# Anderson Family Zoo



## MiniLopHop (Dec 26, 2010)

This is my first blog. We have so many adventures at our house that there is always a story to tell and my co-workers, who are not "pet people", are starting to get a glazed over look in their eyes. Introductions first: Rebecca Lynn is the new resident princess who has already made me her slave. She was my birthday present on Monday and in one week I have become obsessed with all things bunny. Becky came from the local SPCA already spayed and litter box trained. She is a brown and white mini lop with such a sweet personality. 

The cats are Andre Pascal, Victoria Elizabeth, and Black Cat. I believe in middle names for pets so they know when they are in trouble. Andre is already infatuated with Becky. He is a 2 year old Turkish Angora that was tossed by his breeder when they found out he had a heart murmur. He is quite a lover not a fighter. Victoria is a 9 year old Tortise Shell that was a stray until her and a litter of kittens showed up in a shelter, all very ill. The kittens did not make it but they were able to save her. She is feisty with a few quirks from being on the streets. Black Cat is a 14 year old black cat that we inherited with my husband's grandmother died earlier this year. She is adjusting to being an indoor only cat but she does not like the other two cats. Luckily it is only hissing when paths cross and not fighting. Victoria acts as Andre's body guard where Black Cat is concerned.

Barnum and Baily are 9-month-old gerbils. Barnum is aguti and Baily is cream. They came from a neglect/abuse situation. There were 15 gerbils being kept in a cage and breeding at random for use as snake food. I got them through Luna's House, which is a great small animal rescue in Maryland. Yes, we drove 4 hours to get gerbils.

Kate and Leopold are 15 year old three-toed turtles. Their previous owner died and her children didn't want the turtles. They were neglected for a while but then given up to a reptile rescue, which is where I found them. I was only looking for a single, but they are so in love I couldn't split them up. They follow each other around their house and have an active love life. If only people were so dedicated.

We have 9 zebra finches that add happy beeping to our home. They are the result of accidental breeding in genetically unsuitable mates (I think they are inbred). One of the siblings was blind but we lost him early on. They love to do everything together. One decides to take a bath, and before you know it there are 9 dripping and preening birdies sitting in a row. There are only two males, Frank and Alvin. They get pestered a lot by the girls who all apparently want a date.

Kermit is a dwarf African frog that lives in our community fish tank. I never see him eat but he's so pudgy he obviously gets food somewhere. Also in the community tank are neon tetras, zebra dinos, and lots of guppies. If anyone in the Philly area reads this and wants some guppies, let me know. The smaller fish tank has bleeding heart tetras. I grow live plants in the tanks to keep things interesting. The fish are the only non-rescued pets we have.

Last, but not least, is my wonderfully indulgent husband, Joshua. He likes animals but probably would not have created a zoo. He does enjoy watching all their antics with me. We live in Paoli, PA which is a suburb of Philadelphia.


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## itsazoo (Dec 26, 2010)

hehe hey I have gone a lot farther for gerbils! our foundation came from saskatoon(min 3 hour drive) and we have 4 from Europe and 1 from Quebec, with plans to get a bunch from Poland  

now we need pics!


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## MiniLopHop (Dec 26, 2010)

How cool! How do you know there are gerbils in Poland that need rescued? It seems like it would be hard to find out, but that would be neat to have an international pet.


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## itsazoo (Dec 26, 2010)

oh the Poland ones are not rescues, they are Rex, a new muation, not yet released as trials are still being done to ensure health. we are working with some Rex breeders in Poland to join the Rex project and bring it to north america. until the mutation is cleared for release, they would not leave our clan.


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## MiniLopHop (Dec 26, 2010)

That is still really cool. I would love to see pictures. I'm trying to get pictures posted of all of our pets, should be here shortly.


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## MiniLopHop (Dec 26, 2010)

After reading my bunny book and an internet search, I think Rebecca is a Chestnut Agouti. Let me know what you think. The pictures make her look more gray, but I think she is more brown.








Here is butter bowling:






Andre checking in:






The gerbils:






Andre supervising the gerblis:






Turtles visiting Santa:


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## tristaw. (Dec 26, 2010)

you won't see my eyes glazing over, I think your blog is amazing. I laughed so hard at the middle name thing  I'd love to see more pics.


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## MiniLopHop (Dec 26, 2010)

Normally I split the cleaning chores between Saturday and Sunday. However, since yesterday was Christmas I gave myself the day off. Today I spent a good part of the day elbow deep in poop of one kind or another. It gave me the chance to reflect on and observe my pet's reactions to having their homes invaded by the cleaning elf.


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## MiniLopHop (Dec 26, 2010)

Man, I had a whole long thing and observations written out and just the first paragraph posted! Gerrrr.... anyway.... The animals all react differntly to the cleaning, but the one thread that runs between the differnt species is joy. Unappologetic rejoicing over being cared for. They run around and check things out. There are new goodies to eat and nests to be made. The birds line up and all take a bath, sometimes 4 in the tub at once like a clown car. They revel in the small things. It is such a privaledge to be alowed to share their lives and to contribute to this happiness. I feel so blessed to be able to love them and be loved in return.


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## MiniLopHop (Dec 27, 2010)

Oh the weather outside is frightful.... but it gives me a free day off work! Yipee! We tried to sleep in this morning since Joshua and I both have the day off due to the snow. Apparently that offended Becky because it made her breakfast late. She tossed all of her litter out of the pan so now I need to clean the whole cage. What a naughty little bunny. She will also tell me off (thump her back legs) If I shut her door, not that she comes out of her house, she just wants the option at all times. I think I'm going to get the attachable play pen so she can come out with more containment whenever she wants. I'm just not comfortable letting her roam the house yet without watching her. This morning she was sitting up sniffing the air. Apparently she smelled something interesting because she stretched to get more. The problem is she went backwards too far and flopped herself over. She hopped up and looked around as if to say "I meant to do that!" LOL bunnies have that same pride streak as the cats, can't stand to have anyone laugh at them.
Yesterday everyone was quieter and hunkered down for the storm, today they are more hyper from the rest. The birds are singing extra loud and the cats are ripping around like their batteries are over flowing. Only the gerbils are staying in bed today, they decided to nest in the eggo box. It was hard work ripping up the klenex and hauling the hay so they are getting in a well deserved rest.
Joshua and I are spending our bonus day cleaning. His dad may be visiting early January for the first time. Family is great, but why does it make me so anxious to have everything perfect? I'm trying to figure out how to get rid of all the cat hair and little bits of flung seed or hay. Oh well, we can only do so much since this is the pet's home too. I'm certainly not going to lock them away so I can get everything spotless. I have certain friends, mostly cat owners, that will only allow their pets into part of the home so the rest can be fur free. I just can't do it, it seems sad to me. How different is that from keeping a dog on a chain? Why would you have a pet if you don't welcome them into the family like a child? Perhaps it is because I don't really see much differnce between my pets and children other than the pets don't need a college fund.


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## MiniLopHop (Dec 27, 2010)

Can a pet be confused with their species orintation? Andre has started to eat hay, which he subsequently barffs back up onto the rugs, and scratch at the cardboard boxes put out for Rebecca to play with. Is he tired of being a cat or just jealous at how fabulous it is to be a bunny?


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## JadeIcing (Dec 27, 2010)

LOL my dog most times thinks she is a rabbit. I love your blog. Love your zoo and can't wait to read more.


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## MiniLopHop (Dec 27, 2010)

Thank you, I'm so excited to be able to share the stories and thoughts with animal people.
Everyone has calmed down from this morning's running around and it is nap time. Rebecca is in her house with a cat on top of the cage and the other laying on the floor by it. I never would have guessed they would become such friends.
I trimmed her nails for the first time the other day. She was so good once I rolled her onto her back, just layed there so I could clip. Now I read about cleaning the scent glands. UUGGG! She doesn't smell bad so I'm thinking I will let that task go until she gets her check up in the beginning of January. One of the perks to taking them in, right? I just have a feeling they have never been cleaned so it will be bad but perhaps not. What I was amazed by was that her feet smell like hay! I don't know what I expected, but that is so cute! The tiny little tuffts of hair between her toes and smelling so sweet, just makes me want to eat her up (not literally of course).


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## JadeIcing (Dec 27, 2010)

Some bunnies never need the glands cleaned. I have never had to do it.


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## MiniLopHop (Dec 27, 2010)

JadeIcing, that is good to know. Hopefully she falls into that category.
When you wash bunny blankets can you use normal detergent or is it better to use unscented? Since she tossed all of her litter out of her litter box this morning I wanted to clean it all up. She has fresh bedding, hay, and blankie. I have also learned the lesson of not letting the bun wait for breakfast. :wink


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## JadeIcing (Dec 27, 2010)

I use purex moutain fresh.


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## AngelnSnuffy (Dec 28, 2010)

I love your blog, Brandy!:biggrin2:
You just "jumped on in"! I love it!
not sure about bunny blankets, but I love the smell of Gain.


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## MiniLopHop (Dec 28, 2010)

well, apparently even if breakfast is not late she likes to toss everything around her house. She even peed in her food dish! Becky was a bad bunny. I have noticed that she gets mad when I close the door, even if it has been open for hours and she never came out. Apparently it is the choice that is important. When I get paid on Friday I am giong to get the connecting play pen so she can have her door open all the time. When we are home she has free run of the bedroom and hall. Nights and when we are gone she has to stay in her house. She has started to hop up on the first level shelf, so at least she is using more of her house. There are 4 levels in total, but I don't think she likes heights.
I think I'm going to put the grate over the litter in the litter box for now. Perviously I didn't want any bars to hurt her feet, but now I am thining since the rest of the floor is solid she will be ok. Perhaps it will keep her from tossing it all around in a fit. I refuse to get up at the crack of dawn for her amusement. It's a good thing she is so cute.


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## MiniLopHop (Dec 28, 2010)

I am loved! I got my first bunny kisses tonight. I think she knew I was frustrated cleaning out the whole cage the second night in a row. I just put her cleaned and now grated litter box back in her house. She came hopping over from the other side of the room right up into my lap and licked my knee! I stroked her forehead and behind her ears until she hopped back to playing with the toys. I think it was her way of appologizing for the mess. I added more tossable toys so perhaps she will throw them around tomorrow morning.
Over the Christmas holiday I won a contest for another blog I read "careers for cats". The book and cat toys came today. I am loving the book, each cat has a toy, and Becky liked the box. She turned it up side down and used it to stand on. Perhaps being taller made her feel powerful? She would hop on the box and then go charging after a cat. Andre will run and then turn around and chase Becky back. Victoria just runs away. I think Victoria is actually afraid of the rabbit and tries to spend as much time as possible on the bed to avoid too much face to face contact.
At the moment Becky is dragging a paper towel roll filled with hay across the floor. I think she wants to take it to her cave, but it is bigger than she is! LOL for 4.5 pounds she has spunk! Don't let the cute floppy ears fool you.


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## Nela (Dec 29, 2010)

Hehehe loving the blog :biggrin2:I can't wait to hear and see more!


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## MiniLopHop (Dec 29, 2010)

Thank goodness for bunny bliss. I had a crappy day at work, but there's nothing like coming home to a bunny that can't wait to rub on you to make it all go away. Becky is quickly learning that it is fun to run around like a crazy bun, terrorizing the cats in the process. I find it so funny that a 4.5 rabbit can make two 15+ pound cats run for their lives. Becky has also declared Andre's stuffed dino as her own (lots of chin rubbing). 
I couldn't wait for the weekend, I got the play pen addition for her house. This way she can have access to out of the cage play time any time she wants it. Man, she has me wrapped around her little paw already. We also got her some baby keys for tossing since she seems to really enjoy throwing things around. Between the new toys and extra play space I'm hoping the litter tossing was just a phase. Luckily her box was still intact this morning. We also got her a water dish that attaches to the bars so it can't be tipped over. She knocked my glass of water over trying to drink from it last night. Did Andre tell her it was ok? He is constantly driving me insane doing that!
When we were out I also picked up a cute penguin fleace throw for her. My husband's responce was, I thought we were done buying stuff for the rabbit? LOL like I ever stop shopping for the kids? I should own stock in PetSmart. At the very least I probably should work there part time if they offered an employee discount. We could save hundreds of dollars a year, but then again, I would see all the new stuff as it comes up. Probably best to shop with a list, right. I figure we don't have kids so we just have to spoil the pets. It's hard to find toys for a turtle though, they just want worms and crickets as treats. Speaking of crickets, they have made it down stairs, I heard them last night. About a week ago Victoria accidentally got locked into the bird/turtle room over night. Normally we shut the cats out so they don't startle the birds when they are sleeping because they could fly into something. Well, the cat was hiding so didn't get shooed out. We had gotten a dozen crickets for the turtles and they were in a temporary container so they could be gut loaded calcium before feeding. The cat got board, tossed the container off the desk, and then played with the crickets who quickly ran away. Well, I guess a few loose crickets are to be expected.
Well, Becky just put herself into her house, which means it is time for her evening vegetables and "good girl" snack. Can't leave the bun waiting.


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 1, 2011)

Hoppy New Year! Things have been crazy around here the last couple days. My in-laws will be coming for a visit next week so I want to have everything clean (I hate cleaning the house, I would rather do litter boxes). I have also been trying to perfect Rebecca's set up. I added a play pen so she can run around more all the time rather than only if we are there to keep an eye on her. She does still get extended area at night, but this helps keep her from becoming board. 
I tried giving her a hooded litter box with sand in it so she could dig. She had a wonderful time! Unfortunately she turned our bedroom floor into a sand box. I will be getting sand out of the carpet for months to come. It really irritated my allergies, so the sand is going to make a nice cactus terrarium. I'm going to try shredded paper next. I want to give her a good outlet for digging so she stops flinging poo. I tried moving her litter box to a differnt corner, but she didn't like it, so it's back where it was.
I discovered that Becky doesn't fight getting picked up if I use a blanket. She's so calm that I'm not even going to worry about training her with bare hands. If the blanket makes her feel more secure, then why should I fight it? Plus she is too cute looking like a furry little baby in her blankie. I had Joshua take pictures yesterday but he's slow in getting them to me to post.
The birds had a bit of a to do yesterday. I brought out the smaller cage I normally use as a hospital cage. It's only large enough to be comfortable for two birds. Bess has been pucking Frank because I don't provide nesting materials and she wants chicks. I don't want any of these birds to breed beause they are not robust genetically. So, poor Frank has become quite bald. I am breaking up their marriage because it has to be done. Sometimes relationships are toxic and need to be reassessed from a distance for the safety of one or more of the partissipants. Nancy is low bird on the totem pole and was also getting her feathers plucked by the others. She will be Frank's cage mate so no one picks on them and the feathers can grow back. There is nothing more pathetic than a partially bald zebra finch. There isn't much heft to the birds to start with, so strip feathers and it's not even enough meat for a hot wing.
Have you ever tried to catch a specific bird with 18 furiously flapping wings in a 6 foot flight cage? Let me tell you that I was sweating by the time the two correct birds were in their new home. I'm able to close a gate in the middle of the cage, so that is how I started. I ended up catching ANY bird I could. If it was someone I was aiming for, great! Otherwise, I would put the bird in the empty half of their cage. Nancy managed to escape into the room (hence why the cats are never alowed in when I'm getting birds out) and I had to chase her around the room with the net. I finally got them both moved over and I can see tiny pin feathers coming in already.
While I was working on all this, Becky came up to explore my office. She decided her favorite place at the moment is under the turtles' house. She did not want to come out when it was time to leave. I eventually got the bird net thinking I could coax her out with gentle prods. She was not having any of it, she was staying right where she was. I kept nudging and she kept ignoring. I finally ended up netting the rabbit and pulling her out (photos soon). She was not thrilled with me but we got her into her blankie and back to her house.
Today I have to transfer the fish from the small tank into the big tank and decommission the 10 gallon. When we slid stuff around to make room for the play pen I accidentally cracked the aquarium slightly on the bottom. There is now a very slow leak. It will become the cactus terrarium.
When is my nap scheduled?


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 2, 2011)

Last night Becky was seriously pouting over the loss of her sand box. Luckily all was forgiven this morning when she got her pellets. She's a bun after my own heart, loves to eat! She even binkeies when I put her veggie ball in refilled. It is the coolest vegetable rack, it is a ball with a bell that I fill with mixed greens and then add a baby carrot or two in the side. She has to work a little to get the goodies out so it is also entertainment. I'm just greatful that she let us sleep in and didn't make a mess. I think her house is pretty much settled finally. I'm sure she is happy not to have the "furniture" rearanged again, but as a new mom I was not sure what the best set up was until I experimented a bit.
I think Becky is more vocal than most bunnies, certainly more than the ones I had as kids. She makes all kinds of soft little noises I have never heard before. She tooth purrs and has a tiny little squeek that seems to be a joy thing. I did hear a rabbit scream once, it was terrible and I hope Becky never needs to make that sound. I like these other soft sounds because she seems to be so happy when she makes them. I'm going to have to reserach all the differnt sounds bunnies can make.
As for today, I'm in a good deal of pain so I think it will be a cuddle day. I have fibromyalgia and cold rain makes me really hurt. It sucks when I'm dieting, exercising, doing everything my doctor tells me and the weather can knock me on my butt. Oh well, I'm having more good days than bad and I have wonderful pets to keep me company so I shouldn't complain.


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 2, 2011)

Pictures from my cranky day:






Becky loves her Dino





It tickles to have a bunny lick your toes!





The bun house and playpen, complete with cat


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 2, 2011)

Black Cat is eating well. Her fur is getting shiny and soft. Can you believe she is 14?





Leo looks like he has a very long neck, but that is Kate's body!





Full view of the bird house. I will add some birdy close ups


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 2, 2011)

Bird close-ups:





All the birds like to take a bath at the same time, but they have to make a little line. Then they all sit on the perch to drip and preen.





Frank and Brittney were getting their feathers pulled out, so now they have a cage of their own to recover.





Frank and Brittney closer


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 2, 2011)

baby bun







I have discovered this is the most stress free way to move Rebecca. She loves to be wrapped up in her blankie. She will even toss the blanket over herself when she wants a nap! Now she can explore my office up stairs in the evenings and I can get some work done.


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 5, 2011)

Yesterday I had a horribly painful doctor's appointment. I came home and went to bed. I woke up a couple hours later with Victoria on my feet, Andre at my hip, and Becky on my pillow. There's nothing like waking up to a bunny licking your nose. It made me so happy to lay in bed with my fur babies. Today I am still home and the cats and rabbit come and go from my bed. Rebecca has been so good. I have read about bunnies marking their people's beds, but she has never left a drop out side of her box (ok, she missed over the edge once, but that is hardly a sin). I think people recover faster with pets around them. Tomorrow I will be back at work so I am soaking up all the fur therapy I can today.


