The Magic Adventures of Lilius Maximus

[Jwcily]

The Introduction.

I have always wanted to keep a blog about the adventures of my pets. But i have never, really. I would like to read this blog when Lily is 7, more laid back, and slightly less crazy than she is now, i will look back on the adventures of her life.

Lily is 4 months old. She just turned 4 months old yesterday. It's funny how she's only been in my life for 3 months (She was very unfortunately, weaned early, but i will get to that), but i already can't remember what life was like without her. She is always somewhere, either curled under the couch, or getting into trouble somewhere, she's always here.

We'll start off at the breeder's. At that point of time i hadn't known any better about breeders, and felt it was the better option as compared to pet shop bunnies (healthwise). At that point of time, i had not even considered adoption because of my lack of knowledge, but since then i've decided that the next bunny i get will be adopted. But this does not mean that i regret getting Lily.

There were three bunnies. Huddled together in a carrier. All of them were white. One had stripes and and one was a pure white, and then there was Lily. Not white, but not stripey either. She looked like she had had a run in a pile of dust, with grey specks throughout her body but nothing defining.

I would like to say it was love at first sight. The bunny-owner attraction that influenced me to get her. But the truth was that i stood there for a while deciding which bunny "looked cuter". Naive. There are so much more to bunnies than their looks, i know now.

I cannot be happier that i chose Lily. But this is said with bias. I don't know how her siblings would have turned out, but Lily will always be Lily to me. No rabbit that behaves better, or looks cuter, will replace her, or will be a "better rabbit" to me than her. And i saw this as she is gnawing on my cupboard despite my repeated "No"s.

Lily is free roaming whenever i am home. I don't exactly know if that defeats the meaning of "free roaming" but she gets into a lot of trouble when she's out, chewing on everything and pooping on the couch, so i don't really trust her being out alone at night, because she's a daredevil bunny and doesn't know what's safe for her.

She's out all the time when i am home, which is a substantial amount of time, and she loves being out so much that she grunts in the morning when i'm leaving the house and she's not out.

I will continue to update this blog with the progression of Lily's life as she grows, as well as her magical adventures.

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Loved reading your start to a blog. Would love to see some photos of her. I can see in your avatar that she is really cute!

 

[Chrisdoc]

She is just beautiful and I agree with Elise, I´d love to see more pics. Reminds me of another bunny called Houdini who is always doing what you tell him not too but that´s bunnies for you. Hope to hear more of her adventures and her mischief.

 

[Jwcily]

The Beginning

My sever crashed the first time i tried to write this post. It does that often, but i've decided that when it crashes during a blog post, it just means that my post could have been better, or that i'd left something out, so i will begin this post again.

We'll pick up where we left off the last time. My new bunny and i are now home from the breeder's. She currently has no name. But that was the least of my concerns. I admit that i wasn't (entirely) prepared for my new bunny. She didn't have a cage, so she spent her first night in a plastic container lined with newspaper.

That's when magical Lily struck. Well, at that time it was magical nameless bunny.

I turned my back for a second. And suddenly my magical bunny had leaped out from the container that was three times her height. She hadn't done it the whole day. That's when the anxiety kicked in. (Note: I suffer from high anxiety. I worry excessively about everything, but that's just who i am and i have learned to live with it.) I started to worry that she would get out at night, that she would get herself into trouble, that i wouldn't be able to find my bunny the next day. I worried the whole night away, but when the next day eventually came, all was well.

I had learnt from the reading i did that you are supposed to leave the bunny alone for the first few days, to let it get used to you. But i had also learnt that the internet is a theoretical place, with a set of ideals and "should be"s.
Step 1: Leave bunny alone.
Step 2: Bunny will get curious about you and come closer to explore.
Step 3: All will be well ...?

I was worried that my new bunny wouldn't like me, because being new to the bunny slave kingdom, i really didn't know if i was doing things right. It took a while for her to trust me, and she spent a while hiding under my couch and refusing take a step out, but we eventually got to the point where we were on friendly terms.

