# Zorro and Fred, Lop Cousins



## Nadezhda (Mar 11, 2006)

So, my brothers adorable new puppy, who doesn'thave a name yet, needed a kennel and food dishes, so I went along withmom to the petstore. Our petstore isn't a bunny-mill store,it buys from local breeders. Now, the purebred dwarfs thatthey were going to save two of for me hadn't arrived yet, so I went andlooked at the bunnies there.

Two Netherland Dwarfs, so adorable!








Here they are, a few minutes after I first put them in thecage. Zorro is the black and white one, and Fred is thecaramel and white one. Zorro is about 8 weeks or so, and Fredis about 6. Zorro already has a big set of cahones, so he'llprobably get the 'snip' by next Friday.

They were in the cage for a while, and then I let them out.They've been exploring, and to my surprise, they both immediatlystarted doing Bunny 500's, and binkies! Binkie bunnies!

Fred seemed like the shy one at the store, but now that he's away fromsquaking birdies and grabby kids, his personality is showingthrough! He's exploring, bothering and following Zorroeverywhere, kicking the walls as he binkies, chewing on thecarpet... Fred keeps trying to follow me out when I leave theroom.

Zorro is jealous, he'll rush toward me anytime Fred is near.Zorro grunts all the time, it's too cute! The lady at the petstore saud he nibbled, and he did nibble me at the store, but nothere! He's exploring and sniffing, and seems to have claimedmy little bathroom as his territory. They're so cute!


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## Spiced77 (Mar 11, 2006)

they're cuties!! but um, i dont think they're nethies.. ??


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## Nadezhda (Mar 11, 2006)

They're probably Netherland Lop dwarfs.

Bah, I'm excited and tired of waiting for the camera battery to re-charge!


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## Spring (Mar 12, 2006)

They look exactly like my friends rabbit (the brown one!) 

With the markings, myfriends rabbit is a holland lop x sothey might be. I'm for sure they aren't netherlands.. their ears aretoo big. :bunnydance:


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## Nadezhda (Mar 12, 2006)

I'll ask the lady at the petstore to give me thebreeders number so I can phone her about my babies exact birthdates,heritage, heriditary diseases, whatnot....

These babies are cousins, or maybe even brothers from different litters, can't you tell?







Fred is a chewer. He tried nibbling on all the cornerbaseboards and my closet. I mixed up some cyan pepper andvinegar water, and painted where he was chewing. He cameover, had a nibble, and decided that the cardboard box wastastier. Zorro came over and had a nibble too, and decidednot to take up chewing!






Here's Zorro without nibbly Fred.






"Hey Zorro, mum is fun to climb on!"






"I'd rather lie on a comfy carpet in front of the vent, thanks."







Look at the little lines underneat his ears! They're like little eyebrows!






"Hey Fred, come look! A breach in the bunny-proof defenses!"






Bunny ponders, Nadezhda prays:






I'll post more tomorrow. I just sang the puppy to sleep(again) and now it's time to see if these boys won't keep meup all night too!


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## m.e. (Mar 12, 2006)

They're absolutely adorable :kiss:

Though, goingout on a limbhere,I will saythat it looks like you are going tohave two small-to-medium sized rabbits there. Definitely *not*Netherland Dwarves.


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## naturestee (Mar 12, 2006)

*Nadezhda wrote: *


>



:woohoo
I love those two-tone tails! :bunnyheart

We'll see what the breeder says, but they don't look like dwarfs to me either. Maybe mini lop?


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## Nadezhda (Mar 12, 2006)

Zorro (black and white) has giant ears that floppily bounce when he runs.

In the morning, Zorro humps Fred.

In the evening, Fred tries to hump Zorro, but is generally unsucessfull.


I'm pretty sure I saw "Netherland" and "Dwarf" on the sign, maybe even "Lop"
You understand, I was pretty excited when I saw two adorable bunnies,and even more excited when I managed to get mom's tune of "One, Nadya,ONE" to "Fine, get them both...."

They're both litter-trained pee-wise. I smelt pee a coupletimes last night and this morning, while they were out, and searchedaround, only to be brought back to the litter pan beside my chair, fullof lovely pee-soaked paper. Their litter trays are full ofcouple-inch-long strands of paper, courtesy of the paper shredder, andif they do fine with that, I'll keep using it once I get some propertrays. 