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 6, 2011)

I have the best husband in the world! (nods to Jeff, Nela's SO, but Joshua is still better). He surprised me with flowers at work today. He knew I was going to have a rough week so he ordered them over the weekend. I adore spring flowers, the help me hold onto hope for the future and optimism of life. He sent a dozen tulips. They smell so good and are so colorful. We have been married for almost 12 years and he's still so sweet. I love my Joshie.

:inlove:


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 8, 2011)

For some reason I never noticed until today that Becky has little white "underpants"! She was stretching and it was so cute. I managed to get a fairly good photo of it:

:run:Now she is running around like a crazy bun, it is that time of the evening.


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## Flash Gordon (Jan 9, 2011)

Great blog!! and all ur animals are awesome!!..but i need bigger pics i cant see those itty bitty pics...hehe


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## Nela (Jan 9, 2011)

*Laughs* Josh sounds great :biggrin2:12 years? That's awesome! I'm sorry you had such a bad appointment. I hope it's nothing too serious :expressionlessI love bunny kisses. I really miss having bunnies in the house. They used to be my comfort during the rough times as well. They are great pets. 

Feel better soon!


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 9, 2011)

How do you get the pictures in larger? I upload to gallery and then attach them to the post. I find it annoying that they are so small too.

This weekend Ron and Sharon (Joshua's dad and step-mom) came down for a visit. They live in New Hampshire and drove through a snow storm! It was great to see them but unfortunately I have a cold so I had to nap a bit while they were here. At least dinner last night went well and I made my first, and probably last, pork roast. I'm gradually moving into becoming vegetarian and beef/pork are going off the menu. I already stopped dairy because it causes too much inflammation. I do have a bit of goat cheese now and then because it doesn't cause the reaction.


Poor black cat passed so quickly. We were all in the bird room sitting around talking. The cat came in and meowed twice. She tried to get up in Sharon's lap but mid leap started to seizure. By the time I ran to get my phone to call the vet she was gone. We think it was a blood clot since she had just been to the vet two months ago pronounced amazingly healthy for a 14+ year old. At least it was quick and she was not alone.
:rip:
Apparently my cold is annoying to Becky. I was up coughing several times in the night. She would run around and stomp her feet. Excuse me for disturbing your beauty sleep. LOL I'm rambling at this point, but cold meds will do that. I have to get better for work this week, so much to do.

Thank you to everyone that reads this. Comments are great


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## JadeIcing (Jan 9, 2011)

Hope you feel better.


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 11, 2011)

Thank you everyone for the get well wishes. I am feeling much better. :thumbup


I had my acupuncture session tonight and the cold is GONE! I swear the man is a miracle worker. It is snowing outside and I'm not in pain! My mood is incredible, just random moments of joy even when I am easing off the antidepressant (used for the fibromyalgia, but less pain so I don't need it)! So far I have been able to stop using my inhaler for asthma, off hormone BCP, and half dose of the cymbalta. In another two weeks when I see him again I will be antidepressant free and working to get off the pill for fluid retention. I am hoping to stop everything other than the thyroid replacement since that is a natural hormone. My health over all has not been better since I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 1999. I feel at least 15 years younger. arty0002:


On the critter front, no surprise we have a guppy population explosion. My doctor actually wants some for his nephew's fish tank. He wants some for his tank too, so next session I will have homes for a dozen of the guppies! :weee: 

Victoria is, I hate to admit, happy to have black cat gone. She has been playing up a storm, tossing toys here and there or pouncing on Andre who hasn't caught on yet that it is all out play time. :duel

Tonight both cats were playing with Becky and I, it was so nice. Unfortunately I had to go and ruin it by trying to look at Becky's teeth. :sigh: There has been a lot of talk about teeth lately and I haven't ever taken a good look at hers. I guess I should have waited for the vet. She squirmed away and thumped me off. She went out into the hall and wouldn't look at me. I tried bribing her with a baby carrot:carrot, but she wouldn't eat it! :thud: I am totally in the dog house tonight. Last night when I gave her a baby carrot as a treat she took it, hopped around in then out of her house and binkeied twice before eating it. That should give you an idea how mad she is. I guess I will have to go with more adoration tomorrow to try to make up for my transgression. :hugsquish:


At least there is a snow storm so chances are I will be working from home tomorrow, so it will give me more time to make up for tonight. inkelepht:


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 12, 2011)

As soon as I turned off the lights last night I heard chomping. :carrotI guess as long as I wasn't looking at her she figured I got the message and she could eat her treat. This morning all was forgiven. 

I am working from home so I get to enjoy the animals while I work. I wish I could do this more often. The birds and turtles live in my office, the cats have joined me here and I brought Becky up so it is a full house. I love the lively little beep beep in the background. It's relaxing and conducive to brain flow, so I am doing things have have been putting off for a while.


I ordered three rabbit care books on line. I am building quite the library of pet care books. I like to have them as references and it's just fun reading. :bunnydance:


The two finches I put into the separate cage because they were being picked on have decided to breed. They laid eggs in their food dish and are trying to build a nest with the couple of twigs from their millet spray. I feel guilty stealing their eggs, but I can't possibly let them incubate. Frank and Britteny are father/daughter, so that is just gross and genetically unstable. At least Frank has broken a couple of the eggs in his attempts to pull together a nest so they won't be my fault. I think not letting them hatch eggs has been the hardest part of having the birds. They are lovely and so entertaining, but so determined to nest. I guess since they come from the arid parts of AU and nest when there is ample water, they are always in the mood since they have both drinking and bathing water all the time. On the bright side, by not letting them hatch eggs I know I am not contributing to the over population. There are so many little birds in need of rescuing. Unfortunately most places will not call me back once they hear I have cats. Sometimes people can be so closed minded. I know that they just want the best homes for the animals, but honestly I can't think of a much better situation than at my house. I wish I could be one of my pets. LOL


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## Flash Gordon (Jan 12, 2011)

*MiniLopHop wrote: *


> How do you get the pictures in larger? I upload to gallery and then attach them to the post. I find it annoying that they are so small too.


i upload my pics to photobucket ,then copy the image code and paste in this box...makes bigger pics ..me like
sorry about black kitty ...it always breaks my heart to hear of a pet who has passed but it does make it a little less sad when they pass quickly and they have lived and been loved for many years...RIP little one..ray:

i hope u feel better soon !!


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 15, 2011)

Becky had her first vet appointment this morning and was such a good girl! She didn't kick or bite anyone. The doctor cleaned out her ears because she had a little wax. I'm switching her to oxbow pellets. I knew that what I had was junky (they sell it as better) but I wasn't sure what to use. I will start mixing the new food in slowly and hopefully she will eat it. She does have a slight sinus infection which is why she has a little tearing around her eyes. We are going to do eye drops for 10 days and that should clear it up. They shaved her belly and there was no spay scar, so we are going to do the spay on Wensday. I'm so nervous, but I know this is the right thing to do. The doctor already said she would send me home with pain meds for her and I'm going to take Thursday off to be with her and make sure she is eating. I'm frightened for her, but I know this is the right thing to do. This vet has done many rabbits before so she is in good hands.

So I got back from the vet and the bun got all settled in again. Andre started crying because he wanted to play with Becky and I had the play pen gate shut. Silly kitty, she needs to rest a little. I just think it is so sweet that he missed her eventhough we were only gone for an hour. I got groceries for the whole family and now we are just relaxing.


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 15, 2011)

Joshua said after I left Andre drove him crazy crying. He would jump into the rabbit pen and look around and cry because she wasn't there. Poor boy missed his girlfriend. He is going to be so distraught missing her all day Wensday.

When I told Joshua it was going to cost about $300 for the spay his responce was: "Look at all the porn you want on-line, but PLEASE stop going to petfinder.com!" LOL For non-US people who may not be familiar, that is a website that helps people find pets in shelters and rescue groups. I have found all of our animals that way, it's so easy! But he does have a point, in the first month she has cost about $700 all together (counting vet today and the spay, books, cage set up, food, toys etc). At least she will get much cheaper from here on out.

I was looking into adopting an Eastern Box Turtle that has injuries, thus needing special care. I think that has been nixed, but I have not given up hope on him yet. I have such a sweet husband he can't stand to see animals suffering either.


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 15, 2011)

oh bummer, found out there's no way to get a permit for an Eastern Box Turtle in PA, even if it is an injured one. Well, I hope he can find a good forever home.


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 16, 2011)

Becky does NOT like her eye drops. I have to close her house door so she doesn't hide in there, then steal her hideaway so she doesn't hide in there. She flips me off as soon as she sees the bottle. :tantrum:She has learned how to make her lower eyelid come up as far as I pull the upper eye lid so the drops go down her face. Now I have to pry open her eye with one hand while dripping with the other. It's going to be a long 10 days. The tearing is going away though, so it's nice to see it is working.

I wish I would have been faster with the camera. I walked in earlier on Andre stuffing himself intoBecky's house. Becky was in the play-pen looking at him like he was nuts. Think of it as an english lop trying to stuff into a mini lop burrow. Andre is so long and tall that it just didn't work well. He did manage to get himself turned around and out before I got any pictures though. Silly cat does not belong in a bunny bed.

:hiding:


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 18, 2011)

Becky and Andre are being so cute tonight. He is on the inside of the fence, she is on the outside. He will bat at her through the bars and then they take off running down the hall as fast as they can. I think the cat is trying to get her to run more, good exercise for them both. For some reason they also want to play with the toys that are on the opposite side of the fence. He is playing with a stuffed chipmunk and keeps banging his head on the bars trying to get at it. She is playing with her paper towel roll, but from the wrong side. Apparently it is just more fun to try to get what you can't have even if you just walked around the other side. Sometiems I wonder why I leave the door open? LOL way too amusing.
I hate to break up the fun to put her eye drops in. Tomorrow is going to be rough. I'm glad I'm not going to be home while she's gone because Andre cries when Becky goes to the vet. My husband is going to have a long day with the cat. I'm going to stay home on Thursday to give her the pain medication and make sure she is eating. I know it is silly, but I am so nervous. The vet works with three local rescues so they average 1,000 bunny fixes a year, they know what they are doing. But this is MY bunny and baby. I'm going to pack some of her favorite foods, her own hay and water. She will have her favorite blankie and baby monkey (stuffed). I can't think of anything else that will make her more comfortable while she is there. I will have her house set up, or more torn down, before she gets home. I'm taking the levels out so she can't hop up and hurt herself. Poor little girl.


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## AngelnSnuffy (Jan 19, 2011)

I'm sorry I haven't been on here more to comment on your awesome blog!
Best of luck w/ Becky tomorrow. Sounds like she will be in great hands, which is most important.

Keep us posted! Give kisses to Becky for me.


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## Nela (Jan 19, 2011)

LOL @ Joshua's responce to the spay! :biggrin2:Becky is such a riot.I'm very sorry to hear about your cat though. I'll be thinking of you guys and wishing Becky a speedy recovery! :rose:Keep us posted


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 19, 2011)

Thank you for the warm wishes for Becky. The vet just called and the surgery went well. She's still groggy, but that is to be expected. I will pick her up tonight after work. They are going to send her home with pain meds and some critical care in case I have to force feed. She tends to be a bit of a little piggy, so I'm hoping she eats on her own. :eats:

Then again, she only ate about two mouth fulls of her pellets before romping with the cat. I got her up early thinking she would have time to eat before she went. Nope, just more play time! Andre keeps looking for her today and crying to my husband who is at home today. It will be hard to keep them from playing for a few days, but at least they can still be together. :hug1

I am so relieved to have this over.


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## slavetoabunny (Jan 21, 2011)

I just finished reading through your blog and love it!


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 23, 2011)

Well, the spay was an ultimate success, but it was a little frightening for a while. For details see pre/post spay thread in the rabbit room: http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=63149&forum_id=1


As a summary, Becky wouldn't eat when I brought her home and we needed to force feed critical care and give some simithicone. She's now back to eating and pooping with gusto. It is such a relief! :eats:

She has been banging the bars and throwing her toys around so I finally let her out into her play-pen. She wants all the way out, but I'm not going to let her run and jump too much just yet. :run:

She is much happier with the additional space. For some reason she prefers to munch hay under her covered stool in the play area. :hiding:

Perhaps she doesn't like people looking at her when she eats? I noticed if I obviously looked at her, even from a distance, she would stop eating. So in order to keep an eye on her I would have to pretend to be reading and look past the edge of the book. I felt like a secret agent spying on the target bun. :coolness:
Now that she is back to eating with gusto I am starting to switch her from the echotrition (upon more bunny nutrition review turns out to be high priced junk food) to oxbow/T. I am happy to report she likes it. I thought I might have a fight on my hands to switch, but she really ate it well this morning. Perhaps she didn't notice it mixed in with the other food, but I will gradually change the proportions until she's only eating the new food. opcorn2

Between reading here and on bunspace it seems like there is a vocal group that hate pellets and a group that thinks vegetables are only treats. I find the back and forth rather confusing. I think with the pellet brand change I have a good balance though and importantly it has been approved by her vet. She lost a little weight from the spay, but I think she will be back to her normal healthy weight in no time. She looks so much skinnier without the fur on her belly though. Before she had a well rounded look, now she looks so svelte like the bunny book pictures. I think fur can hide a lot when it comes to physique, the pet and scale tells so much more. I have a postage scale that I can keep tabs on her weight. Our goal is to stay at 4.5. At the moment she is down to 4.4, but that is up from 4.3 a couple days ago. :muscleman:


Andre is quite pleased to have Rebecca back. He still cries to have her let out to play, but not close to how bad the cried when she was at the vet's. For only having Becky for a month she has stolen all of our hearts. :inlove:


I am so dreading work tomorrow. I missed a meeting on Friday and know I made the director of another department mad. :tantrum:I called in to my director to let him know I was staying home to take care of the rabbit, he's fine. This woman just likes to throw her weight around and I know she's going to give me heck. Oh well, I would do it again. When my babies are sick nothing else matters. I just don't want to go to work to deal with her. I am so glad she is not my boss! :raspberry:


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## Nela (Jan 24, 2011)

Hey you!

I meant to message you before this. Bah to me. I am glad all went well with the spay and that Andre has his friend back. :biggrin:I myself, try to go as natural as I can with the pets (well except the cats). So I prefer the low pellet, high fresh green diet + unlimited hay and fruit as treats. I'm not well setup for this yet so they get a bit more pellet than I would want. I don't think there is a right or wrong. Just like there are so many different opinions about human diets. I think you need to try things out and see what works for you and your babes. 

I hope work goes alright tomorrow. I hate confrontations. :expressionless


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 24, 2011)

Nela, thanks for the encouragement. I think we are finding a pretty good balance between vegetables and pellets. I will have to give it some time to see what her weight does once things settle down. I'm just so glad that she is back to playing and being naughty. There's something too cute watching a bunny play peek-a-boo with her blankie.

Today work went better than expected. We had a set of questions we had to get back to the health authorities so everything else was dropped. It was a nice distraction and I don't think anything will be said about me missing the meeting. My one coworker filled me in, it wasn't earth shattering.

Tomorrow evening I have acupuncture and I'm looking forward to it. My legs are sore from the cold weather so a little tune up will be nice. He's also taking a bunch of guppies! I scooped out 30-40 and the tank is still very much full. They have a tendency to get out of hand quickly. I'm tired, going to bed early.


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 25, 2011)

Today was a good day. Work went smoothly and lunch was an extra jovial affair. Normally there's a group of us that eat together and the guys got into all the nicknames they have given people. They have some creative names! I always call them "the guys" because I work with a bunch of toxicologists and pharmacokineticists, all men other than one woman in pharmacology. She's on the other side of the building in another department so she's not one of the guys. Lunch can get interesting when there's only one woman. 

:lurker


After work I went to acupuncture and had a good session. I love my doctor because he's very good and also has a great sense of humor. There's just something so funny about after he cleans his hands and the spots he turns around and laughs like the evil guys in old movies. "This time we're getting out the BIG needles". LOL he's a hoot!

:duel


Tonight I have been lounging around and decided to try letting Becky up on the bed. She is now lounging with me. She climbed under the blankets. Her butt is next to my legs and she has her nose and one ear sticking out of the blanket, chin resting on a pillow. I'm going to try to get Joshua to get a picture. If I move she's not going to stay. She's quite the little heat source. I can see how bunnies over heat so quickly. :sickbunny:


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 26, 2011)

I feel like the most horrible, mean, irresponsible bunny owner ever. *sigh* Becky was doing so well and starting to throw things around her cage so I let her into the play pen on Sunday. She was so happy and the cat was happy to have her back. Everything seemed to be going so well and she was healing nicely, so I opened her pen door to let her out as normal last night. Becky and Andre had so much fun playing and they were so happy. 

Tonight when I checked her incision there was a little area, perhaps 1/4 inch, that had dried blood on it. Apparently that means she pulled it and it could rupture! She's back in her cage but so unhappy. She thumped up a storm when I shut the door and started throwing things around and banging on the bars. She likes to sleep in there, but shut the door and she's one angry bunny. 

I feel so guilty for letting her out too soon, but I feel horribly mean caging her clearly against her will. I'm a bad bunny mommy.


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## Wabbitdad12 (Jan 27, 2011)

Your not a irresponsible bunny slave. I would just put a little neosporin on it. She will be fine.


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 27, 2011)

Thank you Dave, that is what my husband said too. I checked her tummy tonight and it is doing better, I'm not so worried about it spliting open. I let her out into the play pen because she was so upset being locked in the cage I was afraid she was going to do more damage. It was rather cute though when she held onto the baby key ring and ran it back and forth over the bars. I pictured an old western when the guy would run a tin cup over the bars in jail. She kept thumping and trying to push open the door which is what I was afraid might hurt her. Now she is quietly laying under her blankie on the floor, happy as a clam. As long as I don't let her out to run around the whole room she should be fine. That is when she gets to romping with the cat and gets into trouble.

I had another good day working from home. I have been able to cross out two major tasks that I have been avoiding since December, so that is nice. Joshua dug the car out of the snow today so I have no excuse for not going into the office and gym tomorrow. Some days I just want to give up and become a slug. I think it is about time for another B12 shot. I was hoping to spread them out more, but I'm getting too tired and emotional. I will schedule for early next week to get back on track.

I gave the turtles a nice warm bath today since the house heat is higher. It has a tendency to dry them out and I made the peat moss all moist again. I got distracted by dinner and left the poor things in the tub for two hours! I now know that turtles do not wrinkle if left in the water for too long. They totally did not seem phased, just like "oh, thanks for coming back for us, this was getting a little dull." I'm glad they have good temperments.


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## MiniLopHop (Jan 30, 2011)

I love my crazy little family. I just put out a fresh flake of hay, it over flows the box but it is so much fun to watch Rebecca plow into it I can't resist. Andre is also investigating intently. I'm honestly not sure who is more excited, the rabbit or the cat? After rummaging around a bit together it touched off a couple rounds of chace up and down the hall. Is hay an equivalent to cat nip? I don't think so, but.....