One day, i was sitting around and she jumped onto me, and let me pet her for a half hour. I would say that this was the turning point of our relationship, because since then we have been inseperable.

I named her Lily because she looked like a "Lily". She had the sweet face a "Lily" would have. But i guess that's how i feel.

Here are some pictures of her

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Aww, what cutie! She's such a sweet little girl.

 

[Azerane]

Lily is adorable, a very nice story so far

 

[Jwcily]

The Scare.

Thanks for all your compliments about Lily. The vain little bunny is very pleased. :yahoo:

Today's blog post will be going a little deeper into the darker, less fun times of Lily's life. Then again, she's only 4 months old, and my first bunny, so i guess my impression of "darker" may not be as dark to the rest of you.

When Lily was 2 months old, she got really sick. Her poop got really wet, and after a few days of waiting it out, we took her to the vet. She was prescribed some critical care, medication for her gut, and some probiotics. (Remember what i said about her being weaned early?)

I thought that would be that.

Well, the first day was spent chasing Lily around, and trying to forcefeed her the critical care. Being the inexperienced bunny slave that i am, i only got in a third of the amount she was meant to get. The rest was lost in the process of flailing arms and a scratchy bunny.

On the second day, her poop was still wet. I didn't think too much about it because it just seemed as if the medicine hadn't entirely taken effect. So i waited and hoped for the best.

On the third day, i'd realised that i hadn't checked on her poop yet. I dug through her cage, but realized there was little poop. I counted. One pellet, two pellets, three pellets, all the way up till about 11 pellets. And then there was no more. I was a little worried, but i didn't think too much about it.

By night, her 11 pellets had been reduced to nothing. Not a single pellet the since that afternoon. But it was too late to get her to the vet by then and i had to wait until the next morning. I tried to make things better. I did what the internet said, and palpated her gut in hopes of releasing some of the gas, but nothing worked.

Night time brought a lot of anxiety again. I'd heard stories about rabbits deteriorating so quickly from gut statis that one minute they were fine, and the next minute, they were gone. But the next morning, Lily was still doing fine. There was still no poop though, and that greatly worried me.

The trip to the vet was a long wait. I was in line for close to three hours, with my stressed bunny in her carrier on my lap. Well, we eventually saw the vet, and the outcome was that she had to be hospitalized for a "possible gut statis". So i had to leave my baby bunny behind and go home feeling a little empty inside. It was the worst feeling.

She was away from me for three whole days. I had only had her for a month, but it felt strangely empty without her around. I was soon reduced to sitting by her cage feeling a little sad about the absence of my furry friend.

When i eventually got her back, all was well again. Lily's poop was back to normal, and after a little wariness on her part, we were back to being friends again.

The thing about your pets being sick is that it really gets to you as an owner. I blamed myself quite a bit for what happened to Lily, and regardless of what will happen to her in the future, preventable or not, will always be because of something i did wrong, to me. Because she is my bunny child, and i am responsible for her.

It was a terrifying experience. And since then, every once in a while i stop by her cage to check on her poop. Rabbit poop has never made me any happier.

 

[whitelop]

It was nice reading about Lily! She's a beauty, can't wait to see how she grows up!

Yes, who would have thought that rabbit poop would make everyone so happy, or we would be so open to talk about it? haha. Its great when they're all round and uniform, its the best thing to see!
Can't wait to hear more stories about Lily and her growing up!

 

[Jwcily]

@whitelop : That made me laugh quite a bit! I completely agree with you about the poop. Some days i just stare into her cage and admire them, and when other people see mess and filth, i see a healthy bunny!

@Azerane, Ilovemyrabbit and Chrisdoc: Thanks for all your compliments towards Lily. And yes, i will continue to post many pictures of Lily! It's a little tough though, i see how all of you have such artistic shots of your bunnies and when i take a picture of Lily, half the time it's a blur because she's always moving!

