Mahle and Turbo

[somedaii]

i built Turbo a nice, roomy NIC cage last week. it's 3x2x2 grids, with a 1x2x1 grid shelf, and no top. i also leave one grid off the top level, so i can reach in easily to get her out or just pet her.

the day i built the cage, she was quite pissed. got all grunty at me, hating everything. she hated the cage. hated me. hated D. she was all around hurt about losing her old cage!

by that evening, even though she was still grunty, she was loving the new cage. i had to line the shelf with coroplast, and put her litterbox up there, because that is where she would rather pee! at first i didn't put the second level of grids up, and turbo still has yet to attempt to jump over them... however, Mahle wanted to check out the new digs, and jumped in while Turbo was in there! it scared me, but she immediately jumped to the top shelf, then over the top level into her cage! i didn't know she would be a jumper, and i figure she'll be up on the bed in no time(the first time i had her out on the new rug, she stood up beside the bed and stared longingly towards my lofty and cushiony resting place... the little turd just wants to go up there so she can pee on it!!)
i keep one grid propped up below where it should be, and have to put it up anytime i let Mahle out, or else she'll join Turbo in her cage. Turbo has become more territorial than i'd noticed before, and although nothing has ever happened when Mahle gets in there(i'm always one step behind her, and i think it takes Turbo by surprise!) - Turbo hates when she sits in the corner beside her cage... which is, of course, Mahle's favorite place to be. fortunately, while Turbo is freaking out on one side of the bars, Mahle is straight ignoring her from the outside. she just sits there, calm as can be, as if Turbo isn't throwing a hissy only inches away!

i'm definately getting Turbo fixed first.

any time i get Turbs out, she gets a little grunty with me. she doesn't attack me or anything, but she grunts at her little toy if i toss it around, and she grunts at me if i pet her bum while she's facing away from me.. she grunts at me after i put her away too! just a little piglet!! and in more ways than one.
she eats CONSTANTLY! i've had to break her pellet feedings up into twice a day, or else she'll eat them all at once! i'm going to have to purchase bulk hay, because it's going so fast, and luckily my roommate(who works for New Seasons, a natural grocery store in our area) will be home this week so i can get free produce again!

today Mahle and i ventured outside for the first time. she hates the harness, but mostly i think because it restricts her little legs from reaching her mouth easily, making it much harder for her to groom properly. she's actually in her cage now, grooming up a storm! she ran a little, and i thought i saw the starts of a little binky once or twice.. although i'm sure she doesn't want me to know she had a good time. at first she was freaked out, and instead of running off, she came straight to my lap. i saw that as a good sign. later, i scared her because she'd gotten wrapped up in a bush, so i brought her back to my blanket, and again she buried her face in my lap until she was feeling a bit more comfortable. i think it was a success! we were out for about half an hour.
our front yard is elevated, and seems to be as effective, if not moreso, than a fence. her little ears were perked forward so much, listening to cars and the dogs in the backyard(the house actually juts out between the front and back yards, so they were nowhere near each other!).. it was cute as hell.

Turbo is twice as big as Mahle, and her attitude is formidable. i might try taking her out later, but she's much harder to get the harness on. at least it fits her well tho! it's almost too big for Mahle.. i think i'll return the one i haven't opened and see if i can find a medium sized one somewhere(they only had small and large, and the small is for teeny tiny buns!).

my room is covered in bunny hair. i need to get a brush, and maybe some more NIC cubes so i can make a playpen for outside.. but i'm totally in love with my girls!
Mahle has stopped digging so much at night, although Turbo has taken over.. she likes to dig down to the slippery bottom(not usually at night tho, thankfully for my sleeping habits). i'm going to purchase some turf to put in her cage, which'll be easy to clean and a bit more efficient than wood pellets. less mess too!

so far, bunny ownership is a delight. i hope i have more to share in the near future!

-sabrina

 

[somedaii]

ps - i still don't have a digital camera!

i'm going to steal D's when we go to his house tonight..:bunnyheart
instead of shipping out on the 18th of Sep, he's been moved up to the 27th of this month!

:sigh:i'm heartsick over it.. the girls will miss him terribly.

he'll be gone for five years, unless he decides to go career.:cry4:

 

[somedaii]

well, i did end up taking Turbo outside yesterday, and again today it was so successful!
today, however, is far too hot for much running about.. plus, we were fighting over her trying to eat all the plants in the corner of the yard. after i pulled her out of there for the third time, she just laid down at my feet and hung out.. nibbled on some grass here and there, but stopped trying to run to where she wasn't supposed to be.
i started plucking her, and realized that on her back the fur is downy soft! so i went at it, and ended up pulling her in my lap and taking the harness off her. we pulled out a buttload of fur! i think she liked it, i even thought i heard a click of the teeth, but she's not ready to like me that much, i think. heh. i mean, come on.. i've only been hers for a couple of weeks, and although she already liked me as a friend who came and went, she wasn't prepared to move into my home and start over! tomorrow i'm going to take her out and repeat the process...
Mahle, it seems, isn't moulting. i took her out and plucked a bit, but there was nothing beyone a couple of hairs. she's actually been a little pill today, probably because i cleaned her litterbox!

i have strange rabbits.. for some reason, they would both prefer to be in their cages. Mahle especially, because Turbo likes to be out for a little while at least. but Mahls.. she's always looking for a way back in! i tried propping a pillow up to give her a step from the ground to the table her door opens onto, but she peed on the ground next to it. which, ultimately, is just as effective because i always put her directly in her litterbox when she does that! little punk.