I am trying to decide on the best way to get a husbunny for Rebecca. Joshua is giving in because several of my sources say having a mate gives them happier, healthier lives. One even said the effect is even better than if they play with other species. Andre is a very loving cat who will accept another bun no problem, so we now have to figure out the logistics. We have two more weeks to give her hormones a chance to settle out totally and make sure she is all healed up (which is looking fantastic).

I saw a very cute husbunny possibility on petfinder before I was banned. I have been in contact with Jesse's foster mom who has been a wonderful source of information. I also put in an application to the local house rabbit society since it takes two weeks to be approved to come look at rabbits. Jesse is the perfect rabbit from my perspective, he's a 2 year old mini lop, so very cute, neutered, and litter box trained. His foster mom said he's very laid back and affectionate. What about her perspective though? What if he curses with his ears or chews his food too loudly? Is it better for her to do speed dating at the house rabbit society and pick a mate? I just want to make her happy. I'm going to set up a large x pen in my office with a partition in the middle. Each day they can switch sides to get more used to being in each other's space, then eventually they can be put together. I hope to move them both into the space in our bedroom, but I want to make sure they are well bonded first since that is HER room now.

Rebecca and I had such a nice game of ball. I would roll it to her and she would roll or throw it at me. I can't believe how every day I fall more madly in love with her. Andre got a little jealous I think. I tried to include him in the game, but he informed me that cats don't perform on request and walked away. He's not sleeping on top of the gerbil cage. I'm always baffled that the gerbils adore the cat and try to play with him from their side of the glass. Do they not know they would just be the appitizer?


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## Nela (Jan 31, 2011)

Hehehe too cute. Andre sounds like my cats, harmless and silly. I trust the lil one's instincts a lot. If they are perfectly unphased by the cat, then I figure it's because they truly feel the cat really has no interest in eating them. Lol. My cat, Houdina, likes to sit with the guinea pigs. I mean, INSIDE, with them, as it is open top. The guinea pigs couldn't care less and actually play with her.She also munches on hay when I give it to the pets. She won't touch catnip though. Lol. I think seeing another pet excited gets them excited as well. It's quite silly really when you have a multitude of pets and then the domino effect takes place and you just end up with one massive amount of hyper pets. Hehehe.

Is Jesse far away? Could you guys try them out together somehow? What I have noticed is that bunnies are quite picky about their mates so it's usually best to have an idea of how they respond to each other. Of course, you have the few exceptions that have no ounce of dominancy and are quite happy with anything. Lol. I like the idea of having help to introduce bunnies really. Introducing rabbits to each other is always so stressful. :expressionless

How is Rebecca doing? Sounds like she is doing great. Wishing you all the best in your search for a husbun!


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## MiniLopHop (Feb 1, 2011)

We had some bad news in the husbunny search. Jesse was our favorite pick, but his foster mom decided to decline. She was very nice about it, but the thought stressed her out too much. Apparently she has had bad experiences in the past of bonding bunnies and then having them return into the rescue system. It is very hard to adopt out a pair and she doesn't have the resources to deal with it. I am dissapointed but I understand.

I put in 5 names of possibilities with the HRS since they approved our application already. I'm hoping for an apointment on the 12th. This weekend the plan is to set up the xpens and get all the supplies ready. I don't want to suddenly realize I am missing something.

To console Rebecca of the loss of her first choice we watched her first movie together. I thought the movie was bad, she hated it because there were no rabbits in it. However, we had a nice time snuggled up relaxing. She did slide off the side of my leg and almost get eaten by the chair at one point, but I was able to catch her skinny little butt in time to scootch it back onto my lap. She is now enjoying a bit of a game trying to eat a whole cranberry. If she can't get it to stay still by bed time I will cut it in half for her.

I started reading a really good book "Creating a peaceable kingdom". It is all about getting various species to live together peacefully. It has some good tips and things to think about. I feel there is always room for improvement, but in general we have nice dynamics.

Yesterday was a very rough day for me. I have been trying to stop taking my medication for Fibromyalgia in hopes of being able to try for a baby of the human veriety. Unfortunately I don't think it is ment to be. I have been easing off the medicine for 6 weeks. Friday was my last dose. The weekend went fine, but I woke up yesterday morning terrified of everything. I cried when Joshua tried to get me to go to work. I was afraid to go outside. I was afraid to leave the bedroom. I was afraid of the cats and rabbit! Not a good responce to stopping the medicine. I obviousloy started again. I was a bit anxious today but much better than yesterday. I'm trying to focus on finding Rebecca a good husband and starting clicker training with them. Focus on what I am gaining rather than what I am loosing. I can't wait for the clicker training for rabbits book comes.


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## MiniLopHop (Feb 5, 2011)

I have been having a rough time with my fibromyalgia lately. My pain levels are higher than they should be so I end up taking more pain killers which makes me so tired. I really wanted to get a good deal of cleaning done today while Joshua had to work. I basically accomplished nothing. I put Becky in bed with me hoping to play, but she is just hiding under the blankets. I don't think I am forgiven yet for taking care of her after the spay. She didn't understand it was for her best.


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## MiniLopHop (Feb 5, 2011)

Turns out Becky is quite the music critic. I'm listning to a local radio station that "plays anything we want to". It has a wide selection of good music. She does not like "welcome to the jungle", frightning images of jungle animals to eat her? She does like "Adia", perhaps because she is innocent? Her ears are much more expressive than I thought a lop's ears would be. Sometimes she sticks the one up for a little bit, but then seems to get tired and it relaxes back down. Is that normal?


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## Nela (Feb 10, 2011)

*Hugs* 

I don't have Fibro but I have a condition that causes something similar so I know how lousy those days can be. Does it have to do with you being off the meds? Can they give you anything more mild that would be safe and just take offthe edge? 

I think I saw that you were considering bonding 3 rabbits? Are you sure that is what you want to do? I mean, it can be done but it's usually quite a bit tougher. You might end up with the odd one out. Would that be ok? You are a brave woman I'm too nervous to attempt 3. Then again, Ionce let 4 out at the same time and they ended up pairing themselves up. Instant bonds.Lol. Go figure :confused2:

Hehe I love watching bunny ears. You can tell a lot from them :biggrin2:Most rabbits have quite a bit of ear control. Smores could pop his ear down without pulling with his paw when he'd want to clean it... That was always funny to see. :biggrin:

More pics please! :biggrin2:


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## MiniLopHop (Feb 10, 2011)

Nela, thanks. I had to go back on the Cymbalta. I was trying to stop taking it so we could try to get pregnant. Unfortunately that is not going to happen. With the medicine and acupuncture my fibromayalgia is pretty well controlled. Unfortunately if I stop the medicine everything goes to heck. There isn't any other drugs in this class, or even anything that is close that I could take while pregnent.

So, I am just going to focus on loving my fuzzy, feathered, and scaled children. I am thinking about three, but the more I talk to the one's foster mom I am thinking two upstairs and one downstairs. The situation is that I want to give Becky a bunny to bond with. 

On Saturday we will be meeting the following 6 rabbits. 4 Male, 2 Female so she can choose a husbunny or a lesbunny. I figure the more choices she has the better the fit will be.

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/18124471?rvp=1

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/16567967?rvp=1

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/18124316?rvp=1

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/18124440?rvp=1

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/15442970

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/10405583

The third comes in that when I was showing a coworker the pictures of the potentials I came across Elvis. 

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/18423709?rvp=1

He has been abused and is deaf, potentially blind in one eye. His foster mom is taking him to the vet today to find out if his back leg is broken because he refuses to hop and is showing signs of pain. My heart just aches for this little guy. If they can get him stable enough to adopt out I want to save him and give him a chance to be happy.

So, I'm starting to think that once Becky and mystery suitor bond then I will just take the fence down and they can live in my office. Elvis could live in the bedroom where things tend to be a little quieter (if you don't count my husband's snoring). He would be able to learn to trust on his own schedule.

Am I crazy to think three would be a good idea?

I promise more pictures soon. I have to get my husband to send them to me since I just have a netbook, so no way to get them from the camera with my machine.


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## Nela (Feb 10, 2011)

I'd grab Elvis in a swoop. I definitely do not think it's silly. If you have the space to calculate a third as a potential separate bun, seriously go for it! Hehehe. He's stolen my heart already It only means she's got two bunnies to choose from 

My other fav. is Brennan ok and Lucas.Brenna is stunning but Lucas looks like such a sweetie. Hehehe. I am sure your girl will let you know who she likes though. :biggrin2:

Ah yeah that is true about the meds. Wishing you all the best!


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## slavetoabunny (Feb 10, 2011)

Cinderella looks so much like my foster Tabitha:







The funnypart is that her original name at the shelter was Snow White.

Good luck with the new bunnies and bonding Becky. You are so sweet to take in poor Elvis.


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## MiniLopHop (Feb 10, 2011)

Patti, wouldn't it be funny if the two were related? I doubt it though with the geography.

I just got an update on poor Elvis. He went to the vet today because he didn't want to eat. They did some blood work to see how his values are. Apparently he is completely blind in one eye. He is going to need it removed because the vet thinks it is causing him pain and has puss built up behind/in it. On the bright side, there's no structural reason for him not to hop. He was probably confined in such a small space he doesn't know how to. Oh it makes me so angry that someone could do that! To cage up a bun until they didn't know how to hop! What a sin. I sent along a picture of Becky for the foster mom to show him. Perhaps it will cheer him up to know there's a pretty little girl waiting for him. His mom printed it out and hung it up for him.


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## slavetoabunny (Feb 10, 2011)

That is so sad about Elvis not being able to hop. We have gotten rabbits into rescue like that before.


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## MiniLopHop (Feb 10, 2011)

How can you teach them? Will they figure it out on their own as they get time and space to run?


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## slavetoabunny (Feb 10, 2011)

*MiniLopHop wrote: *


> How can you teach them? Will they figure it out on their own as they get time and space to run?


You don't really need to teach them. With adequate space, they should figure it out on their own. It helps if you get down on the floor and play/encourage them to move about.


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## Nela (Feb 11, 2011)

Giggles is one of those bunnies that was so restricted she didn't know what it was to be a bunny. I'd set her on the floor and she'd just sit there. When she got brave enough, she'd just wobble around. Then I did the split pen thing with her and Smores and I guess she must have understood then because after that she started bouncing around. She was quite unsure of herself at first and quite sloppy in her hops but she got the hang of it after I've had a few fosters with that problem as well but they all grew out of it in time. 

So...

Are you getting him??? :biggrin2:

Come ooooooooooooon :halo


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## MiniLopHop (Feb 11, 2011)

That's wonderful that he will be able to learn in time. 

I'm just waiting for word that he's ready for adoption. I'm sure I would get first dibbs since I have been writing to them from the time he arrived. The rescue group just wants his health to stabalize a bit more before he undergoes the stress of moving. Would it be weird for me to ask if I could come visit him? Do you think he would like a visit?

Tomorrow Becky goes to meet her suitors at the HRS shelter. I found Joshua this morning scratching her ears and giving her dating advice! Way too cute. "Now if any of thoes guys says something mean or don't like you, just ignore them. You are the cuttest bunny ever." LOL He's afrid she will get her feelings hurt. "Remember, your not fat, your fluffy." ROFL She isn't fat, but she is very round. I think it's just a mini lop thing. She looked skinny when her fur was shaved off of her belly. The fur is back so she is back to her rounded shape.

Last night I went to a differnet grocery store than normal because I just needed some greens before I went home. I was not impressed with their produce, but the buttery lettuce heads were fresh. I was curious what Becky would do with a whole head of lettuce, so since it was small (about 2 cups total) I gave it to her. That silly little girl at the whole thing! Of course there was no camera around, but it was the cutest thing watching her pull at the leaves and then get excited. I may have to get her one of these more often. There was extra poop this morning, but it wasn't wattery. Good thing she normally gets lots of veggies at night. It was just one kind for a change.

I'm so excited about tomorrow I can barely contain myself! It's going to be a long day at work today. I think I'm going to brush Becky and trim her nails tonight. She has to look good for her dates.


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## MiniLopHop (Feb 12, 2011)

Last night I spent 6 hours bunny proofing my office. I had no idea how many wires I had until I started crawling around on the floor. The xpen was too small to devide, so I used it to devide the room in half. Each half has the same things; litter box, igloo, food, water, veggie station, cooling tile, blankie, lots of toys. If all goes well then I can swap sides each day so they get more used to living in each other's space.

Now I'm just waiting for 10 more minutes until it is time to go. I don't want to be there obnoxiously early, but I want to lave enough time that I won't be late either. I shut Becky's house door so she wouldn't get under the dresser and I wouldn't be able to get her out when it was time to go. I think she knows something is up, she's making sure she has a clean face and ears. I love to watch her groom, it is just too cute. She ate her breakfast, had a drink, and used the litter box. What a good girl!

I'm taking a camera so I can post pictures of the process and who she picks. Ok, close enough, we are going.


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## Nela (Feb 12, 2011)

Woo! I hope it will all have gone really well. Looking forward to hearing about it! :biggrin2:

Btw, I definitely do not think it would be silly to ask to visit him. I think it would show that you are serious, give you an idea of what he's like, and maybe even offer him some sense of familiarity if you do adopt him. :biggrin2:


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## MiniLopHop (Feb 12, 2011)

Thanks Nela, I think I'm going to write and see if I could stop in to see him. Perhaps the good wishes will make him know that he has something to fight for, otherwise he might slip away under anethesia.

Today went so well with the dating. Becky was such a sweet little girl meeting everyone. There was no outright agression with any of the pairings, but Cindarella was the best. They stuck close to each other and groomed themselves. I think that is a pretty great start. When we went to put them in the same carrier Becky growled and wanted to start a fight though since it was then her turf. The shelter volunteer was so quick to stop the altercation. She was able to pet them at the same time and calm them before seperating them so it ended on a positive note. 

Now we are hanging out in my office at home relaxing. Cindarella is starting to explore her side of the room and Becky is napping in her litter box. Why do they like to sleep in the litter box when she has half a room to choose a spot. I think I'm going to put some hay on the floor of her igloo to try to get her to sleep there instead. Victoria sniffed the new bun and walked away. Apparently the new one is no more exciting than the original. Andre sniffed and laid down with her a while. He's more upset about the fence down the middle of the room than either rabbit. He can easily jump on the table to the desk to the floor and back, so he has no excuse for complaining about the fence.

I think I'm going to wait until tomorrow to spend time on Cindarella's side. I have been sitting in a recliner on Becky's side of the room this afternoon. I can see both of them and Cindarella keeps looking. She was at the shelter for over 2 years so this is such a different situation. At least she has a good appetite (obviously thrilled with the parsely) and happy ears while she is exploring. With some time I'm sure they will be good friends.


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## MiniLopHop (Feb 13, 2011)

Last night at supper time we had a little bit of an altercation at the fence. I had the greens balls hanging off the fence. Cinderella tried eating Becky's greens through the fence rather than eating out of her own. Becky didn't like that and growled. There was alittle fussing but they broke up easily. I moved the balls onto the floor of the respective sides and that was the last of the fighting. Now they will sniff eachother through the bars and just hop away. There is a bit of a poop war going on along the fence, but I'm pretty sure that is to be expected. I'm going to read over my bonding articles again to make sure everything is on track. 

It's so nice to see Cinderella settling in well. She explores her side of the room and is eating well. She gets so excited that she binkies and runs as fast as she can. I think all the space is an exciting experience for her. I really don't understand why people keep rabbits in cages. I'm not going to toss the one I have in case they ever need to be confined after a procedure or something, but I never plan on actively using it again. I feel like it was a waste of $100. Oh well, my fault for not talking to real rabbit people first.


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## MiniLopHop (Feb 14, 2011)

Tonight was a good evening. I decided some quality cuddle time was in order. I watched an episode of bones with Cinderella. She looked frightened at first, but then settled in with light pets to her nose and back. She wasn't entirely comfortable, but we are just getting to know each other. Becky got to watch the second episode with me. She loved the cuddle time. It was so sweet. Whenever I scratched behind her ears she would tooth purr. She also kept licking my neck. Little bunny kisses are so sweet! I think she was sad when the show was over. 

I brought their night time veggies in and read a chapter of watership down to them. Becky charged the fence a couple of times but a verbal no broke it up (I keep a water bottle handy just in case) so she must not be too mad. It is going to take time, but I feel like they are making a little progress already. I'm not going to put them together until the weekend at the earliest. I would rather move slow and create a good bond then rush it and have it break later.


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## MiniLopHop (Feb 16, 2011)

I think Cinderella and Becky are progressing nicely. I had our first bonding session today. I put them both in the bathtub so I could contain them by myself. They ignored each other for the first few minutes. Becky grunted and nipped once, then they huddled together in the corner. I petted them together and Becky licked Cindi's ears. We ended on that positive note. They were together for 20 minutes. For a first try that was fantastic!

When I brought them back to the room I switched sides for the first time. Cindi really wants to go back to her own side (digging at the fence a bit) but Becky seems content to explore. They have had a couple minor skermishes at the fence, but I can stop it with just saying "no" so they can't be that upset.

I'm looking forward to a truce in the poop wars along the fence. Otherwise I think they are doing extremely well.

Last night I was cleaning the bird cage. Becky was too cute trying to "help". She was so curious what I was doing and repeatedly tried to get into the trash bag. I don't know if she was after the dumped bird food or the smells because I had emptied their litter boxes into the bag first. Either way, a trash bag is no place for a bunny.


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## ChocolateBunny (Feb 16, 2011)

nice blog, enjoyed it


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## MiniLopHop (Feb 16, 2011)

Thanks ChocolateBunny  I love comments


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## Nela (Feb 17, 2011)

*Pokes*

Hey Brandy, how goes it sweet woman? Sounds like all is going well with the bunners. I don't remember but are you fostering Cinderella for now or have you adopted her? Um,and where are the pics Missy? Hehehe. Any news on the poorly bunner? 

Cages are rarely too much of a waste. Okay, maybe in terms of money... You never know when you may need one though. I always kept my cages and surely enough someone would contact me about a rabbit they needed help with or just left one on my doorstep. Lol. Also, the more you love animals and get involved with them, the more likely you are to go one rescuing or assisting someone in the future. Knocking on wood that it wouldn't be needed, but maybe in the future you'd need to restrict one's movements for whatever reason so it's probably a good thing to have on hand anyway right? 

Looking forward to more. I can't wait to see pictures :biggrin2:


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## Flash Gordon (Feb 19, 2011)

any update on Elvis?..i shouldnt have looked at his pic...geez....ive melted into a puddle....what a doll...i hope u get a chance to show him what its like to be loved.


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## MiniLopHop (Feb 19, 2011)

Well, things have been a little over exciting here the last few days. My fibro acting up in the middle does not help either. At least that is calm again after an extra acupuncture session yesterday.

