# ABC's Blog



## ariusshadow (May 15, 2010)

[align=center]
[align=center]*â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥ A ri's* *â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥ *[/align][align=center]*â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥** B un **â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥ * [/align][align=center]*â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥** C rew [sup][sub][/sub][/sup][sub][/sub]**â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥ *[/align][/align]

[align=center]*â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥**â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥**â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥**â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥â¥ *
[/align]* 
*[align=center]*Meet the Buns*

First bun was Luna. She's approximately five years old. She's a broken black and white Polish mix with half blue eyes, half brown. Luna can be a little temperamental, but I'm working on her behavior. 

[/align][align=left]*Luna's Bio:*
*Name:* Luna *Weight:* ???
*Age:* 5(ish) *Favorite Food(s)*: Romaine Lettuce
*Color:* Black and White Broken & Dandelion (Flowers)
*Breed:* Polish Mix *Least Favorite Food(s):* Lilac
*Likes: *Being left alone, &* Dislikes: *Being offended. (She knows. Trust me.)
pinecones.
*Most Discerning Feature:* Star pattern on her side.







[/align][align=center]Second bun was Jasper. A friend of mine (a fellow RO'er! Her name on RO is Ecresi), had received a rabbit from Craig's List. Just as we were about to go pick up Kota (momma bun), we received a call, saying that she may be pregnant. She was making a nest! Ecresi still agreed to take her. Jasper was one of her five kittens. Ecresi still has momma and one of her offspring. So I've known Jasper ever since she was old enough to show a difference from the others.
[/align][align=left]*Jasper's Bio**:*
[/align] [align=left]*Name:* Jasper *Weight:* ???
[/align] [align=left]*Age:* Less than 1 year. *Favorite Food(s)*: Pellets, hay. (Not much into the 
[/align] [align=left]*Color:* Brown agouti fresh foods.)
[/align] [align=left]*Breed:* Flemish Giant/Rex *Least Favorite Food(s):* Roses
[/align] [align=left]*Likes: *Being the center of *Dislikes: *NOT being the center of attention, going 
[/align][align=left] attention, chewing boxes, toys back in her cage, being held.
made of willow, toilet paper rolls.
[/align][align=left]*Most Discerning Feature:* Oversized ears.





[/align][align=center]Third bun in Nymh. Full name is Nymhulous Beatrice. He was Ecresi's. But, when she mentioned she was going to rehome him, I jumped on him. He's a cutie with a bit of a biting problem, but he doesn't usually break skin. Other than that, he's a good bun. 
[/align][align=left]
[align=left]*Nymh's Bio**:*
[/align] [align=left]*Name:* Nymhulous Beatrice (Nymh) *Weight:* ???
[/align] [align=left]*Age:* Less than 1 year. *Favorite Food(s)*: Roses! He will RAMPAGE for 
[/align] [align=left]*Color:* Brown agouti roses!, hay, lilac.
[/align] [align=left]*Breed:* Jersey Woolly *Least Favorite Food(s):* Pellets, dandelion.
[/align] [align=left]*Likes: *Exploring new places, *Dislikes: *Being held, being last to be fed at
[/align] [align=left] Nut Knot Nibbler mealtime.
[/align] [align=left]*Most Discerning Feature:* Light brown eyes.




[/align][/align]


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## ariusshadow (May 15, 2010)

[align=center]*Meet the Slaves:*
Start with myself. 
[/align][align=left]*Ari's Bio:*
*Name:* Ari *Age:* 21
*Relationship: *Living with *Occupation:* None at the moment.  Too many 
boyfriend. Doctor's appointments. 
*Likes: *Languages, music, *Dislikes:* Stupid people. 8D
animals (duh!), singing.
Gotten new glasses since this picture. 






[/align][align=center]I live with my bf, who is the only other slave in the household. But we live with several other people. His name is Happy Bob. ;D

[align=left]*Happy Bob's Bio:*
*Name:* Happy Bob *Age:* 25
*Relationship: *Living with *Occupation:* None. Trying for disability.
girlfriend. 
*Likes: *Gaming, watching anime, *Dislikes:* Stupid people. 
animals (duh!), hanging out 
with friends, and face painting.

Note: I'm the one painted. He's the one behind me. 




[/align][/align][align=left]
[/align]


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## ariusshadow (May 15, 2010)

Today was fairly uneventful. But, yesterday, we got our first bale of hay. The buns aren't too happy about the switch, even though it's still Timothy... The stuff in pet stores is still different. Nymh devoured his handful overnight. Jasper nibbled hers on and off, and Luna's more interested in using it as bedding in her box. 
I also cut up some roses and picked dandelions and white clover for my buns for the next few weeks. They're still working through the lilac and hosta I brought back from my mother's garden! They're some spoiled buns.


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## cheryl (May 16, 2010)

Your bunnies are gorgeous...and the pictures of you and your b/f are lovely...


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## hln917 (May 16, 2010)

So where exactly are you in New York? I may have to bunny nap Nymh!!!:biggrin2::biggrin2:


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## ariusshadow (May 16, 2010)

We live in Kingston, NY. I used to live in Duchess County, on the other side of the Hudson River. But I moved here about 4 years ago. If you know any of the area, I'm about half an hour away from Poughkeepsie. Everyone wants to steal Nymh. ;D So don't feel bad. When he still belonged to Ecresi, I used to joke about walking out with him in my purse. Or simply pick him up and "bye~" and she'd get a good giggle out of it. :biggrin2:


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## ariusshadow (May 16, 2010)

Well, last night I had posted on Luna's cage aggression. With her being on a dresser, things were a little rocky. But I finally finished cleaning up the hallway.  She wasn't too happy about the change last night, but after settling in, she's already been free-ranging. This morning, she was out while Jasper and Nymh were fed, and we didn't have any growling or lunging. She was investigating the closed bathroom door when I was putting the food in her cage. This is definitely a step in the right direction. We'll just have to see how the next few months carry us to see if she'll be staying there.











My flash sucks, I know. 

On another note, when going to feed Jasper, I found something rather amusing... The little stinker managed wrestle with her box in such a way, that the only opening got wedged against the side of the cage. She obviously wasn't panicking, so I grabbed my camera for this lovely bunny blunder:






She was chewing her way out at a leisurely pace, but I gave her a hand and she looked at me very indignantly, as though embarrassed for needing my help. I was hysterical. 

Never a dull moment. 

Oh! Also on the agenda! I'm getting RATS on Tuesday! I've had many a rattie before. But never sisters. I've had 2 single rats, a set of 3 brothers, a set of 2 brothers... This will be first sister pair. They're coming from an hour away- we're picking them up. It will be quite a trip. But worth it. The person lives out in Putnam County and we're in Ulster. I know the Putnam area a bit- my grandmother used to live down that way. I found the ad on Craig's List (That site is so dangerous! Dx So many cute faces~) and this poor person couldn't find them a home for the life of her. I told her my experience with rats, and craig's list, and she was overjoyed to find them a home. There's a tan and white hooded, and a black and white hooded. The ferret cage I use for rats is... Almost assembled. Working on it.  I'll post pictures when it's completed, though.  Can't wait to get them.


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## ariusshadow (May 16, 2010)

Oy, like I said, never a dull moment. Just had to pull apart a bunny tussle. Jasper was free-ranging in the spare room and Luna was free-ranging in the hallway. I had the door to the spare room latched with a latch-hook set up... For so I thought. My boyfriend said he found it unlatched when he went in there, and left it the way he found it. 
Luna and Jasper got into it. 
Jasper's cage part was off of her cage base because I was looking for something in the store room next door to the spare room in the middle of cleaning her cage. I'd heard a racket and figured at first that Jasper was getting into trouble. Heard it again and knew exactly what it was. I stood up and ran into the room to find a very indignant looking Jasper, no worse for the wear, just very aggravated, sitting under one of the chairs, and Luna all "O_O" in Jasper's cage. I scooped up missy Luna and plopped her back in the hallway. A quick minute to check out Jasper, no signs of injury, a second to check out Luna. Luna seems to have taken but a small injury, which I don't think is cause for alarm, but I'll certainly keep an eye on it. It's the smallest little scrape just on her eyelid. Jasper's still free-ranging, and Luna's in her box in her cage, rather disgruntled. Poor things. I'll have to pay closer attention next time... I was so sure I latched the door...


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## ariusshadow (May 17, 2010)

Cage for ratties is now complete!
With room for improvement.  I'm going to try to get some tunneling on the ceiling, and a hammock. We'll see how finances go, though. 
Here's the bottom half first:





...And the top half:






And the whole thing!











Couldn't cut out the time stamp on the last one. xP
Ratties aren't until Tuesday, but I can't wait. :biggrin2:inkbouce::bunnydance:


Well, it's 12:30am.. And this tired slave is going the heck to bed. It's been a tiring day for sure. Luna was just checked on from her tussle with Jasper. Her eye seems perfectly fine. Just a small scrape I'll monitor closely right next to her eye.
She yawned in my face before. Very creepy. But awesome. Yay bunny breath. :biggrin2:


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## ariusshadow (May 17, 2010)

Yesterday, we went to the dollar store and picked up 2 plastic black crates and a small white wire one. I intend to rig these as hay holders. I'll take pictures as I set them up so you can see what I did. Just had to go out and buy zip ties. I know we have like 20 packages of assorted colors here somewhere... But because moving left us in shambles, who knows where the heck they all went. Spent yesterday in the closet trying to find them to no avail. =\ Hope we find them when we start NIC cubes. Dx Otherwise buying all those new ones will suck...


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## ariusshadow (May 17, 2010)

Hay bins are completed! It worked rather well, actually. 
I show step-by-step pictures of everyone's bins being made. And they're all fairly happy with them. 

First is Jasper:




In order to keep the hay from falling out and onto the floor, I backed it with cardboard. 






Then, I used good old fashion duck tape to hold pieces together. (Yes, it's purple. )






Then, add hay!






Now, the fun part: Attach it to the cage. Here I am, straddling Jasper's cage, one leg through the roof's door, wedging the crate against the cage to hold it still why I zip tie it. Jasper must have loved watching me do this. 






Now, add bun. :biggrin2: Which, in Jasper's case, can be a challenge. :bunnybutt: :rollseyes
She certainly likes it, though.


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## ariusshadow (May 17, 2010)

Next is Luna's. Which looks almost exactly like Jasper's.


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## ariusshadow (May 17, 2010)

Nymh's was a bit more of a challenge. Because his cage is smaller, for a smaller bun, I had to use a different kind of crate. But it worked out all the same idea. The only thing with this one, is on the bottom, the hay can come out of the bottom, too.


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## kirbyultra (May 17, 2010)

Nice creations! I like the use of different crates for the different cages. Very clever! What I should do is cut out a cardboard bottom and back for my hay racks. I am constantly picking up the bitty pieces off the floor of the cage. Somehow I'm just always too lazy to go ahead and do it  You've inspired me - I'll do it next time I have some cardboard!


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## kirbyultra (May 17, 2010)

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_post.php?post_id=778376


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## ariusshadow (May 18, 2010)

:O I'm honored! I inspired someone and now feel special~ xD Seriously, though, it's cool that you did it for Toby.  I don't prolifically watch your blog, but I do know a bit of your buns by now. Does Toby like it so far?


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## kirbyultra (May 18, 2010)

*ariusshadow wrote: *


> :O I'm honored! I inspired someone and now feel special~ xD Seriously, though, it's cool that you did it for Toby.  I don't prolifically watch your blog, but I do know a bit of your buns by now. Does Toby like it so far?


Yeah! I've been putting it off for like a year! Every time I do a thorough cleaning of the buns' cages I get all annoyed by the bits of hay that's built up under the racks and I'm like "ok I should really put something to block off the bits" but then I'd always be too lazy to do it!

Seeing your pictures of nice neat hay racks fired me up to do it LOL

Kirby used to have his own hay rack and he was the most passionate hay eater. But, ever since Penny and Kirby moved in together, Penny's awful litter habits made me remove his hay rack. She'd squat in front of the rack and eat, but then she'd go #1 and #2 right there, instead of doing it in her litter box. I'm still trying to get her to be neater and understand where she's supposed to go. When she firmly grasps this concept, I will put a hay rack back. It worries me because Kirby's so used to eating out of having hay rack that he doesn't eat as much hay now 

Toby doesn't detect a difference in his hay rack. He still eats out of it the way he always did. The sides are only blocked up about 3 inches off the bottom so he can eat from all sides from the top. He's happy with it :biggrin2:


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## ariusshadow (May 18, 2010)

We're about to leave to pick up the rats. ^^ I'm excited. I'm bringing my camera so I can take pictures of my two new girls on the way home and junk. 

OMG Luna ate a ton of hay last night!
In the pictures, you see the hay rack almost full. This morning, it was down more than HALF! I'm glad she likes this.  She needed more fiber. So this a good step. I decided to give her some small veggies this morning to see how her tummy takes it.
I usually give her one leaf of lettuce a day, because she'll get soft stool if she gets any more. Maybe a treat later on in the day like a carrot or something. If she continues to like the hay this way, I may be able to put her back on a morning small salad like everyone else soon. 
And I was worried she didn't like the new hay! Ha!


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## ariusshadow (May 18, 2010)

The rat girls are home and in their new cage! I was given a rat-sized silent spinner (new, they're worth like $40, and hard to find in stores around here). The cage had to be adjusted a bit to get the wheel to fit, and I zip-tied the back of it to keep it from toppling because it doesn't have a cage attachment part. Just the stand. I have plenty of pictures of them.  But for now, I'll let them settle while I go watch anime with the boyfriend. 8D We're watching Wolf's Rain lately. I'll post the pictures later. 
No names for the girls... yet. I want to see how their personalities work out before thinking of something.


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## ariusshadow (May 19, 2010)

The personalities of the rats are coming through already. The tan and white one is very bold, energetic, and ready to explore. She doesn't mind loud noises, or the change of atmosphere. The black and white one, however, is very skittish. She won't deal with being pet or handled at all, and flies at loud noises. I mean straight up. She takes food, though. Which is good. Because that means I can use hand-feeding as a bonding exercise. She also LOVES her wheel. Which is good. Means I can use food as bonding exercise and not have to worry about a pudgy ratty. 

Now, for the story:
The car ride was 100 miles total. From Kingston, NY, to Kent, NY (and back). With the help of google maps, we jumped in our friends jeep at about 2:30 and set on our way. Happy Bob sat in the back, mostly coming for the ride. He likes animals... But, personally, I wouldn't classify him as an 'animal lover'. With our friend (Damion)'s Droid fixated on our position on Google Maps, following our set path with a blue line through the pixelated highways, also keeping an eye on the print-out for distance and such, we managed to get out to Poughkeepsie, where we already knew we'd end up. We know that town well enough. We found we took a wrong turn at getting off the Hudson Bridge, though. Turn-Around number one. We set ourselves back on track and barrel through unfamiliar parts of Poughkeepsie, following the Holy blue line on the Droid screen. Lo and behold, I stopped paying attention (big surprise). And turned to Damion with "Where'd the blue line go?" He froze and gave me a glare. Apparently, it had been my job to pay attention. Oops.  We turn around twice to get back on track. Turn-Around count is now on 3. We find the place fairly easily after that. Taconic State Parkway is fairly straight-forward. We get up to Lake Carmel, and we decide to call her. She says she'll be waiting outside for us. Mind you, it was raining the entire trip. And still was. We pull onto her road, and start trying to find house numbers. Not a single house was numbered. After passing a girl in a purple poncho with umbrella and two rats in a plastic rodent carry-tank, we realize we missed her. And had to make Turn-Around number 4. We turn and pull into her driveway. We scoot the ratties into the carrier and make for a quick departure due to the rain. I sat in the back with them this time. Immediately get my camera out for an "On the way home" picture, and onward we went. The road home was mapped out differently on the Droid, but we followed that precious blue line and managed to get home safely. After rearranging the cage, I opened the carrier and tried to urge them into my hand to put them in the cage. The tan one? No problem. The black one? Ha! Nothin' doin'. I had to take her out by removing the top to the carrier. She wouldn't even jump in the cage on her own.  Stinker. The tan one was already climbing walls and sniffing the new hideouts by the time the black one showed up and the black one just followed her sister around. Now, they've settled in, but I have plenty of pictures to share of them exploring their cage. 

Here's what the cage looks like since I rearranged everything:






And here's a few pictures of them in the cat carrier on the way home:
(Sorry I couldn't open the obnoxious barred door.  In a car, you know. Don't need them escapin'.)










And here they are in their new cage, investigating their new digs:


















"How'd you get down there?"















































And this is my favorite picture of them.  The bold one's all up in the camera, and the skittish one's posing very amusingly.






~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On another note, Nymh is on my nerves. He insists on doing things he knows he shouldn't do. I remove him, say "no" firmly, and scoot him away, and he's back for more five seconds later. I thump, I block him, I put him away from where he gets in trouble, but he just will not listen. Aside from now looking for a job due to his behavior, (to pay for him to get fixed. Stubbornness sometimes is quelled by neutering, I hear.), I'm spending the buck or two on a squirt bottle for him. Let's see if it even makes an impact. I hope so.  
Most of what he's doing is tormenting Jasper. Whose cage is in the room he free-ranges in. I don't really blame him for that, though. He's not neutered, she's not spayed... I was waiting for this. But he's dead set on getting on TOP of her cage. Jumping clear over the barrier between him and her cage to get on top (sometimes missing, which I can't help but giggling over ). 
If I cover her, he stops caring about her as a bun, and more of her cage as an object to aggrevate me with. We'll see how the squirt bottle works, though.

On a brighter note, I saw Nymh BINKY for the first time today! And to make it better, I CAUGHT IT ON CAMERA! I was as giddy as a schoolgirl and still am. :biggrin2: It was so cute. I can't wait to incorporate it into my rabbit binky video I'm making. 
Well, I'm off to play a few minutes of Project Powder before bed. Been a long LONG day. *Flop*


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## JadeIcing (May 19, 2010)

So I deleted your double post and also edited your pictures so they didnt run together stretching the page. Should be easier to read now.


