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Chrisdoc

Chris
Joined
Dec 10, 2012
Messages
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Location
Spain
Well after reading a couple of the blogs on here and enjoying them so much, I´ve decided to have a go.

My name´s Chris and I´m the proud bunny mummy to Houdini, Snowy and Bandy. Houdina and Snowy and dutchies and Bandy is a cross angora, think he´s got a bit of Hotot in him. Thought Bandy was a little girl to start but found out after the first three months that he was a little boy as well.

Houdini a week after he was brought home

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Snowy snuggling up to the ex

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Bandy just arrived at his new home

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I didn´t set out to own rabbits as I had a dog for seventeen years which I had to have put down seven years ago as it contracted distemper. I´d had it vaccinated every year but even the vet didn´t know how it happened. It awful to watch my lovely little girl get worse and I had to make the toughest decision I´ve ever made to put her out of her pain and suffering.

In January this year, my boyfriend (now my ex) who is a magician decided to get two rabbits to put in his act. I remember when he brought them home that first day and they were tiny. It was a kids party and I went with him and it went really well but it terrified me when the kids were handling them after as they were so small. As he hadn´t prepared for their arrival, I ended up keeping them in my flat and buying things over the next few days and preparing accomodation for them and trying to rabbit proof my living room. As time went by, we all settled down and I started to read up on everything about rabbits; feeding, training, health issues, etc. I never knew they were such complicated little creatures but loved learning new things about them. Those first months were a real learning curve and I grew to love my two little boys.

Then in May, he turned up one day with another addition, I remember it was a Thursday. Bandido or Bandy as he´s known was just a tiny ball of fur with one black ring and one brown ring round his eyes. He was just adorable and we took him to a first communion celebration on the Saturday and once again, I was so worried about the kids touching him that as soon as he´d appeared out of the hat, I whisked him away so he wouldn´t be scared to death. Don´t know if that was a trigger but on Sunday, he wasn´t very well and his bottom was filthy. He was so tiny that by Monday morning, I called the vet and arranged to take him there. He only weighed 200 grams so the vet had a good look at him, gave him an injection and we took him home and he lived on hay and water mixed with a saline solution and he recovered after a few days. I remember trying to bath his little bottom and then dry it afterwards. It was a terrible few days as I thought he might not pull through but after a couple of days, he was back on his food and back to normal.

He started mixing with the other two and by this time, I´d bought an enclosure which I split in two with Bandy on one side and Houdini and Snowy on the other. They spend together time when they were free in the living room and got on like a house on fire, no fights with any and no troubles. They all started to grow and in July, the boyfriend left but didn´t take the bunnies. Well, not that I´d have let him as by then, they were completely mine. I must admit the Spanish are not really good with animals in the way that the British or Americans or other Europeans are. They don´t really see them in the way that we do, would hardly ever get obsessed the way we do and treat some of them in the most inhumane ways you can imagine. That´s why I´m glad they got out of showbusiness, it really wasn´t for them.

They all thought the food was coming

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Snacktime....

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Bandy was such a cutie...still is

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Time for a rest....

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Anyway, we all thrived until Houdini and Snowy got to 7/8 months and they started fighting. Not serious fighting just really kissing with teeth; that´s an expression my friend uses :)

I could feel Houdini had some scabs on his rump when I picked him up and I started to worry then as Snowy is usually so calm and quiet. This continued and although one day I laughed out loud as I saw Houdini racing past my legs with Snowy dragging behind him attached to his back end, I realised that I really had to do something.

I´d read a lot about neutering and had intended, at some point, to do this to all three but money was a bit time and I´d kept putting it off. My mother was due over in October and said she´d pay for it so I booked all three in and we prepared. They went in a Friday morning early and before they closed at 2, I went to collect them with a friend. They seemed to be OK but I´d read that I should separate them, just in case, so I did. After the first couple of days, they were already wanting to be out and about so I let them free in the living room but Snowy and Houdini started to fight and wouldn´t stop chasing each other. Snowy was the agressive one but only with Houdini, he left Bandy alone. I decided to keep them separated as when I put them back in the same enclosure, it was the same story. I hated seeing them like that as they´d always been together and loved each other. I had to adapt their enclosure but really wanted to get them back to normal so I could let them all out together. You can imagine letting Bandy out with one of them and then, after a couple of hours, swapping them round so the other one got play time. I knew it would take a couple of weeks for their hormones to settle down so i waited.