Lets see, Becky broke out of her side of the room and into Cinderella's side. They must have duked it out over night (Thursday into Friday). Neither one was hurt though which was a blessing. I tried another bonding session on Friday that went horribly. As soon as paws were on the ground they went into a clench, biting and kicking. I was spraying them with water but it wasn't breaking up. I ended up pulling them apart. Cinderella bit me and slashed open my little finger. I didn't think either were hurt, but I found 2 scratches, about 1/2 inch each, that broke the skin when I was brushing her today. I put antibiotic ointment on them and will keep an eye out. They aren't very deep luckily.

I'm really discouraged. It's hard to see my "baby" in such a rage. I adopted Cinderella to make Becky happier. I'm going to try the car. Perhaps the stress will make things better again.

Elvis is eating better, but he couldn't get into the vet for the second opinion until Monday. I think that is a blessing in disguise. Every day he gets stronger from eating well and having room to hop around. The metacam is keeping him comfortable for now. I am in love with him too, but he would be a lone bun until he is completely recovered. Bonding these two is hard enough that I don't want to think about a third yet.

Thank goodness Monday is a holiday! I need an extra day off. I have been taking pictures, but Joshua has been busy so he doesn't send them. I will tell him that he's going to have angry women on his hands if he doesn't get to the pictures soon!


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## Nela (Feb 20, 2011)

Personally, I would attempt to bond Elvis with Becky when Elvis is better and not really count on a trio happening although you can still try it of course. Trying a bonding session soon after they squabbled usually always fails because they are on their guard right away so they may need a bit of time to settle down. Bonding two females can be a bit tricky so don't get discouraged. Bunnies are quite finicky about whom they like. Lol. That is the one thing that I find hard with them. You want a friend for thembut then you have to find the PERFECT friend or they might eat each other. Lol. I once had a bunny that wanted to eat every other bun. I had given up on her even having a mate until one night I tried four together and she paired herself off with another female, and the two boys went off together. You just never know with bunnies... Hang in there!


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## MiniLopHop (Feb 20, 2011)

The crazy thing I can't understand is that they picked eachother! They were all snuggly at the shelter. I tried her with 4 guys and she was not as fond of them. I'm going to see how the scratches are on Cinderella and figure things out from there. I'm leaning towards shaking them in a laundry basket.


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## MiniLopHop (Feb 20, 2011)

I FINALLY have a few pictures to share. During the last set of snow storms I went out to the kitchen to get a drink late one night. The motion detector had turned the light on. There were three deer on the back patio eating the bird food. We managed to get a couple pictures, but they are dark.








My amaryllis is blooming that I got for Christmas.







And Cinderella, her debut photos in the blog:















She is a bit round, but that just makes her fit into the family better :big wink:



Joshua is very concerned that if the rabbits end up in another fight Cinderella may get seriously hurt since she already has scratches and missing fur on her belly. I have to say I am inclined to agree. Is there any reason I shouldn't give her a week to heal before trying bonding again? I'm just so afraid of them hurting each other. I'm putting antibiotic ointment on the scratches.

On a happier note, we got two apple boxes from the grocery store today. They have a nice dip on the one side. They are the perfect size to put two flakes of hay. Now each girl has a nice hay box that they can dig around in without making a mess. I took some pictures of Becky and Andre exploring the box. :biggrin:

Now if I can just get them sent. I'm looking for a cord that will let me transfer the pictures via usb connection so I can do it myself. :rollseyes


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## MiniLopHop (Feb 22, 2011)

Copied my post from the general forum:

I brought Becky home from the shelter Dec 18, which isn't so long ago. A couple times a week we watch tv together. I scrunch down in the chair so she can sit comfortably on my chest and I stroke her while she sits there. Frequently she rewards me with kisses. Last night we were snuggled up. She started to bite my shirt and scrunch it around. She arranged my shirt to make a little nest and went to sleep! It was so cute, she just shut her eyes and dozed off. If I scratched behind her ears she would tooth purr but not open her eyes. She snoozed for about 30 minutes and then went back to kisses. She is the best little rabbit ever, I can't believe someone would give up such a love bug.


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## nochoramet (Feb 22, 2011)

I love your blog! Reading about your family makes me so happy  I want a big, happy zoo family as well. And Becky and Cindi are both so cute. I hope the bonding starts getting better.


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## Nela (Feb 23, 2011)

Becky is such a sweet girl :biggrin2:Joshua is right though. Rabbits can seriously fight and badly injure each other. When the fight between Maybelle and Smores broke out, there were chunks of fur with a bit of skin still attached. That was terrible. Luckily, the wounds healed easily but from that day on, they would try to have a go at each other, despite cages or fences being in between. :expressionless

I think, in the home,I would kinda give them a bit of time and encourage them to be beside each other by feeding them fresh veggies right against the fence but not letting them out together just yet. Maybe you'll find them lounging against the fence one day. Who knows... 

As for working on the bonding, I would take them completely out of their comfort zone like you mentionned before. Car ride, bathtub, etc. Maybe Joshua could help you out?

I like your pictures but they are really small. How are you uploading them? Do you use photobucket?


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## MiniLopHop (Feb 27, 2011)

Nela, you will be happy to know that I got a new camera! I'm so excited, but the battery has to charge before I can get started. As of now I have been uploading directly to RO and then inserting the pictures. I'm going to try photo bucket because the pictures come out better and larger. The camera has some really cool instant uploading features so I will be able to post pictures much easier.

The bonding is going better. I take the blanket off the fence in the evenings when they get their greens. The last few nights have been very uneventfull. So, today I left the blanket off all day. They scratched at the fence a couple times in brief bursts (less than 10 seconds each) so I am not going to cover it. Now they are more used to the idea and scent of each other so now they can start seeing each other all the time  Little steps to victory.

I am also thrilled to report that Elvis will not need to have his eye removed. He is responding well the the antibiotic eye drops. The vet thinks the infection should be cleared in about 3 weeks. As long as Rebecca is favorable when they meet I can bring him home! 

I have no idea how we will end up bonding the three of them. One step at a time..... we will let the buns take the lead....


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## MiniLopHop (Feb 27, 2011)

Today is going to be a dull day. Joshua has to work a chess tournament in Maryland. Unfortunately he can't drive at night very well because he gets night blindness. So, I came along to drive him home. I'm hanging out in a lounge for the day. On the bright side, there are comfortable couches and chairs. Normally at these things I'm happy to get a folding chair. There have been a number that there was a shortage of chairs so I was on the floor. They even have wifi so I can be on line. Not bad at all


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## Wabbitdad12 (Feb 27, 2011)

Great blog.

Aw Elvis looks like my mini lop girl Pudge.He is ahandsome guy.


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## Nela (Feb 27, 2011)

Wooo new camera! What kind? Tell me all Photobucket is really easy to use. I'd go with that. I actually use it so much that I decided to go Pro myself but it is free otherwise.I can help you out if ever you need so let me know :biggrin2:

How great about Elvis! I hope you'll get to meet him soon. Sounds like Becky and Cinderella are doing alright without the blanket. 

Awww sorry about you getting stuck in the lounge. At least they have wireless :biggrin2:I hope you have a great week!


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## MiniLopHop (Mar 2, 2011)

Nela- The camera is a Kodak Easy Share M550. I love that it has a button on it for sharing the pictures. I'm still figuring out how to use everything, but I started up loading to photobucket last night.

Becky and Cindi are doing so well! I saw them touch noses through the fence and Cindi is all healed. I decided it was time for another date. I put them both in the tub and it was wonderfully unevntful. They were only in there for 5 minutes because I wanted to be sure it ended on a positive note. I'm going to try for 10 minutes tonight.

After the gym I'm going to the pet store to get supplies for Elvis. We have decided to rename him Bond, James Bond. 

Now how do I get the pictures over here? I can at least post links.

Cindi has cute little pink nose and lips
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h409/MiniLopHop/100_0005.jpg

Rub a dub dub, two bunnies in the tub
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h409/MiniLopHop/100_0009.jpg

Andre must supervise of course
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h409/MiniLopHop/100_0014.jpg

Hey, where did my girlfriend go?
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h409/MiniLopHop/100_0018.jpg


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## Nela (Mar 3, 2011)

Heya Brandy :biggrin:Always so happy to see you post. Hehe. Cool, I had looked into that camera as well. Sounds great and easy I think you did great with Cindi and Becky in the tub. I agree that it's important to end on a positive note. They likely won't be so scared of each other the next time and you'll probably catch them interacting more and more. The real question comes when reintroducing them to not so neutral territory. Hehehe.

As for the pictures, awesome. :biggrin2:Oh and to post them directly in your blog, just copy and paste the IMG code. You can find it under the pictures in your photobucket. When you paste it here, it will stay like code but if you preview or post, it will convert and then the pictures will be directly linked here so you'll see the pics in the blog. :biggrin:


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## MiniLopHop (Mar 4, 2011)

I need to get more pictures uploaded, but that is my major plan for the weekend. At least I am getting the shots when they happen now 

Excellent news on the bonding front. Last night I put them into a laundry basket in the livingroom. We watched tv but I could still keep an eye on them. They were together for 3 hours with no fighting! There were a couple minor nips, but nothing that even needed the spray bottle. By the end of the time Cindi had her head tucked under Becky's belly, just snuggled there. There were gunshots on tv and becky turned her head in to snuggle with Cindi too, it was so cute. Luckily I got a picture of it. :biggrin2:

I think this is excellent progress. We are going to do the same thing tonight. Then we will see how they do in a play pen in neutral territory most of the day on Saturday. Given the length of time I will have a litter box, hay, and water.

If they do well on Saturday would the next step be putting them together in non-neutral territory? What is the best way to do that? Cindi is more of a snuggler and more afraid of everything. I think Becky is the dominate, but it's hard to tell because no one is humping or grooming. Do they need to do that before I try something as drastic as home turf? :?

Bonding bunnies is more complex than I gave it credit for, but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end. I want to have the girls well bonded before I figure out what to do with Bond (aka, Elvis). That will be a whole new kettle of fish. ullhair:


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## MiniLopHop (Mar 5, 2011)

I'm spending the day in the kitchen being a bunny refaree. anic:

I set up a play pen with litter, food, water, hay, couple of toys. The buns just sit at opposite sides staring at eachother. :shock:

It has been almost 5 hours now. The one time I had the guts to leave them alone came to blows. :boxing

I was out of the room 30 seconds to go to the bathroom. I heard them scuffling. I come stumbling back into the kitchen- pants and under wear around my ankles, to break up the fight. :run:

It wasn't major, but I swear they are acting just like little kids. Mom is out of sight so lets start a fight. :stikpoke

At least no one got hurt, no scratches. Back to staring. :shock:


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## MiniLopHop (Mar 5, 2011)

I am finally getting the hang of posting pictures I think. Here are some from the last few days of bonding.

Andre hiding in Cindi's box, you can just see his tail.





Cindi's side of the room





Becky's side of the room





Andre has a thing for hay









Greens!





Baily having dinner





Are you sure you know what you are doing?





I think not!





Have to tak a picture of me if you are of her!


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## MiniLopHop (Mar 5, 2011)

More photos!
Becky close up





Cindi close up





Bunnies in a box









Andre supervising





Cindi with banana head





WWCF (world wrestling cat federation)









Bunnies in a basket


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## MiniLopHop (Mar 7, 2011)

You know it is going to be "one of thoes days" when you get to work and something is poking your bottom. I went into the bathroom to investigate, and there was a piece of hay in my underwear. How did it get there!?!


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## MiniLopHop (Mar 7, 2011)

I was traumatised at the grocery store yesterday. I love where we go because they have everything you could possibly want and more. It has a lot of organic and local choices. Joshua and I were just tootling along checking stuff out and then it happened. I glanced over at the meat cooler and there was a rabbit! It was horrible. It looked just like Becky but without a head or fur. Same size and sitting like she does. It happened yesterday and I still feel sick. I knew there were meat breeders out there, but it's easier to stomach when you can't see it. I'm never going back to that meat section again. I'm thinking of going vegetarian.


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## Myia09 (Mar 7, 2011)

Love the photos!

I've been an on and off again vegitarian since the 6th grade! Now I have finally stuck to it with no problems..I don't even crave it!


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## MiniLopHop (Mar 7, 2011)

I was a vegetarian for about 5 years when I was in college. Then I started to have some health issues. Now I know that I have to get B12 shots even if I do eat meat, so I have been flirting with the idea of returning to it. My husband is a huge meat eater though which makes it more difficult. I normally have chicken or some kind of meat for most dinners. I have given up cow milk for other reasons. I still enjoy goat or sheep cheese though.


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## slavetoabunny (Mar 7, 2011)

You mean the rabbit was actually whole (like a fryer chicken?). Gross! I've only seen cut up rabbits in the freezer section. That was bad enough. I am a pescatarian (I eat fish and shellfish). It was super easy to give up meat, but this girl has to have her shrimp and lobster!


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## MiniLopHop (Mar 7, 2011)

Yes it was whole, posed like a bun sitting there.

I can't eat shellfish because of allergies. Is there such a thing as a chickenaterian? I think it would be easy to give up everything but poultry. That is where I stumble.


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## MiniLopHop (Mar 8, 2011)

Rebecca is a BBBAAAADDDDD bunny! 

Last night I was on a time line. We had dinner reservations with my in-laws and I didn't want to be late. I left work a bit early to make sure I could have time to go home and change first. Of course I check in on the animals when I get home. I can't find Becky and it looks like one of the cats has partially knocked down the baby gate so she might have gotten out of her room.

:hiding:

Great. Now I have the rabbit somewhere in the house, but I don't know where. Not all the rooms are rabbit proofed. 

:sofa:I start searching. Joshua gets home and joins me in the search. 

We spent an hour looking under every piece of furniture, in the chairs, and every possible place we could think of. No Becky. 

:hiding:

We had to go. So, we put out greens in each room and shut every door, so that way we could narrow down what room she was in. We went to dinner and came home two hours later. 

Becky was sitting at her dish waiting for dinner like nothing happened! :innocent

AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! ullhair:

Bad Bunny for hiding! I still have no idea where she was! We are going to have to figure it out and do a little more bunny proofing over the weekend. :grumpy:



urplepansy:Today we were at the Philadelphia flower show.ink iris:It is the oldest flower show in the US. It is also the largest indoor flower show in the world. :clover:We are talkinghuge scale. :rose:I am so sore and tired I am not up for dealing with the photos tonight, but will work on them tomorrow. :rainbow: Stay tuned for beautiful flowers. The theme was "Spring time in Paris". 

:bouquet::flowerskiss::thankyou:


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## Nela (Mar 9, 2011)

LOL @ hay in your undies. That must have been REALLY uncomfortable. Hehehe I love how bunnies play innocent and make it look like you are going crazy :expressionlessGiggles and Smores did the same when they were naughty. I hope you figure out where she was hiding. We'll be going to the tulip festival here soon. I just love flowers. I'll be waiting for the pictures. :biggrin2:


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## MiniLopHop (Mar 10, 2011)

Nela, I did figure it out. Last night I was cleaning up while she was hiding. Apparently Cindi felt that cleaning her litter box was offensive, so she thumped a couple of times. Then I hear a tiny thump in answer. They were going back and forth in conversation so I was able to follow the sound. Here Becky tucked herself under the skirt on the back of the chair. The bottom has been blocked. I swear I looked there before, but she must have scooched from side to side as I looked around the chair before. Silly little girl. :sofa:

I love spring bulbs! I think the hyacynths are my favorite, but tulips are Joshua's favorite. They hold so much hope. When the winter is at the worst I can think of the little bulbs in the ground waiting to spring forth in the sunshine. Hope for the future. 

It has been very rainy here and the temperatures are dropping. Nothing like a cold rain to make my fibromyalgia act up. I did see the Rheumatologist today and I am doing so much better over all that I don't have to see her for another year! 

It is so nice to be making progress with my health finally. Some times I feel like it is an up hill battle. Every time I make a little progress here, I slide back there. However, over the past year I have made some important strides and improved over all. It's hard to remember on days like this that I would love to cut off my right leg just to get it to stop screaming. A hot bath with epsom salts will be in order as soon as I get off work. I know, whine, whine, fuss and moan. :tears2:

Hopefully the girls will be in a cuddly mood tonight. In general they like to cuddle after I get out of the shower or bath. I smell tasty then.  My shampoo is mint and my soap is lanvendar. It's no wonder why I get bunny kisses!


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## Wabbitdad12 (Mar 12, 2011)

*MiniLopHop wrote: *


> You know it is going to be "one of thoes days" when you get to work and something is poking your bottom. I went into the bathroom to investigate, and there was a piece of hay in my underwear. How did it get there!?!



:roflmao:

Thanks for sharing, it gave me a good laugh.


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## MiniLopHop (Mar 14, 2011)

I did a little more bunny proofing in my office so the girls can't get themselves into too much trouble, or so I thought. Cindi can still get on the chair and then up to the desk. I had their treats up there and she proceeded to toss the bag around so a bunch fell out. Cindi was ok eating what she gave herself. However, Becky ened up with a tummy ache. 

I guess it is good that Cindi shared the bounty, but what a naughty bun. The treats are going into a chew proof canister now. So last night I stayed up rubbing Becky's tummy and gave her some simithicone. Thank goodness she is back to her perky self and eating well today. 

They had their first introductions on home territory. Though not on purpose. I had to take the turtles to the bathroom for their weekend soak in warm water. They are on Cindi's side of the room but the door is on Becky's. My hands were full so I didn't shut the gate behind me. I guess Cindi is feeling more bold these days because she wandered over the Becky's side and sniffed around. There was a little hair pulling, but nothing big. I ended up leaving the gate open for about an hour and sat there watching them. They took turns invading each other's territory. They would get so far and then the home bun would chase them out. There was no fighting though, which made me so proud of them. The bonding is really coming along.

And by request, selected pictures from the flower show. I have 378 in photobucket, so if you would like more you can go there.

The theme was spring time in Paris






A bunny on the huge mary-go-round made of flowers





Cool phantom of the opera theme





sexy store front





window box





lilly of the valley, one of my favories





adorible purse made out of flowers





painting made of flowers





garden scene in miniature





rock garden





tulips





Joshua





me in the greenshouse





the thinker as an ever green





orchids





The flower show is so wonderful. There's something for everyone!


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## MiniLopHop (Mar 15, 2011)

I am really struggling with anxiety and depression the last couple days. Looking around the world and all the horrible things happening makes me wonder about things to come. I keep having horrible dreams of the apocalypse. If the rapture comes will my pets go to heaven too or will they suffer with no one to take care of them? Round and round and round my mind goes at night. I'm having a hard time concentrating at work today too. I have to find a way off this horrible ride.


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## MiniLopHop (Mar 15, 2011)

I know it is probably the depression, but I am thinking about getting a pair of guiney pigs to go in Becky's old cage. I would want both the same sex, but other than that I need to do some research. This would be if Elvis can't come home to us. I just don't have the heart to adopt any other buns at this time. It's Elvis or nothing I think. Anyone with piggies have any advice? I had them as kids, but that was long long ago.