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## ariusshadow (May 19, 2010)

*JadeIcing wrote: *


> So I deleted your double post and also edited your pictures so they didnt run together stretching the page. Should be easier to read now.


Thank you so much.


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## ariusshadow (May 20, 2010)

So, I'd forgotten to mention this:
When I was cutting up the roses about a week and a half ago, our new neighbors were outside. 
She asked me, "Cuttin' roses?"
I told her "For rabbits."
"They eat the petals?" She asked.
I said, "They'll eat the whole thing."
A week later, she shows up with a bag of baby carrots for my buns. They're very pleased. ^^


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## kirbyultra (May 20, 2010)

*ariusshadow wrote: *


> So, I'd forgotten to mention this:
> When I was cutting up the roses about a week and a half ago, our new neighbors were outside.
> She asked me, "Cuttin' roses?"
> I told her "For rabbits."
> ...


Aw, your neighbor's so thoughtful. That's really nice!


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## ariusshadow (May 21, 2010)

*kirbyultra wrote: *


> *ariusshadow wrote: *
> 
> 
> > So, I'd forgotten to mention this:
> ...


Yes, they are. But I haven't got a chance to thank them yet. Hoping I see them outside again soon. We're not exactly on knock-on-your-door terms yet.


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## ariusshadow (May 21, 2010)

So I've been utterly sick the past few days. Throwing up, unable to eat, but no stuffy nose or anything. Just my stomach. Despite that, I had Ecresi come over today to help me clip the buns nails. (All of my buns must be bun wrapped in a towel in order for us to do them. Which gets fairly stressful.)
Jasper went first. She was, by far, the easiest. She was very calm until having to find the different feet to clip. And an apple chunk made everything better in the end. 
Nymh was next. Because he was Ecresi's, she already knew what was to come. I'd never done his nails before. He was _very_ unpredictable. Squirming with no warning at all. I think it was just easier for him to wiggle around because he's so small. We got him done, though, mostly at the expense of my precious Yu-Gi_oh towel, which now has holes in it. :grumpy: Cerainly lives up to his nicknames, "Nymmy nymmy nom nom", and "Little nom". Like the others, he was given an apple chunk afterword that made all forgiven and forgotten. Also, after the nail clipping, I noticed Nymh had a mat behind his ear. Like a retard, I pull him into my lap with the brush, and no protection. I now have a Nymh-sized bite mark that he gave me, through denim, no less, that bled. On my upper thigh, too. That hurt. :shock: Of course, I think to put the body pillow between my lap and the bun *after* I've been bit. I'm so smart. 
Luna wasn't that bad. She was last. Ecresi is one of the people that just doesn't connect to Luna. Aside from the disproportion of her body aggravating her (which I think is kind of funny. I think her disproportion's cute. ), just Luna's general angsty attitude made Ecresi loathe having to do her nails with me. But she was fairly good. A little squirmy, which was to be expected. But she really wasn't all that bad. An apple for Lunie, and all were happily back in their cage and eating their apples chunks. 

On another note, Nymh is now getting harness trained.  I know I said on somebody's blog just recently, that I would never use them because I was afraid of my bun slipping out of them. But Nymh's just too cute to not take to PetSmart when we go. :biggrin: So he's now using the harness that Jasper long since grew out of. And he's doing fairly well with his training. He doesn't really mind running around in a normal free-range with just the harness on, which is a good sign... His problem is when the leash is attached. Oh, how he hates it. But he's slowly getting over it. 

Ratty update: The black and white one really would rather have nothing to do with me. She doesn't like to be pet or handled, or even touched. The tan one's ready to walk right into your lap, then just keep going. The only real interaction I get with the black and white one's when I've hand-feeding treats. Which is a good thing. 
Next issue is finding out how to keep the tan one from chewing on the bars of the cage. She wants to door to open so badly, she just chews on it. And all you hear is her teeth grinding. :nerves1 It worries me so. I've had a hamster permanently damage her teeth doing this. And I just hope I find a way to stop her. I can distract her a bit, but she comes right back to it a few minutes later. Now I go to do my research.


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## undergunfire (May 21, 2010)

Your new rat girls are sooo cute! I have 4 neutered boy brothers myself :biggrin:.

Your new girl that bites the cage bars may have never really been let out of her cage, that could be why she always wants to come out now if you have been taking her out a lot. Rats loooove their freedom.

Also...as far as hammocks go, just get some wash clothes and hang them up! Rats don't need anything super fancy. Actually...send me your address in a PM and I will send you some hammies . My boys are 1.5 years old now and are lazy "squishies" and don't enjoy any hammocks besides cubes and pocket hammocks...so I have some extra hammies here that never get used that I don't mind sending along to you .


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## ariusshadow (May 21, 2010)

*undergunfire wrote: *


> Your new rat girls are sooo cute! I have 4 neutered boy brothers myself :biggrin:.
> 
> Your new girl that bites the cage bars may have never really been let out of her cage, that could be why she always wants to come out now if you have been taking her out a lot. Rats loooove their freedom.
> 
> Also...as far as hammocks go, just get some wash clothes and hang them up! Rats don't need anything super fancy. Actually...send me your address in a PM and I will send you some hammies . My boys are 1.5 years old now and are lazy "squishies" and don't enjoy any hammocks besides cubes and pocket hammocks...so I have some extra hammies here that never get used that I don't mind sending along to you .


:shock: That is way awesome of you. <3 Thanks so much. PM sent. :biggrin2:


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## ambervida (May 21, 2010)

xD Ari The girls are so cute. And by chance where did you and hb get the racks? >.> So I can get one for Miss Moe and stop picking hay out of my bed x-x;;


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## ariusshadow (May 21, 2010)

Dollar store.


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## ariusshadow (May 23, 2010)

Well, Nymh's getting over his harness/leash training slowly, and I've decided for him to only get roses as a positive reinforcement of having the harness on, so that he'll think harness=roses. Which he loves so much. I want to take him to petsmart at some point this week, but I don't know when we'll have the time...
I had to start freezing water bottles for my buns today so they'll have something cool to lay against. And Jasper can have something cold to tear apart. :grumpy 
Also, I've been running about to price parts for the 3-story NIC I want to build. This probably won't be until after we move. (Yes, we've decided definitively on moving.) But I'm pricing stuff now because Amber (a friend IRL, and fellow RO'er), is building her bun a free-standing 2 level NIC, so she's going to the places I'll have to go to anyway. So I'm pricing now, buying later, while she's buying now. 
The idea I have for the NIC is a 2 level for Jasper, on the bottom, a 2 level for Luna, in the middle, and a one-level for Nymh at the top. Nymh likes being held enough that taking him in and out of his cage is okay, and Luna will get a ramp, removable when not in use. All 3 buns will have 30 1/2 sq footage of space to themselves, on the base floor alone. Nymh, due to his size, I decided, he didn't need more. They all get ample free time. 
The whole cage is going to cost me a mint, but because it's so diverse, and can be taken down and reassembled however I need it in the future, it will be well worth the price.  I may never have to buy another bunny cage! I'll need 4 sets of NIC! :shock:
To make you faint, the cage will stand 70" tall (about 6ft), and be about 5 feet long, and a little over 2 feet deep. The cage, in NIC, will be 5 high, 4 long, 2 wide. Nuts, ain't I? :big wink:
Ratty update: I think I'm settling in on the name Komorebi for the tan and white girl. The full translation of this word is: "The beams of sunlight coming through the leaves and hitting the ground." It's the entire picture, in one word. It's also my absolute favorite Japanese word. 1, because of what it means, and 2, because, even as a translator (amateur), I often use the term "untranslatable". Because, when translating a song, this phrase doesn't exactly flow.  Aside from it being my favorite Japanese word, I think it fits her, somehow. Just the strength of the term emotionally for me, seems to fit her well.
The girl that gave me the rats also just sent me their baby pictures. They were so cute! I'll have to upload the pics another time, as I'm not home at the moment, and am at Amber and Ecresi's house.


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## kirbyultra (May 23, 2010)

Wow that's tall but are you sure NIC can stand 5 high? I ask because I was using NIC for some other reason and while I was putting it together It didn't feel like it could withstand a ton of vertical pressure. A board, some toys and a bun sure. But 5 stacks high with stuff on each level? 

I could be wrong though - maybe someone w/ more nic experience can comment better. I've never seen NIC cages go beyond about 4 panels high I think.


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## ariusshadow (May 23, 2010)

*kirbyultra wrote: *


> Wow that's tall but are you sure NIC can stand 5 high? I ask because I was using NIC for some other reason and while I was putting it together It didn't feel like it could withstand a ton of vertical pressure. A board, some toys and a bun sure. But 5 stacks high with stuff on each level?
> 
> I could be wrong though - maybe someone w/ more nic experience can comment better. I've never seen NIC cages go beyond about 4 panels high I think.


I just re-checked Alicia's "Zoo Crew Cages through the Ages" post. She does have at least one 5 high. Just might need a lot of zip ties, and I may swap Luna and Nymh, so Nymh's in the middle, for more support, since a floor will be both below and above him. I'm also thinking of zip tying a 1 x 2 or a 2 x 4 to both sides for support, one that will reach the whole 6 feet so it doesn't wobble. And Luna will just get a more creative way to get out of her cage without being picked up.


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## ambervida (May 23, 2010)

And with out her biting you : X Once I get the pics off my mem card I'll post the picture of you and Moe together. Plus Ecresi's in the pic too. Bwahahahaha. K now I'm going to bed.


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## ariusshadow (May 23, 2010)

*ambervida wrote: *


> And with out her biting you : X Once I get the pics off my mem card I'll post the picture of you and Moe together. Plus Ecresi's in the pic too. Bwahahahaha. K now I'm going to bed.


Luna never bites. Just makes a lot of verbal fuss.


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## ariusshadow (May 24, 2010)

so, the buns have an indefinite roommate at the moment (excluding Luna since she's in the hall). A friend of ours is having family issues, and she's staying in the guest room until further notice. I don't particularly care for the idea, because it hinders my ability to spend time with the buns a little. I can't exactly go in and torment my buns while she's asleep.  But, since she's still in High School, for the weekdays, at least, she doesn't really hinder morning feeding times, or play times... So I can't really complain, I guess. I picked a ton of clover earlier, mostly for Nymh, who's lovin' the idea of a partial wild diet. I'm thinking of taking him into the backyard tomorrow on his harness, since he's doing so well with it.  If I do, I'll be sure to get pictures. 
Also, I've decided to not neuter Nymh just yet. Ecresi and I have been wanting to stud him for some time, and now, we're seriously thinking about it. Obviously, we'd have to find potential homes for at least 5 kittens, and wait until we move and get settled, and have a better place to do it and junk. But we are talking for the future, here. We had several does out of the ones we own in mind. Muu, her Holland Lop, which we're afraid of her temperament being a problem with a new mother, and also, Miso, who is a harlequin rex / Flemish mix. Very small for a Flemish mix. Only Flemish you see in her is the ears. 
I will post about this on the more appropriate area of the forum as well, but, I'm curious if there's any known complications with Jersey Woolly's being a smaller breed of bun, and the size difference maybe causing a potential problem in a mating. We're not breeding show buns, obviously, so we don't care if it's a mix, but we're really thinking of trying it out at some point.
Ratties: We have a gutter tubing thingy... And it's going in their cage. xD It's this big plastic accordion-like tube for gutters and it was like $10, so we're gunna zip tie it to the top of the cage so they have something in that there blank space.  It's not the most aesthetically pleasing color, as it's a 'yard-work' green color, nothing bright or fun, but it will certainly keep them busy, I hope.


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## ariusshadow (May 24, 2010)

I was bored. So i went to Petsmart.com. And put everything I could ever want from the site into the cart. Just to see. Between rats and buns, the dream outcome is:

*Merchandise Subtotal:* *$ 301.29 *





*Estimated Shipping and Handling:*
Based on ground shipping within continental U.S. *$61.99
*$5.99 shipping on orders of $60 or more. $21.02




*Sales Tax:* *$0.00 *




*Estimated Total:* *$342.26*


Ha! they're spoiled, but certainly not that spoiled (thank goodness!)
I had a hutch, a run, tons of toys and treats and things no animal should ever need in that list. xD Welp that was fun.. Maybe next time I'll do Petco.


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## ariusshadow (May 24, 2010)

Yikes! Petco was worse! xD

ORDER TOTAL $477.07

I can't imagine what our pets would be like if we had that kind of money... How spoiled they'd be. If I could, I'd give EACH bun their own room. xD Spoiled lil fluffs


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## ariusshadow (May 24, 2010)

Well, today was very eventful. Tricia went home for now, due to school and junk. So no more roommate for Jasper and Nymh at the moment. As they were leaving, I decided to bring Nymh outside to test his leash/harness training. He did really well. And I notice he binkies a LOT more outside. He gets running and starts getting all worked up and just goes DOING~ It was really fun to watch him enjoying himself outside. It makes me really wish I could do this with Jasper and Luna. But they're just not cut out for the harness deal. Jasper was when she was baby. But she's long grown out of the harness, and the activity now. And Nymh takes to it much better, anyway. And he's easier to catch if he does (gods forbid) get lose. 
So I have plenty of pictures of him outside. But first, I want to show you this lovely present Jasper left for me. Appearently, Tricia woke up to her getting a hold of the bag of rose leaves for Nymh from through the bars of her cage. The bag is utterly destroyed. And the funny thing is, she doesn't even like roses.  She just wanted the bag.









Litter stinker. 

So here are the pictures of Nymh outside...~






















Munch break for some rose leaves I brought out with us. 














Naptime~










The neighbors ended up catching me with him on the leash. They thought it was not only adorable, but hysterical. I'd caught Nymh eating a plant I didn't recognize and promptly removed it from him. "Hey, that might be good for him!" The guy said, rather disgruntled. I said that because I wasn't sure, I didn't want to risk it. I proceeded to tell him that I pick roses and clover, dandelions, and lilac for my buns, and the guy turned around a picked a red clover, excited to feed it to him. I quickly stopped him and told him only the white ones. He seemed unhappy that I was strict, but agreed, and I snapped a picture of the guy feeding him a white clover.  All in all, I think Nymh made a friend. And, I found the guy hysterical. He was like a kid at the petting zoo. "Can I feed the bunny?!" xD 






Then I thought I'd wait till the end to share these... These are totally unaltered images. They came out very awesome. Even if the one's a bit dark, I love these.










Then, after putting Nymh away, I decided to go across the street. There's an abandoned house with roses growing in the yard. So I nicked some for Nymh. I didn't even get 'em all. But here they are:






Here's my hand so you can see how many there are in scale. The pictures were taken on my bed, so pardon the pile of tuffies. 










And the Ziplocs of roses and the clovers I picked yesterday.


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## ariusshadow (May 26, 2010)

So, on the end of me getting a 'job'. I've been turned down for ALL jobs I've applied for online. I haven't tried Wally World yet, though, because their servers were down the day I tried. I used to be a Wal Mart cashier... And I was fired and told I could come back in three months or something. Well, it's been three years since then. I've been arrested, and gained an injury that keeps me from standing for more than 10 minutes at a time.  I'm sure they'll want me back! /sarcasm
Anyway, as a makeshift way of making cash in the meantime, I've decided to start making pillows. I got FREE bags of pillows from Freecycle.com- someone nearby me had more pillows than they could count, and since I wasn't going to pay $15 per pillow just to stuff it, I got their pillows for free and I can just use that stuffing for my own pillows. I get the fabrics from Wally World's scrap fabric bin for like $1-$3 and I figure I can try to sell "Handmade Pillows!" on ebay for like... $10-$15... I haven't really even looked it up yet. x.x; Depends on the size/fabric I used and junk, too. So we'll see. Also need to look at the rates for flat rate boxes if I'm going to consider this. x.x;
Wish me luck finding a job so I can fix all my girl buns.  That's my first goal after getting the [email protected] job. >


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## ariusshadow (May 28, 2010)

Well, Nymh's leash training is almost perfect I'd say.  For a bun, anyway. Next thing on the list for Nymh is a retractable leash, though. x.x;
Nymh made a new friend today. "TiTi" is her nickname. She's adorable. And liked to ask me about what he ate.

There's a new bun at the petting zoo up the road. It's a black and white broken GORGEOUS mini rex. I almost took "Oreo" home. Dx

Posting these:
Phonebooks?
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=58133&forum_id=48

What is this?
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=58136&forum_id=48

So exhausted... u.u Can't type anymore.