I then found neutral territory, my bathroom and put them together in the bath to see how it went. The first day was quite quick as it was teeth showing from the first minute with Snowy who was the agressive one and trying to bite really seriously. The second day it was a bit better but I had to wear leather gloves as I didn´t want to end up with a nasty bite. I kept them there for around half a hour....and so on until about the sixth day where they started the same but then suddenly flopped down together and that was it....how strange they are. I kept my leather gloves to remind me as the right hand has several tears from Snowy´s sharp little teeth. They still have their own space to sleep but spend lots of time roaming the living room and grooming and sleeping together.

Finally back together...

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Now, I just spend my days enjoying all the little things they do. Houdini is the escape artist. He´ll try to get away with anything. I´m sitting writing this and I can hear him chewing. He´s actually in his willow tunnel and enjoying the feast. I´ve had to block off the bottom of my china cabinet as both he and Bandy have been nibbling....little sods. They´ve got food, hay, wood, cardboard and it´s never enough. I don´t know how many mobile phone chargers I´ve had so far...probably around 5 and a few weeks ago Snowy chewed through the TV cable. I have it well off the ground but it had come a bit loose from the plastic tie and he´ll stood on his back legs to reach it and pull it down and nibble on it. I ´m surprised he was OK.

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Anyway, I think I´ve rambled on enough for now but just wanted to give a bit of background.

I´ll be back with more news soon....
 
Aww, all three of your bunnies are very cute!:)

Heh, it must be quite annoying to have to block off your china cabinet because they refuse to stop chewing on it.
 
It is a bit of a pain but what can I do. I´m going to try rubbing it with some white vinegar or ivory white soap which people have recommended on here. I am getting very inventive though so something good has come out of it. Can just hear Bandy having another bite out of the wall, I´m sure the plaster must taste yukky but he keeps at it...I need to buy some clear perspex to put over the areas to keep him from doing it. Oh the joys of owning bunnies :inlove:.
 
I really enjoyed reading about your boys! They're all so adorable and they do share a very special very rare bond.
I can't wait to hear more about them and their antics!

I have to ask though, are you Spanish?
 
Thanks Morgan and Lisa..you see, you both got me into this with the antics of Foo Foo and Archie and Agnes.

I think they´re just gorgeous and I love them all so much. I too am glad they´re not popping out of hats. Even in that business, it´s the same, they are lovely when they´re little but they do grow and it used to put my nerves on edge when I could see so many kids. I was terrified they were going to drop them so I think they have a much better existance with me. I saw a video the other day of one of his colleagues who has a female bun very similar to Bandy and he picked her up by the scruff of her neck....owwwww. I could have killed him. If I see him, I´ll certainly have a go at him for it.

They do get on so well so I consider I´ve been so lucky. Fingers crossed, they never even get agressive with each other and spend lots of time playing together and love cuddling in the same spot to have a nap.

I never thought I´d have pets again but don´t regret for one minute keeping these three although they will, one day, each me out of house and home. They are the most complex of creatures and learning to understand their moods and expressions is sometimes bewildering. Houdini has just learnt to grunt. He usually does it in the mornings when I feed him and when I stroke him he eats and grunts at the same time....I just have to laugh at him. And every night, I can´t help but laugh as I have a box behind he sofa with their food in and some other stuff. When they hear me take the lid off, Houdini and Bandy are over there in a flash then dash back to their enclosure to wait for feeding time.

Enough for now. I took a video earlier of them climbing all over me and grooming my trousers. I´ll download it and post tomorrow.

Look forward to reading more about Agnes, Archie and Foo Foo as well.

By the way, I´m not Spanish, I´m English from Leeds but moved over here 30 years ago to work and stayed here. I do speak fluent Spanish and love it, nearly all my friends have pets (cats and dogs) but no rabbits. I´m sure that Í´ll convince them before long.