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## Nela (Mar 16, 2011)

Hey Brandy! :biggrin2:

Lovely pictures :biggrin:Looks like it was a really nice show. Was it all you expected it to be? It's really lovely to put faces to names too by the way. I'm so sorry to hear about your health. I know how discouraging and frustrating that is. I wish I had more to say but I really don't. Meh. *Big hugs* 

How about this... If the end comes for everyone, we'll meet up and hang out. If it comes for one of us, the other will look after the pets. To be honest, I don't fear death really. I just accept it as inevitable and try to make the best of the time I have. I have faith that if something were to happen to me, good people would come to the pet's rescue. The stuff going on now is certainly not funny and it is very destructive but I also know that I have just as much if not higher a chance at being struck by a car. If I allow myself to worry about it, I'll just go crazy. Just like I cannot allow myself to think about something happening to Jeff... There are just some things that shouldn't be thought about. Best to deal IF and when it happens. There are way too many what ifs in life to keep a sane mind if you think about them. 

As for guinea pigs... They are awesome. Really. I just love them to bits. They are silly, they are sweet, they are noisy, they are cheeky, they are aaaaaaaalways wanting food... Hehehe. They aren't like rabbits, I find them very different and that's what makes it fun because when you have both, you just have the best of both worlds. They aren't as smelly but they generally don't litter train as well as rabbits. They aren't as likely to get offended easily though. I find them to be less sensitive than bunnies GI-wise but same precautions go as for the rabbits. I think if you can handle rabbits, you can handle guinea pigs as there are many similarities in terms of care. Piggies do need space though because they don't climb really (unless they have ramps)so they need a lot of horizontal space. (You could always attach a piggie run to Becky's old cage and that could work.) They love to run and explore and they are very easily amused. Give them a cardboard box with a few holes and they will love youforever. They will renovate it though.Lol. My boys decided I could catch them too easily when in the box so they made a side door to escape. I love their squeaking and chatting myself. I love when they call me and Jelly Bean is stretched out as far as he possibly could to catch a glimpse of me. Hehehe. Really, they are sweet lil buggers and I plan on having them for years to come.


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## MiniLopHop (Mar 16, 2011)

Sophie, Thanks for the encouragement. I am doing much better today. I think I just needed some sound sleep. I have decided not to see the news for a while because the horror is just too intense. There's nothing I can do to help so why torture myself watching? 

I have read several scriptures and assured myself that even if my pets can't go to heaven that God will take care of them somehow. Personally, I think our pets do go to heaven because they are innocents.

I love the idea of getting piggies, but I think I will pass for now when I look at it more rationally. We have so many animals that I don't want anyone's care to suffer. If it is the right thing to do then piggies will fall into my lap the way animals have in the past. I have to remind myself that I can not rescue everyone. I need to focus on making the lives of my rescued babies the best they can possibly be. I think I can get a bit OCD. I'm going to focus that intensity on the garden because if I bring home a new plant every week I can still take care of it, versus bringing home a new pet every week very quickly I will not be able to properly take care of everyone. I hope that makes sense. Besides, the buns and turtles will love an updated garden to play in


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## Nela (Mar 17, 2011)

Sure makes sense to me! I can be the same about pets. It's taking a lot a lot of self-discipline. It doesn't help that they're really all I have other than Jeff here. Hehehe. When Jeff is at work, it's just nice to have the pets to play with. :biggrin:I miss rescuing terribly but I know that it's just silly to get back into it with my health. Poop.

I'm glad to hear that you are feeling better.


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## MiniLopHop (Mar 18, 2011)

I had a HUGE breakthrough yesterday. It was one of those AH HA! moments. The whole feeling the need to rescue every possible animal has gotten much worse over the past year. I have been taking Mirapex for restless legs for the past year. The doctor warned me that it can cause excessive gambling, shopping, or risky sex. I really think the compulsion to rescue is from the drug. I feel so much better on it that I'm not going to stop, but it helps me to funnel the urges into a more productive area, like the garden. 

I ordered 100 strawberry plants last night. There are 2 kinds of June berries and 2 kinds of ever bearing. I'm going to use it as ground cover for around our immature shrubbery in the front. The berries are a bonus 

I also planted all the seeds to get started in the house so I have nice little plants when the weather warms up. It's 70*F today so I am so ready for spring! Next Tuesday we are supposed to get a few snow flakes though so it's not safe to plant outside yet.

Tonight Joshua has the monthly Friday night tournament so won't be home until around 11 pm. A whole evening left to my own devices gets a little dangerous:big wink:

I have decided to take the bun girls for their first pet store visit. I want to get them harnesses so they can explore the back yard when it gets warmer. I figure it is more fun to take them in to try on the harnesses rather than returning if they don't fit. It will also give me a good chance to see if a car ride makes them snuggle more. 

They seem to be good now unless they are in their home territory. I'm not trying to push too hard because I figure they will bond when they are ready. It is nice to watch tv in the evenings with both of them on my lap. They are still trying to decide who is the boss so there is the occasional nip, but from what I understand even bonded pairs do that. :innocent

No updates about Bond/Elvis. He still have two weeks before his next blood test. At that time we have to decide if we are willing to wait even longer (it has been almost 2 months already) or pick another bun. It's a tough decision, I really want that particular rabbit for some reason. I know the foster mother will be wonderful to him if we go for someone else, but it's still not the same. She does bunny massage though and inspired me to get a book for bunny specific massage.

Back in the days I worked as a vet tech I trained and then started my own business doing pet massages. The clientele was exclusively dogs and cats then. I have kept up with massage for my own animals and I think it makes a huge difference. There's nothing cuter than to be massaging Andre and he will stick his feet out and spread his toes. It's like he's asking me to rub his feet, and of course I comply. The buns are learning to trust and relax into it.


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## Wabbitdad12 (Mar 19, 2011)

At my old house I had a strawberry terrace in my back yard and it was nice to have fresh strawberries. It wasn't hard to take care of at all.


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## MiniLopHop (Mar 20, 2011)

Dave, great to have the confirmation of choice. I'm so tired of struggling with the garden. The funny thing is that just when I have it perfect and minimal work, we will move. Happens every time. I want to be here long enough to get lots of berries off the plants! It's the one thing that everyone in my house will eat.


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## Nela (Mar 22, 2011)

I can't wait to get to planting myself... I just hope everything gets done on time. Lol. For now I have some berry plants I can pot so I will get those started. Will you be planting other things?


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## Nela (Mar 30, 2011)

Knock knock!

Hey you How are you? How are the girls doing? Any news on Elvis yet? Lol I'm so hooked on him for some reason. Do you think you can get pics of the other pets when you have a chance? I love seeing them. I don't think I remember seeing your frog? :confused2:

Hope you have a great day!


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## MiniLopHop (Mar 30, 2011)

Hey. I just heard from the rescue place yesterday. Elvis is not doing well medically or emotionally. He has started to be very aggressive towards his foster family to the point the husband can't even feed him. His white blood cell count is still elevated. I'm starting to think it is a sign that he is not the right fit.

They do have several other bunns that are special needs that are available. I think I may take the girls for mini dates April 9 or 10 to see if they get along with anyone. Who knows, they may be strict lesbuns and not accept any male. *shrug*

I have been playing with the camera and the fish tanks. I think I got a good picture of Kermit. I probably won't get to uploading until the weekend though. 

Work has been nuts and I'm just trying to keep up. Not feeling well doesn't help either. To top it all off we were just notified (not a secret, it is also in the news) that my company is the target of a hostile take over. Yipee Skippy


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## MiniLopHop (Apr 4, 2011)

Last week was emotionally rough, but things are going better now. We are still under the threat of being taken over, but there's nothing I can do to change it so I'm not going to stress myself.

Pictures from Friday night's movie cuddle. Cindi does not like the camera, but the pictures turned out cute anyway. I love bunny lips!


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## MiniLopHop (Apr 4, 2011)

Sturday morning I went to Luv-n-bunns (rescue group) to meet Elvis and BeBe, the two special need boys we were considering adopting. Neither of the boys worked well with my girls though. However, when we tried Houdini it was instant love! He is an angora that was born at the shelter. His mom and three other pregnant does came in from a hoarding situation. He is the last to be adopted (10 months old). He is great about being brushed and so sweet. He's only 3.7 pounds but looks large, just lots of hair!

A cute pic of Becky from Saturday






Pictures of him settling in.











Note the cats are also in the picture. Andre is under the apple box and Victoria is walking out the door. Andre is the only one Becky lets go into "her" bunn cave.


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## Nela (Apr 5, 2011)

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Congrats on your new addition!!! He's adorable! I wanted an angora in the past but didn't think it'd be good outdoors and Jeff isn't their biggest fan. I'm so glad I'll get to see pics of your boy. :biggrin:Very cute!

I've been munching on those cookies btw... They are yummy! Nice comfort food. Hehehe. But I errr wellummmm have no more skittles already. :expressionlessLOL. I tried to make them last but I guess I was less well-disciplined than I had hoped I am waiting for some deliveries but I am working on your box


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## MiniLopHop (Apr 5, 2011)

Thank you, I think he is cute too. I don't think an angora would do very well outside. There would be too much stuff to get stuck in the wool so you would have to keep it shaved, then what is the point of having an angora? I'm saving the wool as I brush him and a woman I work with is going to make me a scarf! Basically I'm going to give her enough wool to make two so neither one of us needs to spend money to get an angora scarf. I have the wool, she has the know how. 

I'm so glad you liked the package. How did the pickles turn out? They came in a pack of four so I ate one after I sent the box. They aren't exactly what I had expected, but they are much closer than sweet pickles. Now that I know how to send things and how small the box is I can send some skittles a couple time a year for you


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## Wabbitdad12 (Apr 7, 2011)

Very cute addition!


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## MiniLopHop (Apr 8, 2011)

Thanks Dave 

Well, I guess we are officially rabbit parents. We had our first, and hopefully last, electrical cords chewed. Houdini lived up to his name and somehow squashed himself under the tv stand to get to the power strip. He chewed a cell phone charger and the internet router power cord into bits. We now have new fencing blocking the area to make sure it doesn't happen again. I also checked everyone for electrical burns (but I'm pretty sure it was Houdini).

Joshua called up the internet people and said we needed a replacement power cord. They asked if he was sure the power cord was the issue. "Um, I'm pretty sure. The power cord is in three pieces." Oh yes, that would be the issue then. LOL Luckily they didn't ask HOW the power cord managed to get into three pieces!

For the people I normally chat with on FB, now you know where I have been all week. It took us a while to figure out what happened to the internet. We will have a replacement on Saturday.


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## Wabbitdad12 (Apr 9, 2011)

They always seem to go for the vital cords. My son actually go to use the excuse my rabbit chewed up my homework. My wife actually had to talk to the teacher, somehow she didn't believe him.


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## SOOOSKA (Apr 12, 2011)

Great Blog. Cute Bunnies.:inlove::inlove::inlove:

I love reading your entries.

We need LOTS more pictures.:biggrin:

Susan


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## MiniLopHop (Apr 12, 2011)

Dave, LOL how did the teacher take it when she found out the rabbit really did eat the homework? Papers found loose in my office are faced with certain destruction. 

Susan, We had a little photo shoot just last night. Lots of pictures coming up!






























































I couldn't resist trying the little outfits. Joshua thinks I'm nuts putting clothes on the rabbits. Just wait until he's at work this weekend, I'm going to have some fun with bows! I have also decided Houdini should be on the muppet show 

Someone had asked about pictures of the frog, so here is Kermit!










I'm going to try to get some fish tank pictures this weekend so you can see the shrimp and Jaws, our new large tetra that is providing guppy population control.


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## MiniLopHop (Apr 13, 2011)

The bunn family had to go to the vet today. Becky's eyes are all goopy and she just wasn't herself. She had to have her tear ducts flushed, which were stuffed full. I have antibiotics to put in her eyes for the next two weeks. She acts like she feels better already. I bet that had a lot of pressure in her sinuses, poor girl.

While they were there everyone was weighed.
Becky- 4 pounds, down from 4.5 in December so more oats
Houdini- 5 pounds, up from 3.8 in December still growing
Cindi- 5.5 pounds! Down from 7 in December go Cindi go! (she was very fat when we got her, free run makes a huge difference in exercise levels!)

After the vet we stopped at the pet store. The kids love to ride around in the cart to see and smell new things. The people working there get a kick out of seeing rabbits visit. They picked out a treat and Houdini got a new brush. With that much fur it is a challenge to keep it orderly. Now everyone is relaxing and I'm going to clean out the fish tanks then take new pictures. What a way to spend a day off.


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## MiniLopHop (Apr 13, 2011)

As promised, fishy pictures!
The first tank is in the bedroom and has 3 male guppies, 12 cherry red shrimp, 4 fancy snails, and kermit the frog. All the plants are live. It is 10 gallons.


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## MiniLopHop (Apr 13, 2011)

The other fish tank is in the kitchen and is 20 gallons. I had all guppies in there, but the population just went crazy! I have given away close to 600 fish and just couldn't do it any more. So, now we have jaws. He is a paccu, which is a type of large tetra and effective population control for the gupies. He also tried to bite my fingers as I cleaned the tank. No one can mess with HIS corner of the tank! The amazon sword is the only plant he hasn't eaten or torn up. I was planted like the other tank before.


























Jaws sunk the ship


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## MiniLopHop (Apr 13, 2011)

I was also super mean and cleaned the gerbil cage. They get so mad because it takes hours of chewing to get the cage just how they like it and I go and throw it all away! The cats also tried to help. Andre sits and stares. Victoria doesn't get it that she can't go nose to nose with the camera.


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## MiniLopHop (Apr 17, 2011)

I have to get this out of my system so I can get past it, but I am very frustrated and a bit angry and Cinderella. Becky is an extremely sweet, submissive bunn. Cinderella keeps stealing her food because I'm trying to get Becky to gain weight so she has yummy extras like oats or sunflower seeds. Cindi needs to loose weight and has been doing a great job, now 5.5 pounds down from 7 when we got her. Cindi still gets her pellets and all the hay she wants and veggies at night, it has been all exercise. Becky has now lost 1/2 a pound and is getting way too skinny. We have been standing guard to make sure Becky eats, but that is very time consuming and stressful. It just drives me crazy because I got Cindi to be a companion to Becky. We made it through the bonding process, but they only cuddle in stressful situations. In their own room Cindi and Houdini cuddle at one end and Becky is alone at the other end.

Yesterday I spent all day cleaning the bunn room. I took everything out and then realised they were peeing on the carpets. I cleaned it all up, scrubbing the rugs to get rid of the spots and smells. Everything is spic and span at bedtime last night. During this process I had the kids in an xpen in the livingroom. They all cuddled up in one big furrpile. I had hope things were going to be better.

I gave them dinner and Cindi chased Becky out into the hall. I had enough, Becky is my heart bunny and I can't take seeing her being bullied. I set up the xpen in my bedroom and she is going to just stay in there where she can eat in peace. This morning I went up to give Cindi and Houdini breakfast. They had peed around the litter boxes again! 

I am so frustrated and angry and hurt. I know they are just doing what comes naturally to rabbits, but why on the floor!?! I suspect that Cindi may not have been as litter trained as I was told. I try to remember that she spent 3 of her 4 years in a shelter. It's natural she picked up some not so sparkling habbits, but GGeeeerrrrr! She won't let me pet her, she pees all over the floor, and chases my baby.

I don't want to get rid of her, just to be clear. I want to find a way through these issues. I know she has a good heart in there somewhere and she's just afraid. I have to find a way through. If I give up I will be failing us both.

Houdini is an easy going boy and I'm hoping he will help her learn to trust. He's not much of a snuggler, but that's ok. He lets me give him a nose scratch when he's eating and tollerates his brushing, that is perfectly fine.

Becky seems happier and more relaxed since I moved her. Now Joshua is like "see, I told you we didn't need to get her a friend". Blah. I just want her to be happy.

I really hope now it is just the two of them in the room the peeing issues stop. I keep cleaning it up as soon as I find it and put all the poops back into the litterbox. I don't know what else to do. It doesn't help that I'm really hurting today from the scrubbing yesterday. To top it all off I have to do a dress fitting for a wedding I am in this summer. *sigh* I am not a girly girl. I didn't even do a super formal dress for my own wedding! I just hope this is less painful than I antissipate.


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## Nela (Apr 17, 2011)

Totally pooped but wanted to send you a quick message before heading off. Just wanted to say I am sorry things are getting rough with the bums. I can understand how it feels. Especially when you put so much effort and energy into cleaning knowing that you will feel lousy afterwards, only to have to start all over again. Bah. I am sure things will get better. Sending you many many hugs!


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## MiniLopHop (Apr 18, 2011)

Sophie, Thank you for the support. This morning is going better. Becky is happy as a clam in her new spot. She stole one of Joshua's note pages and has it "hidden" in her house. What a sweet bunn when her naughtiest is pulling a piece of paper into her house that was on the edge. She's also taking her eye drops like a champ.

The other two are doing better since I pulled the fence over. Basically I made their space 7 feet by 4 feet at the end of the room they weren't peeing on the floor. They used their litter box now that they are in a smaller space. Now I will let them use the whole room only under supervision. That's still a nice amount of space for two bunns, so I think they will be ok. Perhaps before it was just too much space and they were feeling insecure? This also keeps the cats out of their space, which I think they prefer. Andre is sad, but he will get over it.

I have decided that Cindi is going to get a hug every day wheather she likes it or not. Sort of the kill them with kindness idea. I think I focused so much on getting the girls bonded I didn't do a very good job of getting the two of us bonded. She was abandoned before and spent a very long time at the shelter. I have to remember it is going to take time for her to trust. I have to work hard to earn it.

Joshua has to get up at 7 all this week for a camp. Mornings kick my butt. I didn't sleep well last night so it's going to be a long day. Hopefully going back to the gym will help me sleep better tonight. Arthritis warm water class, I love it.


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## MiniLopHop (Apr 19, 2011)

ok, I have to get on my soap box for a moment. What is with all the "bad bunny" and discipline posts lately? I can't believe people get rabbits for in the house and then expect them NOT to chew on anything! Rabbits are still rabbits when you bring them into the house. No one would expect a puppy not to chew on things if the home wasn't puppy proofed, so why do they expect no chewing from a rabbit? Part of the joys of being a bunn parent is figuring out how to channel the instincts to make for a happy bunny. Flicking them in the nose when they are "bad" isn't going to help. Believe me, if I thought it would help mine would be getting flicked this week, but it just makes the rabbit afraid, which doens't help anyting. Blah.

Onto less ranting news. I have figured out the peeing situation in my office. It is Houdini peeing on the carpet, not Cindi. I saw him in action this morning. The problem is that Cindi hops into the box to do her thing and it is not big enough for them both so he just goes on the floor. The reason the fence being moved worked is because the big litter box that would fit 4 is at that end. You would think they would travel across the room for a box, but no. I will be getting a larger box for when they are out and about. I feel so much better now I have figured out the problem. It was MY problem not understanding their needs. 