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## ariusshadow (May 29, 2010)

I think Ecresi and I are planning to take Nymh and her ferret, Chii, to petsmart either today or tomorrow. Last I knew, though, she was asleep. x.x; So we might not get there today. 
For Jasper, I may try to persuade my mother (I go to her place in June for a short vacation), that her dog needs a new harness. He's a 30 lbs cockapoo mix and uses the next size up of the harness I like for rabbits. So if she gets a new one, I get to take home the old one and retry Jasper now that she's older. If she won't take to it, I'll see how Luna works with it. If neither do, I may just see if Jasper's sisters or mother can use it. It won't go to waste for sure. 
Also, I finally finished doing the math for ABC's new bun cage. It will cost a little over $130. 4 NIC sets, vinyl tiling, plywood, zip ties, wheels, and dowels to hold up the levels. The whole shebang. 
I'm pretty sure the whole thing will easily be supported- because I'll be zip tying a 1x2 to each side for support. 
I just need to think of how to A) Build the ramp for Luna and B) Make a way for Nymh to get down from the top. I've seen people build habitrail-like hop-lvls for a bun to get to and from their cage. And I've been thinking of rigging something similar. 
In the mean time, I have thoughts of using 1 set of NIC to make a playpen outside for the buns (girls ) that won't leash or harness train. And using it like that until we move so they can get some chill time outside like Nymh does. They won't get to run around outside... But they'll be able to get awh'ed over by the neighbors.  
I'm always being asked what my other buns look like. And the neighbors... Aren't exactly young and savvy. One has a lot of medical problems, so she probably couldn't see my camera screen if I showed it to her... And she couldn't come upstairs to see the girls. And I don't even think they have a computer to send them a link... So, I think I'm just going to set up a play pen outside and use that. 
Also now learning I need to keep Luna out of my rats faces. xD The tan one doesn't care. But the black one does. She gets all huffy and puffy and offended. Luna doesn't mind them. But I don't need the black one getting all vicious through the bars just because she doesn't like my rabbit. x.x; Setting up a barrier later.
Put the tube in the rat cage.  They hated it at first. But they like it better now. Still have room for a hammock, and a few other elements I'm hoping to add some time eventually. 
The hunt for a job is now further. I've met with a guy who specializes in finding people like me with disabilities, work. Which is good. We're started first on a resume and he gave me this booklet on how to clear my criminal record from that pesky misdemeanor. 
I'm also making pillows now- still on my first one. But I'm having fun. And excited to see how it will come out. I've only ever made one pillow before. And I hate it now because I think it looks retarded. 
Also, I added something in the bun room- a bowl of hay in the middle of the room. Since I notice Jasper avoids her cage like the plague when I'm in the bun room, she therefore does not eat or drink when I'm in the room. Judging by the water bottle, I know she's NOT dehydrated. But she may not be munching as much as she could be. So I added the hay bowl. 
I've also decided that Nymh and Jasper will be bonded after both are fixed. And after Nymh's 'father services' are over with. After his first litter is born I'll be neutering him and bonding him to Jasper. Because they both get along really well. They kiss through the cage bars and hang out next to each other's cage ALL the time. They barely even run around when let out- they'd prefer to hang out with each other. I've only ever had single buns so far. And the idea of bonding two of my buns is exciting and fairly unnerving. I've seen what Jasper's capable of if the bond breaks. Nymh's so small.. I may rethink the bond altogether. But for now, they're good friends between the bars. And it will be staying that way for now. 
Think that's it for now- I've got a video to upload in a little bit. I'm still putting the finishing touches on it.  It's a little video of my buns~ Binkying~ And being a adorable.


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## ariusshadow (May 29, 2010)

Got the video all uploaded.  
Hope you enjoy~
[flash=425,344]http://www.youtube.com/v/kc8zxQ5ohaM&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]


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## ariusshadow (May 29, 2010)

Welp... I learned something new today.  And Nymh has made yet another friend... Though.. this is a different kind of friend. x_x; This is a very special friend. This makes sweeping very difficult... thank you, Nymh. x-x; On another note, this made me absolutely hysterical the first time I saw it. I knew he *chased* the broom, but I didn't know what he'd do if he caught it! xD So here's Nymmy with his new special friend. 

*Warning: Explicit stuff and not for people under... whatever.  If you own rabbits, I'm sure you've seen it before anyway. x_x;* 

[flash=425,344]http://www.youtube.com/v/USV5MFz2THo&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]


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## kirbyultra (May 30, 2010)

LOL


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## ariusshadow (May 30, 2010)

*kirbyultra wrote: *


> LOL


xD Now was that "LOL" at the binky video or at Nymh's new little buddy? ;D


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## ariusshadow (May 30, 2010)

Well, I finally did it. I've been teaching Luna not to be in the bathroom. In case I leave it open by accident. She knows by now that she's in trouble if I catch her in there. Well, I left it open, she got in there, and ate my lucky bamboo plant, which sits on the floor in there. This was one of the major reasons I didn't want her in there. That and the chemicals she could get into. I don't know how good or bad the bamboo knock-off is for her. And now I'm worried. I'm starting my research at the moment, and keeping the vet on speed dial if something goes wrong...


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## ariusshadow (May 30, 2010)

Luna update: She's doing fine so far... She's alert, still her usual moody self, peeing and pooping normally, and her tummy's the normal amount of squishy-ness. Hopefully, she'll be fine.

Rat update:
The rats finally obtained names.  I'd known I'd wanted to give them Chinese names. But translating what I wanted into something that 'fit' them... Was a challenge.  But I finally got just what I wanted in their names without it sounding retarded.
The tan and white one is now Xing Guang. "Star Light".
Xing means star. I wanted to name her after Nyota. Since that was a large part of the reason I got her. She looked a lot like her- not just in the sense that she was a tan and white hooded. She had that something about her... That made me wonder if it wasn't my Ny. And even now, I find myself on the edge of calling her "Ny" all the time... So "Xing" had to be in the name. I decided that "Xing" was just too short. So I started looking for other elements in her personality to explore in Chinese. I came up with several but... I'm sorry but if the name rhymes, it doesn't work for me. And since Chinese have a LOT of syllables that sound similar, it took me a while to think "Well, what about light?" Since she was lighter than her sister, both in personality, and in color. "Guang". The best thing about this was, I knew the name before I even made it. My favorite song by the Chinese band S.H.E. is called Xing Guang. And I knew it's translation.
After finally coming to a conclusion on the tan and white one's name, I moved on. I already knew the first part of the black and white one's name, as well. I wanted "Lei", which means 'tear'. As in teardrop. She has a teardrop on her butt and plus, it fit her skittish personality. After looking for a second part to the name, and almost giving up for the night, I looked up "strong". Because, despite her cowardly nature, she was still a fairly strong-hearted little ratty. "Qiang". Now, this is pronounced "Chiang" not "Kiang".  So we now have:
Xing Guang (Star Light)
and
Qiang Lei (Strong Tear)


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## ariusshadow (May 31, 2010)

Reading something just now in Amy's blog, made me feel the need to rant about my own situation.  Because she and I have a similar 'can't stand who we're living with' moment. So rant I shall~ 
:rant:

So I live in this house with my boyfriend upstairs in a 2 floor house. The only kitchen is downstairs. So is the nicer bathroom. But there are two other people living here. Martin, a morbidly obese twenty... five year old? Maybe twenty six or seven... He's a gamer. The stereotype. Up all night, doesn't work, commands mother to be his slave, screaming at all hours of the night at the video games, munching on nothing but snack food while ruining my sleep as I can hear him all the way up here- even through THREE closed doors and a floor!
Linda is his mother. She lives with him. She's not so bad alone. In fact, without Martin, she's darn near a saint. But if her precious baby boy is in danger of anything... Getting kicked out, being called a liar, being told to clean up after himself, or being told off, she becomes mega(censored) and coming railing after us with all the power of a thousand men. Not physically, but metaphorically. She's managed to get the landlord 110% on her side. Believing that she and her precious son are the angels and that me and Boyfriend are the annoying little immature brats. 
We're moving. Landlord knows this. Martin and Linda do not. We're going to try to move in with several people we've lived with before. We know their habits. We know the way they act. We know how to work with them and how to talk to them. Martin's just a loose canon stuck in a brick wall. And it's to the point the Boyfriend and I are actually terrified of going downstairs. We can't even go get food without being afraid of being yelled at for something else. 
Now, because of Linda's sour attitude turning against us more and more by the day, the landlord's told us that we can't have any more pets. I can't live in a place like that. I can't handle a fuzzy-cap. I've always had more pets than I could handle. And I do so much better in life that way. I zone out when doing cages, and petting animals and it's better than meditation or anything like that... It heals me on a whole different level. And the more I have, the better off I am like that. 3 buns and 2 rats is nothing. I've had more than I can count at a single time. And we were planning on getting mice, hermit crabs, a dog... Plus I wanted to foster kittens... And we can't have more pets? 
The worst part is, Linda complained. Which is what started all this. And she doesn't even see the animals. Ever. I could bring in 4 more rats, two cats, a cage of mice, and ten more rabbits, and she'd never know. All of the animals are upstairs and she can't come up here because of her bad back/legs/neck/shoulder/breathing. So I don't even see why the hell she cares... And to make matters worse, the landlord got an attitude that the animals "must cost you over $150 a month!". We were complaining we couldn't pay rent for the extra room (boyfriend's brother (censored) us over and now we're stuck paying rent for a room we can barely use for more than buns.) and he told us to get rid of my animals. Boyfriend put the guy in his place. Buns cost us a total of ... $3.50 every... let's say 4-5 months for a bail of hay, $11 a month for a bag of pellets, $5 a month for a bag of litter. Rats cost us... $20 for all the accouterments to their food mix and that'll last anywhere for 3-5 months. They use the same litter as the buns. Aside from that, buns eat people food (food stamps- lettuce, carrots, whatever- or the food pantry down the road- we take what they can't give away- bags of spinach, turnip greens...) and wild diet, which is, duh, free. Landlord stopped himself in his tracks. What a (censored)... I thought that this place was the best place we could ever end up with. But I guess I was wrong... Between Linda, Martin, and Landlord, I'm about ready to pull my hair out. 
Been thinking of just telling boyfriend to get his mice. Chances are, the (censored)s downstairs won't even notice... And we have to get mice before I can get more ratties. It was a personal agreement.  And I wants more ratties~ The girls are such a fun pair, now I want more! And my whole cage can hold 6 comfortably. 

Okay, rant over.  Time to go watch anime before bed with Boyfriend.


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## kirbyultra (May 31, 2010)

Ugh, only thing more annoying than an blahblahblah landlord if is an even more blahblahblah neighbor/roommate. Yours sound nuts!

On a different note, nice names for your little ones. I like them. Lei Qiang struck me a little bit odd at first because of the juxtiposition, but I know that's what you were going for.  I minored in Chinese and East Asian Studies in college


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## ariusshadow (May 31, 2010)

*kirbyultra wrote: *


> Ugh, only thing more annoying than an blahblahblah landlord if is an even more blahblahblah neighbor/roommate. Yours sound nuts!
> 
> On a different note, nice names for your little ones. I like them. Lei Qiang struck me a little bit odd at first because of the juxtiposition, but I know that's what you were going for.  I minored in Chinese and East Asian Studies in college


 Lucky you! I get to learn from free courses online.. I wish I could go to College for it... But there's really nothing in the area... Unless I could drive (a LOT) or move, there's nothing realistic here. =\ Local college used to have German... But... They stopped doing it years ago because no one was interested. I'd settle to learn any language fully at this point. I can hold a minor conversation in Japanese... But that's about it.. Anything else I know at this point is random words in other languages.. I don't really even have time to indulge myself in the online courses anymore. :\ And I don't even have a job. Between animals, keeping up house, looking for work, and a new place to live, I'm lucky to get to watch anime with Boyfriend at night. u.u


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## ariusshadow (Jun 1, 2010)

Today was eventful. Took Nymh to Petsmart today.  He was a big hit. People were all lovin' on him. It was very cute. He got a little anxious when a VERY excitable terrier on the other side of the store was barking her bloody rotten head off, but he didn't really 'freak out'. Just froze. He did really well riding in the 'seat' part of the cart. I ended up soiling the rats this time. All the trips to stores recently has been for the buns. So I made this one a small rat trip. We really didn't have a lot to waste this time, unfortunately. So I picked up this cute little bird toy for the ratties. They won't get it until I clean their cage tomorrow. 
Also got them the can of cat food in the picture. I give them a small taste every once in a while just as a treat. I mean occasional. They're lucky if they'll get it once every three months.  I don't think it's really healthy for them... But a small taste won't kill them. They'll be getting that tomorrow, too.




After I got home from showing off my furry bun, I went for a walk, picking a ton of clover and dandelion for my fuzzies. 
I found out that for the summer, I already have about 4 vacations panned. @[email protected] I don't know if I can bear to be away from my sweeties for all that time.. But when I'm traveling with Boyfriend, who won't leave ANYTHING home, I can't fit all the animals in the car with me... :\ I was lucky to bring Jasper to my parents' house for Easter... But I don't think I'll be able to bring anybunny with me this time... Everyone will have to stay home. We have people to watch them... but... I'm thinking of convincing Boyfriend to help me rig a constant live webcam stream for my babies... He's good at all that computer stuff. I know basics, and some advanced. But I'm an amateur when it comes to stuff like this. Dx He'd have to help me set it up...
Planning to get two NIC sets in the coming weeks to set up a playpen outside. This playpen will mostly be in preparation for a BBQ we want to have in July, where all my buns, and my parents dog will *hopefully* be outside with us, enjoying the day. Have to ask the landlord if he has any shade cloth laying around... He has a ton of junk in his shed.. I really wouldn't be surprised.  And that would make my job a LOT easier with the buns. 
Welp, time for this tired slave to wrap it up for the day. 
Tomorrow is so far clear for cleaning cages. Joy~ /sarcasm...


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## ariusshadow (Jun 1, 2010)

Started a topic here:
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=58210&forum_id=1

Ugh I had this whole cuteness thing about Xing bruxing in her sleep, then starting to boggle and I never even saw her boggle before... And it was written out really nice and cute. :grumpy: Until I posted it, and half the post disappeared... This has happened to me about a dozen times already and it's really starting to aggravate me. ssd: I don't even know if it's my computer or RO or whatever... u.u I just need to remember to copy everything before posting it so I can just edit and paste if it doesn't work...


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## undergunfire (Jun 1, 2010)

You can actually give rats canned dog food frequently and it would be healthier then cat food. Just buy high quality dog food (Merrick, Blue Buffalo, Wellness, etc). I like to give my rats baby food more often then anything, almost nightly actually.


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## ariusshadow (Jun 1, 2010)

Oh really? Well, that's good to know. I settled on the Fancy Feast Medleys because I fed it to my cat when I had one. I trust the brand because I can see what's in it for a change, ya know? Not just a can-shaped lump of brown food. This actually says "Rice" and has "Rice" or says "Garden Greens" and you can see "Garden Greens" in the can. It's nice to find a food where you're sure it's what it says on the can. ._. I'm not sure if any of the dog foods do that...

Baby food... You know I heard of people giving baby food to their *cats* but it never occurred to me to use it for my rats... We may or may not be going out later. I might take you up on baby food thought.  Thanks.


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## ariusshadow (Jun 1, 2010)

Okay, so I cleaned cages, and Luna and Jasper got a revamp on their hay bins, and Xing and Lei got 2 new toys. 

Xing and Lei's first new toy:





Second new toy:
(They've had the balls- I just zip tied them to together ;D )









Next comes the hay bin revamp. Same bins. But I noticed they were having some trouble getting the hay out of the crates because the holes were too small. Nymh has no trouble. But Jasper and Luna do. 
So here's Boyfriend cutting the pieces out with his pocket jigsaw.  He's so cute with his dinky power tools. =X

























For those of you that really follow my blog, and remember my little scare with Luna getting into the bathroom and eating my bamboo knock-off, here's a picture of the damage. Little rascal. 






And as a bonus, here's some cute ratty photos. ^^


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## ariusshadow (Jun 5, 2010)

Week's been redonkulous... So I'm sorry I haven't posted much.
I was just told that my being arrested was bumped down to a violation. Now, back in October, I was told I had committed a misdemeanor, I plead guilty, and blahblahblah I have a misdemeanor, right? Wrong. Apparently, the (censored)s at the courthouse never bothered to tell me I had bumped it down to a "violation" which doesn't require any applications to ever find out about it. Now, don't you think this information would have been nice to find out 10 denied applications ago? -_- Yes, I'm very unhappy. But, on the happier side, I can now go about looking for a job without having to worry about the (censored) misdemeanor...

On another note, Jasper has decided to start marking now. She didn't at first. It was just Nymh. But now it's her, too. I can't wait to get a job to get her spayed. :\ This is redonkulous. I now clean up after her pee and poop after her play times, and the same with Nymh after his. On the brighter side, their urine doesn't stain the painted white floor. Which, in and of itself is a good thing. Aside from that, though, when they urinate on the white floor, it gives me the best chance of seeing what their urine really looks like. When they pee in the litter box, it's hard to see what color the urine is, because of the litter. I can see that Nymh's calcium buildup issues are gone now, (he had a blotch of white in every urine spot when he first came here. And his urine was rather dark) and he's properly hydrated lately. What made the difference, however, I don't know. o.o

I'm now getting increasingly worried about the people we've chosen to come over and take care of the buns while we're gone. Unfortunately, the only other person that could really do it, wouldn't be able to come here every single day, and would have to have all buns, and rats, at her house. Which is just unrealistic at the moment. 
The people we chose did.. acceptable last time. But the closer we get to leaving, the more it worries me. And something they said bothers me. Knowing the guy that said it, he didn't mean it the way it came out.. But just.. Me being overprotective... It's making me fuss. I was mentioning small things to do when we leave... Just little things.. And Eric said "You realize we just kind of throw hay in the cages and forget about them, right?" Now, I know him better than that. He was joking. But it does make me wonder if they'll be ready for the kind of responsibility the rabbits need now. Things have changed since the last time we went away. Drastically. I'm thinking of typing something up on feedings, out times, snacks, salad set ups, and what's required for them. And then I'm asking them if it's too much. If they don't seem to take to what I do on a daily basis, then I'll have to skip the trip... I can't take all three buns with me... Completely unrealistic. I'll just have to not go anywhere this summer. :\

Also, the (censored) roommates got into it again. This time, Martin got right up into my face, pressed his body against mine, screaming in my face, because we asked him to put a shirt on. And none of this is illegal. We're now in cahoots with the landlord. We want them out. The landlord has agreed to rewrite the lease with everything we want, IF they agree to it. If they break one thing in THAT lease, they have 7 days to get the bleep off the property. That's a couple of if's, though... The other idea, is we just found out last night, that they've already *technically* broken lease. Because they disrupted the peace.  We have to tell the landlord we found that one, though. See if he agrees. If they don't agree to the change of lease, and the landlord won't follow through with that breach of lease, we're moving out this week, though. My animals will probably be given to a friend, all paid for by me, she's just feeding them and playing with them until we all move in together as planned. We'll probably end up going to a homeless shelter under emergency placement, and still looking for a 5 bedroom place for me, Boyfriend, Ecresi, her sister, Amber, and Damion (a friend). We have one place we're trying to persuade to let us pay extra for pets. They didn't *want* pets.. But we're willing to pay like $100 extra a month to keep ours. (Yeah I know, sounds like we're crazy, right? Rent's just seriously cheap because it's in the 'bad' neighborhood that's not so bad anymore. xD)

Oh, also, we're having a barbecue today. Hopefully, Ecresi and her sister can show up to this one. We were supposed to do it today until the (censored) roommates mucked everything up. :grumpy I'll have Nymh on the leash outside, and Luna might chill on the couch with us if we watch a movie or something. The (censored) roommates are gone for the weekend *confetti* so we have the house to ourselves~ No more being afraid to go downstairs.

