Monty, my [big] baby bunny 2012

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Joined
Jul 23, 2012
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Location
Chicago, Illinois, USA
So I don't bore my Facebook friends with all of my ramblings about my new baby, I think I'll follow your examples and start a blog here to share!

If you haven't seen my intro thread, it's here: http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=74226&forum_id=26

A little excerpt summing up her first week in my care:

Back in May, I had to say goodbye to my 16-year-old cat, Belle, just a few months shy of what would have been her 17th birthday. It was the hardest decision I've ever had to make...and in her absence, I've felt very lonely and without a purpose. I started looking at other cats, but none tugged at my heartstrings. They were just so disappointingly NOT like Belle at all.

Now, owning a rabbit had crossed my mind before Belle's elderly years. I dabble in knitting and happened to see on a knitting forum that people can spin Angora rabbits' fluff into some pretty awesome yarn, so I started reading about rabbits and it looked like a lot of fun, but I didn't feel I had quite enough space for a cage or the time to dedicate to the constant grooming an Angora would require.

There's a mom-and-pop pet store down the street from me that has had a good reputation for decades, and seems very knowledgeable about the animals they sell. I happened to walk by one day to find a litter of young (about 7 weeks old) Flemish Giants in their window, and was instantly drawn to them.

This shop had previously had two Flemish on the premises last year or the year before (I've been visiting them over 4 years, so it kinda runs together), and one actually belonged to the store and got to free-hop around. I was really impressed with her temperament and of course her size!

My boyfriend captured this picture that day:
mabc5l.jpg


We continued our evening walk after I sat and watched them for a good 15 minutes, and I began researching as soon as we got home. A little over a week went by while I asked my friends, read many threads here and a few other rabbit sites, and gathered supplies. Then, on July 15, I brought my new baby home! :biggrin2:

First day: In an exercise pen with clear vinyl for a floor because her crate was still in transit
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Second day, a little while after I moved her into her just-arrived crate:
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She got the hang of snuggling with her ice bottle a little while later:
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Let out into the kitchen for some supervised hopping, with the new pet/baby gate installed:
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I can't believe it looks like she's already grown a significant amount in just a week. I'm so proud of my [big] baby :)

So far, this past 9 days has been so exciting and fulfilling. I feel so much better having another furbaby to look after. It's so different going from 16 years of having someone always there to interact with throughout the day to just being in an empty home.

Oh, and since I named Belle after my favorite movie at the time, I decided to continue the trend and do the same for my new baby. Her name is Monty Python's Holy Hand Grenade Bunny, Monty for short. Why? Well, I thought it up when I was originally going to choose the one male from the litter (and not because he was larger, but because he had funny ears that he couldn't hold upright, they both laid off to the left), but then fate decided I would get a girl. I kept the name because already people respond with something to the effect of "holy crap, that's a huge rabbit," ;)[/quote]

Monty's favorite things to nibble on:
  • *Willow rings/balls (has already destroyed a ring)
    *Any recyclables she manages to yank out of the recycling bin
    *My belt -_- (we're working on "no" for this one, but she finds it irresistible enough that I end up having to change out of my work pants so I'm not wearing it around her)
    *The broom (which cracks me up because she likes being swept, just like Belle did)

Monty has a YouTube channel too! Come subscribe :)
http://www.youtube.com/user/montythegiant

Edit: fixed image sizes so they don't stretch the page width :)
 
Monty tends to play with her ice bottles rather than snuggle with them to cool off. She seems to prefer to lick the condensation from them, or nudge them out of the way and lick up the puddle they leave behind, then lay in the cool spot. I decided to try giving her an ice cube, and recorded some of the cuteness :)

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bLE69AbMkg[/ame]
 
Monty had her first nail clipping today! I can't say I did it myself, because I'm not confident enough yet to "just do it", and she can sense that. It had also never been done before because she's not even 3 months old. The pet store I bought her from offers inexpensive nail clippings during the week, so I took her in for a visit today. It makes me kinda sad to see how much the employees miss my Monty and her litter mates. One of the ladies who works there was supposed to get one from the litter, but so many people were interested in all 4 of them, so she ended up allowing all of them to be sold. I assured her Monty and I will be visiting plenty, especially once I get her proficient on a harness.