They were particularly cute this morning. I let them out to run around while I get the turtles and birds up and get everyone breakfast. I gave Cindi her morning huggles and she is starting to tollerate it better already. When I was done my rounds I pointed to their fenced area and told them to go home. Houdini and Cindi hopped right over and I shut the door. What smart bunnies!

Becky was super cute last night. She loves to burrow in the blanktes. She made herself a little bunn cave between my husband and I and took a nap. We tend to read in bed before we go to sleep so we have been letting her join us. Joshua may pretend to be a tough guy sometimes, but he has a real soft spot for Becky in particular. After her nap she would hop from one to the other of us for nose rubs. She tumps me off when I put her back, but we are afraid of squishing her if we let her stay in the bed when we are sleeping. Once she sees her evening salad all is forgiven. I have decided that she needs a friend, but one that is even more submissive than she is. I'm going to stop at CVS on the way home and get her one of the stuffed rabbits that are realistic looking. No chance of her food getting stolen!


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## MiniLopHop (Apr 20, 2011)

I start my day with mixed feelings. I am happy because my bunnies are very happy with the new set up. Houdini is becoming the king of binkies. This morning when I let him out during my morning rounds he snuck out of the room, down the hall, and checked out the bathroom. I ducked out into the hall and asked him what he thought he was doing. He binkied the whole way down the hall back into the room. He just loves to get away with being "naughty". I put breakfast down and he binkied himself into the table. Breakfast is not worth putting yourself into a coma, it happens every day. Such joy from such a furry little muppet!

The sad part was I found Brittney (zebra finch) laying in her food dish. She passed quietly in the night. Frank is alone today but I will get one of the girls from the main cage to keep him company tonight, I just didn't have time before work. It's hard to think of them as old, but in finch terms 3.5 is definately getting old. The typical life span is 3-5 years. Now we have 8 birds.

I'm working on clicker training Becky. So far I'm giving her treats and clicking so she will associate the sound with food. I don't know if it is working, but she likes the sunflower seeds and I'm hoping that will help her gain back all the weight she has lost. I also got one of the realistic stuffed bunnies from CVS so she would have a friend. Becky has moved the stuffed bunny several times and seems to approve. I guess she likes being the boss.


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## nochoramet (Apr 20, 2011)

Awww! Houdini sounds like he is just high on life  I'd love to see a rabbit binky that much. Beau is so lazy, he just crawls around then flops XD

I'm sorry about Brittney, but at least she didn't suffer or anything. It was a quiet death and she was happy.

I'm thinking about getting Beau a stuffy because when I move to my dad's, he'll be outside and by himself while I'm at work so I want him to have something to snuggle with or move around or whatever he pleases.


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## Wabbitdad12 (Apr 20, 2011)

> Dave, LOL how did the teacher take it when she found out the rabbit really did eat the homework? Papers found loose in my office are faced with certain destruction.


The teacher laughed and said that is a first.

Living with multiple bunny personalities can be a struggle, just hang in there.

Sorry to read about Brittney passing away.


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## MiniLopHop (Apr 20, 2011)

Amanda, Houdini acts like he's high on something, that is for sure  I am trying to get a video of him being so silly, but he sees the camera and hides.

Check out the bunnies at CVS if there is one close to you. I was very happy with how realistic they look. They are even the perfect size for cuddling. They have gray and brown.

Dave, Thanks. I'm already over being mad at Becky. I knew I just needed to vent and then sleep it out. She just likes to push my buttons. Giving her huggles twice a day eventhough she doesn't like it seems to be paying off. This morning's cheek rubs got uppy ears. From her that is quite the complement  She just needs more time to adjust to being loved. I wonder if she is afraid of getting sent back to the shelter? 3 years is a long time for a bunn to be in jail.

Thanks for the well wishes about Brittney. She was a good bird, but unfortunately she was always lowest in the pecking order. I think she was very happy having a seperate cage with just her and Frank. Hopefully if I give him another friend he will be ok. I have a couple of her sisters that I can move one over. If I put Frank in the larger cage his ex-wife will just pluck him bald again so that really is not an option.

Oh yeah, just getting rid of the extra litter boxes worked. Now they just go in the one in their house (big enough for both plus). I'm so relieved that they are being good again. Taking Becky to our bedroom really was the best thing for all three.


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## MiniLopHop (Apr 22, 2011)

That should have been being mad at Cindi, not Becky. I know I shouldn't play favorites, but Becky is my baby.

I ended up closing the fly through pass so I have two three-foot cages rather than one six foot cage. I put three girls in with Frank and three girls in with Alvin. So far so good. I will have to watch for plucking as they arrange their status again. It's much easier with the finches though than with bunnies. They work it out on their own, just occasionally needing to seperate someone that is getting plucked.

I have been having a lot of pain in my neck lately. I have a disc that is degenerating so it is not a shock. After dinner last night I had to take a muscle relaxer to try to stop the spasms. Joshua has been working long hours at a spring chess camp this week. Becky was probably rather confused because she was up on the bed and both of us just fell asleep. It doens't look like she did anything, just sat there and waited for us to wake up and play. Joshua finally did get up and put all the kids to bed. I barely was able to get up for my b-12 shot this morning. I'm dragging today but the pain is a bit better and I get to go out to lunch with a work friend.


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## MiniLopHop (Apr 27, 2011)

This morning we had a very close call. I was getting all the kids up as normal. Andre tends to follow me around because he's nosey and doesn't want to miss anything. I fed the birds and Frank zipped out of the cage! He was across the room in a heartbeat and Andre was right after him. I was screaming at Andre NO!!!!

The cat lunged and I thought the bird was a goner. I pulled the cat's tail because it was all I could reach. He spit Frank out with a little burst of feathers from his mouth! I put the cat out of the room and caught the bird. Frank seems fine. I guess Andre was just trying to play? There were no teeth marks or any other signs of anything happening other than a little slobber. I hope the birds never sneak out again!

The bunns are doing well. I got a shipment in the mail that had a very long piece of crumpled paper as padding. I put it all in Becky's play pen and she's loving it. All that paper to dig under, push over, and tear through! I will try to get pictures tonight. It was a very busy morning.


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## MiniLopHop (Apr 27, 2011)

How sad is it that I just learned about the full reply box? :baghead

I wondered how people posted pictures without editing. I have always used the quick reply. SOOOO glad to have spell check again!


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## MiniLopHop (Apr 28, 2011)

Poor Becky had to go back to the vet today. She still has the sticky wet eyes. They aren't crusty but it's not normal either. They checked her teeth again and confirmed they are fine. Her ears have a small amount of wax in the one, but it is clean with no sign of inflammation. Heart, lungs, and tummy sound good. She's got a new kind of eye drop and oral antibiotics for two more weeks. Luckily she is eating, drinking, pooping, and playing just fine. I'm not sure what to think. :imsick:



Bonding with Cindi and Houdini (to me, each other is fine already) is moving along well. Cindi gave me a tooth purr this morning when she had her mandatory cuddle 

She still makes me chase her around to pick her up the first time, but then she will sit still and I can give her more scratches on the ground. They both will take treats from my fingers now too. 

I'm starting to think it is a game. :running bunnyAre you going to work hard enough to pet me this morning? It is cute when I walk in the room they both come running, I'm the person with the FOOD!

The birds and turtles have been a bit quiet with the storms. They tend to hunker down when there are thunderstorms in the area. Perhaps it is the pressure change? They are inside so they can't be afraid of getting wet. The gerbils are happy as ever. As long as I keep them supplied with food and cardboard they are a happy couple. :dude:

Health wise I am doing better. My neck clunked back into place so it's not painful anymore. I'm a bit fussy and tired because I haven't been sleeping well for some reason. On the bright side, the acupuncture is obviously working. I'm tolerating the storms much better than expected. :biggrin2:


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## MiniLopHop (May 5, 2011)

Here are pictures of the shipping paper and Becky. Look closely, there is a rabbit in here:









Resting after all the hard work ripping and arranging:








Last night I came home to this:








Andre has a bad habit of jumping onto the fish tank and using it as his personal buns-warmer. Well, the glass top had enough and broke. Luckily no one was hurt. I had to go to PetSmart to replace the glass cover. Joshua failed to see the huge rush, thinking the cat wouldn't like to get wet so he would leave it alone. I pointed out that the light fixture could have fallen into the water too. The response: "really, how many volts is that?" classic. I don't know how many volts, but I'm not willing to find out if it is too many or not! Silly boy.


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## JadeIcing (May 9, 2011)

Ohhh! I need info on aquatic frogs! I want one.  Please share knowledge!


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## MiniLopHop (May 9, 2011)

Aquatic frogs are really easy to take care of. If you already have a community fish tank you can just add them in no problem. They are not aggressive at all. If you have a tank with aggressive fish you may want to give the frog its own tank because it can't defend itself. Having plants in the tank is a good idea so they have an area to hang out on. He tends to hang out mid to top level sitting on a leaf. The cool thing is that he can also float all stretched out like he's sky diving. 

They can live in "beta bowls", but I think that is mean to give them so little space. They can eat regular fish food and tend to be smart in getting their own share. In my tank I use a feeding ring so the guppies can eat from the surface without the filter current sinking the flakes as fast. Kermit will swim over to the ring when he sees a person coming up to the tank, so do the guppies. What ever sinks he is right there to scarf up.

Oh, Kermit is an African Dwarf Frog, or also called African Clawed Frog. You can even get them from educational stores as a kit so you can watch the tadpole change into a frog. You can have more than one in a tank with your fish since they don't fight. He doesn't even bother my tiny cherry shrimp. Once in a while he might eat a shrimp baby if they swim pass the end of his nose, but it has not effected the population.

I got Kermit at PetSmart, so I think they are easy to find. If you have any other questions let me know.


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## Nela (May 9, 2011)

I had one of these too and I really enjoyed it :biggrin:I sort of miss having a tank... I don't think I am disciplined enough for one again and Jeff isn't fond of the idea either but I think the frogs and shrimp are just wonderful to have Thanks for the pics Brandy :biggrin:


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## MiniLopHop (May 9, 2011)

Thanks. It is a super easy tank to take care of since the bio-load is so light. 1 frog, 3 male guppies, and 12 red cherry shrimp. I change a bucket worth of water every two weeks and feed lightly. The live plants also help keep it clean. No scrubbing! 

Yesterday I was cleaning my office, aka bunn room. Houdini and Cinderella were getting into EVERYTHING! I was so frustrated I was almost in tears. I finally got Cindi out from under the bird cage for the 5th time that day and snapped. I picked her up so we were nose to nose and told her *"if you do that one more time it's off to the stew pot for you!"*. 

She was good the rest of the afternoon. I feel bad for telling her that, but I just wanted to get their house all clean. I have fencing up but they keep getting over/around/under to get under the bird table. The problem is that there are cords under there and I don't want them shocked. I have to keep trying to bunny proof it. Rabbits 50 million, Human 0.


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## JadeIcing (May 9, 2011)

I am thinking just frog(s) in a 10gal tank...


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## MiniLopHop (May 9, 2011)

You could probably have around a dozen frogs in a tank that size if you have a basic power filter. The biggest thing is not to over feed them because it just messes up the water. Once you have it set up I would love to see pictures.


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## JadeIcing (May 9, 2011)

Eh still have to convince Rob. I do have a tank.


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## SOOOSKA (Jul 11, 2011)

Brandy I just reread your blog. Great Blog

We need some updates here.

Susan


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## JadeIcing (Jul 11, 2011)

I have to agree.


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 12, 2011)

Awww, thanks guys. I had stopped writing because I didn't think anyone was reading. I have a bunch of pictures of Indy too, the new bun. 

I'm at work now, but will start catching up tonight.


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## Nela (Jul 12, 2011)

Good to hear because I've been checking the same pictures over and over again


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 12, 2011)

ok, now I'm home so I can get all caught up. You didn't miss much in mid to late May. I got Lyme's Disease so I spent 2 weeks in bed and another 2 weeks trying to feel normal again. I am greatful I have short term disability insurance, but the paper work was such a pain in the butt.

June had vacation. I was so nervous leaving the bunns for the first time. Our normal pet sitter came over and I had the spread sheet with all the animals listed, where they are, what they eat, how much, when, where to get the food etc. I packed up meals in baggies to make his life easier. 
Apparently Houdini didn't get the memo that he should be good. When we got back Chris (pet sitter) was rather annoyed because he had to keep getting Houdini out from under my desk. :grumpy: 
On the bright side, I FINALLY have a set up that is Houdini proof! The current set up he can't get out unless I forget to latch the D rings that keep the door closed. :biggrin::biggrin:

Vacation itself was very nice. We went to Virginia to see a friend, then Georgia for a few days visiting friends, then Louisiana where I was in a wedding, then home. In all we put 3,000 miles on the car. It's a good thing Joshua and I get along, because we were trapped together in a small car for a long way. 

Work has been crazy busy. I have been trying to catch up for weeks, between being out sick, then vacation, and everyone trying to wrap things up, it adds up. It's a bit stressful with the merger and not knowing what is going to happen with my job. Waiting until September feels like forever, so I have started to look. I loved Atlanta when we were there and would really like to explore possibly moving there. We will see where I can find a good position. I'm thinking of getting back into Regulatory Assurance more rather than the Regulatory Operations. I certainly don't want a young whipper snapper who was raised with computers ending up taking over my job. I guess that is the problem of working in a technology based field. *shrug* God will have to point me in the right direction. ray:

Critter update next...


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 12, 2011)

The animals in general are doing very well. Nothing new with the birds, turtles, gerbils, or cats. They are all being their cute selves. :biggrin2:

I gave Jaws to a friend because he was just getting too big to handle. I would open the lid at feeding times and he would jump out of the water trying to bite my fingers. No thanks! :shame:

In an attempt to simplify my life and have less stuff to move I am giving a collegue of mine the small fish tank set up. He has a son with brain damage from birth who can use the fish as a vision training tool. I have less stuff and feel good about giving it up. 

Now the bunnies, what you have been waiting for! Houdini continues to produce tons of fur that I am collecting for my friend to spin. She's pregnant so a bit distracted at the moment, but I understand. He likes to sneak out of the FINALLY bunny proofed house that I constructed in the mornings. I unlach the door, get food dishes to fill, and he runs between my legs to run around the room. He's so happy with himself that I can't get mad. Most mornings I point at the cage and tell him to go home and he does. He binkies back for the sheer joy of being naughty. :bunnydance:

Cinderella is still loosing weight slowly and continuing to enjoy our private time. I know that rabbits don't like getting picked up and you have to take things slow, but I'm so bad at needing to hug all my fur babies every day. So, I would pick them up for a 30 minute cuddle time every night if they liked it or not. As it turns out, they do like it after getting used to it. Cindi used to make me chase her all over the place before I can pick her up. Now, she just sits there and lets me get her for a cuddle session. We watch sitcoms mostly. She loves to have her cheeks and ears petted. She has even started covering me in little bunny kisses as I stroke her back. :halo:

Houdini likes his time too, but normally more if I'm not brushing him. He's so soft it is lovely to lay with him in my lap and just pet and pet.

Becky and mystery bunny up next....


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 12, 2011)

So, who is this Indiana Bunns everyone is talking about?






He is Rebecca Lynn's new husbunny ofcourse!











Even Andre had to welcome him to the family.






There have been bits and pieces of his story put up on message threads, but I will consolodate here. I found Indy in February of this year on petfinder.com. This was when I had just Becky and I was looking for a husband. Unfortunately he was not available at that time, so I ended up going to HRS and came home with Cindi....

The reason he was not available for so long is because he came from an abuse/extreme neglect situation. He was kept in a wire bottomed cage that was much too small. The people finally turned him in saying they "developed allergies" so they couldn't keep him. What the rescue group found was he was very malnourished and dirty. He didn't know how to hop or periscope. Poor Indy had somekind of raging infection they needed to get under control ASAP. The poor boy went through months of antibiotics and finally surgery to remove a severely infected eye. He also can not hear on his blind side from the infection being so bad before treatment was started. A week ago the cone of shame was removed and he was given a clean bill of health! :big wink:

Indy came home with us and is learning how to do normal bunny things. At first I was really worried because he would lay in his own urine. After cleaning him up I think he realized that Becky laid with him much more when he was clean than when he was wet. Now he spends a lot of time in the litter box, but at least he's dry! Each day I see him get a little more bold in moving around their home. We have his and hers potties and he likes to jump between them, which is so cute.






He likes to sleep with his butt in the air too











The "eye patch" on the blind side is how he got his name.






Checking out the bed with Becky


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 12, 2011)

The love affair between Becky and Indy has not been overly passionate, but it hasn't been volitile either. Since they are both "special" I think they get eachother. They have a common background and both are relieved to have the extra space to enjoy life to the fullest. Indy has very quickly come to love oats on breakfast and lots of greens at night. Food is a common bond for them.





































As far as I know, the only kisses were when I put babyfood on Becky's head. Indy licked it off, but then started to try to eat her hair. He doesn't really seem to know how to be a rabbit, but Becky is teaching him. Hopefully he will catch on that SHE is the one to be groomed first and then he MAY get groomed if she feels like it. 

I think for now he's still stuck in learned helplessness, but at least he got out of the urine and is starting to come out of the box. For one week I say that is HUGE progress! She's a bit mad at all the attention I give him, so I am trying to give her extra attention by herself as well. 

I think it is kind of cute that she will give him grief for this or that, but if Andre comes into their house, Becky always gets in between the cat and Indy. I guess she feels that she can pick on her husbunny, but no one else can bother him. 

I hope you enjoy this update. I promise more pictures and more regular updates, but I'm sleepy for now. Sweet bunny dreams to all.


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 13, 2011)

More pictures that I don't think I have posted:

Caught red pawed stealing the oates bag















Becky loves playing on the bed! She binkies if you flop the sheet up and down


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 13, 2011)

I feel like Jimmy Neutron with a brain blast! 

When I picked up Indy I was told his only "bad habbit" was boxing if you put your hand in front of his face. After feeding and playing with him I had seen this behavior, but it didn't really seem like aggression to me. He wasn't lunging or even attempting to bite. His body language didn't say fear or anger. :?

Tonight it hit me! He has drastically limited vision, so what if he's using his paws as an adaptation for finding the food right in front of his nose? He doesnt' paw at larger items I have handed him like a slice of bannanna. However, with his papya enzyme tablet he does. Tonight he clearly knew what it was when I shook the container. Then I touched the top of his head so he knew where my hands were. He was so excited he was doing little half way up perriscopes. When I slid my hand down to his mouth he sratched at my hand with both of his front feet so I dropped the tablet. I picked it up and tried a second time for the same results. I can't let him sniff along the floor to find it because Becky is right there ready for a second helping if he gives her the chance. So rather than holding it between my index finger and thumb, I laid it on the palm of my hand like I was feeding a horse. This time, no paws. He nuzzled around my hand until he found his yummy snack! 

