# Miranda, Sammy & the 5 sneaky arrivals!



## neejchee (Jun 16, 2014)

It was mentioned in another thread that my updates about the crazy adventures of my bunnies are a bit all over the place and difficult to find, so I thought I'd start a thread here to keep it all together. I'll do a catch-up post first, and then I'll do regular updates about the babies! 

So, catch-up time! My adult bunnies were originally Miranda-Jayne Andrea J(surname) and Samantha Snow J. Mirandy was the original fluffball, but on the drive home from getting her I decided she would be lonely and needed a bunny buddy. As soon as we got home I started searching for an available friend for her, and found a breeder on the other side of town with a doe almost a week younger than Mirandy, so in the space of about 2 hours I made an impulse bunny buy, and it's the best decision I ever made!

Miranda started out seeming like the better 'pet type' rabbit, happy to sit in our arms while Sammy was always exploring and refused to stay still. She'd also pee and poop on people. After a while though it became clear than Sammy was the explorer, but she was by far the more affectionate. As miranda became more confident she learned to make it very clear than she didn't want to be picked up, whereas Sammy would come running when we entered the room and reach up for cuddles, giving big licks and snuggles often. I became extremely attached, and to this day Sammy owns my heart like my own daughter and one of my dogs do. I love all my pets, but have special bonds with some that just can't be manufactured. My sister has a similar bond with Miranda and the other dog.

At nearly 4 months the sex change fairy visited, and Samantha became Samual. He was a humpy little bugger, which Miranda rolled her eyes at and patiently ignored him, until her hormones decided to go crazy and she had a phantom pregnancy. We had a tense few weeks, but thankfully no babies arrived. Miranda was far too young for babies, on top of the fact that I didn't want them breeding. Sammy got desexed, but there was another pregnancy scare when my 6 year old brought Miranda inside to get her out of the heat and unknowingly put them together when Sammy still had silly hormones. Again, no babies, so we relaxed.

Even though Miranda wasn't desexed she and Sammy have had an amazingly close bond from the beginning, becoming destructive and depressed respectively whenever they were separated. They have never had any aggression towards each other and are very snuggly. All was well and normal for a few months and Miranda and Sammy settled into the family life as indoor/outdoor bunnies.

One month ago, while outside overnight, Miranda dug out. They have a two story hutch with 3 metre run attached for when they're outside unsupervised, and the cheeky bugger decided that since her nasty mummy made her husband infertile, she would find a sperm donor. She was actually back in the run when found the next morning, with her face stuffed in her food bowl while Sammy wandered the front yard. They were brought inside again and the hutch and run relocated to a much safer position. I figured since Sammy had stayed close and Miranda had come back all was well. The next day I spotted another escapee lop bunny in a yard the next street over. It was about the same size as mine, so either a mini lop or a larger type but young, and was mostly while with darker around his nose and ears, so from what I could see I figure either seal point or a charlie I guess. Anyway, that was the day after the escape, the next street over, I had no idea of gender or even whether it was full grown, Miranda had been back in the run and Sammy had stayed close, so I figured they had both stayed in our yard and there was nothing to worry about. 

Then Miranda built a bit of a nest two weeks later, with some pulled fur. I figured it was a false pregnancy again, maybe from the excitement of the escape, and the timeline would be right. I didn't worry. Then she built another nest, big this time, and her body started bouncing. I moved her inside with me and stopped taking her back out overnight, but for 5 days she ignored the nest completely. I started thinking maybe I'd imagined things.

The night before last I woke up at 3:15am to the sounds of Miranda pulling fur to add to the nest. 10 minutes later she started grunting away in there, and wihin 15 minutes she had left the nest. You'd think she'd be exhausted after all that, but she had more energy than the entire week before, and kept me awake the rest of the morning running around and binkying and digging the ground behind the nest furiously. I'm thinking she was pretty proud of herself!


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## neejchee (Jun 16, 2014)

Now for some pics! I'll start with my snuggly wuggly fluffbals. Sammy is the black one and Mirandy is the other one, who was broken orange when she was little but has since come through darker in areas that make me think she's actually broken sooty fawn/black tort. Speaking of which, does anyone know which of those terms is used in Australia?





















Now time


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## neejchee (Jun 16, 2014)

You can see in the last picture above, both of them as adults in the carrier together. That gives you an idea of the size of it. Miranda has since made her nest in that carrier.


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## neejchee (Jun 16, 2014)

Before kindling...


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## neejchee (Jun 16, 2014)

About 5 hours AFTER kindling...