Also, as per Amy's suggestion, my ratties now get banana baby food as a treat. 
I would have gotten other flavors, and will soon, but at the time, it just wasn't possible due to finances. Dx

Oh, and you guys get a health update. I'm back in Physical Therapy for the ankle, back, and knee. I had to take like 2 weeks off because I got sick for two days and it destroyed my plans for everything. :grumpy Also, the Rheumatologist said I have 12 out of the 18 points that hurt. These points are pain points. When pressed on, people with any number of disorders will have X amount of hurting points. I was mostly looking for fibromyalgia. This is a condition of over reactive nerves. This basically means, when I bump into a door. I don't just say 'ow'. I break into tears, and fall over, trying not to scream. For fibromyalgia to exist, you only need 9 of the 18 points. I had 12. The Rheumatologist, however, won't agree yes or no to fibromyalgia just yet. She took a ton of lovely random bodily fluids and wants to run several tests and have me get a back x-ray before seeing her again. Which means I need to get the x-ray done before I leave for my folks. ssd: There's too much to do! I also have to make a neurologist appointment at some point. I finally get my doctor to send the epileptic person (moi) to a stinkin' neurologist and I still haven't called for an appointment. And to top it all off, I need to make an appointment with my physician to possibly see ANOTHER specialist. *Kerflop* I need a secretary. Dx

Well, I suppose that's it for now. It's 5:20am. I should get some sleep before I need to get up at 10.  Barbecue won't be starting till like 4. But I get up to feed buns and myself at 10ish.


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## ariusshadow (Jun 5, 2010)

I'm thinking I may just stay home this summer. :\ I attempted to show Eric and Tricia where the rabbit's veggies were in the fridge (we have two fridges), and they were more interested in the TV. Unacceptable. If they don't agree to the Bunny Care Guide I make up, then I'm just not going anywhere.


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## ariusshadow (Jun 5, 2010)

Okay, so I typed out this novel of a guide... And I'll show it to them later, after the BBQ. And I'll ask them if they think they can handle it. If they don't seem too thrilled, I'll just be staying home this summer. :/

I'm gunna post the guide here so you can all see what I have down. If anyone thinks of something that should be added, like something in "buns 101" or something, let me know.

Here's what the guide says:

Bunny 101:
Things you should know about rabbits in general...

1. Rabbits are grazing animals. They need their stomachs full almost all the time. Pellets are a supplement for the vitamins they won't get in other food. Hay is full of fiber. Fiber is required in a rabbit's diet. If a rabbit gets soft stool, it could lead to them getting very sick or dying. So the hay is required to keep their digestive tract happy. 
2. Rabbits should have fresh vegetables every day.
3. Rabbits should be let out of their cage for at *least* an hour a day to stretch their legs.
4. Rabbits cannot handle sugar in large amounts. One apple chunk or piece of banana is all they can have for up to 3 days!
5. Rabbits are prey animals. Never hit them. Not even a tap. Use a squirt bottle, and thump your foot on the ground to show you're upset. This will usually stop the unwanted behavior.
6. Rabbit poop is also known as pills, due to the shape. When I mention 'pills', that's what I mean.


My Rabbits:
ALWAYS leave the air conditioner on, and the fan in the doorway! My rabbits and rats will overheat without the air conditioner on, and some of them can even die of heat exhaustion/heat stroke. When Luna's not out, leave my bedroom door open so the cool air can get to the rats.

My buns are awesome. They are fairly well behaved. You can leave all three unattended for up to two hours tops. Just make sure you keep checking on them to make sure they're not doing something they shouldn't be. You can leave them out longer, so long as you're watching them every hour or two. Just be diligent. Don't EVER leave the house while they're out. And never fall asleep with them out. If you're tired, put them away.

Caring for the buns:

Luna:
Out time:
Since she's in the hall, she usually gets to be out all day when I'm home. I block off the stairs with the cage grate. Make sure she won't be able to go around the grate to the other side. She's very slinky! Block off Happy Bob's room with the window pane, as I've been doing. All other doors must be closed! My room, store room, bun room, and bathroom, must all be closed off. 
Feeding:
Luna's pellets will be measured out for you, and I will be arranging baggies of veggies that she gets every morning. So you just go downstairs, and pick one of each rabbit's baggies for veggies every day. Luna should never be in the cage when you feed her. She will attack. Aside from the fact that this is dangerous to you, I'm trying to work on her aggression issues. And you invading her personal space, and her only safe place, to take away her food bowl to fill it, or reaching your hand in, will not help the process. Try to wait until she's no longer in the cage before feeding her. You can sit in front of the door of the cage to prevent her from hopping back in. But she's skittish, so you'll have to have some patience. You might want to wait until she's over by the bathroom door before trying to feed her. Just an option. Obviously, if you're pressed for time, just shove the food in her cage. She *will* get over it. But I urge you to not do this unless you need to.
Other animals:
Luna does not get along with Lei (the black and white rat), or Jasper. So make sure the bun room door and my bedroom door stay closed. Even if the bun room buns are both caged. Luna will attempt to attack them through the cages. So if she gets into the bun room, she has to get out.
Punishment:
If Luna does somehow get in the bathroom or bun room, spray her with the squirt bottle consistantly until she's out of the room. She does *know* better. She's just stubborn. If she gets in my room, simply clap, say her name loudly, and try to chase her out the door. Poking her butt works well. She won't be hard-headed enough to stand for much more.
Caging Her:
To get her back in the cage, simply chase her about. You'll find she cages herself very easily. Because the cage is her safe place. Which is again why I urge you not to feed her while she's in the cage, unless you really must.

General Bun Room info:
There is a blanket on Jasper's cage. It stays there. Nymh gets on top of her cage and can injure himself through the bars since his legs are so small. Plus, his marking pills will go through into Jasper's cage. Rabbits are very territorial. This would be disasterous for a number of reasons. So just leave the blanket there unless you're filling her hay rack.

The hay bowl is there simply for the buns to eat more hay. It's not really required, though it does seem to have Jasper eating more. She will tip the bowl. Just as a warning. Don't yell at her for doing it, or get upset at her. Just clean it up at your own pace. It's just hay. It can go back in the bowl. 

Make sure all of the windows are closed when the buns are out. ALL of them! Jasper has tried to get out the small window by the lamp before. So she will try again. Please do NOT ever leave anybun alone with ANY window open.

Both rabbits will mark. Nymh and Jasper. They're fairly easy to clean up after. I'll leave the clorox wipes in the bun room, top shelf, for the urine. It won't stain. So don't feel bad to leave it there for a few hours of being lazy or needing to leave. After the urine's mopped up, just sweep the pills up. It takes less than 2 minutes to clean up after one bun. Nymh will mark in front of Jasper's cage. Jasper will mark in front of Nymh's. You must clean up after the bun before letting the next one out! If not, they'll just mark that much more and it'll be even more work for you.
Never punish them for marking on the floor. It won't stop even if you TOLD them in their language. This is all hormones and there's nothing we can do about it.

Jasper:
Out Time:
Jasper is usually the first of the two buns in the bun room to come out. When I'm home, she's usually out at least half the day. Bun-proof before every outing! She will get into almost anything! Do not leave purses, shoes, bags, clothes, or ANY food or drink on the floor, or bed. Put it on top of the dresser! Their stomachs are very sensitive! Simply having a nacho could make them very sick. Please make sure no wrappers, or candy is on the floor. Chocolate is instant death for rabbits. For those it doesn't kill, they can become perminant epileptics. And often need to be put to sleep. She's allowed on the box, on the shelves, on the purple tote, on the bed, on top of Nymh's cage, under the dresser, whatever. The only place she's not allowed is on the very top of the small bookcase. She can get up there, just doesn't really bother. Squirt bottle if she's up there. Just once. More than that may make her panic and misjudge the jump down and hurt herself.
Feeding:
Again, pellets and veggies will be measured out. She's my most prolific hay eater. Try to use the garbage bag with the least hay first, so we can discard that bag. She may got for days with no hay eating, then one day just consume almost the whole rack out of nowhere. So be on your toes. You can open the door on top of the cage to refill it easily. She can, and will, use that door to get out. So make sure both clips are clipped on, and the door is latched properly. 
Other Animals:
Jasper only has contact with Nymh. One rabbit must be in the cage at all times. They cannot both be out together! Not even if you're holding them. They are both not fixed, and Nymh is still a male- which means he may be aggressive and hurt Jasper. Also, Jasper is PRESUMABLY female. We're almost positive, but it's possible she's a he. If Jasper turns out to be a male, unneutered, and Nymh unneutered, and they meet, you will be helpless. They will tear each other apart. They get along fine behind the bars of a cage. Until they are both fixed, they are not to be bonded or tested. Especially not without my supervision.
Punishment:
Because she's a bigger rabbit, she knows it. She knows that telling a 7 or 8lbs rabbit to get in the cage isn't the same as telling my 2lb Nymh. She's usually very well behaved until it's cage time. As I said, she's allowed almost everywhere. She won't try to leave the bun room, really. But still ALWAYS keep the door closed when Luna's out. If you find her doing something you really think shouldn't be allowed, spray her just once or twice. She usually gets the message pretty quick. I should mention, her 'bad chew' is wires. She doesn't tend to really 'go' for them, but if she gets in the rare mood, she will nom on them rather good. Only squirt her if you CATCH her chewing on the wires. If you do it even a split second after she's stopped, she won't understand.
Caging Her:
You know this one, already. She's not easy. And will fight you. Broom works best on her. Also, I encourage you to say "In the cage" while trying to prod her into it. This often works more than you'd think. She knew this command when she was a baby. But grew out of it. She will listen to it, eventually. 

Nymh:
Out Time:
Pretty much all the same stuff as Jasper. Windows closed ALWAYS. He's sneaky! He's allowed pretty much everywhere but on the top shelf of the bookshelf. Again, on squirt, as more than that may cause them to panic and hurt themselves. Nymh will mark a lot more than Jasper. And will urinate almost every time out. Again, though, he's easy to clean up after. I urge you to not use the harness on him while I'm not home. Even if it looks cute. He hates that thing with a royal passion and I'm trying to make the process of getting it on less traumatizing for him.
Feeding: 
Same as the last two. Everything will be sectioned out and pre-prepared. Nymh's hay rack can be a pain. Because he likes to pull everything out of it and nest in it instead. If he does, put what you can back in the rack, and just refill it best you can. You can leave some of his nest. I'm just trying to encourage him to eat it more.
Other Animals: 
As said before, Jasper and Nymh only see each other. They get along when one's IN the cage. Never have them out together. Not even to hold one while the other runs about. You can open Nymh's cage with Jasper out. But don't let him come out fully.
Punishment:
Nymh's a stubborn one since his goolies dropped. The only things you should punish him for are biting too hard (I mean a real BITE- not a little love nibble. If it actually hurts, it's a bite.), and being on the top shelf of the bookcase. If he bites you, you may not have the squirt bottle ready. If you do, you have to get him ONCE almost immediately. If you won't be quick enough, try a high-pitched squeal. That usually does it. That's how buns show pain for real. He'll usually stop dead in his tracks, even if you sound like a tart for doing it, he might not bite you again.
Caging Him:
Yeah, you guessed it. Pick him up, and put him in. He's 2lbs. He won't fight that much even so. He doesn't so much mind being caged. If he gets really stubborn about it, don't *push* him in. You could hurt him. Humans are smarter than brute force, right? I've learned that if he's really arguementitive, you just pick up the cage part off the base, put him in the base, and put the cage back on top of it. Just make sure you get the cage on right. The cage part should rest INSIDE the base, behind or under the tabs. Also, clamp down the clips on either side for extra stability. Because Jasper does jump on top.

The rats:
Well these are easy. I encourage you try to use their names around them. Xing is the tan one. It's pronounced more like "Jjing". Lei is the black and white one. 

Rat nevers:

Never feed them through the bars of the cage.
Never stick your fingers INTO the cage through the bars.
Never give them cardboard or toys through the bars. 
Never hit them, tap them, poke them, or anything that a small rat could percieve as an attack.
Never punish them. They don't do anything 'wrong'. If Lei bites, you make a high pitched squeal like a rat in pain. It usually makes her high-tail it to the igloo.
Never give them oranges. (Personal opinion)
Never grab and hold their tails. You can poke and pet the tails, but don't hold their tail so they can't move. If they try to move away, instantly let go.

Okay onto the care of...

They're easy. Water bottle, food as needed, and you can play with Xing when you want. If you want, or can get a hold of Lei, you try to pet or hold her. But understand she may or may not bite. At the moment, due to Luna upsetting her, she's very unpredictable. Which is why Luna's not allowed in my room unless I'm home personally.

If you find they've demolished their current box, there's a small pile of small boxes in the hall for them. Just put in a new one. You can give them cooked meat, pasta, veggies, fruits, peanut butter, popcorn... The only things I personally advise against is candy, oranges, and ice cream. If you think they're hot, you can give them ice cubes to play with, or frozen apples. I have a bowl of frozen apples in the freezer. 

You can give them the baby food, only HALF a spoonful a day per rat. Unused baby food gets labeled "rats" and put in the fridge. They have two wet food dishes in their cage- a pink one, and a tealish blue one. Make sure they both get one dish. I put one dish on the top level, and one in the base level, and let Lei pick one. Then grab Xing and put her at the other one, wherever it is. Otherwise they'll fight over it.

Oh, as for fights. You may hear scuffles at night. Squealing, banging, thrashing, them falling. Don't panic. It's unnerving at first, but there's a simple rat rule- No blood, no foul. No matter how rough it seems to us, it may just be playing to them. If you see one of them's gotten the other good, and is bleeding, then call me or text me to let me know. Sometimes, play just goes too far. So it could have really been an accident.

Well, I think that's it. Good luck with them.  And always call me if you're not sure about something.


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## ariusshadow (Jun 7, 2010)

So, the barbecue was fun. We ended up moving it inside because we had hints of rain... While we were outside, I had Nymh on the harness. He was chillin' against the chain link fence, which he usually does. I tied him to it, and he just relaxed, enjoying himself outside. In the yard next to us, on the other side of the fence, there's a fairly large tree. There were two squirrels chasing each other in circles along the trunk. We commented, and someone brought up Nymh. I said he was fairly good with noise and commotion, which he was. He was more alert, but he didn't bolt, or even sit up, really. 
We watched as the squirrels left the tree and bounded to the fence, going through the chain link RIGHT in front of Nymh! Literally, one link away! The squirrel whizzed past his nose, while the other froze on the other side before crossing, astonished. Nymh sat up, shocked at the assault of his personal bubble, and then started to freak out after it was all over. I picked him up and cuddled him, comforting him. He relaxed a little. We made a few jokes about the incident, and Nymh got some more run time after getting over it all before he went inside. All in all, I was very amused.

As for the people watching the animals, Tricia has completely assured me that the manual was extremely helpful, and she will refer to it when she requires help, or contact me if she's unsure of something. She seems really insistent that she manage it all with no problems. I'm worried, however, that her confidence is only because of the circumstances. These are High-Schoolers. That will, essentially, be getting an entire upstairs apartment to themselves (excluding kitchen) for the entire week... Are they only confident because they want the apartment for the week? Or are they really sure that they can do it? *Sighs*.. I hope they can handle it.. Sometimes, I'm not even sure I can handle it..


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## kirbyultra (Jun 7, 2010)

Glad you had a couple days' rest away from the crazy roomies 

Your guide for bunny sitting may just rival mine! Mine is 9 pages long in a word doc. Page 1 is a short 4 point list of what HAS to be done day and night + weather check for climate control. I posted it on the door so that before he leaves the apt, he can check the list real quick. The rest is in-depth on the routines of each of my buns and bunny basics, plus emergency contacts. It's more for reference. I have already gone through important stuff face-to-face.


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## ariusshadow (Jun 7, 2010)

I'm actually really thinking of editing it, and making it more organized and professional... And easy to follow.  Also thinking of adding an emergency contacts list, and editing my "Bun 101" section and "Rat Nevers" section...  This way it's not so fine-tuned to just Tricia and Eric, and can be used by anyone. Also, thinking of adding a section on cage cleaning in depth. Because, even though I never plan for it to be necessary, you never know.


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## ariusshadow (Jun 9, 2010)

Time for an image overload, guys.  
So we went to the store yesterday and I got a ton of junk. All for the animals. X_x
I got Bok Choy and Cilantro for the buns, and baby food for the rats. As well as a ton of other dried food for the rats, some craisins for both, and some other stuff... for the animals.

So, here's what the top of the rats' cage now looks like, covered in their supplies. I have a wooden board underneath it all so they can't chew on it.






Now, I have a project staring me down... I want to put these mesh screens I bought on the litter boxes to catch the poop. So that we're not wasting litter. But I've yet to figure out how the heck I'm attaching it to the litter boxes. :?






Next on the list of things to update, is, I bought Bak Choy for the rabbits. I know I mentioned this. But I've actually decided to test them on it today. Jasper didn't seem to approve of the whiter stalk-part, but she ate it eventually. The other two sucked it down like nobody's business. Jasper was never one for fresher stuff, unless it's Romaine.. She prefers her pellets. But I think this was a good change of taste for her.  After a few days go by, and I can guarantee the Bak Choy has no negative effects on their systems, I'll test the Cilantro on them.
On a similar note, while we were at Wal Mart, I saw this cheap four-pack of bowls. White ones. For a buck. I nabbed them and tossed them in the cart before boyfriend could even argue. The minute we got home, I grabbed the sharpies and went to work. If you haven't guessed it yet, the bowls... we for the animals. :biggrin2: The buns now have personalized veggie bowls. :rollseyes I swear my world revolves around them.