D's camera has no cord, so still no pics. but i'm trying! i might just have to figure out how to work my camera phone with a computer, and upload some low-quality pics for now. but since he's leaving so soon, i'll own the camera... and then i can buy a cord.
we're going camping next weekend, a farewell trip for him, with our friends. i still can't believe he's leaving. i mean, he signed up months ago.. but to be staring the day in the face is heartbreaking.

fortunately for him, i'm going to be keeping him updated on the girls lives, and how well i do with bonding them! instead of naked lady pictures, he's going to be receiving bunny pictures! :bunnydance: heh.

for now, i've got to get ready for work. of course, everything is covered in rabbit fur!

-sabrina

 

[somedaii]

today i took a trip to the local feed store. i bought a shedding brush, which is meant for cats, but looked to be the right kind for my girls. i bought more hay, too(which i'll need to find in bulk next time!), and some treats by the brand "sun seed"(soy nut, peanut, and petzel sticks!).
i also borrowed a camera from a friend, and got some good pics i hope to upload in the morning, when she brings the cord by.
the treats were mostly a success, although Turbo boxed at the round ones.. Mahle liked them, a soy nut treat, but Turby didn't think highly of them at all.

the funny thing is, i think Turbo has finally accepted my alpha status!! Mahle still denies my authority, and I get the butt more often than not(unless she's in her cage), despite our wonderful friendship! i think, with Mahle, she's subtly defiant. i always thought that with the bonding, she would be a subtle ruler of Turbo, and now i know it's true, because she's trying it with me! however, the treats were a forward-movement for my cause.. i even got kisses tonight, for a treat!

D told me today that the people ranking higher than his recruiter have set him up to leave on the 23rd, instead of the expected 27th. i'm seriously bummed, and pathetically sad, by all these happenings(his recruiter is trying to fix it back to the 27th!). i'm so happy to have gotten my wonderful bunny companions in the deal, but would rather him not go. he was a great owner to them, if not always quite as diligent as i.. and they still love him.
will they remember him in a few months when he comes home to visit? will they always hold this transition against one of us?!
i just don't know about the rabbit mind. my old cat, Fawn, was angry with me for the rest of our time together(a year or more!) over a breakup i had with a boy.. a boy that came into our lives four years into hers(i raised her from about two weeks on, nursed her and everything while a senior in high school! we were all each other had.. in fact, i have yet to face cat-ownership again, because her dissapearance affected me so!!)! she was mine, but she loved him very much.

which brings me to missing her. Fawn would have loved this duo... she grew up with ratties(multiple over the years), and became best friends with my bearded dragon, Puck(who died when my apartment burnt down last summer!:cry1
my first job was in a pet store, so she grew up with numerous different animals, and was always very patient with new pets(despite her tortoishell heritage, which is rumored to be more difficult than a siamese!). Puck was also an amazing animal, and up until his tragedy, always inspected other cats, expecting to find his best friend, Fawn, in the face he searched. even though many people thought i was crazy for thinking a reptile had feelings, i could always see his dissapointment when it wasn't her...

i will leave this blog with a picture of my beloved Fawn. in memory of her curiousity, love, and patience in all living things(except birds.. she did that clicky-hunting things towards birds! i was never fond of birds anyhow..)!

-sabrina

 

[somedaii]

today was cleaning day. all except laundry, because after taking out the carpet and shaking off all the hair/bunny mess and sweeping the hardwoods, i was sick and tired of the job!
i got a litterbox for outside the cages, so now hopefully the girls can be out and use that instead of the carpet. Mahle played on the beanbag chair i have, she seemed intruiged by it.
Turbo is still uber-friendly almost all the time! she's also eating less, and i'm not having to constantly monitor what she's got going on in her dish!

there is hair all over everything in my room. ugh.

i found an apartment i want. we'll see if i can score something cool... i need more space!

D leaves definately on the 27th. we're gonna be camping next weekend!
-sabrina

 

[binkies]

Sounds like an exhausting day! You reminded me that I need to clean a filthy cage too. They can be so rotten making messes all the time.