The only annoying thing about bunnies, is Fred chewing and humpingZorro, Zorro sitting on my feet and humping Fred, and themultitude of bunny poo's they leave for mummy around the litter tray.

I need to go take brothers still namless puppy for a walk, and then the rest of those pictures will go up!


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## Nadezhda (Mar 12, 2006)

My spidey-sense is tingling... I have a feeling something is going to happen...







Sneaky bunny....






The leap!







Stop following me, humpy Fred!






Is he still following me, is he gone?








Funnily enough, Zorro is the one being the hump-master today. I sure hope he calms down after his neuter... 

Zorro is bigger, and is ready to neuter, Fred is smaller, isn't ready,but Fred has the softest bunny fur! Do bunny-hormones makes adifference to coat softness?

Anyways, for those who want to know, puppy was whiny as we walked, andas soon as he saw a big adult husky peeing on a tree, he stopped andwouldn't move. I picked him up and carried him a little bit,then put him down and we walked home. Silly puppy!


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## Charliesangel888 (Mar 12, 2006)

> Zorro is about 8 weeks or so,and Fred is about 6. Zorro already has a big set of cahones,so he'll probably get the 'snip' by next Friday.




Isn't 8 weeks WAY too young to get neutered? I've always read (and beentold by vets) that males should be neutered around 3-1/2 months of age,but many vets doprefer to wait until they are 5 months old.

Also, if they are both males they will have to be separated soon. Theirhormones will be rising, and they will be mounting eachother/getting infights more and more. 

I think that they should both be neutered when they are older (you willprob. have to separate them before then) and then you will have tore-bond them!

Well, they are VERY VERY VERY cute and good luck with them!!!!!!!

xxx


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## naturestee (Mar 12, 2006)

Depends on the vet. Some are comfortable with neutering as soon as the testicles drop. 

Are you sure he was eight weeks? He might be more like tenweeks. That's usually what I see quoted for earliest puberty.

Man are they cute! Keep the pics coming.


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## Nadezhda (Mar 12, 2006)

The lady at the pet store, although she'ssupposed to be the expert, seemed a little... non-expert. Shewas trying to tell me that alfalfa is bad for pregnant does, after Iexplained that alfalfa, for babies is to give them enough protein andcalcium. 

Zorro decided, once I put them in the cage so I could vacuum, that hewas comfortable with the space and should pull Fred's tailfur. Fred is now running around my room by himself, with thesmaller cage now up for him. Fred isn't that hormony yet, hewas thumping and looking for his buddy. Once he realizedZorro was out in the hall (I put the cage tops sideways outside mydoorway so they can hop out and see in the hall) he startedexploring and having some fun. He hasn't Bunny 500'd orbinkied yet, but I'll let him run around for another hour before Iswitch and put Zorro in the room.

*sighs* They were grooming eachother and snuggling in the petstore and on the way home, and during their first few hours home, so Iwas hoping I wouldn't have to separate and do the whole bondingprocess. Oh well, I'm just glad that they both pee in boxesand not on my floor!


I can hear 'my brothers' puppy whining. He understands nowthat I will come back if I leave, but still whines if I take toolong. I'll take him for a walk and then put Fredback in his cage, put him in the hall, let Zorro loose for a few hours.

Should I start switching their cages (one day Zorro in big cage, Fredin small; next day Fred in big, Zorro in small) now, or should I waituntil at least Zorro is neutered? I'm going to see if I canbring them in for a snuffles culture, so Zorro can getchecked out and okayed or not for neutering at least by Friday.

Snuffles has been with one breeder here for a while, she had to put awhole bunch of bunnies down. None of those bunnies were inthe store (Why bunnies were going to be shipped from Vancouver, and whyone lady was going to breed Zorro) but I want them to be tested just incase. I heard Zorro and I think Fred sneezing yesterday, butafter I gave my room a good vacuum (picked up a *lot* of dust) Ihaven't heard either sneeze all day. 

Woah, Fred just did a Bunny 500 with a mini binkie, and then clean himself:






You can't really see it, but his tail is a smidgeon shorter from Zorro.

Off to walk 'brothers' puppy. Taaaaaa.


