OT: New addition to the family

I grew up in a biggish town and our houses stood on fairly large lots. One of our neighbours use to keep a few chickens and also use to butchered one each Sunday. Back then it was still legal, but nowadays you may only buy from a butchery unless you live on a farm. That old guy use to scare the living day lights out of all the neighbourhood kids!!! Our parents regularly used him as a kind of "boogie man" when we stepped out of line!!! LOL My DH and I turned vegetarian about 5 years ago and nowadays only have seafood.

Judy, SA

LOL Love the "boogie man" idea! What a hoot! I could do vegetarian, with seafood as I am not fond of what I consider "heavy meat".

When we moved to the country my dad got into this raise all our own food stage. It was kind of cool. We had a big garden, cows, chickens, turkeys and yes rabbits. We only ate rabbit for about a year and my "manly manly man, goes hunting, goes fishing" dad said he quit raising rabbits, because it was just so darn hard to butcher the cute fuzzy things. Birds he no problem with and the cows were hired out. The rabbit was good like chicken, but the thought of it being a cute little rabbit still hung in the of my mind while eating it.

Lynne

Welcome to DR, Kenda. I love rabbits but haven't got any now. They are just so soft and cute. Sorry to hear about your piggie.

Hugs, Sabrina

LOL I have to add to your yodel by telling you mine I'm a littleolady whooooo.

Hugs, Sabrina

Well, Kenda,When I was a little bitty thing my Uncles ,who were teen agers, hunted wild rabbits and their Mom would cook them but I never would eat any. Just too gross ! I would not eat Frog's legs either. We had a pig that Mom let my brother and me treat like a pet and he was all over the place until he started getting so big they had to put him in a stye. We loved that pig and named him and everything. He" went to live at Pappaw's house" ( yeah,right!) Then one morning some wise cracking relative commented on the great tasting bacon we were having and called it by name.......Well my brother and I were really freaked. We would not eat another bite !

Hugs, Sabrina

Oh Lordy, I had a mild shock there for a minute ! I thought that I had passed on and did not know it! LOL

Hugs, Sabrina

Thanks Sabrina! I think we have figured out the most recent problem, DR seems to think that we are trying to take her food! So I have moved it to the other side of the cage (oposite of where the door is) and only put stuff in the food bowl while she is on the floor running around. Now when I approach her cage she sits up and sometimes greets me but most importantly she lets me put my hand in the cage and pet her without her bitting or lunging at me. So that is a break through. Yeah!!! Now today I am going to see if she will let one of the boys pet her in her cage, then we can continue intergrating her into the family. She is soft and cute ('cept for the eyes! creepy LOL )!

LOL I too thought about how cute the bunnies were while eating them! I did ask my dad after we got DR why we quit raising bunnies to eat, said basically the same thing you dad said! Too funny

ROFLMAO!!!!! Sorry but I could just picture a couple of kids eating breakfast and seeing their faces fall when the relative said the piggy's name! How horrified you two must have been!

hahaha kids can be so funny.

So, her eyes are not just red in the picture? They are red in real life too? I thought it was just "red eye" in the photos.

Lynne

She is soft and cute ('cept for

Ahhh that was not very nice! I find though now being a mother that sometimes I laugh at things that just aren't funny to the kids. Sometimes they are being too sensitive, but sometimes I'll stop and apologize and try and see it their way. There won't be any eating of pets around here though. My husband is a spoiled city boy through and through.

Lynne

Then one morning

No, she really has read eyes! Not just the pictures! LOL They really are weird looking. Though one eye doesn't look so good today. I hope it gets better. I'm not sure what she did to it but it is a little "weepy". Not sure if she ran into something, or poked it with some hay. (she's never had hay before, wasn't sure what to "do with it" at first) Ah well, if it doesn't get better a trip to the vet will be in order.

Kenda, Snowball is adorable. You did a wonderful thing taking her in. Sorry to hear about your other piggie.

Teresa in MD

LOL It is one of my family's favorite tales! I can remember the pig well and I must have been about four years old. I can remember sitting at the breakfast table and spiting out my food when this smart aleck cousin mmmmmmed about how tasty Doshe was ! Mom said she had mixed feelings because it was comical how we reacted. That cousin always did have a sick sense of humor. He grew up to be a lawyer! LOL

Hugs, Sabrina

Thank you Teresa. Snowball, aka Devil Bunny, is adjusting quite nicely to us and us to her.

Have you scrapped this Sabrina? What a wonderful story this makes!

Albino rabbits (white fur, pink skin, red eyes) tend to get conjunctivitis very easily (that's pink eye, but not the infectious kind), and it's treatable if you get it early. Snowball could very easily be allergic to the dust on the hay you are using for bedding. Check with your vet to see if you might need to bring her in. You may only need to change her bedding to something she's not allergic to, such as hamster bedding or shredded newspaper, to solve the problem. At any rate, there are drops you can put in her eyes if the vet thinks it necessary.

Sounds like she's settling in nicely. Once you have her confidence, you will want to break her of that biting habit. It will take some patience, but it will be worth it.

Long life, prosperity and chocolate, Raz