 year old Catahoula and she is so very friendly and loves kids, but hates cats. We have a 2 year old Ryukin goldfish named Sushi and a lone hamster of 3 (2 passed away this year) named Suzie. We also have 3 human kiddos, Ragan 8, Natalie 4 and Katy 3 and a little boy on the way in August. After the recent passing of my daughter's hamster Bonnie, we decided that maybe a bunny would be a good pet. We didn't want to go out and buy one but decided to try to adopt or rescue one but in my neck of the woods there are not any bun rescues near us, so I started calling all the dog and cat rescues and just letting them know that if they happen to find some buns we would love to take them in. I posted a wanted ad on craisglist and boom got a response. The man told me that they had a black lionhead fixed male that they had rescued but their female bun didn't like him so they housed him with a guinea pig who also did not like him and they were wanting to get rid of him. My aunt had a huge metal dog crate that she gave us so we were off to adopt the bun. Well my husband went inside the home to get our new addition and turns out he is a white lionhead mix and he is skinny and his nails were so long and growing crooked and very close to the bottom of his paws. I was very sad to see such a mistreated bun. We immediately took him home and got his new home all setup. He had never had hay according to the previous owners and he was not really sure he liked it. He did like his pellets and greens and immediately started eating and went right into his litter box and did his buisness.

We named him Bruiser but my youngest calls him Mr. Goober Head.

On Sunday I wrapped him in a blanket and trimmed those horrible nails. He did awesome and hopped around so happily afterwards while I cleaned up his cage, he is a very messy eater LOL. He does not like to be picked up so if I have to handle him I do it with a blanket and he lets us pet him but only when he is eating. I am hoping that after a few weeks he will be more willing to let us pet him but we love him no matter what.

I contacted a bun rescue in the Dallas area and they have helped me with a feeding plan for Bruiser and he seems to be happy. He is getting lots of attention and loves to be hand fed his greens.

I can't believe it took us so long to get a bun!



Well that is all for now, I am off to shop for more tasty veggies for little Bruiser.



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The missing fur is due to the mean guinea pig pulling out his fur.
 
awww his fur does look pretty pitiful but his face is adorable. i am quite sure with the love and proper care you are giving him he will turn out to me quite the handsome fellow he was meant to be! and good for you for going the adoption route, sounds like you rescued him none too soon!! i bet in no time flat he will be more inclined to let you handle him a bit more too, as he was neglected he doesn't know people are good things and have lots to offer him in the way of love and comfort, it will just take some time for you to show him.
 
OMG Bruiser is so CUTE:heartbeat::inlove::heartshearts. Look at that face.

Boy is he lucky you adopted him.

Try him on different hays. I give mine Timothy but I buy different types as a treat for them. Oat, Brohm (I think that's what it's called) and a couple of other ones I can't remember at the moment. They can be pricey for the small bags but they don't get it every day and the deserve it anyways. :biggrin:

Looking forward to more pictures.

Susan:)
 
He is very territorial over his litter box. I am betting he probably didn't have one before and loves the one he has now and when I try to take it out and clean it, he bites it and pulls it away from me. He is a funny little thing.
 
That's so funny, Daisy Mae kinda grunts at me when I try to take her litterbox out too. Geez maybe that's a Lionhead thing.

Do you put hay in the litter box? I do with all of mine, they love to munch on it when they do their business. It's worth a try.

Susan:)
 
I am putting lots of hay in his box and then I put more in his hay holder and he drags it into his litter box LOL. I think after being housed with a guinea pig and not having much human contact, he doesn't want anyone messing with his stuff. He charged at me the first time I went to clean it out and I started laughing and he looked so mad. I think once he figures out that we are not going to hurt him and starts to trust us then he won't be so skiddish.
 
It might also help to move him to a temporary play place while you clean. That way he doesn't have to see the "destruction" of all his hard work. I'm sure he will come around to trust once he knows hands bring food. :)

I love the name Mr Goober Head, it seems like a better name for him. Bruiser is more of a tough dog name, not a cute bunny. ;)
 
We do have a little area for him but he doesn't like to be picked up and kind of freaks so we are trying to just take it slow with him since he really hasn't had a good loving home. My husband swears the people we got him from were animal hoarders and he said there house was really nasty. How often should I be changing his litter box? I am doing it every other day right now unless it is really nasty and then I do it before I leave for work.
 
He may let you heard him rather than picking him up. At first I would get behind my buns and shuffle my feet, telling them to "go home" after their free romp time. When they got into their pen I would give them a treat. It didn't take long until all I had to do was say "go home" and point. They happily run in and beg for the treat. :pleaseplease:

You could train him with two different words to go to his play area and then return later. Rabbits in general are very food motivated and smart so they are easy to train.

How often to change the litter box depends on how large it is and what you use as litter. I use the wood stove pellets. Becky is by herself, but has a much smaller box. It gets changed every other day. Houdini and Cindi share a box, but it isMUCH larger. It gets changed once a week. I think common sense is a good general guide, you certainly don't want a smell. :sweep

If you are looking for a great way to bond with your rabbit I highly recommend "the relaxed rabbit". There's a book and DVD (I have just the book). It covers how to do massage on a rabbit. My kids love it. There's nothing so sweet as to see a formerly fearful rabbit melt as they get massaged. :pet:
 
Well Mr Goober Head made a mess of his cage so I let him out in our sunroom to run around while I cleaned his mess and he decided that he did not want to go back into the cage after play time. I am 7 months pregnant and I was trying to catch him and stepped wrong and now have this horrible pain in my hip. Poor little guy has never had any attention paid to him that he is freaks when you come at him. So now when his entire cage needs to be cleaned we will just leave it open so he can return when he gets ready, that should keep me from hurting myself LOL!
 
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