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## neejchee (Jun 18, 2014)

Finally I have a moment to update about the babies! A few hours after they were born I checked the nest. No babies in the wrong place; right in the middle of the fur pile at the back of the nest were 5 precious little babies! All alive, all squirming strongly! No stillborns, no sign of placenta, no nibbled limbs or anything!  Some looked a little lighter than others, but at 4 hours old it was difficult to tell. Here are the hours old babies:


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## pani (Jun 18, 2014)

Little tiny pink wrigglers! I'm so glad they're all healthy and well.


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## neejchee (Jun 18, 2014)

At one day old the colours were becoming a little more clear, and I've come to the conclusion that we have two who will look like the other escapee (either a seal point type or a charlie with his marking on ears and nose, but a charlie and broken wouldn't produce solids so I'm going with the former), one the same as Miranda (broken sooty fawn/black tort), one solid sooty fawn/black tort and one I'm notentire sure whether iit's broken or not, but I'm leaning towards solid. It's also more clear at this stage that the little white pair are the runtier ones, while the solids are the fatsos and the broken is in between.


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## neejchee (Jun 18, 2014)

At two days old their colour is even darker, and I'm strongly leaning towards the one I was unsure about being a solid sooty fawn/black tort. I'm still not sure which term is used here in Australia. The little white ones are clearly the smallest again, and Gilderoy the Fat Solid is still a little guts and by far the biggest. He happily lays on top of the others and is constantly rooting around for a nipple.


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## Azerane (Jun 19, 2014)

Oh my goodness, they are such adorable little things. Love seeing how their growth is progressing, hope mum and "step-dad" are both doing well


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## pani (Jun 19, 2014)

Look at that big ol' tub in the middle!  I look forward to seeing more updates!


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## neejchee (Jun 20, 2014)

Thanks, they're cute little wriggle-butts, aren't they? That big fatty in the middle has been like that from the very beginning. If it's a boy he'll be Gilderoy and if it's a girl she'll be Helga. Here's a comparison of 4 hours old to three days.


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## neejchee (Jun 20, 2014)

A bunch more photos of the precious wrigglers at 3 days old!


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## neejchee (Jun 22, 2014)

4 days old! I'm becoming EXTREMELY attached to little Eminem, the only broken sooty fawn. I thought I'd be least attached to him because I already have Miranda who looks like that, but I just adore my little mini- Miranda!


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## neejchee (Jun 22, 2014)

6 days!


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## neejchee (Jun 22, 2014)

Sorry, accidentally skipped 5 days old. Here they are.


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## neejchee (Jun 24, 2014)

The little fatties are one week old!


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## pani (Jun 24, 2014)

They've grown so much!!!


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## Azerane (Jun 24, 2014)

Won't be long now and they'll be getting into everything!!


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## neejchee (Jun 24, 2014)

Yup, they're super fat and super strong. Eminem (little broken sooty fawn) is the strongest and most adventurous of the lot, regularly climbing out of the pet bed thing I put them in to check on them, and when I put him/her on my chest for a cuddle he/she climbs straight up and over my shoulder. I'd bet good money Eminem will be the first one out of the nest. 

Photos of the fatties at 8 days old:


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## Aubrisita (Jun 24, 2014)

Oh my goodness gracious! They are all simply adorable. Congrats!  Thanks for sharing them, I love watching them grow.


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## Troller (Jun 25, 2014)

You don't know how envious I am of you that you get the chance to raise these adorable little kits. They're adorable.


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## Chrisdoc (Jun 25, 2014)

I am so jealous, I would love to raise at least one litter but who knows. They are just adorable, isn´t it amazing how quickly they grow and change, that´s what I find most fascinating. Keep the pics coming, I am just loving following them.


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## neejchee (Jun 27, 2014)

They are gorgeous, aren't they? Just like some human kids, they may have not been planned, but they're extremely loved! They certainly change significantly every day! I'm going to try to catch this up a few days now, because I'm getting behind. 

9 days old:


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## neejchee (Jun 27, 2014)

10 days:


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## neejchee (Jun 27, 2014)

And finally I'm up to date! The fatso squishies are 11 days old today! I already knew Miranda was feeding them once early morning and once in the evening, and was pretty impressed that she was feeding twice a day instead of the once I had read was common. I now know why they are so darn fat; I found her feeding them again at 2pm today! There's no worry about these little fatties being neglected, and it's no wonder Miranda is eating and drinking so much! Anyway, here are the chubby buggers, 10 minutes after a feed and a massive wee, at 11 days old:


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## Azerane (Jun 27, 2014)

They are just precious!  So cute!!!


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## Aubrisita (Jun 27, 2014)

Omsqueeeee! Adorable, that picture of the little noses...heart melting. So cute!! The one with the little freckles (pardon my lack of proper terminology, I don't really know much about coloring/patterns) tugs at the heart strings. So does the little one in the first pic. Again, thanks for sharing.