Jasper got hearts because she's my little princess. :biggrin: Nymh LOVES wild/fresh foods, so he got a flower, and Luna got a star because.. well... She's Luna. And she has a star on her side. 




I tried to do Eye Shots of everyone. But Nymh wouldn't hold still. 
Here's Jasper's...





Here's Luna's...










I love Luna's dual eye color. The blue just disappears halfway up her eye and turns to brown. :biggrin2:

Okay.. Next thing to share is.. The Jackpot. 
This is a normal practice in our household now. When we got the bail of hay, we split it half and half with Ecresi. With our one half, we had 2 garbage bags full and a huge rubbermaid tote to the brim. Here's what we have left in bags:





And the tote's relatively untouched. But the rubbermaid works like a big ziploc. And keeps all the smell and freshness in. When I mention the "Jackpot", all the buns in our house spaz. The Jackpot is the tote. And sometimes, I'll let the buns 'Hit the Jackpot'. Like so~

This was Luna's first Jackpot. She was elated.
















"Om Nom Nom!"





Luna looks like such a goofball sometimes. :biggrin2:





Next, Jasper's turn. She'd only hit the Jackpot once before.






Unfortunately, I'd only gotten one picture before she jumped down. :shock: Never seen a bun _reject_ the Jackpot before. I looked in her cage to find that the lil stinker pretty much ate ALL of her rack's worth that day. No wonder she wasn't interested!

Nymh, as usual, wouldn't sit still... But I got two bad pictures of him before he jumped out with a mouthful of hay. :biggrin2: Made me laugh so hard to see him in a greedy corner like a rat.













Next, I have to share a little shoot of Jasper. Since Nymh and Lunie seem to be stealing all the limelight lately. 


Jasper enjoying a phone book :biggrin:





So I sit on the bed to take pictures and the little stinker jumps up, and nudges her head under my hand... And I start petting her. She wears the pants in this household for sure. :laughsmiley:





Jasper enjoying the small handful of Jackpot hay I used to freshen the community bowl.










And here she is chillin' with her boyfriend. These two are hitting it off so well... I can't wait until I can afford to get them fixed... I want them to bond so much now!
















Okay, so I confess. I broke one of the rules the other day. I had Nymh in my arms and Jasper free-ranging. And they GROOMED each other! I was ecstatic. I can't wait to bond them now. I'm waiting on baited breath for a job... Even though we want to stud Nymh, I can still get her spayed and bond them... I don't know, though. I'm unsure if I'm going to wait. I suppose it depends on how long it will take to get ourselves settled enough to have a litter... Only time will tell. 

I have 2 last pictures to share. One is a fail little doodle I have of a lop I found on google. I was stuck on hold for a doctor's office for like ever and got bored. 












And finally, a cute little "The End" shot.  Thanks, Jasper.  Really.


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## kirbyultra (Jun 9, 2010)

Love the picture update! Luna's goofy shot looks a lot like my Toby's look of disapproval :biggrin:


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## cheryl (Jun 9, 2010)

Great pictures!...good idea on the bowls...they look cute.

Your bunnies are just precious..


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## ariusshadow (Jun 9, 2010)

*kirbyultra wrote: *


> Love the picture update! Luna's goofy shot looks a lot like my Toby's look of disapproval :biggrin:


:biggrin2: That picture made me laugh SO hard when I first took it. For some reason, the angle and her expression just had me hysterical.


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## ariusshadow (Jun 9, 2010)

*cheryl wrote: *


> Great pictures!...good idea on the bowls...they look cute.
> 
> Your bunnies are just precious..


Thank you.  
And the buns thank you, too.


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## ariusshadow (Jun 9, 2010)

So I'm sitting here like a tart, wondering how to put the screens on the boxes, as I will probably be cleaning them tonight or tomorrow... And facepalm because I belong on a RABBIT FORUM. 
So I asked. xD
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=58493&forum_id=93


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## ariusshadow (Jun 9, 2010)

I'm probably going to scare everyone away here.. But.. I need to be deep and emotional for a bit..

...I was just told that a friend of mine.. No.. Not a friend.. a sister... A little sister... She's 16. And she's somewhere between a sister and a daughter to me... And I was just told by her real, older sister, that she might have cancer... And that's all I was told. No one from the household is answering my IMs on MSN at the moment, and that's the major way we communicate when not face to face... I'm losing myself slowly as time goes on... And I notice Kitty, the older sister, is, too. Kitty suffers from a long distance relationship, where she only gets to see her boyfriend once a year. And she might not this year. She lives in an overcrowded house of mismatched people who come from all horrible backgrounds in one way or another. I used to be in that household, too. But Boyfriend and I moved out... She's adopted her younger sister. Not legally, but physically. She cooks, and cleans for her, wakes her up for school, and has hot food on her plate every day for her. And Kitty was losing it. The stress of the unpaid bills, and the too-tight living conditions was ruining her. And our roommates are ruining us here... And even Damion.. The one that started his little 'boarding house' of friends... Even he was almost crying yesterday... Even he's losing it.. Everyone's so stressed out.. And ready to just call it quits in their own way.. And now we find out that Luna might... I'd say I'm overwhelmed... But that word seems so insignificant at the moment...

My mother almost died 3 times from cancer. I've seen it eat away at people. I quit smoking to avoid it. I'm surrounded by it no matter what I do. Cancer seems to follow me wherever I go.. My grandmother died of it, my mother almost died of it 3 times, my friend's father was.. technically dead... for 3 minutes... Because of it.. And... Another close friend of mine has it.. And I fear I have it... And now.. Luna.. I don't know what to do.. I'm at a loss for words... Why can't life just go jump off a cliff and leave me the hell alone...?


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## hln917 (Jun 9, 2010)

Wow, I'm so sorry. Poor girl, andat such a young age. 

My brother in law's cousin passed away last Friday from cancer. He was 56. To me that's still young, I'm sure you're thinking it's old at your age. He was married with no children. I can only imagine what she must be going thru, to lose a partner. On the way home from work today, I was thinking if I can go thru what she did. I hope I'll never have to find out.

Stay strong Ari, she'll need you for support.


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## hln917 (Jun 9, 2010)

On a different note, I love the eye shots of the buns. Such a great idea.


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## ariusshadow (Jun 9, 2010)

*hln917 wrote: *


> On a different note, I love the eye shots of the buns. Such a great idea.


Thanks. I just love Luna's eyes... They're so unique. 

Thank you for your support... I just hope I can stay strong for her.. ray:


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## ariusshadow (Jun 11, 2010)

So Steph's biopsy surgery was today. According to her sister, she's really mellow about the whole thing... But that's always the way, isn't it? The subjected person is perfectly fine, while everyone else is flipping out... We don't know when we'll know the results.. They didn't tell us... So we're all just waiting on baited breath until then...


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## ariusshadow (Jun 12, 2010)

I put the mesh on top of the litter boxes. Nymh still refuses to use his box. Which I still think is because he's not fixed. I'm putting up with it, though. Luna and Nymh now have corner pans. Jasper's keeping a box. It works better for her because she's a bigger bun. 
We leave on the 17th, and the buns have been tested on cilantro and Bok Choy and all is well. So that's two more things I'll have to stock up on before we leave. 
I'll have to keep an eye on Luna's foot. She seems to have overgroomed the bottom of it. And there was blood on my bed. I don't know if over-grooming was the cause. But it's the only thing I can think of. I'll just keep an eye on her. It's scabbed up now. If it gets worse, I'll make a post in the infirmary section. And continue to hunt for a job.
There's a job fair for disabled people this week that I'll be going to. And running myself ragged to try to get something.. At this point, I'll take anything. I've been told to go to manpower.. But that place scares me. They mostly deal in factory work. Now I was doing factory work at 16. I can handle it mentally. I love it. But.. With so many physical problems.. Unless it's light labor, I'd be totally disqualified, and probably laughed right out of the building.
Going picking when the sun comes up. Running low on clover.


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## ariusshadow (Jun 13, 2010)

While I was on my walk picking, I came across a ton of pinecones, which I eagerly scooped up. We're now stocked on those. 
Also... I found a kitten. But couldn't catch it. There were no signs of mom or litter except a dead pigeon next to him. I'm wondering if mom caught dinner and a car scared her off... I've posted on Craig's List and contacted the SPCA, who refuses to do anything. The building the kitten ran into when I tried to pick it up is behind a locked chain link fence, and the store doesn't open until Monday. So I'll be calling them first thing Monday morning and slinking around their building until then in hopes of catching it.
Boyfriend was with me while I was hunting it down. He was insisting to just call the SPCA and leave the kitten... It's not that he doesn't care.. he just doesn't as much as I do.. I now feel like it's my sole responsibility to catch the kitten and foster it myself. Which I'm willing to do if I can catch it. 
The poor little thing seemed like it wouldn't last the night without mom... It was too young, eyes only just opened, and when I touched it, it was cold... Like, no body heat to speak of... I'm now regretting not scruffing the little stinker when I had the chance... It may have cost it it's life that I didn't...
On a worse note, we may need to put Luna up for adoption... She has a problem with her foot. It's on and off bleeding. There's bloodstains on the floor, on my bed, in her cage... And I can't even tell what's wrong. And the more I try to look at her foot, the more aggressive she's getting. Which means all the work I've been doing to get her to react better to human interaction may get destroyed just from this. If her foot doesn't heal by the time we leave, I will be putting her up for adoption. Because we cannot afford to take her to a vet. And I won't be getting a job fast enough for it to matter...
No matter what I try to do to help animals... It always gets ruined in the end..


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## ariusshadow (Jun 13, 2010)

So last night, I went to let Jasper out after Eric and Tricia (who will be watching the buns when we leave) left. I walk into the bun room to find the floor covered in potato chip crumbs, a plate with ketchup on it shoved somewhere it didn't belong, in reach of buns, a bottle of elmer's glue on it's side, in bunny reach, and a lollipop stick with wire wrapped around it ?) in bunny reach. I was livid. I've now had the honor of chewing out Tricia, as she was the last to leave, and setting up a rule of no eating in the bun room... I really wish I could find someone else that could care for them.. I don't want to have to be terrified of my rabbits getting sick... But I don't want to get stuck not having a summer vacation, either.. I plan to be away, at my mother's house, for 3-4 weeks (combined- not all at once) this summer. I don't need to be panicking that they didn't clean up after themselves every freaking morning... :grumpy

As for Luna's foot, at the moment, it seems... okay I guess. I can't get a terrific look at it.. It looks almost as though the fur was pulled completely off the bottom of her foot. Which is making me think that it was an over-groom.. But I don't think a bun would do that much damage to itself... Would it?
Regardless, we've decided that, if it doesn't start to heal by Thursday, we'll have to put her up for adoption... We leave on Thursday.


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## ariusshadow (Jun 17, 2010)

Luna's foot's better, almost totally healed. Still don't know what happened.

Ugh... I'm so TIRED of High Schoolers... I commend all mothers. These two apparently broke up. Like today. So now only Eric is coming over to watch the animals and he's by far the most irresponsible of the two of them. She's going to be training for work (yes, good for her, but now I'm screwed) this entire week. She just got the job yesterday. So now my animals are going to be cared for by a clueless, irresponsible, slacker of a high schooler while I go away for the week.. Ugh..

Roommates are getting worse by the day. Landlord's refusing to help in fear of getting sued or some such garbage. I've told him we're planning to move out the instant someone tells us we can. I don't need to be afraid of the people living in my house and I don't give a flying (censored) what the landlord's argument is. Screw him.

Jasper ate the plastic mesh stuff I put on the litterbox. So I'm trying the same stuff but a different way to see if it matters.

I had a few minutes to kill before my specialist appointment today. I walked down to the builiding I saw that kitten run into. To my utter shock, not only was I NOT laughed out the uilding, but had all 4 secretaries looking for it around the dumpsters. I was.. Amazed. To say the least. I couldn't stop thanking the woman for caring for the kitten that didn't happen to belong to anyone. That's when she told me why; they had 5 dogs on the premises. Just office dogs. "We all have a friend in animals here." I almost cried to find someone that cared that much about a random kitten... Especially some random secretary. They now have my information, and are keeping an eye out for it, and will call me if they find anything.

I'll be leaving at 3pm tomorrow. I still have to pack, clean the rat cage, shower, and feed the buns before leaving tomorrow. Suckage. The worst of it is, I'd have done it all today. But the specialist decided to give a cortisone shot in my ankle today. So now the entire leg's nothing short of useless. I can barely put weight on it. Ugh.. 

I'm never going away again. I've had it. I have no one suitable to watch the animals and no energy to put into vacations.. 21 and I'm complaining... I've been thinking of just going for disability. I hate it with every fiber of my being... (For me! Not for others! They have it, good for them! I just refuse to believe I need it..) But at this rate, I'll lose doctors if I get a job because I won't have time to make 8 appointments a week with a full time position...

Time for bed.. Ugh.. So ready to just see my dog at my parents' house... I miss the lil bugger...


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## kirbyultra (Jun 17, 2010)

I've had cortisone shots in the heel of my feet before. I know all about the uselessness it can render you..... it sucks but wears off in a day or two, no?

I hate preparing for trips..... there's a million things to do for the animals, not to mention packing your own stuff. And stressing out over who's taking care of the pets.  Good luck though.


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## ariusshadow (Jun 17, 2010)

*kirbyultra wrote: *


> I've had cortisone shots in the heel of my feet before. I know all about the uselessness it can render you..... it sucks but wears off in a day or two, no?
> 
> I hate preparing for trips..... there's a million things to do for the animals, not to mention packing your own stuff. And stressing out over who's taking care of the pets.  Good luck though.


After my knee's cortisone shot (before January's surgery), it was just a little stiff. I didn't expect my ankle to render my leg totally useless. I figured it'd be sore... Had I known the risk of it rendering me like this, I'd have told my doctor not to bother this visit.. At the moment, it's just sore. But I haven't been doing the heavy housework I have to do just yet. So we'll have to see how screwed I am as the day goes on. 

Ugh I'd be happier if Tricia was the one caring for the animals. Apparently, last night, they were exchanging "I'm, sorry, baby" comments on Facebook.. So tired of High Schoolers. Seriously. ssd: I mean seriously.. Who needs this? :expressionless

And thanks for the luck.. I'll need it. ray:


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## ariusshadow (Jun 24, 2010)

Before I left:

I had a specialist appointment. The orthopedic surgeon. I see his assistant for the ankle's tendinitis. Which is nice. I like Dennis better, anyway. So, he talks about my problem with me for a while. And he says that he wants to try a cortisone shot. Well, I've had one of these in my knee before. After about 5 minutes of anxiety attacks over the needle, he finally gets it over with, and I limp my wobbly butt out. I had to do the litter boxes, of ALL cages (except Luna's, as she's not *my* bun, I make Boyfriend do it. ), and had to feed everyone, and pack, and shower, and whatever. Not fun to do on a tendon that feels like it's ripping in two pieces with every step. 

Eric and Tricia show up unexpectedly. I tell Eric where the pellets are, that they're labeled, and set up, and all the veggie bags are downstairs, in the fridge, with the dates on them. He repeats it all back to me, asks if I'm sure it's idiot-proof. I agreed, and left open the bun guide on my computer. 

The rat cage obtained a white piece of PVC pipe that forks- I got it for $2 from a surplus store in the area.

While I was gone:

It was an okay week. We had almost no communication with the kids that were watching the pets. This had me freaking out, as you can imagine, but I tried to have a good week despite it. My father is very against the dog getting trained. At all. Even though he's my dog, technically. So I asked to train the dog specifically to not bark on command. He told me "Yeah, just don't beat him.". I was... Beyond disappointed. I can't even fathom what would make him say that.. I was.. appalled with him. I decided not to train the dog after all, as he wasn't my dog anymore anyway.. 

We went to Nutz, an occult/new-age/hippie type store.. I got an amethyst point bigger than a golf ball for $4. :biggrin2: That made me happy~ I also went shopping in dollar stores and got a howlight bracelet, some socks with neon hearts P), and some stuff for the ratties: fleece blankets, baskets to hang as floating beds, and some cat balls. 

We watched the house for my mother when they went away for the night for their anniversary. It was actually fairly bland for a night with the house to ourselves.  

When we came back:

...The only word I could think of when I walked in and assessed the damage.. Was.. Livid. The floors were urine-stained, the baggies of pellets were untouched, the container of pellets was almost empty (WAY too much for 1 week of rabbit feedings), and there was garbage in my room, in Boyfriends room, on the floors, and my alter cloth was destroyed. The rats had managed to pull in a few feathers from my alter and destroy them, along with the alter cloth, and managed to destroy a bubble-wrap envelope too close to the cage. Also, my headphones were destroyed, because Luna was not allowed in my room, they were told this, and agreed to this, and she was let in. And the bathroom, she was in, which she wasn't supposed to be, and ate more of the potentially toxic plant. I told them, had it been the toilet bowl cleaner instead, she could have been dead.

Luna's the one with the most problems (digestive-wise). I HAVE to limit her pellets. I came home to her with enough in her bowl for three days. Needless to say, after discussing it with the kids, they're never watching my animals again, and owe me money for what the animals destroyed on their watch. I've called off all further vacations. I'm staying home for the summer. It's not worth it. Luna's got soft stool now, and is more aggressive, probably from not being let out more than once this week; Jasper's litter box needed cleaning, and I didn't have time to instruct them how to do it, so I spent 3-4 hours after getting in the door cleaning up after combined kids and animals, and Nymh's urine was all over the room and now won't come up because it wasn't cleaned. Which may have just cost us our deposit. And the girl has the nerve to defend him that I should have expected him to slip up. This is past a slip up. Nymh has vinyl in his stomach because they were careless, and has excess calcium in his urine, which would have never happened if I'd been home. And Luna has stool so soft I can barely pick it up. This isn't a slip-up. They're lucky I'm letting them come back at all. They're never to be here unsupervised again. Period.

