# Harvex' Blog



## CruiserMaiden (Aug 13, 2009)

Ok so I thought I'd join in and start a blog for me and my new bunny Harvex  For anyone who missed his intro thread here is his first picture from his first family (new ones to come once he's settled): 







Here's a picture of his "Mommy & Daddy" - myself (Mary) and my SO (Ken). :hearts






And of course here are his "Brothers" - Spooky (Black) and Mulder (Orange). 










Enough with the pictures, on to the reporting! 

Today is day one of his ownership of us and he's doing quite well with my training though he is still pretty terrified of Ken. He approached me for a treat during his out of cage time this morning so I feel that is progress. I don't know how much out of cage time or handling he got for his first 6 months of life! Currently he will be a cage bunny with lots of out time, though we are moving to a new house soon and are considering him being a house bunny there.

Right now he lives in a Wabbitat 37" cage, I want to build him a cube cage but that will have to wait until after the move because we just don't have the space here. His first owner said he wasn't litter trained but I put a litter box in the corner where he was doing his business and he hasn't gone anywhere but there (yet). My first cage liner attempt of newsprint was shredded overnight while we were sleeping, so I am going to try to figure something else out today. I really don't want to put shavings/bedding all over the bottom of the cage because it doesn't have a lip and would be a BIG mess!

As I said my training is going beautifully, I am on my way out to the store right now to buy him some toys (which he didn't have from his last home!), some better food, a new dish and hide box and oh yea, some more treats! I hope I can find things to meet his highness' approval!

Thanks for reading, I will report more later!


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## hartleybun (Aug 13, 2009)

i just love the look on that little bunny's face! he is sooooo cute it's quite clear that he's gotten you all wrapped round his little paw - already you're bunshopping:rollseyesi know what you mean about cage lining. mine are free range buns with their own bunnery but still manage to cover it and the garden. i do use fleeces and old sheets for liners - anything that can be washed or sent to textile recycling when it's too shredded to be safe.

btw - what is on the board in front of you both? im trying to read it but cant!!


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## CruiserMaiden (Aug 13, 2009)

So I went shopping today and got him a new ceramic dish because the people who had him before used a little sauce cup that he kept knocking over. I got a mat to go on the floor of his cage instead of the newspaper, its a pretty red that looks striking with his colors. Oh and some toys because he didn't have any of those either - he got some baby keys and a wiffle ball (human toys) and some wooden bunny blocks to chew on.

I also got a steal on a small waist high entertainment center to put his cage up on, he seemed nervous having us looming over him while we walked around and seems more relaxed now that he's up a little higher. That took me awhile to figure out how to assemble but hey he seems to like it.

I don't know what to do for his hidey box!  He came with this giant plastic igloo that would fit 3 of him and takes up almost half of his cage so I wanted to get him something a little smaller so he could have more room in there to move around and also to feel more secure when in his hiding spot. I took a cardboard box that was about 1.5x his size and cut a hole in the side and put it in there instead but he wouldn't have anything to do with it and kept sitting in his litter pan, so I gave him back his igloo for now...

What I'd like to get is an enclosed hide box with a hole in the top or high on the side for him to enter so I could fill it with bedding for him to nest in without having him toss it all out of the cage. That's what I was going for with the box but again he didn't like it. Maybe I will just get him a slightly smaller igloo so he can have what he likes without having to take up so much space?

I am worried all these changes to his cage may stress him out so I want to leave him alone for now. The people that had him before had him just in his cage with some carefresh bedding on the floor, a food dish, salt lick, igloo and water bottle. No toys or hay at all! I bought a suet bird feeder last night and filled it with hay and he's gone crazy for that. Today I added the new flooring and bowl and will leave him alone to settle with that before I mess with his cage anymore!


*
hartleybun wrote: *


> btw - what is on the board in front of you both? im trying to read it but cant!!


It says "See Seven States" - it's from when we went to Rock City in Chattanooga, TN.