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## neejchee (Jun 29, 2014)

12 days old, and 4 of 5 kits have opened their eyes. Even though they're all super fat now, one of the white ones was a tiny touch smaller than the others at birth, so I guess is the closest thing I have to a runt, and is the one who's eyes are still shut.


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## neejchee (Jun 30, 2014)

I'm busy dying of viral plague at the moment, which is why I'm a few days behind again. Sorry. I'll do a catch up now.

13 days old, and the little whitey has opened her eyes and is the first to have started grooming herself like the adults.


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## Azerane (Jul 1, 2014)

Aww, bless them... they're so adorable! Such happy, healthy kits


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## neejchee (Jul 1, 2014)

2 weeks old!


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## neejchee (Jul 2, 2014)

15 days old, enjoying a bit of family time with Mum and Step-Dad.


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## neejchee (Jul 2, 2014)

Miranda hopped in to groom the kits a bit, and 4 happily slept through it, while cheeky little Dora (the white one closest to the front) decided to sneak around the back and wriggle under for an extra feed! Miranda realised what was happening and after a moment she moved away, leaving Dora shocked and confused on her back. She stayed there in shock for over a minute! It was super cute.


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## surf_storm (Jul 2, 2014)

They are so so so cute!!!!


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## pani (Jul 2, 2014)

Oh Dora!! 

"But muuuuummm!"

:laugh:

They're SO cute.  I love seeing Sammy join in on the family behaviour! He loves them like they were his own.


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## Aubrisita (Jul 2, 2014)

Wow, they grow so fast! Adorable.


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## Azerane (Jul 2, 2014)

lol, it's like she's having an adorable little bunny tantrum  Hilarious.


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## neejchee (Jul 3, 2014)

Lol yeah, it was super adorable. Sammy is even more protective of them than Miranda - probably because he can get close without them sneaking a feed - and does NOT like being kept from them. They had some beautiful family time yesterday, but my phone decided that the 1500 photos and videos I had on it were too much, and it pooped itself. I got a few little vids before it died but not photos.  I'm trying to upload some vids to photobucket.


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## neejchee (Jul 4, 2014)

My phone died on me when trying to get pics of Day 16, so other than the little binky video I have nothing. I had it sorted for Day 17 though, so here we go!


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## Aubrisita (Jul 4, 2014)

Awww, melts my heart. How do you stand the cuteness? I wouldn't ever get anything done, I would be with them all the time, lol. Did you name all the babies? (Sorry if you posted names and I missed them).


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## neejchee (Jul 4, 2014)

We've given them temporary names and assigned genders until we can find out their actual sexes. One white one is Nymphadora, nicknamed Dora, and the other is Franklin. The broken one is Eminem, but we've decided has a girl personality, in which case she will have an M first name and Miranda as her middle name, so will still be M&M. The darker ones are Gus (the not so bubble butt) and Gilderoy. They'll all be keeping those names if the sexes turn out to match.


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## Aubrisita (Jul 5, 2014)

Love the names! I have a Lilly (lab ), Tonks (deaf kitty), and Ollivander (ollie, kitty), and of course Luna.


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## neejchee (Jul 5, 2014)

We were originally going to use all HP names, but one is going to my sister's best friend and she decided on Gus, and for some reason my sister suddenly decided she wanted Franklin, which I really liked. Eminem/M&M is Mini Miranda, so that's where her name came from, but if she turns out to be female I'm pushing for Molly to be the first M. We're left with just Nymphadora and Gilderoy from HP. That said, if Franklin turns out to be a girl she would be Bellatrix. Gilderoy will be Helga.


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## neejchee (Jul 5, 2014)

Day 18! The kits finally ventured out of the nest without help, and they're sooooo proud of themselves for it! They're binkying all over the place, and fatty-boomba Gilderoy has already discoved the joys of the pellet bowl! They go back to the nest now and then in their travels, but refuse to sleep there anymore, which is really annoying because they pee A LOT and I'm having to change the sheet under their new sleeping spot far too often.


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## Barley N. Hopps (Jul 21, 2014)

Oh my, I've certainly enjoyed scrolling through all your delightful pictures, Neejchee, and the commentary as well! It sounds like you intend to keep them all? What a houseful! I'm wondering about litter box use - do the adult rabbits use one, and would Miranda teach her young to use it, like a cat?


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## MILU (Aug 15, 2014)

Awwww... as if all the adult bunnies weren't cute enough... 
they also got BABIES!!! 
Congrats everybody/everybunny, baby bunnies are a real bless!!!


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## Lexi01 (Aug 22, 2014)

those are the cutest babies I've ever seen! I love the little babies with the lop ears so cute!


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## alexanderdanje (Aug 23, 2014)

Such cute babies, almost the size of a palm! :O


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