Now:

Rats have all their new toys, the house is clean(er), and Jasper's enjoying having run of the bun room again. 

No more vacations. I'm done. 

Edit:
Friend brought up a good point. I trusted them to not be stupid enough to do half the crap they did. She asked me... "They didn't let Jasper and Nymh out together.. did they?"
After a second of thought... I don't know! I really can't trust inside myself that they didn't! And the worst of it is, I can't even trust that they'd tell me if they did. :/ I'm so done with going away! Never again!


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## kirbyultra (Jun 24, 2010)

Omg that sounds horrible. I hope they had the sense to not let them out together but judging by the work they've done and not done I guess it's not out of the question. Geez... High schoolers are not so trustworthy as bunny sitters huh? My college brother does an ok job of everything and he loves my buns. Yet usually I will find one or two things he missed, though not major and not a huge deal. The truth is no ones going to be as thorough as ourselves.


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## ariusshadow (Jun 24, 2010)

I wouldn't mind if a day of pellets was forgotten. That's not crucial to their survival. And I tend to do that on some days, too. It's impossible to be a perfect little slave... But the way I came home.. They're lucky to be let back at the house at all. :\ What a disaster. And I'm so angry with the girl.. She had the nerve to be upset with me for saying he owed us money. Everyone else I told says he was responsible. So it's unanimous. He owes me. And he'll be lucky if we ever let him back in..


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## ariusshadow (Jun 25, 2010)

So, Eric (Boy in charge of buns while I was gone) Agrees to paying me $24 in payment to the destroyed property and missing food we just realized yesterday. They've been told they're not allowed back in the house unsupervised at all. Either myself or Boyfriend have to be here. 

I put up one of the stationary baskets with a fleece blanket zip tied to this inside (to deter hoarding), and the ratties shocked me by being CUDDLED together in it asleep this morning. Absolutely adorable. 
I put more jungle balls on the jingle rope, and it's now hanging with the rope toy Boyfriend made. The other rope toys are hanging in various places and the tube is back in place. Rats are very pleased.

As for buns, I found new toys for them. Dollar store had the teething ring keys. I've wanted to get these for my buns for a while. To make it better, these have BUNNIES on them.  I got 3 different colors, and now everyone has a set. ^^

I'll have to post pictures of everything soon. But not now.  It'll have to wait.

On a less happy note, the idea of finding Luna a new home has come up a lot lately... Her aggression's worse since we left for my parents, and she's now hurting herself against the cage when not allowed out. Clawing, biting, ramming, throwing... I have to let her out or she'll hurt herself. So I let her out, and now I have to close my bedroom door. Because she's not allowed in my room anymore. She's eaten my computer's speaker wire twice, my microphone wire, and my headphones wire. I have no way to bun proof the wires in my room realistically. She's NEVER gone for wires before. (This started before we left, so it wasn't Eric and Tricia's doing). But that poses for a new problem. My rats are in here. And the air conditioner's out there. Closing my room means the rats will be sweltering. Which leads to, I have to keep the room door open, which means Luna's gotta go back in the cage and hurt herself again... The only other thing I can think of is to use something to block off my room. I haven't even been able to find a baby gate for cheap/free in my area. More or less 3! One for Boyfriend's room, since the a/c's in his room, the door HAS to be open ALWAYS, and one for the stairs.. And now my room? ..I've tried to find other things to use as a barricade to no avail... What a horrible situation.. I can't imagine giving up our fist rabbit just because of this.. But.. I'm not sure I can think of anything else..


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## ariusshadow (Jun 25, 2010)

Oh, also, I'll have to take a picture of this at some point, too, but Jasper had decided to eat the plastic mesh that I sat on top. So I tried something else, which seems to be working fairly well. When I fill the box completely, and put the mesh under the tabs (the box is the bottom of a dwarf hamster cage), she doesn't eat it. For Nymh, it works perfectly. Looks like this might work out after all.


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## ariusshadow (Jun 29, 2010)

Time for another photo update.  
Let's start with the current damage report...
Luna:
Responsible for the death of my headphone wire, and the death of my speaker wire... Speaker wire was replaced, and she killed it again. Also responsible for the death of my unnecessary microphone wire. Luna is no longer allowed in my room at all. Even supervised. Better for the rats anyway. Lei won't be so anxious without Luna around. Jasper: 
Responsible for the paint missing from the wall, and the chew marks in the molding. 
Photographic evidence of the crimes:











Jasper is also responsible for the damage to Nymh's cage, example shown below...

















...and the un-cleanable urine stain on the floor behind Nymh's cage. Even vinegar leaves the stain looking like so:






Jasper is also responsible for the wires seen here:











The nicks you see are really deep gashes, but my camera fails. 

Nymh:
Responsible for the stain under Jasper's cage, and under the bookshelf, which won't come up, even with vinegar.












Also responsible for the recurring stain on the walls and urine in Jasper's cage from jumping on top and peeing over the side:






In order to fix these problems, I marched my slave butt down to wal mart to purchase THICK vinyl. 









I tented it up over the top of the cages where the buns mark and, so far, this is stopping it. I just now checked on Jasper, and the plastic seems to have kept her pee out of Nymh's cage..........





















....I really REALLY hate our landlord, at the moment. Someone came upstairs earlier, after I was just done putting up the plastic. They were here to look at the bun room, which really needs a new tenant in it. But we were paying rent (and I just found out, NOT for this month), so it was the bun room for now. Apparently, the person's moving in. Tonight. All the work I did needs to come down and we have to find a new place to put our rabbits NOW. No ifs, ands, or buts. And no one cares that it'll destroy our rabbits to have it any other way... We've decided we're moving next month. No notice from anyone, and we can't even argue because it'll just fall on deaf ears.. What a (censored)... 

Also, I promised pictures of the keys. So here's pics of everybuns cage-toys:

Luna's:





Nymh's:





Jasper's:





Going to go clear out the bun room.. No idea what we're doing with the rabbits... =\... Oh well...


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## kirbyultra (Jun 29, 2010)

Wow, what bad timing. Naughty little buns really did a job on the apartment. I hope you find a place for everyone and everybun soon  

Those keys are so cute! I love that the keyring is a bunny. :hearts


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## ariusshadow (Jun 29, 2010)

*kirbyultra wrote: *


> Wow, what bad timing. Naughty little buns really did a job on the apartment. I hope you find a place for everyone and everybun soon
> 
> Those keys are so cute! I love that the keyring is a bunny. :hearts


I know! It was so perfect! I had walked from one end of the store to the other to grab Boyfriend and tell him I needed his tallness to get the "generic" keys from the top rack. I'd been after those furEVER and these were cheaper than Wal Mart's. As I led him to the spot, right in front of me were the bunny keys. I flipped- and crazily enough, so did Boyfriend. :biggrin2:So adorable~

At the moment, Luna is in the store room, under a table... And Jasper has been moved into the hallway where Luna was.. I don't think Luna will be able to free range where she is, though, and it worries me... I can barely feed her when I can't let her out. She attacks so viciously, so quick, I can't even get the food dish. 
Now... To clean/move Nymh's cage... 
As it is, I have to PRAY our only driving friend will be available today. If I can't get something to eat through the urine stains, we're in deep...:litterhealthy:


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## kirbyultra (Jun 29, 2010)

You might wnat to try some vinegar with baking soda? Or just plain water and baking soda. Wear a plastic glove though, baking soda is really harsh stuff.


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## ariusshadow (Jun 29, 2010)

Thankfully, vinegar's second round, and a magic eraser lightened the stains enough to let me relax. Nymh and Jasper are now in the hallway, Nymh on top of Jasper's cage. *Sighs* Never a dull moment.. And after all that, I'm too tired to clean the rat cage. Dx
Thanks for the advice, though, Helen.  Had it not worked, I may have stolen the (censored) roommates' baking soda >->;;


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## ariusshadow (Jul 1, 2010)

I've not met the new roommate for more than 30 seconds so far. But from what I can tell she's immature, and insecure. Joy. Apparently, she's afraid of being away from Mom and Dad for the first time, but just had a rough breakup with her husband.. Wait.. What? 
Yeah, apparently, this chick was married while still living under her folks roof and is now terrified of the real world. Hopefully, this won't be for long. At the moment, she's in a trial period here anyway. And we're hopefully moving soon. She's on and off about bringing her kitten here. I'd be ecstatic, but she doesn't seem interested in the idea and wants to rid of it. So much for the one good point so far. 
Yeah, I know I'm being overly judgmental. But I won't let it stain the clean slate. I'll treat her as I would anyone else until she confirms or denies my theories. But really.. 

I've yet to finish rabbit proofing all areas of the new play areas. Especially Luna's, as she's in the closet, though she doesn't seem to mind. She next to a window and covered by a table. She seems to like it. 

OH I have a cell phone now. xD It's an older model, but more than good enough for me.  Verizon's envy.. I think. x.x; The one that flipped open before the touch screen was implemented. Already have Jasper's pictures as wallpapers for both screens. ^^

And another bit of news... I inquired on Craigs List about this adorable little squidget. 
http://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/pet/1819799530.html

I'll be discussing with them about possibly holding the bun until we move, in return for making sure she goes to a great home. I'll have to find out exactly when they're moving. And I LOVE that cage.. Totally changing the bun's name if I get her, though. *Eye twitches.* Cuddles is WAY too cute. I'd be more the type to stick a spiked collar on it and call it Killer.  xD Seriously, though.. Not Cuddles..


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## hln917 (Jul 2, 2010)

Good luck with the new roommate. How old is she? Perhaps she's just nervous about being on her own for the first time. 

Cuddles is adorable! Her face reminds me of my Cappuccino, two face! That'll be great if her cage was included. Will you be keeping her permanently or just fostering? Keep us posted.


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## ariusshadow (Jul 2, 2010)

She's like 25. *Shrugs* Hopefully, we'll be out by the 15th so whatever. 

Just a note: Landlord's officially an explicit name in my mind. He's now refusing to pay back our security. Illegal much? -.- Wtf... "I don't have the money to pay it back." Oh, bite me... ssd:


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## ariusshadow (Jul 3, 2010)

Luna seems to be okay with her new closet home. This will be her home probably until we move. Our biggest problem is our calendar looks like a jumbled mess. Boyfriend was trying to get move in date for the 15th. Since we're all on DSS except for one person, that way we could get $650 back for the time we didn't live there. But we were planning to go to my parents' house on the tenth. So moving would have to wait until we come back. But then we'd have to do packing in our already insanely confined quarters and just leave the boxes on beds or something.. Because there's nowhere to put them. 
Boyfriend's trying to keep our moving out away from the roommates. Because, yeah, they'll likely throw a fit. But we can't hide it forever. They're going to notice us packing away our dishes in the kitchen, you know? 
Our current hopeful plan is to just start packing, and have the other household we're joining up with, just start moving while we're away. And they can get a lot to most of their moving done without us in the way. And it'll be easier for Kitty to move her puppy in with less people. Less people=less excitement. Kujo's extremely excitable. So we're hoping to keep the "OMG" factor down. x.x;
As for my parents' house. We're torn. Tricia and Eric will not be taking care of the pets. Kitty's agreed to help. We'll be taking two of the animals (rats counting as one for the moment), and she'll take the other two. But we have 2 sets possible and that's it. We have Jasper and Nymh, who have to go together. Because I plan to bond them, and they've already gotten an awesome start. And I don't want to break what they have. Ten days is too long. We may be taking those two and leaving the ratties and Luna to Kitty. But then that poses the problem that Luna came back with more severe behavioral problems last time she was at Kitty's... Probably because of the activity level of the house. And the dog. So then we're leaning to taking the rats and Luna with us and leaving Jasper and Nymh in the care of Kitty... *Sighs* What a mess...
On a brighter note, we'll be going to the beach (if the gulf spill doesn't (censored) us over..) sometime over those ten days. We're going to go to Connecticut's Sherwood Island. I haven't been there since I was very young. Aside from the oil, I refuse to go in the water. I won't even let Boyfriend go in. But I can't stop my father. x.x; My mother won't go in either.. I got stung by baby jellyfish as a young child there. And that combined with memories of finding seaweed in my bathing suit seriously turns me off to it. I go to collect wildlife and it's remains. I have a full horseshoe crab shell I found when I was a kid. Still in tact- eyes and all. 
(Wildlife extends to hermit crabs and snails, for those of you bugging about the ecosystem or whatever.  I have taken home a clam before.. But that really doesn't interest me anymore.) You don't find much awesome stuff there. Or, at least, you didn't back when I was there. No starfish or sand dollars... Nothing cool like that. Mostly crabs... 
I'm also going for the shells. The tiny ones that get stuck in the seaweed.. the kinds with holes in them for stringing them together.  Or kinds for hermit crabs, which I may or may not be getting when I go to my mother's. She's going to take us into Putnam County, where there's Animal Kingdom. This awesome pet store. I'm going to call and see what kind of hermit crab stock they have, since everything around here sucks. If they have any good ones, we'll be going there for that, and then taking them right to the new house when we take them home. 
So, I think that's it for now.  Update again before I leave for my parents'.. And probably with pictures.


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## ariusshadow (Jul 3, 2010)

I'm texting back and forth with Cuddles' owner at the moment, discussing the price. She wants $100 for the cage and bun! That's not a rehoming fee.. = More like she's trying to sell her... But I'm ignoring that, and telling her I just don't think we can afford it. But she said it was negotiable... And I mentioned we were moving and might have to wait a few weeks to take her.. No answer back has me alarmed.. I hope I didn't ruin it...

Edit:
They lowered the price to $75. I still don't like it, but it seems better than $100.. I told her on the 6th, we'd have a better idea. She said she's not moving until August. I asked if I could text her on the 6th to tell her how our finances are going. And I told her I'm excited. I wanted a lop next... ray: Praying we have the money.


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## ariusshadow (Jul 4, 2010)

So, it's set that we'll discuss Cuddles' future on the sixth. I'm really pulled toward her, so I'm excited. And maybe I'm a serious "crazy old bun lady" but I'm in love with the cage just about as much. It's so awesome looking. I can't wait to meet her for the first time.


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## ariusshadow (Jul 5, 2010)

Bah! Waiting until tomorrow has been grueling enough already! I'm really anticipating finding out if I can get Cuddles.. She's really pulling on me... In that.. special kind of way, you know? In that "you'll know" sense. I just don't know what I'll do if Boyfriend says we can't afford her tomorrow.  I'll probably just spend the week in a trance... It's so strange.. I've never even met this animal and she's effecting me so... I'm so afraid that Boyfriend will say we can't afford it because the landlord won't give us the security deposit back... "I can't afford to"... Right.. As a thank you, when I was cleaning Jasper's litter box the other day, some of the crap spilled into a crevice in the floor. I left the nice little pile there, and in a few other little holes. Why should I go out of my way to clean up? He's not going out of his way for us. -_- I hope he's the one that ends up cleaning after my rabbits. Jerk. *Sighs*... I'll have to try to haggle down with them to see if we can do it.. I don't want it to seem like we're broke, though. =\ The less we pay, the less they think we have to support Cuddles later, you know..?
I hope we get her.. I want her so badly... I know Kitty got that feeling from her picture, too. Not as strongly, but that... "She should be mine" feeling.. It's almost impossible to explain right.. Unless you've felt it before.. People always say.. "When you see the right one for you, you'll know..." I know.. Cuddles may be the perfect one for me.. But that won't do me any good if we can't afford the down payment for her. =\ I might discuss with them that I'll be paying for gas to go get the bun, so I'll have that much less to pay for her.. But maybe if Kitty got the same feeling, since we'll all be living together.. Maybe she'll help me scrape together some cash... I hope I can find a way... It's far beyond want... I almost feel like I *need* Cuddles... I can't imagine how ridiculous that must sound... She's just a rabbit, after all.. And one I've never even met, no less.. But still.. I understand the need to have an animal in ones life.. Maybe.. This is a realization for me. I've always had caged animals before. But I've never been so.. obsessive over any of them like I am with the buns. They touch me in a way hamsters and rats just can't. Maybe rabbits were always supposed to be my true calling, so to speak.. Or maybe I'm just blabbering.. Whatever the reason... I just hope I can add her to the family.


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## kirbyultra (Jul 6, 2010)

Oh Ari, I know when the bunny bug bites, it's impossible to ignore. You know your own situation best. But I would encourage you think about the animals you have now as well as what's best for Cuddles. If you get Cuddles how would it affect your life, would it be a lot harder on you and your finances? Would it affect your ability to care for the animals you already have? I don't often make a big noise about it on the forum but the truth is, I really hate to see when people get pet-overloaded and when something happens to one of them, they can't afford medical help and use it as an excuse to not get them the professional help that they need. I'm not saying that's you, but I just wanted to urge you think about contingencies and options, what's best for yourself and for everybun involved before you make a final decision about pursuing Cuddles. 
:hug:


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## ariusshadow (Jul 6, 2010)

*kirbyultra wrote: *


> Oh Ari, I know when the bunny bug bites, it's impossible to ignore. You know your own situation best. But I would encourage you think about the animals you have now as well as what's best for Cuddles. If you get Cuddles how would it affect your life, would it be a lot harder on you and your finances? Would it affect your ability to care for the animals you already have? I don't often make a big noise about it on the forum but the truth is, I really hate to see when people get pet-overloaded and when something happens to one of them, they can't afford medical help and use it as an excuse to not get them the professional help that they need. I'm not saying that's you, but I just wanted to urge you think about contingencies and options, what's best for yourself and for everybun involved before you make a final decision about pursuing Cuddles.
> :hug:


Helen, I thank you for caring. 
I've had many animals at a single time before. I have been overloaded before. Finances are of no concern at the moment, and I'm far from being overloaded. Thoughts of bonding Cuddles (WAY in the future, obviously), with Jasper and Nymh when the time comes, has crossed my mind. At the moment, the only constraints we're on is getting the money *in time*, and space (maybe) in the new house. But Boyfriend seems more worried about space that I am. I know Kitty and I. We'll stack cages to the ceiling and lose our bed to make our animals happy... As for time.. It only takes for the check to be sent out, but if we don't have the funds before we go to my parents' house on the 11th, we might have to lose the opportunity altogether. 
I know my limits from years of adopting caged pets. Though, I barely consider buns a caged pet, with all the extra hands on deck in the new place, I hardly think that being overwhelmed is a problem. We're going to the new place tomorrow, when we find out what Cuddles' future will be. It'll be then that we discuss where our pets' cages will go, as we're the ones that did footwork and extra expenditure, and then we'll pass the sheet off to Kitty's group, who we're combining with, so she can put in where she'd like her pets to be. If we see any problems, it'll be a discussion between us to find out what we think. I see no reason 7 buns (yes, count 'em, 7, when Cuddles is counted) can't live happily under that roof. Maybe I'm just overconfident in my ability to play tetris, but all will be settled tomorrow, hopefully.ray:

I really do thank you for your concern, though. I've been overwhelmed before. It sucks. Mostly for the animals, in the end. But this time, I really don't think I need to worry.