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## Becknutt (Aug 13, 2009)

Aww he is adorable! That look he's giving the camera, reminds me of Albert Einstein. Paper is a favorite toy of my buns, so I can feel your newspaper frustration. He may love his igloo and I'm sure he'll grow into it soon. I got one of those for my first bunny when he was just a few weeks old and 3 years later it's still his "safe spot" it's where he hides when he doesn't want to be bothered. 

Has he met his "brothers?" Does he get along with the cats? I didn't really know much about rabbits when I got my first and people who came to my home thought he was an odd looking cat because he ran free with the cats.It took a double take to see he was abun.


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## CruiserMaiden (Aug 13, 2009)

No, Harvex hasn't met his 'brothers' yet. His last owner had dachshunds and he did OK supervised with them so they said. The kitties are still in Atlanta with my parents because I just moved to Knoxville and I am waiting until we move to the house to bring them here. I don't want to cause them undue stress with trying to adjust to one home and then another... I am curious how they will react to Harv, and how he will react to them!

Harvex has decided toys are great! I thought he would be a bit confused because he hadn't had them before but no problem. He made me play 'fetch' with him awhile ago - he would push his wiffle ball out of the cage and wait at the door for me to come get it and put it back, and he would run back over to toss it out again. He also thinks that throwing baby keys around is the best thing ever! Suprisingly he hasn't even touched the actual rabbit toy I got him - chew blocks. Go figure!

I am still doing my research so any tips would be wonderful! They gave me a big bag of food with him but it is the pellet and seed mix type that I know isn't the greatest for them. I don't want to stress him with a food change along with everything else so I am going to wait until his bag gets about half full and then start cutting it with the pellets I want to change him to in increasing amounts until it is gone. He has already made his treat preference for yogurt drops known! I need to read around more on what the deal is with veggies - treats or daily staple? I am figuring out the basics but am still really curious as to what kind of toys/stimulation I can give him or 'non-essential' ways to make his life better and happier!


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## Wabbitdad12 (Aug 13, 2009)

First, I love your blog, especially the part that your training is going well, I got a good chuckle.

If you try cardboard boxes again, I cut several big openings in them. Big ones for them to run in and out of and a couple where they can chew the openings bigger if they want to.

Try craisins or banana chips for treats too. Now about veggies, some people feed their buns primarily veggies with a few pellets and lots of hay and others give lots of hay, some pellets and some veggies. If he hasn't had them before introduce them slowly. A rabbits digetive tract is very sensitive, I would try and get as many of the seeds out as you can and then mix his old food and the new together to make the transition.

Something that entertains my rabbits, gives them something to play with and chew on are tp tubes filled with hay. Some people paint banana flavoring on the insides.

Great blog, I look forward to future entry's and pictures. Feel free to send me a pm if you have any questions.


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## CruiserMaiden (Aug 13, 2009)

Well if his cage was bigger I wouldn't be concerned about the amount of space his igloo takes up. I am going to try getting him a smaller igloo that he can still fit into and see if he boycots that one too.

Here are some more Pictures!

This is Harvex' cage as of this evening.






This is just a picture of him in his cage before I made the changes to it today.






This is him in his igloo about to go to bed!






No new news except he let me brush him a little and actually came to the cage door to be petted by Ken! Woot!


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## hartleybun (Aug 14, 2009)

*Wabbitdad12 wrote: *


> First, I love your blog, especially the part that your training is going well, I got a Something that entertains my rabbits, gives them something to play with and chew on are tp tubes filled with hay.


:yeahthat:definitely roxy and hartleybuns' all time favourite toy:biggrin2:

thanks for describing the sign too


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## missyscove (Aug 14, 2009)

Congratulations on your new addition! Harvex is very cute!


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Aug 14, 2009)

Harvex is such a cutie!
I don't have a house rabbit myself, but I must say from reading about others on here, that they are very fun! 