I knew Indy wasn't being aggressive, the poor boy is just adapting to his vision loss. He's such a trooper and his personality is becoming more open every day. He may not look like other bunnies, but he has captured my heart completely. :innocent


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 14, 2011)

Indy left the cage! Under cover of darkness he slipped out of the play pen to explore the room for the first time(the door was open and has been since he came home). I was sleeping and heard this banging on the bars. "Becky be quiet".... bang bang bang.... "Becky!".... bang bang bang.... "uugghhh" get up and get the flashlight. I shine it into their house and Becky is sitting there looking smug. No Indy in either litter box. bang bang bang... Here, he had gotten himself all the way around the back of the cage and was trying to get back in! LOL Poor little boy was confused. I called to him and he came to me! I gave them treats and tucked them back in. All was quiet the rest of the night. 

This morning Houdini decided he wanted to go for a stroll at breakfast. When I go for the food dishes he shoots between my feet. He hops around the room a bit. I ask him what he's doing? Houdini, in his characteristic style, binkies his way back in for breakfast.


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## JadeIcing (Jul 14, 2011)

YAY! Pictures and updates! Glad you are doing better.


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 15, 2011)

Yesterday morning was a little rushed because I got up a little late. The turtles needed clean water because Leo had been bathing at bed time (normally change the water at night, but didn't want to disturb). This involves going through Houdini and Cindi's house to dump the dirty water out of the window. I have flowers growing under the window so it is natural fertilizer, plus I don't want that going down my drains (turtles poo in their water). So I dump the water, fill with fresh, come back. Houdini is running around the room, binkies back into the cage as I start to put down his breakfast. Somehow the little stinker slipped back out before I clipped the door shut! 

I found him out side of the fence last night! :shock: He had been out all day, but luckily I don't think he damaged anything. From what I can tell he didn't want to go far from Cindi so he stayed in the room. He was one thirsty bunn when I let him back in. Perhaps that will teach him not to sneak out and not tell me. 

When I came home there was a bunn care package from Aunty Susan! She is so very sweet to send my babies pillows and a couple outfits. I was so touched I cried that someone put so much thought and effort into making my bunnies comfortable. :hugsquish:



I have just a few pictures of first reactions, but will take more over the weekend. I'm planning a photo shoot for tonight. When I gave Indy and Becky theirs she happened to be out with him. He was more interested in the new bed than dinner :biggrin:














She decided that if it was that good it was her's! LOL She didn't know yet that she had her very own in her bed.








I also tried the babyfood on her head again. We got some first kiss action!















I think in time Indy will learn that he likes grooming her better than making her mad so she nips him in the butt. At least she's not pulling fur or really biting to hurt him. At one point she missed him and hit me, it didn't even leave a bruise. It just felt like someone pinched me, so I'm glad she's not biting him hard. Ah, love is in the air!


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 15, 2011)

Oh, I was so excited about the pillows I forgot to mention the farmer's market. There's a new farmer's market in a local park on my way home from work now every Thursday. It's so cute and festive. They have tents where the vendors set up and they have lots of fresh produce, meats (yuck), and cheese. It was sad that the one meat place sells rabbit 

The farmers are so nice. I went to one stand and was checking out the herbs. He asked if I was looking for anything in particular, I said not really, my bunnies like all kinds of stuff. He sent us home with a bag of carrot tops and outer leaves for free! I bought chocolate mint. The bunns ate very well last night!


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## SOOOSKA (Jul 15, 2011)

Great pictures Brandy. I'm so glad they like their pillows.

I noticed the carrot tops. Mine LOVE those too. It's not always easy to get them though. Sometimes I have to break them off the carrots themselves then tell the cashier I found them laying there.:shock:

Looking forward tom more pictures.

Susan


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 18, 2011)

This post will be mostly rambling, so if you skip it you won't miss anything exciting. It's Sunday night and I'm in bed. I should be sleeping but obviously I am not. My anxiety has been really bad this weekend. :X 

When I feel like this it is totally not productive and I accomplished so little this weekend. Now I'm headed into another long work week even further behind. I'm hoping if I blog it out I will feel at least enough relief to get to sleep. I have an early meeting at work tomorrow. Even worse, it is at head quarters so I have to dress up. :rollseyes

So, why do I feel like I'm running a marathon on the inside?
1- Work
2- Home
3- Health

1-Work-A-The Merger- This Friday a big announcement concerning the fate of our department is due. Waiting to see if the new company is going to keep us is so nerve wracking! I hate having an ax hanging over my head. At the same time I really hate needing to do a job search. I don't know what I am hoping for as an outcome. This is the first time in my career that I love my job and the people I work with. It makes me angry that I have to change. I know mergers are the way of the industry now, but I resent it happening to us. Even if I don't get cut I may not like the new set up. Perhaps it is better to just find something new? We are looking to move in just about every scinerio other than them leaving us in the same building, which I doubt will happen. So, once I start down the road of finding a new job it's also moving stress. I'm trying to declutter and get rid of things I don't need, but the future is so foggy that I have a hard time figuring out what I will and will not need.

1-Work-B-Overloaded- Work is also stressing me out because everyone is trying to finish projects because of the merger. I have become a major bottleneck because I am the only one that does what I do. Unfortunately I also have to complete an additional huge project that was in-liscenced, so no one else has to deal with this one. It puts me way behind on my normal work. The more behind I get the harder it is to concentrate. I just see the mound growing and become more paralized in fear. I am bringing new music to work tomorrow in an attempt to get my brain unstuck and keep moving forward. Working over time really is not an option because my shoulder gives out after doing the same thing all day.

2-Home- Our house is a mess. It is just so cluttered I would be totally embaressed if anyone saw it. The rabbit houses are the cleanest part because I refuse to get backed up with cleaning up after the animals. That must get done every day no matter how I feel. After the basic feeding, watering, cleaning of the pets is done I tend to be worn out. There's dishes stacking up because that is sapposed to be Joshua's job. The laundry is my fault. During the summer Joshua has camps so he's working full time. It's hard enough to get him to clean in the winter when he's only really working about 20 hours a week. When he's doing camps it's impossible. I get so angry and resentful that he doesn't help out around the house more. He has admitted to being lazy. Emotionally he is my rock and I wouldn't know what to do without him, but some days it is so tempting to find out. I know that a lot of the anger towards him is displaced because I hate myself for not being good enough. I should be able to keep up with eveything, but I can't even get started lately. I didn't do anything above taking care of the pets this weekend. The only laundry I did was bunny sheets (Indy is still working on the potty training so I use sheets on top of plastic so he won't ruin the rug). I escaped into watching tv then felt horrible for doing it. I should have been cleaning in the kitchen or bedroom. If we didn't have so much stuff perhaps everything would stay cleaner? If we only had two plates would we really wash them after dinner? I can't live like this, it makes me crazy! I worry so much that I'm going to let the house get horrible like my mother and grandmother. Both of them could have been on hoarders. I don't ever want to let things get that bad. I inherited the anxiety and depression, the family passes on a legacy of self loathing. Is that enough to make it happen? What if I'm slowly starting to be like them? It makes me want to throw everything I own away. I can not ever let myself get like them. Yet somehow I can't get myself to have a nice, clean house either. I know there are people who live in pretty, decorated, nice homes. I want to be like that. I don't want to be cluttered. Joshua has so many books and just stuff that I feel like I'm drowning in a sea of stuff that isn't even mine. The more I try to force him to get rid of stuff the more he diggs his heels in. It feels so helpless and like things are never going to change so why even bother trying?

3-Health- I have fibromyalgia and several other connected issues. Sometimes I feel like that is just an excuse for being lazy. I shouldn't whine and fuss about being tired and sore all the time. There are so many that are much worse off than I am. I need to loose weight and exercise more so I can feel better. I feel guilty if I go to the gym and spend the time and energy on myself rather than cleaning. But if I go home I feel guilty about paying for a gym membership I don't use. I am so tired of doctors and of being judged for being fat. If I just had more will power I could change, but I just don't. Particularly when I hurt and all the pressure is pushing on me from everything else, food is soothing. Food doesn't judge me or tell me I should be more. I'm trying so hard to hug my bunnies rather than eat. It's a very hard habbit to break. Most days I just push through the day the best I can until I can come home to my kids. I really don't think I would still be alive without the cats and rabbits, they are my reason for living. I go to work to give them a good life. I went grocery shopping so I could give them good, fresh food. I feel so blessed that they are here. I can hug Becky and cry if I need to, she will give me kisses. Cindi has turned into a kisser too. There's something so soothing, like they are telling me it will be ok, not to worry. My babies have been through so much that I feel like I have to suck it up and keep going. Poor Indy is missing an eye and deaf! Yet he still loves to explore and has such a zest for life. I also feel my biological clock ticking. I know if I am ever going to have a child it needs to be soon. I'm conflicted if it's a good idea or not. They physical and emotional strain may be too much. What if I screw them up? I don't want to hurt a child the way my upbringing hurt me. I feel so defective that a child would be embaressed to have me as their mother. At least I have my bunny babies, they never mind if I'm having a bad day. They will lay in bed with me and snugg until the pain is gone.

I know I need to rely on God more. It is so hard to trust that God will take care of me when so many times in the past he let me get hurt. How can a loving God let a child be abused by the family that should have been safe? I try to tell myself that there are lessons in my life that I need to learn, but I'm tired of struggling all the time. I know in so many ways I have been blessed, but at the same time the pressure is so much. Change is so hard. I'm afraid to make mistakes because the punishment is so harsh. 

I'm finally tired. I feel like I have spewed it all out. Tomorrow night I need to load the pictures I took and take some more. I want to share my lovely babies with everyone. Goodnight.ray:


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## Nela (Jul 20, 2011)

*Big Hugs*

One step at a time. I cannot say I understand everything as it's not my experience but I can certainly sympathize with your health and the feelings that come along with it. All I can say is, enjoy all the little things. I also completely understand what you mean about kids. I feel the same and quite frankly, I don't feel confident enough to have one at this time. Sometimes, we need to work on us before we can raise little ones. However, I think you and Josh would make great parents so I do hope that you start believing in yourself and work towards that if it is what you want. Maybe once all this work situation falls into place, you will have a clearer idea of where you are headed. Everything happens for a reason, hang on to that thought and trust in the future. 

Thank you for the wonderful pictures!


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 21, 2011)

Nela, thanks. I am feeling much better. It really helps knowing I have friends here. *hugs*

I finished the huge project at work so now I can catch up on the back log. I'm really burned out though so I'm just going to pace myself the best I can.

I applied for a job in Princeton, NJ and I have had feedback that they liked my resume. Hopefully I will get called in for an interview. I ordered two new dress suits so I will have something nice to wear.

Last night I had a trigger point massage. It was painful, but in a good way. He said he couldn't believe with all the knots I had in my muscles that I was able to walk in the door smiling. I guess I underestimate it sometimes. Today I feel like I had a really good work out. All the lactic acid was released and my body is getting it taken out.

Tonight is the farmer's market. I hope the guy with the carrot tops is there again. The kids so enjoyed the meal last week. I'm going to get them some herbs again too. Luckily after that the rest of my evening should be nice and quiet. Joshua won't be home untl around 7, so I will just cuddle the buns and try to recoup a little.


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## TinysMom (Jul 21, 2011)

*MiniLopHop wrote: *


> This post will be mostly rambling, so if you skip it you won't miss anything exciting. It's Sunday night and I'm in bed. I should be sleeping but obviously I am not. My anxiety has been really bad this weekend. :X
> 
> When I feel like this it is totally not productive and I accomplished so little this weekend. Now I'm headed into another long work week even further behind. I'm hoping if I blog it out I will feel at least enough relief to get to sleep. I have an early meeting at work tomorrow. Even worse, it is at head quarters so I have to dress up. :rollseyes
> 
> ...


Hi! I hope you didn't mind me quoting so much of what you said and then boldfacing it...

In so many ways - we share the same things. We share a faith in God - but question why He's allowed things in our lives. We do things for our animals because they are what keep us going. We beat ourselves up and "should" all over ourselves. I should do this....I should be like that.

I'm a packrat (I wouldn't say I'm a hoarder as I throw stuff out) - but I understand your husband and his books and stuff. Maybe rather than getting him to throw stuff out - you could get him to "contain" it neatly in WELL-MARKED boxes somewhere - or clear plastic under-bed containers? Just an idea.

I don't work outside the home anymore and yet I also feel frustrated with my home and myself and I spend so much time and energy sometimes beating myself up that I am shocked I get ANYTHING done. 

Maybe pick one or two things per day to do....and let the rest go until you have a "good" day.

Remember though to take care of yourself. Maybe exercise 3X week and then do stuff at home the other two nights....

Find the balance that's right for you and your husband and make THAT work and forget what others might expect.

I will be praying for you.


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 22, 2011)

Peg, thank you for the words of encouragement. It does seem like we deal with a lot of similar issues.

Joshua has his entire office that he can do anything with. If he contained his mess to that room we would not have an issue. Unfortunately his books took over the entire sun porch, which was my plant area. He just pushed my stuff to the back so everything died since I couldn't get to it for water. Almost all of my shoes were in a shoe rack there. His books "fell" on my shoe rack so it broke and he just pushed all of them to the back too so I couldn't get to them. We are talking thousands of books in the way! It makes me angry when he treats my stuff with so little regard. I didn't even realise how angry I was until I wrote it out here. :X

He is boxing his books up, has been working on it all week. The verison people need to get into the box so we can get cable again (we havn't had it for three years, but apparently they are runing a good deal *shrugs*). So he's moving all the books into the livingroom so the guy can get to the box, then he's putting them all back. I so wish he would get rid of some of them. He still has his office full! And the gerage. He rented a storage space so he can clean the garage out. That is where I had the outdoor gardning supplies. Again, got pushed to the back so I couldn't get to them. I am giving up gardning because he just makes it too hard. I'm giving away my supplies and books because there's no sense in keeping them. 

As for the rest of the house, I try to chip away at it the best that I can. I figure if I just get rid of enough of my stuff there might be room for me in the house. blah, it's hard to think about without getting upset. As long as my babies are happy I'm ok.


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 22, 2011)

*MiniLopHop wrote: *


> As for the rest of the house, I try to chip away at it the best that I can. *I figure if I just get rid of enough of my stuff there might be room for me in the house.* blah, it's hard to think about without getting upset. As long as my babies are happy I'm ok.



Wow, I just read what I wrote and it struck me that there really is a problem. I sent my post from Sunday and today to Joshua. Hopefully he will read them and we can talk about it. 

Even when I tried talking about this with my therapist she didn't understand the magnitude of his book and football card issue. He literally has hundreds of thousands of books and millions of cards. Our entire atic is filled with boxes of football cards. I have to keep our holiday decorations in my office because there's no room in the atic which is over the whole house. Every nook and cranie is filled with books plus his office and the porch. He has over flow in the garage of just stuff. 

It is so tempting when I get a new job to just take the animals and my clothes and leave. He's pushing me out, choosing stuff over love.


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## SOOOSKA (Jul 22, 2011)

Wow Brandy it sure sounds like Joshua has LOTS of stuff.

Why don't you sell some of his "STUFF", make some money do something nicewith it.

I don't know how some people have/collect so much stuff." Hey I have alot of stuff too but when I moved I sold, gave away or tossedit in the garbage.

Maybe he needs a good "shake"

Anyways enough about that. How are the bunnies and how do they like the pillows and blankets?More Pictures please. :biggrin2:

Hugs

Susan


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## TinysMom (Jul 22, 2011)

Brandy,

First of all - please don't think I'm criticizing you in any way with what I'm about to share....I'm really not. 

But I've been married now for so long (over 30 years) and I have found that unless Art & I have compromises - our marriage goes downhill really fast and I start resenting him and his stuff or whatever he's doing or whatever is coming between us. 

I hate it when that happens but at times - its caused me to almost be "emotionally divorced" from him because I just get so frustrated.

I really think that for your sake and to help your marriage be better - you need to sit down with your honey and work out some compromises that you can BOTH live with.

I know that Art & I both love books and our house gets overrun with them so easily. So I do understand where your hubby is coming from as far as loving books.

But you have a right to have things that you like too....like your plants and your shoe rack and other things.

I would never sell his stuff without his permission - I don't really touch Art's stuff (unless it is to put it on his desk) because I know how I feel when he moves MY stuff around.

I will be praying for you both. 

I'm going to post in my blog in a bit about something I'm doing towards getting organized...maybe it would help you figure out what changes you'd like to see in your home. 

At least when we get frustrated we can go hug a bunny or watch them play or eat or whatever...


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 22, 2011)

Susan- I have taken pictures of the bunnies, I just need to post them. I will have my evening free tongiht so expect new pics 

Houdini and Cinderella took theirs and pulled them into their bedroom box, so it is really hard to get pictures. I did a little photoshoot with them on the desk so you can see the cute outfits though. I will try again to get some photos through the chew hole in the box. I would take it as a compliment though that they put the pillows in their favorite place.

Becky and Indy like to lounge on theirs, so it's much easier to get pictures. I did have to wash Indy's U pillow already since he's not 100% on his litter box yet. He seems to pee on things he likes though, so I take it as his seal of approval.

I also started a surprise for you that I hope to finish this weekend to mail on Monday. All I will say is that pink is involved.

Peg- I appreciate the wisdom from someone who has been married a long time. My mom is on husband 4 and my sister on 3, so I never had good relationship role models. We have been together more than 12 years, so I know we will get through this too. 

The sweetest thing is that he sent me flowers at work. He ordered them three days ago, so it wasn't connected to me being mad at him. He just knew I was in for a long, stressful week at work and wanted to make me feel better. It makes my heart melt and the anger go away. I know he loves me as much as I love him.

We emailed a bit this morning so he could understand my frustration. He promised to get my shoes back for me and not put all the books back on the porch so it will be easier to get into and out of the house. My biggest beef was a safety issue because it was hard to get in and out. Impossible to do with an animal crate, so what happens if there were a fire? I would have to toss the bunny crates out a window, which is not acceptable.

I agree that it wouldn't be right to sell his stuff without permission. It would break his heart. I think most of the reason he collects so much stuff now is because when he was a kid his dad left. They moved in with his mom's parents and a lot of the toys were left behind. I think some part of him is afraid if he doesn't keep what he has, then what is really important might get taken away. It's hard to explain.

I love the idea of focusing on what bothers me most. Now that I have a promise that the doors will be clear, the next thing is the bedroom. Which is great, because I have a lot more control over it as the majority is my stuff. He has also given me permission to organize his clothes and books in the bedroom how ever I want. Ripped clothes were agreed could go in the trash. Now rather than dread I am looking forward to reclaiming this space from clutter. 

My goal is to have a more open space so Becky can teach Indy the joys of the Bunny 500. It will also help me to be more calm and able to enjoy my bunny cuddle time.


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## TinysMom (Jul 22, 2011)

Awesome....you'll be starting your bedroom as I'm working on the finisihng touches of mine (I hope). Right now it feels like there is so much left to go.....still have Art's side to do and then there is the closet and then there is...