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## usawan (Jul 6, 2010)

i hope that everything goes well with your move, sounds like your current room mates are a couple of :censored2:. at least living with people you know will make life that much easier, so that's one less stress that you have to worry about. i just hope that all the bunnies can get along without too much fighting/babymaking going on ! you will have to post photos of all the buns after everything is settled in the new house  

cuddles is so cute...her hutch is really nice also ! you could even house two tiny buns in there if space demanded it and block off the ramp, or stack a cage on top if it isn't too high. having wheels on it will also make it really convenient to move around if people want to rearrange. best of luck to you being able to afford her !


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## kirbyultra (Jul 6, 2010)

ariusshadow wrote:


> *kirbyultra wrote: *
> 
> 
> > Oh Ari, I know when the bunny bug bites, it's impossible to ignore. You know your own situation best. But I would encourage you think about the animals you have now as well as what's best for Cuddles. If you get Cuddles how would it affect your life, would it be a lot harder on you and your finances? Would it affect your ability to care for the animals you already have? I don't often make a big noise about it on the forum but the truth is, I really hate to see when people get pet-overloaded and when something happens to one of them, they can't afford medical help and use it as an excuse to not get them the professional help that they need. I'm not saying that's you, but I just wanted to urge you think about contingencies and options, what's best for yourself and for everybun involved before you make a final decision about pursuing Cuddles.
> ...


:thumbup


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## ariusshadow (Jul 6, 2010)

Oy! The date to meet up with the chick for the house got pushed back from today to tomorrow. 
And this morning when we woke up, it was a 90 degree day on the second floor of a house that hot-box's... And our air conditioner DIED. So it was 98 degrees when we left to go get a new one, and the ceiling burned my hand to the touch. Now, we have a new a/c, and it's 94, as we're trying to cool down the upstairs now. Also, we were all discussing things about the new place earlier. Apparently, there will be one more bun under the roof. Another friend of ours is coming in, and she has one of Jasper's sisters. 
We will have in one house:
â¥Kota: Flemmish mix mother. Agouti, brown. Medium-sized bun.
â¥Miso: Bonded with Kota. Her daughter. Small-sized bun. Harlequin white/gray.
â¥Muu: Holland lop mix single female. Blue and white broken. Medium-to-large-sized bun.
â¥Mo (Mohawk): Daughter to Kota. Single bun. Brown Agouti. Medium-sized bun. 
â¥Nymh: Jersey Woolly purebred male. Brown agouti. Single bun. Small-sized.
â¥Jasper: Flemmish mix, daughter to Kota. Brown agouti. Single bun, large-sized bun. 
â¥Luna: Polish mix. Single bun. Black and white broken. Medium-sized bun.
*?â¥Cuddles: Mini lop mix. Single bun. Harlequin gray/tan/white broken. Small-to-medium-sized bun.

********

Other animals:
Ruu & Chii: Male and Female (fixed) ferrets.
Xing & Lei: Sister rats.
Kujo: Boxer mix dog.
Neko: Orange tabby cat
Chiri: Blue point lynx / Siamese mix cat.
Plus 4 bettas and some hermit crabs.

I love it when the house is like that. And with so many people, our danger of being overwhelmed is like none... And finances aren't really a problem. So I'm really optimistic about everything. I'm excited to hear a water bottle being chugged down every hall, to smell the hay in every room, to hear the dog barking, the cat screaming, the rat wheel going, the rabbits thumping.. It's a strange feeling. Maybe I'm just destined to own a zoo.  xD


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## ariusshadow (Jul 6, 2010)

Omg Helen you got my 100th Post!


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## kirbyultra (Jul 6, 2010)

:biggrin: Yay! Bunny Blogging is so addictive...


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## ariusshadow (Jul 8, 2010)

Jasper's sneezing. Posted here:

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=59223&forum_id=16

Also, Kitty just alerted me that she may be getting two more buns. Someone else needs to get rid of them asap. Apparently, they've been running with the chickens. And something keeps getting the chickens at night. And she can't bring them inside for an unknown reason. So Kitty's probably going to take them. So now, when we all move in, we'll all have, combined, ten buns, if all goes as planned.  Starts of a warren to rival wabbitdad's. (Yeah right!)


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## kirbyultra (Jul 8, 2010)

Holy cow, your new place is gonna be an animal house! :biggrin:


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## ariusshadow (Jul 9, 2010)

I can't wait. xD

Moving the rats into a smaller cage. They and Luna are coming with us to my parents, and Jasper and Nymh are going to Kitty's. Cuddles' mother just agreed to let me have her- we aren't picking her up till the 20th-ish...
I'm not convinced we're getting her, though. I know CL. I know that it's often first come first serve, and people will prolifically lie on there just to get the rabbit a home. I'm hoping they really hold her for me.


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## ariusshadow (Jul 14, 2010)

VBS is going well so far.. Some problems with the church in the way of the pentacle I wear daily. But I'll get over it. 
Went to a pet store called Animal Kingdom today. Like a moron, I was planning to check for Bene-Bac... And forgot. It's so overwhelming there. We picked up three large hermit crabs for a total of $15-ish. I've had them before. But it's been a while. 
So they have these open-topped bun pens. And the buns are all dwarfs. They had mini rex's and mini lops... And one bun in a pen all to itself. This bun was labeled as a dwarf hotot. LOL! It had GRAY ears! And a broken pattern down it's back. Maybe a hotot mix, but not a purebred. I was hysterical. Morons. At least it had the eyeliner. 
Just thought I'd share that bit of pet store stupidity with you. FYI, the bun was selling for $60 while other buns were $30. xD


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## kirbyultra (Jul 14, 2010)

The hotot you're describing sounds like how some people would describe my Toby. The markings around the eyes (however un-uniform) seem to loosely label them hotot. Then the diminutive size of the 'breed' (another loosely used term) gives them the dwarf label... The broken markings on the back definitely sounds like my Toby. Toby has a lot of lookalikes out there  I demand all pet stores that sell Toby lookalikes put "Toby" as the breed on their signage  Silly people.


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## ariusshadow (Jul 14, 2010)

It amuses me that they were selling it for twice as much as the other buns. They made it seem like they really thought they had something special. I don't know if they did this on purpose, or were hoodwinked by the morons that sold it to them. Regardless, perhaps people working in pet stores should do their research. :/


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## ariusshadow (Aug 16, 2010)

Been a long time since I posted. I apologize! We moved!  New place is.. Working.. kind of.. A lot of us are thinking it may have been a bad idea.. But we're working it out. The animal situation's a bit of drama. At the moment, we have:

Buns:

Muu: (Female, broken lop, belongs to Ecresi)
Kota: (Female, agouti, belongs to Ecresi)
Miso: (Female, diluted Harlequin, belongs to Luna)
Moe: (Male, Agouti, belongs to Amber)
Luna: (Female, broken, belongs to Happy Bob)
Jasper: (Female, agouti, belongs to me)
Nymh: (Male, agouti, belongs to me and Ecresi)
Cuddles: (Female, diluted harlequin lop, belongs to me)

Dog:

Kujo: (Male, Boxer/Mastiff, belongs to Ecresi)

Cats:

Neko: (Male, Orange tabby, belongs to Ecresi)
Kiba: (Male, unknown breed, [Foster Kitten], being claimed by Ecresi and Luna)
Turrets: (Male, silver tabby mix, [Foster Kitten], home claimed elsewhere)
Bynx: (Male, tuxedo mix, [Foster Kitten], being claimed by Amber)
Nameless: (Female, tabby, [Found foster until home is found])
Cat to come in yet:
Chiri: (Male, blue point tabby/siamese mix, belongs to Damion)

Others:

Qiang Lei & Xing Guang: (Female Hooded rats, belong to me)
2 hermit crabs: (Female carribeans, belong to me and Happy Bob)

I think that's it.. x.x;
The animals may not all be staying. Talk of some of the buns, and the dog, going, is hanging in the air, for an assortment of drama-related problems that I won't even mention on here. 

Cuddles is a LOT bigger than I thought she was going to be. And so is her cage! We broke it getting it into my mother's minivan. But it's been fixed. At the moment, the best way to clean it is with the wet/dry vac, since you can't really reach the the opposite ends that well.  But we're hoping to mod the cage. Cuddles being a bigger bun makes her bites more painful. I now have a bruise on my arm from a bunny-nom. One of those little "I love you so I'll hurt you 8D" bites.  Bruise is about the size of a quarter and was black the other day. x.x; Turning green now, though. 
Cuddles is being renamed. Possible renames are:

Garnet
Crystal
Mica

Anyone have any input on these names? 
*trying to keep this blog on subject of buns and not drama*

Hopefully, we'll be getting our room settled finally this week. Moving's kind of been aggravating since my roommate, who has more stuff than me, has been either sick or injured since we moved in, so he's gotten like nothing done. Yes, roommate right now is Happy Bob. And, at the moment, we're not together. And I don't think us getting back together any time soon is a possibility... So we're roommates for now. x.x;

The plan for Cuddles' cage is as follows:

â¥Make 2 new doors on the opposite ends of the hutch, to make cleaning, ect, more accessible. 
â¥Find something to put on the top level so she can have traction instead of sliding everywhere to stand up.
â¥Buy a hay bin/rack for her cage.
â¥Cut a new hole in the chicken wire for the bigger water bottle, as it doesn't fit very neatly where it is now.
â¥Find a way to reinforce the chicken wire the dish is hanging on.
â¥Find something big enough/cleanable enough for her to hide/nest in.
â¥Find a way to lock the ladder to the bottom level in place, so the cage can be split into two cages instead of one big one.
â¥Cuddles on the bottom, Jasper on top.
â¥Give Jasper's cage to Nymh.
â¥Keep Nymh's cage in the attic as a backup only, as it's looking at it's last days.

So, yeah, that's the extent of it for now.  I'll post pictures of Cuddles soon, I hope. At the moment, I don't have a computer of my own set up. The only online time I get it when I'm on a friends' computer. So we'll have to see.


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## ariusshadow (Aug 16, 2010)

Started to catch up on the bun blogs.. I thank Alicia for getting me interested in the 365 day challenge thingy. 
http://365project.org/ I don't have anything on it, yet. X_x I'll have to start today. I think I'll vow to have it all pets/animals. As a personal thing. Since I'm at my parents' house for the next day or two, I'll probably just have pictures of Yuki, my parents' dog. My pets are all at home. D:


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## ariusshadow (Aug 16, 2010)

So we kind of went shopping today at discount stores. Some good stuff in my mothers' area. I was really hoping for a good hay-bin type basket or crate for Cuddles (Leaning towards Garnet as a name A LOT), and ended up getting a new one for Nymh. As, I'm growing increasingly frustrated with his. His is shallow, so he pulls all of the hay out and onto the floor of the cage to defeat the purpose. So we got him a taller one, that's more like a bucket or basket than a stationary crate, so maybe this will work better. Also, I picked up a pair of cheap, pink, rubber bath mats, which I'm hoping will give Cuddles the traction she needs on the upper level. The mats were $3 each, so there are two to hopefully give her at least enough surface area to see if it works before spending more on more of them. I also got a shell-shaped soap dish that's almost tye-dye in color for the hermit crabs' food, since I'm sort of using my mother's dishes until I replace them. 
Also got 3 more fleece blankets for the rats, as I know they've already fairly destroyed the one I liked the most that's in the their cage. Dx Still on the hunt for something for Cuddles to hide in. Any thoughts? ._. She's an awfully big lop, but she seems to get anxious easily. So finding her something to hide in might help a lot of her distrust issues. Just need something easy to clean/big enough, but not so big that it overpowers the floor of the cage because, eventually, she's getting cut off from both parts of the cage, and will only have one, and I'm not buying another one when that time comes.


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## kirbyultra (Aug 17, 2010)

I like Garnet!!!


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## ariusshadow (Aug 18, 2010)

So do I.  Really starting to think that's the name for her. Want to ask a few more people their opinion on it, though. ^^

So Cuddles is adapting to the bathmat in her cage. There's just one kind of thrown in there at the moment. This way it's not permanent in any way in case she doesn't like it, and I still need to cut out a part of it to make it fit to the floor of her cage properly anyway. My biggest concern is, will she eat it? :? So far, there's been no signs of her being interested in nomming on it, so perhaps I won't have to worry.
There were two major reasons I got these mats. One was because it just wasn't fair to her to not have traction. She could barely stand up. And that's just not right.  As it turns out, the people that had her, had her in that cage for over 2 years, at least. She's aged at about 4.. So.. It's possible it was longer. And they never had traction for her... No wonder she's nippy! I would be, too, if I was sliding around for most of my life. ssd:
The other reason is, she seems to have this not-so-lovely bunny bad habit... Of "diggy-diggy", as we call it. :craziness The bun basically digs at anything... A box, a litter box, a floor, the bars of the cage. Some buns pick one thing to do this to, like Jasper does it to the bars of her cage when she wants to come out. And Luna does it to her litterbox when she's scared, or anxious; like when there's new people around, or her cage gets moved to a new place. Cuddles, however, does this to the bottom of her cage. As it's wood, and is the top floor, the noise is quite loud when she does it. There appears to be no trigger to her behavior, as we have looked, and she does it almost on an obsessive level.:twitch: Hopefully her having traction will quell her want to do this, as there's no way for her to with rubber under her claws. Because Cuddles' cage is in the living room, and, presently, we have someone crashing on our couch, this behavior was just not cool. Movies, TV shows, video games, music, computer games, conversations, whatever you were doing in the living room was overwhelmed by the sounds of her digging. Anywhere from 1 to 20 minutes straight. With maybe 10 minutes of not doing it at a time. Just ridiculous. :grumpy:
Some of our theories for why she does it consist of: anxiety, fear, neophobia, and anger at the floor for lack of traction... I really do need to find something for her to hide away in... She just flattens boxes so that won't work.. Perhaps if I look for a sort of plastic storage container... something she can't flatten.. 
Hope to have pictures of her soon.  She has ear control. Which makes me ecstatic. If I ever wanted a lop, I wanted one with at least partial ear control. She's a little further than partial- as she hasn't lifted her ears all the way up, but almost all the way. I love it most when they have one ear up, all the way, and the other completely relaxed, so it's all the way down on the side.:bunny5Amuses me so.. :biggrin2:
:bunnybutt:


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## Whiskerz (Aug 18, 2010)

my vote: Garnet 

great blog by the way.


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## ariusshadow (Aug 20, 2010)

Thanks, Sophia. 
The few that were rooting for garnet may be disappointed, I'm afraid. The household has settled on Opal as a better fit. Garnet's still nagging at the back of my mind, but we'll see if Opal fits. Perhaps there's a reason Garnet's really pushing at me. We'll have to see. 
For now, Cuddles' new name is Opal. 
She seems to have taken a small chomp out of the bathmat, but I only see one. Perhaps she learned after that that it was no good to eat. So I hope that's all she'll do. 
Pictures WILL be coming soon! (If I'm really spunky, I may even do it tonight!)


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## kirbyultra (Aug 20, 2010)

Awwww. I thought Garnet was so much more "pretty".


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## ariusshadow (Aug 22, 2010)

I may still revert to that. For some reason, I find it odd to call her "Opal". :/ My brain just can't seem to do it. I might just call her Garnet despite that no one else thinks it fits. >:T
Speaking of the lil bugger, she's still digging on parts that don't have the bathmat. So I'll be fixing the rest of her cage later this week. And hopefully doing a photoshoot with her that I've been too lazy to do yet. x.x; A lot of drama going on here, not much time to do anything. 
Suffice it to say, I may be moving AGAIN. This time, without men. Just me, and the 3 other chicks I live with. Because there seems to be a lot of drama stemming here from the males we live with. And I don't mean Nymh. ssd:
Jasper got a new toy I'm attempting to make her interested in. It's an "O-Ball" if anyone knows what that is... 
Ehh.. Here's one:





I got her a solid blue one of these, a tiny one. Not even poked at. I'm wondering if she's just not the type, so I shoved hay in the holes and we'll see if that makes her anymore interested. Also made a trip to petsmart, where I got... 2 of these, one for "Opal", one for Jasper:




Jasper destroyed hers in moments, and "Opal"'s still working on hers. Then I got Nymh this one, which happens to rattle:





So yeah, that's the size of it at the moment. 