Emily


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## CruiserMaiden (Aug 15, 2009)

Ok so I went bunshopping again today... his litterbox with the 'small animal litter' that came with it was already really dirty and I wanted to change it and didn't have anymore litter. Actually last night he pooped all over his new floor mat because I had moved his hay where he couldn't stand in the box and eat. When I moved it back he hasn't gone outside his box again at all!

As for the fun stuff: I got him a new igloo -the one that wasn't quite the largest size like his first one was. He still fits in it fine and gives him more room in his cage. When he grows I will give him back the bigger one because hopefully by then he will have a bigger NIC cage!

I also got him a little cotton blanket (about the size of a hand towel) to push and toss around, a bird toy that is big plastic chain links that I hung from the ceiling of his cageand he was having fun knocking it back and forth, some craisins for treats,a stuffed toy to snuggle with (with no eyes, etc.) and anuntreated wooden "H"that I am going to mount on the side of his cage for him to chew on.

I did give him a TP tube filled with hay and a couple of yogurt drops, but he paid no attention to it until I started giving him other toys then he wanted to toss it around. He didn't seem interested in the hay or chewing on it?

I didn't give him the stuffed toy yet because I will be in and out all weekend and I want to monitor him to see if he wants to shred and eat it before I leave him alone with it. I am soaking the wooden letter in strawberry Kool Aid to dye it and give it a tasty flavor. I used to do that when I kept pet rats and they loved it!

As for the "practical" stuff I got a little cereal pouring container to put his pellets in and a sealed box to keep his hay in for organization. I got him some wooden kitty litter pellets for his litterbox because I couldn't find anymore of that "small animal litter" that the box came with.

This weekend he will be primarily left to himself to settle in as I will be VERY busy dealing with the realtor for our (hopefully) new house. I will post pictures and an update hopefully Monday! Thanks for reading my ramble!


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## Wabbitdad12 (Aug 17, 2009)

*CruiserMaiden wrote: *


> Thanks for reading my ramble!


You ramble well


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## CruiserMaiden (Aug 17, 2009)

Ok so a new update today. Harvex decided I was cool enough to eat a carrot out of my hand! 

On the other side, he hates his new igloo as much as he hated the box. Somehow he is bonded to the giant igloo, I don't get it but I gave it back to him anyways.

He did finally go after the toilet paper tube and eat the hay yesterday though. And he thinks his new toys are the absolute coolest!

Today I've spent half the afternoon on the phone calling various vet clinics to find one to do his neuter. I found one finally who can do it, but they want me to wait 2 to 4 weeks before I try to schedule to bring him in because we aren't 100% sure of his age. His first owners sold him to me as 6 months, but the vet wants to wait to make sure. They said it was better to do it a month late than to do it too early.

Also they are giving me the choice as to if I want to bring him home with pain medicine or not? I've only ever had cats neutered and they never required any pain meds - should I opt to get it for him? How do you give pain medicine to a bunny anyway?

I'm also concerned about taking him to be neutered so soon after bringing him home to live with me. He hasn't had a chance to decide if I'm scary or his friend yet - will I make him hate me permanently if I take him right away to have his boys cut off? 

I will probably do forum searches later to see if I can find some answers or maybe post another thread in the appropriate forums, just thinking out loud right now...

He has started spending more time out of his igloo as he settles so I think I can probably safely take some pictures later tonight or tomorrow - woot!


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## Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears (Aug 17, 2009)

*CruiserMaiden wrote: *


> Ok so a new update today. Harvex decided I was cool enough to eat a carrot out of my hand!
> 
> Me thinks he really likes you
> On the other side, he hates his new igloo as much as he hated the box. Somehow he is bonded to the giant igloo, I don't get it but I gave it back to him anyways.
> ...


Harvex is a really cute little guy.


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## CruiserMaiden (Aug 18, 2009)

Well, his "little boy bits" have definitely dropped! So I guess that's good news for me, and bad news for him... Ken (my SO) wasn't on board with having him neutered at first, he didn't see the point in spending the money if he's going to live by himself anyway. That was until I explained he could start spraying all over the house like a cat, and humping legs like a dog. Now he has volunteered to pay for the surgery and drop him off himself. Heh - Men!