Anyway, back to the nail trim. The girls at the store are so used to handling the animals that they immediately snapped open the pet taxi and lifted Monty out, then one held her with the bunny's back to her chest and the other girl nipped away at all of her little toes. Monty didn't kick or twitch once! I was surprised, because she wasn't even tranced, she just calmly hung there and endured it. She was rewarded with plenty of kisses and snuggles from the employees, and a nice piece of Romaine to eat on the way home. I love this place, and I think Monty has pleasant memories from there too :)

We also tried a couple types of harnesses on her, a vest type sold for ferrets and other small animals, and a step-in type in a cat/small dog size, but I don't think either one is a good match for her. The sizes were a little off and even though she might grow into the step-in one, I'm more comfortable ordering an H-type harness after reading about them here and seeing how the other types (didn't) fit.
 
Glad Monty endured the nail clipping so well! She seems like a calm, happy bun.

I'm also shopping for a "leash" although probably in a different size for a Lionhead vs a Flemish :)
 
Haha, yes just a slight difference :D Oh, speaking of size difference, when I stopped in yesterday to ask when they did nail trimming (their website hasn't been updated recently and indicated only one day a week, but I had forgotten which one), I took a peek at their newer bunnies, and they had a whole pen of *tiny* baby bunnies. I asked how old they were and they said 8-9 weeks. These things were so little, they could fit in a cereal bowl! (each one, not the whole lot of them at once). My brain doesn't understand how a rabbit only a week younger than mine could possibly be so tiny. I felt like I was watching toys hop around. They were definitely that age though, as they were hopping around and playing, eating hay and pellets, and cleaning each other. Awwwwwww
:bunnyheart:
 
Tiny baby bunny picture!

"I wanna snuggle tooooo" says the white & grey lop coming in from the right
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I wish this would have come out better. It was soooooo cute in person.
 
I tried to capture a video of Monty doing binkies down the rug on the way out of her crate, but alas, I'm not quick enough after I open the door. I thought she was going to do a few, but then she started nomming on her willow ball...but I caught a Bunny 500 at the end :)

Presenting "Monty and the Willow Ball"
[ame]http://youtu.be/FRrNT6CMB_0[/ame]

I think my favorite part of this clip other than the bunny zoom at the end is the way she waves her ears everywhere listening to the sounds coming in the window. Adorably distractable Monty :p

Some newer pics:

Monty looks longer:
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Monty gets some clearance toys (and leash, but I don't have a harness just yet):
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This last one is funny. She was originally laying with her head right at the ice cube, and I laid down to face her and nudge the ice cube back within licking range when she pushed it too far to reach (little lazybuns won't get up once it's too far away, hehe), then out of nowhere she stood up, made a small hop forward, and laid nearly on my head (there wasn't really enough space between my head and the door for her largeness to fit, but she made room). Bonding, perhaps?
258mgav.jpg
 
Aww cute pic of you laying with Monty :)

I had to chuckle at how you think tiny buns are so "foreign" because it's the same with me but with the giant breeds. Monty is already bigger than Agnes and she's a baby! Lol
 
It's funny trying to explain to people who don't know giant breeds exist that she's ...a baby. They're like wow, that's a big rabbit, how old is she? When I say 3 months, the look on their face is priceless when they ask if she'll get *gulp* bigger. Yep, this is why she's named Monty Python's Holy Hand Grenade Bunny :p (cleaner than "holy ****, that's a big bunny)
 
I LOVE Flemmies. Monty looks very cute. They grow up so fast.

Have you also noticed that they just stop seeming big to you until someone points it out?
 
Not yet, and I'm not sure it ever will. I'm super proud of having a remarkably large bunny who isn't even full-grown. People who see the pics are like oh okay, so how old is she? Ha. Not even three months yet, and everyone is guessing years :p

Well, my little nomster got some more goodies today. I heard/read that the cardboard tubes they use to form concrete pillars make good (cheap and safe to chew) tunnels, so I swung by Home Depot to check out prices. It was so inexpensive I brought one home today. 10" diameter by 4 feet long, $6.98! I got a video of her first interaction with it, it's priceless. I originally went into HD to get a couple 12" square ceramic tiles (which I did find, for $0.99 each) since she doesn't really "get" the ice bottle concept, just thinks it's a toy and still lays there looking hot.