On the subject of the rats... My girls may have to be given up. :cry2 It's not easy for me to even consider this, but due to the drama ensuing in the household lately, I'm afraid it may not be... reasonable to keep them. We'll see how things go the next few weeks, and maybe this'll all just end up being one of those thoughts I don't have to think about longer than I already have. :nerves1
*Sighs*. So the plans of Opal's cage may be underway soon. Because I want Jasper to get into one level of that cage fairly soon. But it kind of rests on one of the males to give me a hand in the fixer-upper part of the cage business. :banghead


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## ariusshadow (Aug 22, 2010)

So I think it's finally time to disclose the information of the drama I keep mentioning.. As.. At the moment, I'm a nervous wreck and terrified of what will happen next...
:rant:
A few weeks before moving in, halfway through last month, the boyfriend (Happy Bob) and I, had an argument. I'll admit right now. I have my issues. I have anger issues. And I'd been doing a bit better than usual. But after this argument, which I don't even remember what it was about, I remember on and off panicking (the panic attack sort of panicking- not like just flipping out) on the bed. He observed this, and seemed concerned. I told him to leave the room. Several times. He refused until the end and I threw a few things. He came back into the room, got right up to my ear, and screamed at the top of his lungs "STOP IT". I lost it. I was in tears, shaking, a right mess. Damion, my ex, that happened to stay my friend, brought him outside, and I was coddled by Jess for comfort. That night, Jess told him that if it happened again, she was moving back out. We all have our mental issues. And she has some of the worst... and hers stem from her father doing what Happy Bob did just then. 
Kitty and Luna were not here that time. (Luna is both the name of Kitty's 17 year old sister, and the rabbit. Confusing, I know. ) And they did not observe what happened. Little was said about the incident after it happened, and we seemed fairly okay. But that night, I picked my smoking back up, and have been smoking almost steadily 1-3 smokes a day bummed from Jess, and Luna's boyfriend. 
About two weeks ago, a tit-for-tat went between me and Happy Bob. After a while, we called a household meeting about it. This time, Damion was the only one not present, as he was at work. I got a little loud and Happy Bob got up from the couch, and came towards me, screaming at the top of his lungs. Defensively, I put my hands up and grabbed him when he came into reach, clawing him and screaming for him to get off me. Kitty jumped to my defense, telling him to get off and sit down. Happy Bob told her to cool out and the girls and I ran upstairs and hid in Kitty's room, where I utterly broke down in a mess on her floor. We decided to run for the night, and spent it elsewhere, where we ended up hanging out with Kitty's little brother for most of the night. Since then, we've all agreed to get psychiatric help. But Happy Bob's refused. He's already seeing a therapist and a psychaitrist, but we wanted him to get *more* help because he obviously needed it. Fighting us every step of the way that it was just "impossible" to get more help, the girls and I were considering of leaving. Moving out as just the girls. 
Somewhere in this mess, in the past few weeks, I realized that I'm extremely dependant on him. He and I broke up several weeks, maybe even more than a month, ago. But I still have to share a bed/room with him, depend on him for income, and as a pillar of strength. I get hugs and kisses from him still, which kind of irks me, since we're not together. I started realizing just how much he and I need to be away from each other. 
Today, was no different than any other these past few weeks. I wake up, and half an hour later, he starts something. We argued this time about the movies. I'd made plans to go with the girls, not him. And he was offended, swearing that just saying you wanted to see a movie, meant we'd go see one together. He literally said "Ari, there's a movie coming out in 4 months. Do you want to see it?" As an example. I played along and said "Sure." "There, plans made." I flipped. That's not a plan! That's "I want to see that movie." At the moment, Kitty and Luna won't even be near Happy Bob. They won't talk to him. If he's downstairs, they won't even go make food. They've been like that since the second screaming incident. I feel no less than them, but I'm forced to share a bed/room with him, so I don't have much of a choice but to converse with him... He was SO offended by this incident, that he calls his friend over, tells me to go upstairs because he can't be down here with me, and is in the fetal position in the kitchen on the floor. His friend and him disappear, leaving a phone number. Also, I accidently sent a text along the lines of "omg he's so pathetic I want him out!" to him that was meant for Kitty. Oops. :rollseyes He had to see it anyway, I guess. It's good he knows, whether or not I wanted him to find out that way. I don't know how long he's going to be gone. I don't know when he's coming back or if he'll try to hurt me when he returns. I told the other household members I'm not letting him back in the house until he goes to the hospital to get admitted. I'm sorry, I feel bad for him, but you don't make yourself a pathetic blob because someone didn't even agree to go to the movies with you, and are now going with someone else. For crying out loud. We're not 4. Grow up. 
At the moment, I'm panicky. I don't know what he's going to do if he comes home. I don't want to be afraid of him coming home. I'm actually thinking of calling the cops to see if they'll stake out the house or something in case he comes home.. If I leave, I hope he realizes I'm taking Luna (the bun). I'm not leaving anything under his care. I'm so stressed right now.. I've really had it... I just want it to be me and the girls. No offense to Damion, but he's a pain, too lately. 
He complains we have too many animals, complains every time someone mentions another animal, then brings home a stray cat without asking anyone. He doesn't take care of her, he doesn't clean up after her, or take responsibility for her, and his own cat sits in a flea-infested trailer that's about to be abandoned, unfixed, unloved, and half-forgotten. Mind you, he's waiting until Chiri can be fixed and flea dipped until bringing him into the new house, and has an appointment coming up, but he's had ample time to do this.. And waits until now... :/ 
And Damion won't let me get a dog. ssd: What. Ever. 
I can't wait to move out. I just want this nightmare over.

~~~~

Sorry for the extensive rant about my drama. But I don't post anywhere but here (no FB, LJ, dA, ect)... I felt I needed to get it off my chest somehow. I don't know when there will be pictures of "Opal"... I don't even know if I'll be able to care for her without Happy Bob's support if/when he ever does come home..
Sorry again for the blathering.. :nerves1 I'm just a real wreck right now. Much love, peace out, blessed be, and all that other good stuff. Hope stuff clears up soon.


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## kirbyultra (Aug 22, 2010)

It just sounds like everyone's unhappy with the living situation. If housemates can't agree about something as fundamental as whether it's going to be a house full of animals, where one or two people feel so strongly about "no more cats" or "no dogs at all", something's really gone wrong. Everyone has their issues, and I'll admit I have mine. But I think when a group of people all have things they get neurotic about, and they all come together under the same roof, the frustration of one person feeds the anger of another, and another. Someone has to do something to break this vicious cycle. It sucks that you're feeling like this and have to share a space with your boyfriend who you're on and off fighting with.

I hope venting it on RO helps you put it all out somewhere so you can focus on getting things back on track. Or if nothing else, I just hope it makes you feel a little bit better.


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## ariusshadow (Aug 23, 2010)

Thanks so much, Helen.  It did help to just let it all loose on here. Happy Bob and I aren't dating anymore. Not since... The first incident, I think. At the moment, he's come home, and I'm sleeping on the couch for the time being. Of my own free will. I'm between my buns, so I'm happy. Opal on one side, and Jasper and Nymh on the other side. I have decided to go with the girls and move out on our own. Just us. We can all agree there's no such thing as too many animals so long as they're all cared for, taken care of, cleaned up after, ect. And I can trust the girls to not come towards me from the other side of the room, screaming like a maniac over something ridiculous, making me fear for my life. I want out this month, but it's just not possible, unfortunately. 
Meh.. I need a smoke. :/


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## kirbyultra (Aug 23, 2010)

ariusshadow wrote:


> ...not come towards me from the other side of the room, screaming like a maniac over something ridiculous, making me fear for my life. I want out this month, but it's just not possible, unfortunately.



I think this is completely where it would cross the line for me. There's just no excuse for a guy to behave this way. :hug: I hope you escape soon.


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## ariusshadow (Aug 25, 2010)

Unfortunately, the situation here has only gone downhill. He had 2 more outbursts yesterday and I haven't seen him since. These weren't as violent towards me but I now have a panic attack every time I think I hear him move upstairs. He's supposed to be going to the hospital on Friday... Admitting himself willingly. Hopefully, this will happen. Oh, to make it better, this is all my fault. Just so you know. He swears he can't get anything around the house done, or even move most of the time, for that matter.. Because I'm 'bearing down on him'. When I'm afraid to be in the same room as him. -.-; So.. That's where it stands at the moment.

I'll be forced to spend parts of the day with him today. We're supposed to all go somewhere and he's kind of the one paying.. The others in the household that are more offensive than defensive will be babysitting him to keep him away from me. Because after last night, I was prepared to sleep in one of the worst neighborhoods in NY that's not in NYC itself. Kingston. On the streets. I refused to come home. Until 4 people came to find me and demand I go home... 
Hopefully, their playing peacekeeper will work for today. After this, I may be just sleeping in someone's car until he leaves. I'm already sleeping on the couch.. What could be worse than loosing your room to a maniac? :rollseyes

FYI, Opal didn't stick with me. But the argument is "Garnet doesn't fit". So I'm now between Amber, Crystal, or maybe Onyx... But that's more of a boy's name I'd think.. :?


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## ariusshadow (Aug 30, 2010)

Eh the drama continues and I'm a busy little stinker with barely any time to do anything. At the moment, Jasper, Luna, Nymh, and the rats are in my room. And there's almost no room for everyone.. I'm afraid the rats and Nymh may have to go for lack of living space.  Jasper goes nowhere. I'll give up my computer desk if it means a place to put her cage. 
The road to disability is a rough one. They want so much information that I just can't give them... 
And our roommate's driving us insane. Brings a cat in without asking anyone. Can't even take care of his own cat, complains there's too many animals in the house, and now she's in heat, yowling day and night. We're about to just open the door and let her go. He's supposed to be finding her a home. I had to post the CL ad today. It's been 2 weeks.


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## ariusshadow (Sep 7, 2010)

So I still haven't gotten the pictures of Cuddles. And Moe (a bun) and the cat are still looking for new homes. We're probably going to be sticking our current couch-crasher in the attic, and sticking a new, rent-paying couch-crasher on the couch.  Yay for more money. But it's all going to the cable bill anyway since the new couch-crasher is only getting 7 hours a week at the moment. -.-; Garbage~
We'll be working on modding Cuddles' cage hopefully starting by getting the materials tomorrow. Now, the roommate that brought in the new cat, which needs to [email protected]#$%ing go, has another cat which is border-line abandoned. Chiri is the cat he's had for like 3 years, will be getting fixed tomorrow as well. And will be coming home for the first time. Chiri and the new cat will probably not get along. And the owner thinks that he can just deal with this as it comes. But he's making almost no motions to find the new cat a home. I am, but he's not. And there are 3 kittens and a dog all stuck in one room because the cat hates other animals. And the cat gets to roam the house. The house's animal situation is a little jumbled. But at the moment, I'm thinking it'll clear up when I give Jasper some out-of-cage time... and put Damion (cat owner) in the cage in her place. -_-;;


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## ariusshadow (Nov 15, 2010)

Cuddles has found a new home. For some reason, I just didn't connect with her. :/ Which really stinks. The family that took her has kids and they love her. I texted to check up on them a few days ago, and they seem to really be enjoying her. 
I've moved into the attic, and the buns and rats are up there with me. The attic's not a finished room, so it's dusty and dirty, and there's insulation exposed on the ceiling. The rabbits and rats areas are cleaned up, though, and I'm slowly progressing to make the entire thing habitable. The person that was causing problems in the house now has the room to himself, since he and I had been sharing. He's still causing problems, and will probably continue to do so indefinitely. 
My current goal is to get on disability, now that I've been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, and I will move out when I get accepted for it. I will move into my parents' house then, and start getting myself set up. Get Jasper spayed, Nymh neutered, and Luna her first vet check. Get some things I'll need, save up, and move down to North Carolina (Charlotte area) to live closer to the few parts of my family that don't suck. My aunt, cousin, and my cousin's daughter live down there, and my aunt will hopefully be able to teach me Reiki healing while I'm down there, and teach me to control my medium abilities. If you want to believe that sort of thing. 
Disability may take a long time, so I'm looking for work in the meantime. But I'm often told that I won't be hired because I can't stand for a long time. So, that's harder for me than it is for most people in this economy. :/ 
The hutch that came with Cuddles is now abandoned. Kitty, my roommate, will be paying me for it for use of her two buns. Jasper's back in her old cage, and Nymh's now in a 2-level cage that's a lot more suitable for him than the tiny guinea pig cage he had been in before the hutch. Luna is now MY bun. I didn't trust the troublemaker with the life of an animal, since I had to tell him when to clean the cage, and I had to feed her, so she's now upstairs in the attic with me. 
The rats are doing well, though they're in a smaller cage until the troublemaker does what he has to do for me to get my desk back from him. Until then, I don't have the room I need to put their big cage back up. 
*Sighs* And my dog died. He didn't live with me. He was supposed to be my birthday present for my 17th birthday, but my mother never let him live with me after I moved out. I hated her for it, and still do. But that's a rant for another time. Yuki was my baby. And I didn't get to see him on his last day. I have his ashes here, next to Nyota's, my old rat. 
So... I think that's it for now. I'm getting an albino rat for my birthday, though.  She's a sweetie. I can't wait to get her. I'll post pictures of the fuzzballs at some point. I'm sorry it's been so long since I blogged. Just been really hectic here. :/


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## kirbyultra (Nov 16, 2010)

Oh wow, that sounds tough. I hope things get better for you.


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## ariusshadow (Nov 17, 2010)

Thanks so much, Helen.  
Mostly, I think I just need to work on how I cope with things. 
Small update:
I'm getting my rat this week! *Excited*
Also, Ecresi, my roommate, is getting 2 mini lops tomorrow! One's a solid blue agouti (I think), and the other's a broken... It's hard to tell what the color is. I think they're adorable.  Here's a link so you can get an idea of what they look like.  We'll have 7 rabbits in the house again. ^^
http://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/pet/2061926675.html


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## ariusshadow (Nov 29, 2010)

So we have 8 buns in the house now. I didn't get the rat I was hoping for. The person flaked on me. :/ So I have a new little squidget for our growing warren.  This is Amber:











She's under a pound and I'm not sure how old she is or what breed she is. Posted here:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=62364&forum_id=8
She seems to have a slight eye cold. I'm praying it'll clear up from a change of atmosphere (and lack of woodchip bedding, perhaps), and just keeping her in a separate room from the other buns. 
She's in quarantine at the moment, but I'm praying she gets a bit bigger. If she gets to a reasonable size, I'll bond her with Jasper.  That is, if we did our gendering correctly. ;D
She's a little cuddler and loves to explore. Definitely a couch-and-movie bun. ^^ And she LOVES giving kisses. Absolutely loves licking your hand. ^^ She's so well-behaved she sat in my lap the whole way home.


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## ariusshadow (Dec 12, 2010)

Amber is with me at my mother's house for a few days. While I'm here, I get an IM from my roommate, Kitty. She tells me that Jasper's cage is trashed and Jasper is running around the closet below the attic. It's a 7 foot drop. No one knows what happened or how, but the top of the cage was off the base, and bent out of shape, and Jasper was seven feet below my room. She's a 20 pound bun. Later, Kitty finally catches her and sees her legs are swollen and she's putting weight on them, but not a lot. She's protecting them from being inspected, and won't let Kitty really handle her. This is the only visible thing... God only knows what a 7 foot drop did to her insides.. Even the vet said she was shocked she didn't break her back... In my head, all I can think is, even just a cracked rib... puncturing a lung... That's it. It's over... A misplaced vertebrae, a twist to the wrong muscle... Rabbits are so fragile.. Almost anything could kill them... To think she's even still alive is a miracle.. She's now in a temp cage downstairs, after calling vets for half an hour. It's a Sunday, so no one's open but the ER vet, and I can't afford that kind of visit. I can't even afford a normal vet. I'm praying my mother will help me pay for my baby's vet bills. I've been told to basically keep her as comfortable as possible and try to get her to a vet first thing in the morning. I'll be calling our vet at 8am. I'm a nervous wreck. I find myself blaming myself for everything and I'm practically comatose because I can't go home until Tuesday. I just want my baby girl to be okay... We just had to put down a kitten a few weeks ago because of a liver condition that made him impossible to save... I can't imagine life without my Jispy.. I've been in tears since Kitty texted me.. I'm shaking and my heart's racing and all because I'm not home. I don't think I'm ever leaving home without all of my animals again... If something like this ever goes wrong again while I'm not there... Well... I can't even forgive myself now... Jasper's my world... My heart bun... I can't handle the thought of her being in pain... I can't imagine what she's going through.. I'm praying she's just got bruises or sprains.. If her legs are broken... I'd never let myself leave home again... I'm a rotten mess... I'm going to go lay down... And pray this is a nightmare that I just need to wake up from...


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## ariusshadow (Dec 13, 2010)

Jasper was checked by a vet. They said she's just sore. Got anti-inflammatory meds.


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## ariusshadow (Jan 2, 2011)

I'm pleased to say Jasper's leg is much better. She's binkying and thumping and there's no swelling or soreness.
However, she seems to have hit puberty overnight. So now I have a 7lbs teenager with a 'tude on my hands. She growls and lunges for me, something she's never done before, and now rearranges her cage ALL the time. Which can get very noisy! She thumps at every thing and everyone and has a much more demanding personality now. I haven't the money to get her spayed right now, though. So I'll have to just put up with it. :/

Amber is adjusting well. However, I've noticed she's getting an abundance of eye-boogers. No watering eyes, no mucous, no trouble breathing, just a lot of eye boogers. I've taken her off of the Alfalfa to see if the dust from it might be the problem. I've pulled particles of it out of her eyes before, so I'm wondering if that's what's doing it. She's still getting hay and pellets daily. She's now up to 2 tsp of pellets a day.


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## Momto3boys (Jan 2, 2011)

I'm glad Jasper is feeling better and Amber is just so darn cute :heartbeat:


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## ariusshadow (Aug 19, 2011)

Sorry to anyone who misses my crew's postings... I just don't have the time! But if anyone wants to keep up with me or the kids, we're ALL on Facebook!

Megan Virginia Grape (Me... Please refer to me as Ari. I much prefer it than my real name...)

Jasper Bun
Amber Nugget
Luna Babbit
Nymhulous Beatrice


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