The Crazed Bun

Now with most of the defining events of Lily's life already mentioned, i decided that today i would spend a little time talking about what Lily is truly like. Sometimes i feel she has split personalities, because even with her cute exterior, puberty is in the works.

Seeing Lily grow from a tiny bunny that fit into the palms of my hands into a semi-hormone driven bunny, it really is quite entertaining to see what she gets up to. She used to be so calm and accommodating, but lately i've seen her inner daredevil ready to emerge.

In the mornings before i leave the house, i make it a point to ensure that Lily has fresh pellets and hay. She likes to tip her pellets out of her bowl and they get everywhere, and since she isn't entirely litter trained yet, it soaks up her pee to become giant balls of mush. I clean her cage everyday, but the amount of waste that tiny white ball of fur can produce scares me sometimes.

(Note: As i was typing this, Lily created her own race course and was dashing back and forth before she finally decided to visit and attempt to eat my computer - i use eat loosely, but it really looks like what she is intending to do)

So back to the story. Lately with the increasing hormones, Lily has started to grunt when i reach into her cage. I know you're not supposed to invade her space, but it's done to make sure that she has enough food to last her till i get home again. The first time i heard her grunt, i thought she sounded very much like a cow. A very deep, but subtle uungh.

And from then, it's become a morning routine. I poke her morning veggies through the bars of the cage as a distraction, and then i warily stick my vulnerable hand into her cage and hope that she doesn't maul me. But so far that hasn't happened, and apart from the grunts she has been tolerating my invading hand. Well, there are new experiences and developments everyday.

When she's out of her cage though, she is the friendliest bunny ever. She'll let you do anything to her (except carry her) and she wouldn't mind in the least.

I guess this has just been a ramble about my magic bunny, and i promise to post more photos of her soon!

 

[whitelop]

Oh, welcome to the grumpy bun stage! Its a fun one! Ellie grunts at me non-stop and boxes my hands. She boxes the pellets right out of my hand and makes a huge mess with them. I like to call it the Little B phase. I call Ellie Little B more than I call her by her name, because she does little B things all the time. haha.
Hopefully Lily doesn't get anymore aggressive, because Ellie has come close to biting me once or twice. And my past rabbit, Foo, did bite me twice, enough to do damage.
I know that you have to reach in to put her pellets in, but I would try to clean out her cage and feed her without her in the cage, as much as possible. It might be harder because you're like on your way out to work. But I think it would make her feel more comfortable if you didn't have to reach in all the time. Ya know?
I have to reach into Ellie's cabinet a lot, but I've been working on letting her out first before I try to do anything in there. Its helped out.

I would work right now, on bunny proofing your house like 300% because its never enough! Ellie has gotten into everything and eaten a lot of things.

And yes, its amazing how something so small can produce so much stuff. haha. There is always so much poop!

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Sometimes I'm glad I don't have a female bun, lol. The grump stage sounds pretty annoying! Can't wait to see some more pics.

 

[Jwcily]

@whitelop: I normally let Lily out when i clean her cage, and she usually gets in and out on her own because she hates being carried so much. I guess that's the problem in the morning because if i let her out, i'm almost positive she would retreat under the sofa and say in her evil bunny voice "Never.. I'm not coming out.. Ever". I wish i could let her out in the morning, but her dislike of being carried makes it really tough to get her back in, especially when i'm in a rush I'm hoping that eventually one day, when i've gotten everything 300% bunny proofed, she would be able to be free roaming all the time. But i just caught her chewing on one of the legs of my wooden China table and i guess i still have to figure out how to bunny proof things like that.

@ilovemyrabbit: I pinky promise that i'll get in some photos of Lily in tomorrow's post. My phones always buried somewhere around the house and it seems to never be with me when i'm sitting down to write about Lily. I will though, tomorrow The front of her face has suddenly become a lot darker within the past few days and i'm starting to think that maybe one day she'll be a grey bunny! Haha.