Now Harv has decided he doesn't want to eat his pellets. He is still eating hay but he picks all the seeds and stuff out of his food and drops the pellets on the floor. I know I need to switch him to an all pellets diet but his last person was feeding him the seed and pellet mix and I didn't want to upset his system by switching him immediately. I have been running the mix through a colander to get most of the seeds, etc. out but not all and will start mixing more pellets in when the bag of seed mix is 1/2 gone. Is there anything I can do to entice him to eat the pellets? Or do I need to work harder so that ALL he gets is pellets and hay and eventually he'll eat it?

Last night he was out of his igloo playing with his toys and I took a few pictures of him. I know y'all like pictures! Sooo here's Harvex!


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## Wabbitdad12 (Aug 19, 2009)

Great pictures! He has been eating the seeds for so long that he prefers them to the pellets, as you make the switch and he finds fewer seeds, eventually he will begin to eat more pellets.


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## CruiserMaiden (Aug 19, 2009)

Today Harvex met the vacuum cleaner! We had been putting off using it in the room he is in as to not startle him while he was still settling in but it needed to be done today! He actually didn't freak out as much as I thought he would, he just stood up on the edge of his cage with his ears forward and sniffed at Ken running the vac, and looked at me like "is this ok?". Then he started thumping his back feet on the bottom of the cage to make a really loud noise whenever the vacuum got close to the stand his cage is on. He didn't seem terrified or anything, just curious and maybe a little alert. It was interesting to behold!

I am going out of town for a few days (Ken will be home to take care of him!) and I am going to try to introduce some veggies to his diet when I get home! Slowly, of course. He never had hay at his old home either, and he has taken to that beautifully!


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## Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears (Aug 20, 2009)

Those handsome pics of Harvex. He's ssssoooo cute. 2 of my bunnies hide in the igloo when the vacuum comes out.


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## CruiserMaiden (Aug 21, 2009)

So I've headed down to visit my family in Atlanta for the weekend and Harv is staying home with "Dad".

Ken hadn't done much interacting with him before this but he seems to realy be bonding with him now that I'm gone. He called me earlier and said that he had been lonely because I left and he couldn't believe a bunny could be such good company! 

I brought a blanket that I had in Harv's cage to let the kitties sniff and see what they think. Mulder started grooming the blanket. Spooky laid on it. Since Spooky is nearly 16lbs, I hope that is not his response to Harvex in person!!!

I am trying to catch up on some much needed rest here with my family. Ken and I are trying to buy a house in Knoxville and the stress is really getting to me. Someone told me that trying to buy a house is one of the true tests of the strength of a relationship, hope we survive it!


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## hartleybun (Aug 21, 2009)

more cuteness, especially that first pic with him holding the bars in his little paws i've been there with regards to making the switch to a more suitable diet. the little buns can make you feel guilty. persevere tho' eventually they get the hint:rollseyes

have a good break


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## CruiserMaiden (Aug 25, 2009)

So I got home today and Harvex got to try his first Craisin (sp?). I had bought them before but apparently Ken didn't know they were for the bunny and was eating them himself... 

Ken did a good job taking care of him in my absence, though his idea of a 'clean' cage isn't quite the same as my idea of 'clean' cage. I have a strange feeling this will translate over to our future children? Oh well, at least he was well fed and treated (with yogurt drops because Dad was busy eating all Harv's craisins!) and his litter box was kept clean so he is pretty chilled out. 

This weekend I got him a larger water bottle out of storage that I had, and I got a medium sized cat carrier for him to travel in. We are going out of town in a couple of weeks and he will be going to a friend of mine's house while we are gone and I needed a carrier to get him there. He doesn't particularly like riding in a cardboard box!