 

[somedaii]

they are messy!

luckily, both girls seem to focus mostly on their litterboxes, even though they aren't fully litter trained. the boxes need to be cleaned so frequently, and i'm actually out of litter... i just keep using the slightly messy stuff from the rest of the cage! heh..

yesterday was exhausting, and then i worked until two thirty this morning. today i tried to be lazy, but after playing with the girls and watching some anime, i had to get out! i went to my work and played some pool, then the big buck hunter game that we just got! it helped me work out my serious aggressions towards D's leaving... i hope.
-sabrina

 

[somedaii]

today i got a wisdom tooth pulled.

i wasn't up for much, but i did clean the girls' litterboxes out, and let Turbo run around a bit. i just held Mahle and gave her some lovin'... she's a bit peeved that i messed with her cage.
Turbo circled my feet the entire time i was standing! my friend, who used to own bunnies, was amazed. she said she'd never seen such a beggar rabbit!


tomorrow night i have to work, which is a little shitty since i'm sure my mouth will hurt worse tomorrow. i was out of the office before eleven this morning, and half of my face is still numb! there was a cyst beneath the tooth, and the root went right down into one of the nerve canals... so it was pretty intense.

not much bunny news.. we're still doing really well, and the room needs cleaning, yet again!
-sabrina

 

[somedaii]

D is gone.

his parents dropped me off while driving him to the hotel, where the army is making him stay his last night. *grumble* he came in to say goodbye to the girls then, so i left him alone with them for a couple of minutes. Mahle, especially, seems pretty forlorn tonight, even though they should both be excited that i'm home.

i got the camera, it's mine now! it even has a recording feature... so be expecting some pics/vids in the next 24hrs. Turbo and i already had a little photo shoot!

-sabrina

:bigtears:

 

[somedaii]

FINALLY:
PICTURES OF MAHLE AND TURBO!!


Mighty Mahle:

Turby Turb:

Mahle's close-up:

Turbo the Stuffed Bunny:

and the last one, which i couldn't duplicate for both girls...

Turbo and Sabrina(no makeup, sad day):

enjoy the photos! hopefully i'll have a vid or two up soon..

-sabrina

 

[somedaii]

so, we have a new addition.. temporarily!

Roxy is a tiny little netherland dwarf, and she's freakin' adorable! she's a bit snobbish, and thumps at Turbo, and myself, any time i get her out of her cage.

a friend of mine acquired her, and is probably going to keep her. although she told me that if i could find her a good rabbit home, i should do that instead. she went to Vegas for a week, so i'm rabbit-sitting.

Turbo and Mahle are doing well. Mahle has become quite the cuddler!! she'll sit for over an hour with her head in my lap, just letting me scratch her ears and pet on her. it's the cutest thing ever! the first time she did it, i nearly cried.

it's odd. i'm pretty sure that the night D left, the girls knew he was really gone. they were slightly down and out, a bit forlorn.. but Mahle was nicer to me than she has been since she was at his house! she even played with me a little.. Turbo, of course, is handling everything very well. she does cuddle with his sock sometimes, and i wonder if she's thinking of him. Mahle has taken the other sock into her hidey house, and she sleeps in there a lot.

i'll have pics to post soon. and more blogging. i've got a big day of cleaning ahead of me!

-sabrina

 

[somedaii]

MORE PHOTOS!


This is Roxy, our current room-guest:

Roxy explores my bed:

And Squirrelly Mahle:

Mahle again:

And clean cages:

Today I was busy... but my carpet is clean, and i dusted a lot!

:bunnydance::woohoo:bunnydance:

 

[somedaii]

today i cleaned Turbo's glands.
woo-boy was that fun!

she hated it, but finally stopped trying to kick me/get away. it's hard to trance her... i have to keep her ears clamped between my legs so she won't try so hard.

afterwards, she thumped at me a couple of times, then groomed a little. checked things out, thumped, groomed vigourously, then came over for some love.

all in all, not a bad first time around for me. D told me about it, but i never saw him do it, so i have no idea how often she's had it done. crazy experience for me tho.
tomorrow, Mahle's turn!

-sabrina

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Stinky business isn't it?

Turbo is beautiful! what is she?

Is little Mahle an opal holland?

 

[somedaii]

Mahle IS an opal holland.
Turbo is a thrianta. i think she's gorgeous. and playful, with her endearingly sweet moments.
Mahle is always a love. she likes to be in my lap, propped up on my chest, practically in my face! once they're bonded, it's going to be the sweetest thing ever to watch them cuddle!
i love these girls. LOVE THEM!
now we're working on getting an apartment all for ourselves. YAY!

oh, and the stinkiness didn't bother me much. but Turbo's hind legs can be dangerous! she probably weighs about eight pounds, and is so strong! whenever i try to trance her, she hits me right in the chest... usually only once, then she calms down. but she's def. making a statement!
-sabrina

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Aww we babysat an Opal Holland once for someone - in a transport thing - he was ADORABLE!

Thrianta aren't real common yet are they? She's awesome! I hope the bonding goes easy and then we see photos!!!