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## Nadezhda (Mar 12, 2006)

*naturestee wrote:*


> Depends on the vet. Some are comfortable withneutering as soon as the testicles drop.
> 
> Are you sure he was eight weeks? He might be more like tenweeks. That's usually what I see quoted for earliestpuberty.


Zorro has testicles, and would spray the walls sometimes at night atthe petstore. He was there about a week. I'm goingto try and get the breeders number soon.


My vet felt so bad about my other bunny, Oreo, dying, that he wantedtoo pay for these bunnies. I want to culture them forsnuffles just in case, so he said he'd do the cultures and beginningcheck-up, as well as neuter Zorro for free instead. I'llbring the bunnies in tomorrow with the puppy (puppy's getting shots)and he'll do the cultures. He said he'd prefer towait till at least three months for bun-snips, but since I don't knowthe actual age of my buns, the date of neuter is still unknown.

Lady at pet store says: Bun is 8 weeks
Bun-smart people at RO: Bun looks more like 10 weeks
Internets say bun sexually matures: 10 - 16 weeks

Zorro was hopping up to my desk to glare at Fred in his cage on mybed. Fred was jumping at every loud noise Zorro made untilFred realized Zorro couldn't get him.

I really want Zorro to stop being mean to Fred. I don't wantto have to worry about my buns, who are going to be room-buns, hurtingeachother, especially when it looks like I'm going to be the one totrain and look after 'brother's dog'... Thank god it's Marchbreak.

My picture host (which is actuall blogger ) is taking forever toload, so I'll post pictures of Zorro's ears once it finishes.They're pretty floppy, almost 'airplane' like, but I know that earfalling isn't an indicator of age. ("Hurr, my bunny's earshave dropped." "That's good, he's between 3 weeksand 3 years of age, hurr.")


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## Nadezhda (Mar 12, 2006)

Behold my horrible paint skills. I'm working with a touchpad! I tried to outline how far his ears flop.






And another:






When I got into the room, Zorro looked happy. I sat down andhe started running around me in circles. Then he was doingBunny 500, where he dashes and does hair-pin turns, and then he wasbinkying around me! And then he stopped and ate a caecotrophand was running around me again, ate some more yummy poo, came up andwas sniffing me, backed off and ate more poop, scratched his ear,bounced onto the couch, ate some poo, bounced down....

And he grunts so much! His nose is so loud too!He's like a dog! *runs and grunts grunts grunts**Stops and SNIFF SNIFF SNIFF*


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## m.e. (Mar 13, 2006)

> I really want Zorro to stop being mean toFred. I don't want to have to worry about my buns, who aregoing to be room-buns, hurting eachother, especially when it looks likeI'm going to be the one to train and look after 'brother'sdog'...



Well, as I'm sureyou havelearned in your reading both on this forum and elsewhere, males (evenneutered ones) rarely get along. Bonding them is not impossible, but itis difficult. Personally, I would prepare myself for the possibilitythat these two bunnies may not get along, and restructure their housingand play time to accomodate that.

At any rate, they'reabsolutelyprecious, and I am loving these photos! Keep 'em coming:bunnydance:


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## Nadezhda (Mar 13, 2006)

There are more babies at the petstore, and I wasfretfully thinking last night about returning one of these babes andgetting a female. I'm not sure who I would returnthough! I had hoped, since they were living together nicelyat the store they would bond nicely as well, but....

Urrrrg...

Fred is binkying around the room. I'm more inclined to lethim run around more since his cage is smaller than Zorros.Zorro has the big two-bunny cage all to himself!

This is going to be a hard decision. These bunnies(hopefully) will be friends that can run around happy in the room,eventually all the time. 

I'll be at the petstore anyway, to get more hay and a couple more heavycrocks, and the breeders number, so I'll see if any of those babies(female babies!) catches my eye.

If iI do get a female, I'll clean up the spare room (used as storagefor all out crafty type things) so that she'll have someplaceto stay while Zorro still has 'live ammo', even if she isn't sexuallymature yet. 

Nyaaaaaa, I look at these two and rational figuring says I would giveup Fred, but non-rational emotional thinking loves them both!


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## Nadezhda (Mar 13, 2006)

Emotional thinking won out. Fred stays.

The vet looked at Zorro and said "He's a big one." He, ah,examined Zorro, and asked if he was 12 weeks. He's neuteredall his boy buns, so we'll schedual a neuter once we finished withpuppy shots.