Anyway thats about it. I want to take pictures of him tomorrow so I will post them when I get the chance!


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## hartleybun (Aug 28, 2009)

*CruiserMaiden wrote: *


> Ken did a good job taking care of him in my absence, though his idea of a 'clean' cage isn't quite the same as my idea of 'clean' cage. I have a strange feeling this will translate over to our future children?


:nod


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## CruiserMaiden (Aug 28, 2009)

So today Harv and I had a breakthrough!

After the human/rabbit mix up with the craisins, he just got his first one the other day. I offered it to him by hand and he refused it, so I put it in his bowl and it was gone later. 

Up until now he has not been terribly responsive to my attempts to buy his affection with treats. He loves fresh veggies but I don't want to give him too many of those because he wasn't getting them in his old home. He likes yogurt drops etc. but wouldn't take them from my hand, I would have to put them in his bowl. 

But the past couple of days I have stopped topping his bowl off with pellet/seed mix every day. He has been eating all the goodies out of the mix and leaving the pellets, so instead of dumping those out I'm just leaving them for him to brood over. (He of course has plenty of hay at his disposal...) Today I offered him a craisin from my hand and he went crazy for it! My guess is its because he isn't getting all those yummy seeds etc. from the mix?

Anyway I gave him a couple of craisins from my hand and now he has started running OUT of his igloo and to the door whenever I walk by, instead of IN to the igloo. Its a breakthrough for me anyway!


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## Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears (Aug 28, 2009)

*CruiserMaiden wrote:*


> But the past couple of days I have stopped topping his bowl off with pellet/seed mix every day. He has been eating all the goodies out of the mix and leaving the pellets, so instead of dumping those out I'm just leaving them for him to brood over. (He of course has plenty of hay at his disposal...) Today I offered him a craisin from my hand and he went crazy for it! My guess is its because he isn't getting all those yummy seeds etc. from the mix?
> 
> Anyway I gave him a couple of craisins from my hand and now he has started running OUT of his igloo and to the door whenever I walk by, instead of IN to the igloo. Its a breakthrough for me anyway!


You are trying to end the seed mix and just have pellets right? Just be careful of how many Craisin you give Harvex. He don't want him to have an upset tummy. 

It does sound like he's starting to love you a bit more. It's so cute that comes out of his ingloo instead on going in. 

Also we need more pictures of him. leaseplease:


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## CruiserMaiden (Aug 29, 2009)

I have not been giving him that many craisins, only like 3 per day. He is completely obsessed with them though. He has decided that People=Craisins and acts accordingly. Its funny. I was going to take more pictures today but he wrecked his cage that I cleaned yesterday so picture time went to cleaning that back up... I will take some soon though.


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## Wabbitdad12 (Sep 1, 2009)

*CruiserMaiden wrote: *


> I have not been giving him that many craisins, only like 3 per day. He is completely obsessed with them though.


Bunny crack!


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## CruiserMaiden (Sep 2, 2009)

Yes, Ken and I have started referring to the craisins as "Bunny Crack". He's so funny with them!

We had to take Harv to the bunny sitter yesterday as we are heading down to Florida for the week. Yay - vacation! Of course now we hear there's a tropical storm where we're going... 

I left VERY specific instructions for the sitter, mine and ken's phone numbers, the phone number, address and office hours of the vet and the emergency vet and took all his stuff over with him. I marked everything with his name, usage, feeding schedule, etc. as well as his own personalized care sheet - am I being too OCD? I'm still worried about him!

We're in Atlanta with my folks right now (drove here to stay last night) and are leaving to drive the rest of the way toFlorida here in a few minutes. Wish me luck with that tropical storm!


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## Wabbitdad12 (Sep 3, 2009)

*CruiserMaiden wrote: *


> I left VERY specific instructions for the sitter, mine and ken's phone numbers, the phone number, address and office hours of the vet and the emergency vet and took all his stuff over with him. I marked everything with his name, usage, feeding schedule, etc. as well as his own personalized care sheet - am I being too OCD? I'm still worried about him!


