OT: New addition to the family

Thank you for the info Raz! Snowball is actually in the house, I would never put her outside as she was an inside pet when we took her in. I have not changed her litter as the old lady gave us a very large bag that she had just opened (heehee, it's the same as what we use for the guinea pig bedding, though I am using it exculsively for her and when the bag is nearly gone I will begin the mixing to get her used to the brand we use.) she also gave us a big bag of food and I will continue to use that brand. The only thing we've done differently, aside from the household and lighting (which I wonder if it might be a problem) is give her hay (which she never had before) and fresh veggies (also never had before). She is scheduled to see our wonderful vet late this morning. I will keep posted.

I have started to break her of the biting habit. I started with moving her food dish away from the door of her cage. That has helped a great deal. I have a water bottle that I hold in one hand and when I reach in the cage if she charges me I squirt her with it and tell her we don't do that. Wait a few seconds while she looks confused then pet her and tell her what a good girl she is. That has seemed to work and she no longer charges me. I sure hated doing that as I feel bad when she looks so upset but can't have her charging and biting, it sets a bad pattern! I will give her a month or so then begin getting her to trust I'm not going to take her food. She still gets really nasty when I put my hand anywhere near the food dish, that's why I moved it.

I really appreciate all the information you've given me Raz, you certainly are knowledgable! Thanks!

Ah, thanks Dave!! You big sweetie you! We miss our fur babies don't we? I have started a small album for the pets. I know that you would love Snowball AKA Devil Bunny, she is such a sweetie! She gets to meet the vet this morning for her eye. When I called to make the appointment they asked which guinea pig we were bringing in and when I told them it was a bunny they had a good haha, told me like Deb said, you have SUCKER written all over you! LOL

I am finally back from the vet! SHeesh, I think I am paying for his kids private school all by myself! LOL At any rate, it was worth the trip. The first thing I found out was that the charging and biting are a charateristic of dwarf rabbits. Certainly made me feel better about what we've been doing! Her eye was really swollen shut and the vet peeled it open and removed alot of puss, then numbed the eye put a dye in it to find any damage. Sure enough she had somehow damaged it and caused an infection. So she gets lots of medicine, a number of times a day and another trip back to the vet in a week to look at it again and $90 later we came home! The vet told me how to clean puss out of her eye if it swells shut again, it was not something I am willing to do, ewwee! I told him I'd be happy to pay him to take care of it! It's bad enough I'm going to have to put ointment in the eyes 4 times a day! The vet was happy with the changes we've made to her diet. She is NOT spayed. He is not comfortable spaying rabbits, so if she should get uterine cancer we will deal with it if it comes up. And he was encouraging on the behavior modification we've been trying with the water.

No to get back to real life and play!! I'm ready for a break! LOL

Kenda,

as you know, I have had and do again, a new one in fact who was strictly house. but anyhow few tips for you.

Twister as my new acquisition back in Nov is called, he did bite me a couple ties. What I did was flick him on the nose with my finger off the thumb if you know what i mean. He reared up and charged me and I did it again. So now he will back off and glare at me. Bunny, my last one bit me several times and it took several 'zigs' to break her. She knew what it meant when I put my fingers in that position, as well as Misty, my BIG baby!! She likes to try nd bite me when I am doing any type of grooming on her.

Anyhow Twister as indoor kept for three years. Rabbits like and tolerate WELL the cool and cold, but I have always put a heat lamp with them. Heat is what kills them, like poultry.

Watch what type of veggies you feed them. Rabbit digestion system does not take green leafy veggies like lettuce well. It gives them you know what. Some once in a while is ok. However as you may know now, apples are their fav, grapes work great, carrots and things like broccoli and spinach is ok too.

So anyhow have fun and maybe these tips can help too!!

((HUGS!))

even if you are ----- !!! LOL!

OKC Dave

Check out my pix and crafts!

LOL!! Ya'll stories are so funny. My sister here raised rabbits for years. That is where i got Bunny from. She was a white Netherlands dwarf too. Kenda and all that was here, remember her? Anyhow sis had no trouble cooking or prepping hers.

She said her trick was not to name them, but would call them fryer, stew pot. baker and so on. Even ice bunny, I laughed till I cried when we would go out to the pens wand would ask, oh who is that. She also raised them for showing and breeding. She would say, "Oh that is stew pot, so and s's litter".

Another tip Kenda to holding them and keep those back feet form kicking and gouging, cradle them over your arm while holding the back feet. If they lep you still have ahold of them and putting them back in the cage they will leap, but because you have the rear feet you can more or less guide them in and put them down without getting it!!

Twister who I have now loves to cuddle too. He is not a standard size, or a dwarf. He has the biggest ears I have seen for his size. All I see when I go to the dor is ears wiggling at me at the end of the cage!! He loves to run the yard and chases the cats back in. He thinks he has to be in too, and will run them from under the couch like Bunny did. When I come home and can't find him, he's under the couch!!

OKC Dave

Check out my pix and crafts!

Thanks for all the advise Dave!! We plan to keep Devil Bunny in the house, after all she is a member of the family and she isn't used to being outside. lol We used the squirting water at them trick and it broke DB pretty quickly of the charging. I did not know that lettuce was not nice to thier systems. I will remember that.

She is tolerating the medicating well, so far. I will have to take to work with me tomorrow. Which means I will have to try to keep the guys from wanting to stew or fry her! LOL She is on a very strict medication ritual and DH is will not even stick around when I cut the guinea pig toenails so I know he won't want to treat her eye.

Thanks for all the advise Dave! Hey, I wanna see pictures of your bunnies, especially now that you have a digital camera, no excuses!

Thanks for all the info Dave! I am getting used to putting her in the cage. Though I am not used to her nails, the vet cut them while we were there for me, that has cut down on the amount of scratching I'm getting. I had to laugh at your story about your sister and how she "named" her rabbits! LOL

You know, I really should scrap this. I have a picture of me about that age and it would be some good journaling. I have many memories that have been enhanced by the family talking about it. It seems I was a bit of a scamp when I was little. I may have to expand my book of me to have childhood antics included. I fell out of a tree when I was five years old...broke my collarbone. Then around four years of age ( this story got told by everybody so I have to take their word for it) I was playing in the creek with several neighbor children when their Mom came running out grabbing the kids and swatting them on their behind as she got them out of the creek......I am told I just stood in the water and proclaimed loudly....don't hit me...I'm Malinda's kid! The Mom was so surprized by this she just started laughing and her kids got away without further punishment. Mom always said my rowdy bunch were God's reward to her for living through my childhood .

Hugs, Sabrina

LOL I had to laugh at your childhood antics, Sabrina. My sister and I swear that it's amazing our parents even lived through their childhoods. My 2 siblings and I were better, but not much better. LOL So my sister and I have this theory that each generation will get better and eventually the children will behave perfectly...or close to it. LOL Several years ago I saw a quote and made into a sign for my parents. "Grandchildren are God's reward for not killing your kids." Mom & Dad love that sign. LOL DD was just a few months old when I called Mom and said "Mom...I am sooooo sorry for what I put you through." Dad laughed...a kind of evil chuckle laugh, too. Gee...from his reaction you'ld think I cause all his gray hairs!

LOL Sabrina! I sometimes get shivers myself when I think about stuff we did as kids! I'm sure God sends us a few extra guardian angels when we're growing up.

Judy, SA

Sounds like a great story Dave.

Teresa in MD

Wow, sounds like she is going to be a handful. :-)

Teresa in MD