Their favourite place in front of the window...they love the sunshine

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Awww. They're so sweet. They're all so pretty. It makes me want another bun, but I'm still on the fence.

I didn't think you were Spanish, your English is too good! lol
I would love to visit Spain! I bet its beautiful.
 
wow they're success story is amazing! I cannot believe people still use live rabbits in magic shows 0-0
I love Houdini's coloring!! And hottots have those eyes! I love their little banded eyes. Congrats on your bonding. You have a great little family there.
And trust me, I know what it is like moving on after having a lifelong dog friend pass away.
 
Thanks, I think Houdini´s colour is lovely and although I love all three, he´s my little rascal. I might trust leaving the other two out at night in the living room but could never trust leaving him on his own, I´d hate to think what he´d get up to. I remember when they were quite young and sorry if you read this on another post as I´d just remembered it.

I had the three of them in one enclosure with a divider in the middle...Houdi and Snowy in one side and Bandy in the other. One night, I forgot to cover the enclosure and Houdini had jumped over the top, onto the TV unit and escaped. He had also shown little Bandy how to do the same. So, when I came in the living room in the morning, it looked Tornado Houdini had passed through. I can tell you, mummy was not very pleased but now I think about it and laugh out loud...the cheeky little rascal.

Bandy has a lovely face and Snowy has such a gentle character.

Spain is beautiful Morgan, I live on the Costa del Sol near Malaga in Andalucia and we get lovely weather in the summer and it´s not bad in the winter.

I had a long day today as I took a friend and her colleagues to an office party near Gibraltar. As I had to pick them up in the evening, I decided to go into Gibraltar to do some shopping as there are still certain things from England that you can´t get in Spain. However, when I finished, there was an enormous queue to get out at the frontier; two hours it took me, what a rotten end to the afternoon. I´ll go into more detail tomorrow as they took us through an area which looked like something from a zombie film. I then had a little trip over to Algeciras to continue shopping in the large department store there, El Corte Inglés. And guess what...I bought a new cage for my boys. Actually, I´d been thinking about changing Bandy´s cage for a while as it really is too small for him now and I feel guilty every time I leave him in there. I´d since this cage a couple of times and, although, it´s not my ideal one, it´s bigger and higher and has a little house and hay rack and feeding bowl and the front panel opens completely. So, I went and bought it and will set it up this weekend. I´ll try and post some photos as I may make some rearrangements with how they´re housed. I hope they like it :yahoo:

Anyway, I was feeling guilt as I was out this morning at 8 and didn´t get back until 11.15pm so it´s been a long day for all of us. So, I let them out and it´s now 1.30am and I´ll probably stay up another half hour and then put them to bed. What I do for these little creatures but they deserve at least a run around and they´ve been giving me lots of kisses and attention tonight so it was well worth it.

I´ve just made myself a cuppa to end the day so I´ll sign off and see you all tomorrow.

:bunnieskiss
 
Sounds like a big day! My. A new cage. They must be thrilled. I thought the shopping trip story was leading to a pile of new toys :)
The big thing I bring home for my bunny is fresh cardboard boxes from the supermarket. It lights her day up and she begins a new project.
 
Don´t worry, I got the cardboard boxes yesterday as I´m taking them with me on our little holiday next week so that they have lots to do and don´t end up chewing up my friend´s spare bedroom which is going to be their bunny room. I´d been looking for a few days for the plain cardboard ones and I was walking by the market the other day and there they were.

Unfortunately, the choice of toys here is pretty terrible and they are so expensive. They don´t have any mega pet stores like in the UK or US but I did get them another big bag of hay. I actually went to Gibraltar as well to buy them the hay from the supermarket there a they love it. It´s meadow hay and really long thick strands. When they eat it, it always reminds me of someone sucking up a string of spaghetti lol. And guess what...they had run out so I was a bit frustrated so bought them a big bag of hay to go with the new cage in the department store. I also ended up buying a mat for their cages as if you spend over a certain amount, you got a 10 Euro gift voucher...what a sucker I am.