The Bunny and The Aunt

This was something that happened recently, about two weeks ago. I guess it's pretty cool that i'm posting about the little things in Lily's life, because i think that those are the things that really matter. When I am (hopefully) reading this somewhere down the road, i'd read about the things that i'd once forgotten about and smile about it.

This aunt of mine has had a lot of experience with animals. From what i can remember, she's had dogs, turtles, birds, a variety of small animals as well as everyone's favourite breed around here, rabbits. The last time i was at her house was a while ago, but i remember multiple rabbits in a playpen, looking a little scruffy and unloved. Well, at the time, even before owning a bunny i already knew that the rabbits to her, were just rabbits, and not pets.

Some people keep rabbits just for the sake of having rabbits. They are left in a tiny cage, never let out and the only human interaction they ever get is when their humans stick their hands into the cage to feed them, or to clean their cages once in awhile. I think to most of us, our rabbits are pets. Pets that watch tv with us,lie around with us, or giant balls of fur that we give lots of kisses and love to.

I had a conversation with my aunt that day, when she asked to see a picture of Lily. Somehow, the conversation soon transformed into a conversation comparing rabbits with dogs. Now, i will admit that rabbits are vastly different from dogs but it was apparent her impression of rabbits were that they weren't very intelligent or affectionate animals. This, i did not agree with. She was surprised to find out that Lily was (semi) litter trained, in the sense that she would only go in her cage, (I left out the part about Lily making my couch her new toilet) and about Lily's head nudges that demanded pets and affection.

She said that she had always thought rabbits were comparatively less affectionate than dogs. I admit i may, possibly, have had a teeny, tiny phase of my rabbit ownership that i had thoughts similar to her (specifically, the first few days when Lily did nothing but hide under my couch), but after getting used to being a bunny slave, i realised that it was not that Lily was less affectionate than a dog would have been, but it was that she expressed it differently.

Sometimes if i stop petting Lily short of what she wants, she would reposition herself and look at me with eyes that screamed "Pet me please? Oh please? Pleaseeeee". Up until then, i had started to feel that Lily wasn't all that into pets. I'd never known that a bunny would be able to get me to pet her for up to twenty minutes at a time anic:

I think that rabbits are a very misunderstood species. People have a whole lot of misconceptions about them, about their poop, their need for a neuter as well as their character in general. I guess all bunnies are different from each other, but one thing that's the same for all bunnies is that most of the time, they are willing to receive lots hugs and kisses from people who love them.

Here where i am, the bunny community is small. It's not that people don't keep rabbits around here, but that they do so without knowing much of anything about them. I've heard of bunnies that don't leave their cages because they poop everywhere, and i find it really sad. I guess it's comforting to know that even though not many people wholly enjoy their bunny for the wonderful being it is, it is not non existent, and that the people who really understand bunnies treat them the way they deserve to be treated.

Pictures of Lily tomorrow, i promise! I will dig my phone out from the depths of my cave to share a little bit of Lily with you.

 

[whitelop]

Maybe you aunt start to love on her rabbits more. I know a lot of people don't think that rabbits are good pets because they poop everywhere or they aren't dogs. Well, I'm here to tell you, I have dogs and cats and chickens and I would rather just replace them all with rabbits. haha. I would rather have a colony of rabbits than all the other animals I have. haha.

My dad was really surprised when I let Foo out when I had her. He came to live with us for like 2 weeks and I let her out during the day and she stayed out for days at a time, just in the kitchen. He walked into the kitchen and almost crapped his pants when he saw her out and running around. haha. He just didn't understand that they're friendly and kind of like dogs. He soon realized that Foo would come when I called her name, she was soft and super sweet. So he started to enjoy her being out and about.

My friend had a rabbit when we were growing up. He had a terrible malocclusion, but I didn't know anything about rabbits them to do anything about it. But they did take him to the vet to have his teeth trimmed and stuff. They did feed him a proper diet too, hay and pellets. Nothing special. But he didn't get out as much as he should have. But I didn't know anything about rabbits at all then. But when he got out of the cage, he was so funny! He would binky and flop out. He lived to be 12. So my friend comes over and she scoops Ellie right up and her mom always loves to pet her. haha.