My nearby favorite pet store doesn't open til 10am, and I needed food like "yesterday," so I went to Petsmart this morning. They don't carry the Oxbow "young rabbit" pellets, but do have the adult kind. I grabbed a 5-lb bag plus some alfalfa cubes just for something else to nom on, and I read that <7-month-old buns can benefit from alfalfa's higher calories? I thought maybe having those available to her in addition to the adult pellets would kinda even out until I can get some young rabbit stuff to mix in. She seems enamored either way. I need to get a video of her going nuts when I open the container of pellets to dump some in her bowl. She once caught me off-guard and grabbed the edge of the container and tugged, which dumped pellets all over the kitchen. She was completely unfazed, just started eating them out of the bin in my hand.

Pics and videos later!
 
I discovered by looking at some of the threads in the "How To" portion of the forum that I'm missing a couple buttons when I use my favorite browser (Google Chrome), so here I am posting from IE to see if I can get a video to embed.

As promised, Monty and her new tunnel :D

[flash=320,256]http://www.youtube.com/v/ufCELhSshb4[/flash]


(yay! It worked!)

Enjoy, and if you're on YouTube,feel free to subscribe:bunnydance:


 
Aww cute and what a great idea for a tunnel! Agnes loves paper bags. Crawls in, crawls out, crawls in, crawls out. Ah, the simple things. So im sure shed love that!

Yup, young buns do benefit from alfalfa. Just be careful switching brands and kinds of pellets so as not to cause runny poop. When I switched Agnes I did it really slow it took like 2 weeks.

Love seeing Monty grow and all your pics. Really looks like you are enjoying your new bun :)
 
Monty is so sweet! I have concrete forms too and all the buns love them. I have one that runs behind the furniture so it makes an express lane, plus it keeps them from going under (it's just not as attractive as the tunnel).

It's funny when I go to the park I have Sophie, who is 10.5 pounds compared to Gary, who is 3 pounds. Everyone says how big Sophie is and then think Gary is still a baby. Nope, full grown. So many shapes and sizes in bunny land :)
 
agnesthelion wrote:
Aww cute and what a great idea for a tunnel! Agnes loves paper bags. Crawls in, crawls out, crawls in, crawls out. Ah, the simple things. So im sure shed love that!

Yup, young buns do benefit from alfalfa. Just be careful switching brands and kinds of pellets so as not to cause runny poop. When I switched Agnes I did it really slow it took like 2 weeks.

Love seeing Monty grow and all your pics. Really looks like you are enjoying your new bun :)

Her pellets are still Oxbow, and I've been watching for funny/runny poo, but she's a trooper. Everything looks normal. I've also been giving her a little bit of fresh greens each day (I know it's a little early for that, but she's had no soft/runny poop at all, so it appears she's handling it fine). She also loves her some dried banana peel (washed beforehand, of course). I like that it's a treat she's really pleased with, but it doesn't smell as strong as fresh or dried banana fruit so she doesn't just come hunt me down when I'm holding it.

I need to get some footage of her racing through the tube. I stabilize it with a tile on each side so it can't roll away, and she loves to bolt straight through it :) I had her out this morning while I replaced her litter and refreshed her food, but with the tunnel standing in the corner. She kept nudging me and then rearranging the rug that the tunnel is usually laying on (racing back and forth on it to rumple it up). I think somebunny was hinting that she wants her tunnel :p

Oh and I've tried paper grocery bags with Monty, but she's only interested in biting the corners. She's a little hole punch! And if the bag has anything in it weighing it down, she tries to look inside it, but ends up folding the edge down over whatever is in it :p At least my groceries are kiiiinda safe while I'm trying to put them away. Most of what I eat is good for her too, so I gotta watch out ;)
 
Ted loved grocery bags. He would get inside and stand it up and then tip it and come back out. He was also our cardboard king--he'd make a hole in a new box big enough to get inside in about 5 minutes and in 10 minutes he'd have a run thru box.
 
Monty is sooo cute! I love love love the name!
I am in awe from the picture of you adopting him, the hand against the glass?. Wow, just so beautiful, you can practically see the bond!

Jj
 

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