I forgot to tell everyone that I found what looks like a wooden chest the other day by our bins. People are always leaving stuff there if they think it could be useful to someone else. I picked it up anyway and am thinking of incorporating it into their living space as I think it´s great and I´m sure they´d love it. It´s untreated pine so they will probably chew it as well. Any ideas would be really welcome ?? I just need to clean it down first.

Here´s a picture, what do you think. The top opens so it´s quite versatile. Thought about leaving it maybe as it is so it´s a hidey place as they can get out under the bottom and I can always open the top of it.

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Untreated pine is fine, I'm pretty sure.

For the box! That is so exciting, I love finding things like that! It looks really nice too. Okay...do your boys like to jump on things and lay on them? Could you put a cushion on top of it for them to lay on. Maybe put it next to something to use as a step for them to get on top. You could put all their bunny things in the box, thats where I would put everything. That way they could lay on top of it and you can use the inside. They can also get underneath to hide. Do you have a window you could put it near? That way, they can get on top of it and look out the window! I know a lot of bunnies like to look out windows.
I hope you figure something out with it! Let us know what you do with it, its excited to get things like that. You can do so many things with them.
 
Morgan, talk about great minds think alike. They absolutely love to climb so I thought about that as well as they like to lay on something higher to look around. I´m going to take it with me to my friend´s house on their holiday as I thought it would be great should the dog get into their room as they can bolt in there and the dog can´t get to them. I don´t think that will happen as I´ll be very careful and I´m not so keen to introduce them to the dog as it´s got some terrier and their nature is to hunt and I´d be devastated if anything happened so I´ll be keeping them well away from each other. Then when I come back home, I can put it in the living room as an extra place for them to place and stay.

I got their new enclosure sorted today although it took me longer than expected as I changed it a couple of times. Couldn´t put it the same as before as the whole of the front of this cage opens so couldn´t put it on the right as their hay goes there above their litter tray. The cage is smaller than I would have liked but they can get out into the enclosed part as well and I´ve decided to house Snowy in the smaller cage with Bandy going in the larger cage with Houdini with access to the enclosed area. Can´t have anything much bigger as my living room is not enormous. They also get loads of time out, they´ve been out today since around midday and I won´t put them in their enclosure until around midnight when I go to bed.

On the whole, I like the cage much better than the one I had, it´s bigger and higher and love the front opening.

Hope they like it when they go to bed tonight.

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Just had to put this one there. All sleeping this afternoon. When they all sleep together like that, I can´t stop taking photos...it´s one of my favourite things my little boys do...oh, they do so love each other.

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I love that little tail

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Something in my nail...

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ahhh, I´m a sucker for anything they do but I love catching them when they´re doing something like this. They´re all, once again, sitting by the window with their faces in the sun....feel like asking them if they´d like some sun tan lotion haha.

Just picked up another feeder/hay collector today from the department store. It hangs on the cage bars to it´s off the ground which is great. Will fit in on later today.

Am now thinking of how I´m going to set out their living quarters in my friend´s house, the big day is tomorrow although I probably won´t take them down there until Wednesday or Thursday as I need to have it all set up before. However, I´m really excited that they´re going to have a bunny room just for themselves which is so cool. I´ll miss having them in the room with me but will try and spend a couple of hours a day in there so they don´t forget me :(
 
Good idea putting everything together before they get there! I really hope they're happy there for a few weeks. Thankfully they have each other!
I'm sure they won't forget you, but I'm sure they'll be so excited about sniffing around a new place; they won't even know what to do with themselves!

I read on someone elses blog that you have a hard time finding hay? I wonder if you could grow your own hay, its not very hard. You may be able to order seeds off the internet and grow it on a balcony or terrace you have. You said its mostly sunny there, thats what hay needs. You could probably grow wheat grass too, I know Foo loves wheat grass and I'll be growing it when it warms up here.
I would look up what you need to grow hay! haha. You would have to let it dry a little for it to become hay, but it would be grass before it was dried and I'm sure they would think they were getting a special treat. I'm thinking about growing hay, thats the only reason I bring this up to you. haha.
Fortunately here where I am, the hay is abundant year round with so much variety and its pretty cheap too!

I just love the pictures of your buns. They're so pretty. All of them together, its so adorable! I can't wait to see how my two will get along!
 

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