Sometimes, I think people just need to be around them and read a rabbit book! haha.

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Hopefully your aunt will start loving her bunnies and letting them out more and stuff. I know what you mean about most people thinking bunnies aren't very friendly. My dad thinks that all bunnies want to do is eat. NO, that is not correct! He doesn't believe me when I tell him it though. When Ash runs over to him and sniffs him he says he's looking for food from me. I know for a fact that bunnies are not just animals that hop around looking for food. Ash gives us licks and cuddles with us. He's a sweet bun. I don't get why he doesn't realise that they are actually very affectionate animals. Its so sad that the bunny community isn't very large.

 

[Jwcily]

@whitelop I guess how people treat their rabbits differ from us. Lily's out all the time when i'm home and i still feel it's not enough and would rather her be able to roam about freely all the time! But other people have different ideas about what is "best" for their bunny. I guess they do what they feel is best but it isn't always the case!

@ilovemyrabbit I completely get what you mean! My family members sometimes misunderstand too, and feel that Lily sometimes has an identity crisis because she binkies like a dear, but chews on things like a dog, and scratches furniture like a cat. I guess you could say that rabbits are the best of all worlds, haha!

So sorry i haven't been around and posting in a while but i'm suffering from a lot of anxiety now (again) and so i don't feel up to doing much of anything. I hope that i'll be feeling better soon and ready to post more stuff about Lily's adventures.

See you guys around!

 

[whitelop]

Are those fresh flowers? They're very pretty!

That little bun is one of the cutest little buns I've ever seen! She's so adorable and has such lovely coloring.

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

She's so cute! And so small, she is one of the cutest buns I've seen as well. I agree with Morgan!

 

[Chrisdoc]

She is such a gorgeous little girl.

Great reading, it´s a shame your aunt can´t appreciate what great little animals she has. You´re right, the best of all three, they are so smart and although not all love to be petted, they do have their own way of showing that they want to be with you and I think, as they get older, they do allow you certain things that they didn´t when they were younger. All mine tolerate being held now so much more than they did when they were younger.

Yes, you will need to bunny proof all the furniture legs and every single cable but there is still something they find that you´ve missed, it´s their mission in life lol.

And yes, I so laughed about rabbit poop, nothing makes me smile more than perfectly round little poops, that means a healthy little bunny.

look forward to hearing more about Lily and more pics, she is too cute.

 

[Jwcily]

The Post where Lily becomes a teenager

Hello everyone! I've been gone for a while because life got too busy to handle. Two months have passed since i last posted here, and with that, Lily has finally proceeded into the "teenage phase". I still don't know how i feel about that.

A few days ago, i looked at Lily and realised that she had grown much, much bigger. As much as i knew it was something that happened progressively, i couldn't help but suddenly notice that she was no longer the rabbit that could fit into the palms of my hands. She looked so long, yet full, and she didn't look like the baby bunny i had brought home anymore.

The madness has already begun. The growling at me when i attempt to approach her in the morning, the territorial marking with her poop, the fact that she had spontaneously, overnight, reversed her litter training. She even jumped up once on me and peed like never before. Needless to say, i had to was my shirt and clean up the couch after that.

I don't know whether this could be attributed to the onset of her teenage phase, but she is also chewing everything. Papers, furniture, bags, clothes, baskets, boxes, the bottom of my sofa, virtually everything. (But that is excluding the chew toy that i had gotten for her, because she seems to have no interest in chewing the thing she is actually supposed to)

I had heard tons of horror stories about female bunnies in their teenage phase. I still do. I feel like there are many bunny slaves much worse off than me. Despite her excessive marking and claiming and her being a grouch in the morning, at all other times she is virtually the same, sweet bunny i have always had.

Oh, and she's also shed her fur and is a darker grey now :nod
I'll post up some pictures of her

 

[Jwcily]

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