I bought plastic baskets to use as littertrays, so once I finishconverting them, I'll let Zorro out and see if I can get some actionshots


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## Nadezhda (Mar 14, 2006)

The buns have litter trays, and Zorro isschedualed to be neutered on Monday, the day I get back toschool. The breeder still hasn't phoned.

I am an idiot. Last night, I took the battery out of thecamera, and took the camera to my room. I forgot to put thebattery in the charger. I later realized it, and put thebattery in the charger, but... didn't plug it in. So thismorning I plugged it in, however, the power bar was turnedoff! I'm going to go check it again now, and my next postwill be this evening, and it will be full of photo's, I promise!

To make up for my wordy-blogging, and non-photo blogging, here are somepics of 'brothers' doggie, from a few weeks ago before we brought himhome. He's now named Hunter, and is a whiny boy.His ears have both straightened, and he's still cute as a button.


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## Nadezhda (Mar 15, 2006)

There are pictures! But it's late, and puppy has stopped whining and fallen asleep. 

The pictures are here:http://tablesock.blogspot.com/ if anyone doesn't want to waitfor me to come back tomorrow and post em all up :3


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## Nadezhda (Mar 16, 2006)

Ok! The buns aren't eating the walls,the puppy isn't crying, the toilet has been shut off until I can figureout what is wrong with it, the switch on the fan in the other bathroomhas been taped down until I can figure out what is wrong with it, andthe internets and the blogger site are finally working intandem. Now if *only* I could get to my laundry!

First, the puppy. He decided that the litter trays I was making were pretty, so he stole one:







And then started chewing on it...






Here's Fred in one of the old litter boxes (which I'm still using...Buns have more than one area that they like to poop when out of theircage!






Fred really likes to groom:



















Even when Fred decides to sit in the hay basket:






He'll end up grooming...






Zorro seemed a little upset about being in his cage






He almost seemed to be disapproving that I would let Fred run around and binkie!






Silly bun! This was a day that he got the morning run, atleast 4 1/2 hours! Maybe he just didn't like the fact that Iwas letting Fred circle me. Both Fred and Zorro, when I'm inthe room, will start binkying, and start circling me, and doing Bunny500's with binkies around me...

I managed to get a shot of Fred during one of his circle binkies!






It's hard to get shots of Fred binkying. If he is runningaround, and I'm on the couch so he can't circle me, he'll run around,start cleaning himself, then out of nowhere, binkie! I'll tryto snap a picture, but then he's down again, cleaninghimself... He'll be eating hay out of the haybasket, and then out of nowhere, another binky! He ended upkicking hay out of the basket!

To end, a little picture of Fred, chinning.


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## naturestee (Mar 16, 2006)

Lovely pictures! Zorro looks so peeved that he's in the cage! And Fred is definately one clean binky-bun!


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## Nadezhda (Mar 20, 2006)

Fred is not a clean bunny. He doesn'tpoop as much ouside his cage as Zorro does, nor does his pills smell asbad, but he is still a messy messy bunny.

Pics froma few days ago of Fred resting and the awesome pop-box maze hidey-hole I made for buns:

















And now a pic of my baby Zorro, chillaxin in his cage after hisneuter. Poor baby, do I need to re-microwave that towel foryou?






As well, one of my mom's friends came up yesterday and was looking atZorro. She was looking for a bunny at Christmas, and swearsshe saw Zorro as a cute little baby bun! She said she wantedhim so bad, but her son chose and older bun (a bun about Zorro's agenow) to get. That would make Zorro at least 14-15 weeks,depending on when he was weaned!

Now to wait until Fred's balls drop, so I can estimate when he'd be 10 weeks.

The breeder still hasn't phoned. I need to get a bettergrooming brush, probably on Friday, so I'll bother Mr. Owns the Storeagain then.


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## Nadezhda (Apr 12, 2006)

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/642/1157/1600/20060411 037.jpg

That is a pic that I just didn't have the heart to re-size.It's currently my background, and is a big pic. I didn't wantto post it directly, cause then it would have stretched this thread outreally wide.

*off to resizing pics again for her next photoblog post*


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## naturestee (Apr 12, 2006)

That last pic is too cute!

And aren't box mazes fun? I don't have one at the moment, but when I did I hid toys and hay in it.


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