Not at all. I think you have to whether the sitter is bunny experienced or not, each bun is different.


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## CruiserMaiden (Sep 4, 2009)

The sitter has bunny experience but no Harvex experience until now... I've been very worried about him cause he's spoiled and I don't want him to get upset! 

Here's what I did for the sitter- Igave her a care sheet telling her when and how much of everything he's used to, including food, fresh veggies, treats, litter box cleaning, cage cleaning and toy rotation, andall the numbers and addresses (and office hours) for me, the vet and theER vet. Iportioned out and packaged up how much food andveggieshe would need for the week plus three extra days, just in case.I measured out litter for his box into individual baggies with just enough for one litter change at a timeso she could just dump the box and then addone baggie of new litter. I sent him with a newbox of craisinsand a new full bag of hay. Then I took a sharpie and wrote his name and the purposeof each thing andamount to be givenon the packages.When I dropped him off I set up his cage andwent over the care sheet line by line, gave hermapquest directions from her house to the vet and ER vet,and showed her how to handle/feed/groom him the way he likes everything done.Then I had herput him in his cage and get him back out to show shecan pick him up the way he is comfortable with.I left his carry cage with a towel insideto wrap him in should she need to get him out of the house in a hurry for any reason.

I've called twice since Tuesday to check and see how he's doing (fine, by the way). I think I may have a problem or something... I'm in Florida and should be relaxing not worrying about my bunny who doesn'treally seem to care that I'm gone!!!


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## Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears (Sep 4, 2009)

Ahh, I sorry to hear your away from your love  Isn't it nice to hear that are missing you terribly  and still have a good time with sitter. Sounds like you had everything set up perfectly.


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## CruiserMaiden (Sep 5, 2009)

Well its good to hear at least yall don't think my sharpie attacks on all his stuff was nuts- Ken seemed to think I had lost my mind!



Now off to the beach!


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## hartleybun (Sep 5, 2009)

way to go with your instructions for the bunsitter! i dogsit and always have to ask for the dog's routine. apparently im a mindreader - lol. it's nice to see someone who realy cares about their pet and doesnt assume the sitter is psychic. the more info the better imho


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## CruiserMaiden (Sep 7, 2009)

So today was my last day in Florida. I got a bad sunburn, even on my feet! Yes, I was wearing sunscreen - oh well!

We drive home tomorrow and I get to go get Harvex on Wednesday. The sitter said she doesn't want to give him back and that he's been doing wonderfully!

I met another bunny slave here (a friend of my future step-mother in law, confusing enough?) who had never tried giving her bun craisins so I recommended them last night. She gave her some today and her bun went nuts too! Much fun.

Anyway that's about it. More info and maybe pictures once I get home and pick Harv back up!


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## CruiserMaiden (Sep 10, 2009)

So I'm back from vacation and on to looking for more houses... we were under contract and set to close on one next week but found a massive mold infestation in the crawlspace at inspection so we are back to square one... 

Harvex did great with the bunsitter! I will definitely let her keep him again whenever I go out of town. She said he was a real joy to keep!

I tried to take some new pics to upload while I had him out today but I am having some problems with photobucket, so I will post some tomorrow!


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## CruiserMaiden (Sep 15, 2009)

Ok so here is a boring cage shot for yall wanting pictures. I had some great ones from when he was out playing the other day but a user error in uploading them to the computer and photobucket caused the camera card to become corrupted...







I will take more 'action' shots in a couple of weeks. I am headed down to Atlanta tonight to stay with my family and Harv's brothers for a week or two. Harv is staying home with Dad, who he seems to like better than me anyhow!

Anybody have any advice on how to stop him from eating his cage furniture? for some reason all of a sudden he started trying to EAT his igloo last night. I had to take it out because I was afraid he was going to get sick eating plastic! He's sad without it, and its been in his cage since from his first home, so I don't know what to do!


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