Oh wait...maybe we'll be working on our bedrooms at the SAME point in time! I just got a head start!


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 22, 2011)

LOL be sure to take pictures as you go and we can cheer eachother on this weekend.


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 26, 2011)

New pictures! I had a photoshoot with Houdini and Cinderella. I think these turned out well. I just wish I knew how to rotate a couple of them.

Thanks again Auntie Susan for the lovely pillows and blankie. They also love their outfits. They fit their personalities so well.





















http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h409/MiniLopHop/002-1.jpg






After all the pictue taking the kids pulled their new softies into their "house"















This is their whole set up










A couple of Becky and Indy too


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 26, 2011)

As for my ranting last week, I feel so much better. I think it is just the stress building up and getting to me. Joshua and I talked so we are on the same page and that feels good. 

Saturday the turtles went to the vet for their yearly check up. They have both gained weight, which is good. Kate gained a lot though, so we think she will lay eggs soon! I'm keeping my fingers crossed. :biggrin2:

In the afternoon we saw Harry Potter. I think it was well done and stuck close to the book. I feel satisfied with the ending of the series.

Sunday we ended up going to Princeton, NJ to check out the town. I have a phone interview with the company on Thursday. Please pray that the best conclusion happens. I am so torn because I love my current company and the people, but staying the same is not an option. I don't know if the new management will be good or bad. The company I am interviewing with is smaller which I tend to like. I don't know. All I can do is keep moving forward and hope God will close any doors I should not go through. ray:

Houdini and Cinderella are doing well. They were not thrilled with all the picture taking, but they liked the treats afterward. Becky and Indy will have their torture, um, I mean photo shoot session hopefully tonight. They are just so very cute together. Indy is also getting much better with his potty habits, so that is great! :biggrin2:


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## TinysMom (Jul 26, 2011)

I have a couple of questions - one is because I don't know the East Coast that well...

How far is the NJ job from where you live now? Would Joshua have to get a new job too? Or is it within driving distance?

Don't forget that if you move to NJ - you'll be paying NJ income tax.....might want to look that up.

I can hardly wait to see if your turtle lays eggs...I have no idea how all that works....how long before they hatch, etc?


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 26, 2011)

It was about an hour and a half on Sunday. With work day traffic we would have to move. Physically I can't really handle more than a 30 minute commute. Luckily they have a very strong chess community there, so Joshua shouldn't have any trouble finding students. There's also a similar business to what he works for now that goes into schools to teach chess, so I'm sure he could get a job with them. The tax is crazy! I will make sure I get a pay bump to cover the increased cost of living.

I noticed this morning that it looks like Kate has been digging in the peatmoss, so I will check for eggs tonight. It takes about 90 days. I have a tank that I will use as an incubator if we get eggs. I really hope we do get babies from these two because they are so outgoing and personable. Even the vet said how good they were. They walked all over the table and just looked at her when she picked them up rather than hiding in their shells.


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## TinysMom (Jul 26, 2011)

Cost of living wizard

This may help you as you figure out how much you'd need to make....


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 26, 2011)

Thanks, Joshua found one that was able to use more specific locations. The tax is the main thing that makes cost of living higher there. Other than that the housing is obnoxiously expensive in both places, but about the same. Other costs are about the same. We will have to see what they say, but I think what I am asking is totally reasonable.


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 28, 2011)

Today is a big day. I have the phone interview in an hour. I'm as prepared as I can be but very nervous. As an introvert (yes I know, I talk SO much, but I am) sometimes it is hard for me to think on my feet. For some reason it's even harder if I have to talk versus writing.

Then I am going to take Becky to a new vet to see if I can get some answers about her eyes dripping all the time. I feel horrible. Last night I found that the fur is coming off where it is always wet! Her teeth have been checked, her eyes flushed, blood work, 4 optical antibiotics, 1 oral antibiotic. So now I'm taking her for a second opinion. There has to be something I can do to help my baby feel better. 

On a positive note, Yahni (co-worker) loves the fish tank and the guppies are doing well! I was down to a few guppies in the 10 gallon tank and decided it was getting to be too much work to keep up with both tanks. Yahni's son has brain damage from birth and it will help train his eyes to follow movement, so I feel good that it can really help someone.

Depending on how the vet goes, I hope to get more pictures taken tonight of the kids. Oh, almost forgot. I think I caught Houdini on the verge of being naughty this morning. When I came in to give them breakfast he was on top of their over turned apple box that they use for the main "home/bed". He just had that naughty look on his face. I don't know if it is because he was eating from the hay supply (I store the hay on the back side behind the fence), which case I really don't care. Or he was going to jump up on the desk, which I really don't care since it is against the wall. Either way, he thinks he is getting away with something that isn't bad either way. He so loves being naughty.


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 28, 2011)

Well, I think the phone interview went well. At least as well as I do that kind of thing. I should know in the next two weeks if they are going to bring me in for an interview. Please pray that God makes it clear what the right decision should be. ray:


I am very impressed with the new vet. She had read Becky's records that the other vet faxed over and knew the issue right away when she looked at Becky's face. It's a Pasturella infection and they had been using the wrong antibiotics. I also like the fact that she gave me benebac to use with the oral. We are going to do eye drops twice a day and the oral antibiotic once a day. If she is not improving in two weeks I should let her know. Recheck in a month and it should be significantly better. Apparently this is something she will probably never totally get rid of, but we can keep it under control. Thank goodness Indy hasn't shown any sign of having caught it. He may have a natural defence against it. It's about time the poor guy caught a break. I really hope this makes her feel better! 
:sickbunny:

You will have to wait for more pictures, I want to let them rest. Indy went along for moral support. It was so sweet that as soon as they were back in the carrier together they started to lick eachother all over, like they were apart for ages. :kiss:

Now I am off to clean my office. Tomorrow Joshua is holding a chess tournament in our livingroom. The weird part is that after the tournament the kids get to visit all the pets. I guess that is part of the draw of why they like the home games. The weirdness that is competative childhood chess. :rollseyes : :bunnydance:


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 29, 2011)

Will this day never end?!? I am having serious concentration issues. I so want to be at home. I know in my head that Becky will be fine, but she's my baby. I want to be home to check on her and make sure she is ok. At least the weekend is coming up so I can spend more time with her. I read one website that said 40% of bunnies with "snuffles" end up dead! I so hope that number includes people that over react and kill rather than treat. That is just such a high statistic! She has been dealing with this since I got her in December. I really hope this combination fixes the issue or at least gets it under contrl. I can't stand to see her uncomfortable. At least her eyes weren't as red already this morning, so that is a good sign.


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## rabbitgeek2011 (Jul 29, 2011)

Cute bunny


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## TinysMom (Jul 29, 2011)

I really think this new vet is more knowledgeable and has things under control better.

Don't freak out....


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 30, 2011)

Peg, I think you are right, the new vet seems to be on the right track. Becky looks more comfortable and is washing her face less. Before we went out to run errands I checked in on my loppies. Indy was sitting in his thoughtful spot (litter box) just hanging out, Becky was in her bed (cage). I start giving him a bit of a nose rub and who should come charging out? She jumps into the litter box too and smushes him against the wall so I can give her a nose rub too! What was I THINKING giving him attention first!?! Silly jealous bunny.

I have been working on cleaning my office and started with my books because they were over flowing all over the place. First I gathered up all my books from around the house other than 2 that I am currently reading in the evenings. I have sections based on topic so it's easier to find things when I need them. I took everything off the shelves so I could properly dust and sorted them back into their topics or get rid of. I ended up with 1 box for the AAUW charity sale, 1 box each for friends at work (Jen, Rikki, Yahni, and Veronica) of topics that I know they are looking for, 4 books for Jenkin's Arboreedom (they only take very specific things), and a BIG box for the used book store. There's a little bit of everything, but the majority are gardning books. I had way too many and so I didn't end up really using what I had. I now have about half the number of books but they are the ones I really USE.
I still have some decluttering to finish and to dust/sweep. Then I will take pictures of the finished product. I'm too embaressed by how messy it was to put up before pictures.


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 1, 2011)

Well, I finished my office but didn't get pictures taken. I'm just so happy that the book case doesn't look so stuffed with books falling out all over. 

Joshua also worked at cleaning out some books. He ended up donating 14 boxes! :biggrin2:

I'm sure I have posted here about every furry in my house gets a hug every day whether they like it or not. Apparently Andre feels this policy goes both ways. Joshua had his hands full with a stack of books when Andre cried to be picked up. Joshua didn't respond fast enough, so Andre just launched himself and stuck to Joshua's chest! All four feet had all claws out so he could hang on to dad. LOL poor Joshua now has tiny puncture marks from where the cat stuck. Perhaps next time he will heed Andre's call faster! :wink

We were chatting about buns over breakfast Sunday morning. We are talking about going to Lancaster to a pet store that is huge, it has everything, including a flemish giant "store bunny" (not for sale, she runs around and is the queen of the store). Joshua said he was excited to meet her and he likes the idea of having a BIG bunny that would have more of a puppy personality! :shock:Is it true? Could we really get a Flemy? He doesn't like the really really long ears of elops, but I love the stories I hear on the owner blogs. So, now I'm wondering how the personality is of the flemish/elop is, or should I stick to just flemish? 

With a little work he will think it was all his idea in the first place! :big wink:


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 2, 2011)

My poor baby Becky, she's really not feeling well and I think I made it worse. :tears2:

Last night her face was all crusty so I wanted to wash it off to make her feel better. Just a warm compress didn't work because it is so sticky. I put a towel on the side of the kitchen sink so I could use the spray hose like I did for Indy's butt bath (it had worked very well). I had the water a good temperature and on lightly. As soon as the water started she fliped out! She jumped into the sink and tried climbing up the refrigerator, thank goodness she couldn't go far! Unfortunately when I let go of the sprayer to catch her the water went back to the faucet, which she was standing under. So, her face ended up clean, but she ended up totally wet! I dried her off and tucked her into her bed. She stayed under her blankie for a good while resting, but hopped right out to eat dinner.

Now this morning her nose is running too. Did she catch a cold or more stressed made it worse, or is the medicine working and her sinuses are draining? :?


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## TinysMom (Aug 2, 2011)

*MiniLopHop wrote: *


> :shock:Is it true? Could we really get a Flemy? He doesn't like the really really long ears of elops, but I love the stories I hear on the owner blogs. *So, now I'm wondering how the personality is of the flemish/elop is, or should I stick to just flemish? *
> 
> With a little work he will think it was all his idea in the first place! :big wink:


I know I shared this with you privately but I'll share it here too...

I would have no hesitation to let a flemish run around the house free - they'd probably do the equiviliant of get a beer can and hop up on the couch and watch tv.

An e-lop however is gonna open the door, invite in the whole neighborhood (after taking the whole door apart) - empty the frig - take the frig apart to see how it works - put it back together wrong - and then give you a dirty look when you come home.

Don't believe me? Go back and read old parts of Bassetluv's blog.....I love the time when Yofi wound up pushing the cart through the house (he was trying to get to the fruit on top - but got his paws caught) - like a butler offering desserts at tea-time.​


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## Nela (Aug 2, 2011)

Aww you poor girls. I hope she gets to feeling better soon. It's never fun when one of our babies is unwell. I would think maybe the stress made it runny but it should clear up. As long as you are sure that she didn't aspirate any water, she should be fine. Big hugs!

Ps: I agree with Peg. I have heard nothing but naughty tales about elops (Not that that is a bad thing necessarily lol)


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 2, 2011)

Yes, while I do love the stories of what the e-lops get up to, since my thought is to let this one roam at will all the time, flemish would be a better choice. (man did I kill the punctuation in that crazy sentance! LOL) There's even a flemish at love-n-bunns rescue now, but I don't think we are quite ready. I have to get Becky healthy and our lives a little more stable before we get another bunn. It's just fun to ponder at the moment.


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 3, 2011)

Becky is so forgiving. Last night she still cuddled with me in bed while I read. She would nose bonk my hand to make sure she got enough pets and gave me kisses 

I know the bath went horribly, but I think she feels better with the crusties off her face. The skin looks much better, pale pink rather than red. I was able to just wipe her eyes and nose with a klenex and clen them up since the discharge was more runny rather than sticky now. That has to be a good thing, yes?

Joshua wants to do an over night for our anneversary. The problem is that Becky would get one dose of her meds late. I keep going back and forth if that would make a difference. We don't want to stress her by moving her to a sitter and we don't know anyone that could come in to medicate. I think we should just do two small day trips rather than spending the night away. We will see what happens.

Indy has finally figured out how to get into the cage. He seems to really like snuggling in the blankets and with the pillows (the whole thing is set up as a big bed). The problem is that he's scared to go down the ramp to get out even though it is only a 3 inch rise. This morning when I put down breakfast he paced back and forth at the door. I ended up picking him up and putting him back on the floor. He ran over to the water dish and chugged as fast as he could. I wonder how long he had been in there? Hopefully he will learn how to get himself out when he gets in since it's a one hop situation. I guess that is a big hop since he's just learning how and he has no depth perception with just one eye. I would hate to have to take the cage away because Becky loves lounging in there. We will see how it goes.


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 7, 2011)

Indy is such a silly bunny. He tried to get me to feed hiim breakfast in bed. Nope, he has to come to the food dish like any civalized bunny. Becky ate part of his oats since he was slow on the hop. 

Today is my 12th wedding anneversay. Joshua is working a tournament today, but it's for a good cause. The money goes to battered women, yes a chess tournament for charity. He didn't have any say in the date. We went to adventure aquarium on Friday and to the huge pet store in Lancaster yesterday. Joshua pet his first flemish giant and thought she was pretty cool. Queen Anne is not for sale, she's the pet store bunny and gets to run around the store some times. Only adults are allowed to pet her, which I think is good. Anyway, I will post pictures from the aquarium shortly.


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 7, 2011)

Sea turtle






I'm petting a shark!





sawtooth shark





octopus





jellyfish










hippo





aquatic turtle





seahorse





shark





stingray





clownfish and anenomie





Joshua does eat vegetabbles!


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 7, 2011)

Pretty flowers Joshua sent last week





Victoria says Cheese!





snuggle bunnies





turtle porn, every morning


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## TinysMom (Aug 8, 2011)

Cool Pics! I love your Thomas Kinkade painting and of course I adore Victoria....may I steal her?

Just kidding..

Any word yet about the phone interview you did?


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 8, 2011)

Peg, Thanks. My mom gave it to me for Christmas one year. I love his work and the ocean, so that is one of my favories. Our bedroom has an ocean sort of theme to it. I have a shadow box of sea shells I collected, pictures from Bermuda, and little ocean figurines. I find it so calming.

Nope, no knews. It's kind of funny that lately I have been seeing jellyfish everywhere. Not just at the aquarium, but on tv, they come up in the book I'm reading, etc. I think it's a sign that I should just go with the flow for a while. I'm not going to stress about it because I really didn't want to move to NJ. I was just feeling pressure that I had to secure SOMETHING. Which is not true. I'm fine where I am for now. I have to remember that God takes care of the lillies of the field and the sparrows in the air, he will take care of me too.

On brighter news, Joshua came home from the chess tournament with a huge surprise. He has been working with Dr. P (really long Indian name) for several years now at this charity tournament. Dr. P is a gastroenterologist surgen that is fairly high up at his hospital. Apparently he asked Joshua if he had ever thought about weight loss surgery (Joshua is now over 400 pounds). They got to talking and he may be willing to cover the extra costs of the procedure for both of us that the insurance doesn't cover! I have been praying for a way to have the procedure for a while now. God works in mysterious ways! Yes I know I will still need to watch what I eat and exercise. I'm much better at the eating part than the exercising, but I am determined to be healthy enough for this. I so want to be a normal size so I can do more things and travel. I promised myself if I ever got thin enough to reasonably do the flight and walking I would go to the gallapagos islands. I'm going to start to save my money


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 8, 2011)

Oh, and as far as stealing Victoria goes, I don't think you would want to. I love her, but she is a brat. Tortitude to the max 

She has come such a far way since we got her. I clipped her nails this morning because they were getting long. She flicked her tail and grumbled a bit, but she knew if she was good she would get a treat. The first time we clipped her nails both of us had to hold her down in a burrito and she screamed so much the neighbors looked in the window to see why we were torturing our cat. She was ferral the first three years of her life, but she likes being a house cat now. She sits in the window when it rains and I swear she's gloating that she's not out in it. I can pick her up and give her love, but she won't tollerate that from anyone else, even Joshua. What a princess


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## SnowyShiloh (Aug 9, 2011)

Ha, turtle sex! When I was a kid, we had 2 turtles. Their aquarium was in the playroom. One day I was watching TV and heard the strangest gasping sounds, looked at the turtles and they were having themselves some turtle love. Little Shiloh was SHOCKED and somewhat horrified. The sound effects, the positioning, and the look of bliss on our boy turtle's face weirded me out pretty sufficiently  

Anyway, adorable bun buns (lops are the best!) and kitty!


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## JadeIcing (Aug 9, 2011)

Umm I feel like I am intruding...


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 10, 2011)

LOL I had to take a picture to share. They go at it all the time! Every morning from about sun up until lunch timeish. The vet says it is a good sign that they are happy and healthy. I guess they are in the prime of their lives and not much entertainment, so why not? 


I just got back from the doctor and my blood work results say I'm a mess. No wonder I haven't been feeling well. I'm now officially diabetic. It runs on both sides of the family so I have been trying to avoid it- recently became vegan, have been exercising 5 days a week at least an hour, and lost 20 pounds this year, but the genes are stronger. 

My glucose was 188 (should be 80-120) and a1c was 9.9 (should be less than 6). My vitamin D was low, thyroid high (need more medicine), and my cholesterol is now considered high because I'm diabetic. Lots of meds called into the pharmacy. I hope it makes me feel better because at the moment I am feeling like everything I have been working on has been futile.


On a funnier note, Becky was naughty last night. She was hanging out on the bed with me as I read. I would give her pets when she hopped over and then she would wander around. Apparently in her wanderings she decided the top sheet was yummy. When I pulled it up when I was going to sleep there were dozens of tiny little chew holes! That naughty girl bit holes in the sheet as she was "arranging" it to be just so. I told Joshua about the holes and said it's a good thing she's so cute or I would have to scold her. His responce: You are assuming that she would care!
ROFL I'm glad he has such a good hummor about minor bunny destruction.


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## redjess (Aug 10, 2011)

Ok, first off, thank you for your comment earlier about my pictures. 2nd I saw that you had a blog so I thought I would glance at it and check it out. I ended up reading the whole thing. haha! You had me from your first post when you started listing all your animals. Your stories are funny and I am already in love with your animals! It is so nice to see people who love their animals SO much and would do anything for them. 

Also we have a lot of the same animals, only thing we don't have are the birds and frog. (and we only have the one bunny.) We are HUGE turtle and tortoise people. We have 5 turtles at the moment, 2 mud turtles whom I wake up to having "turtle sexy time" every morning. :shock: It is SO funny. 

Anyways, nice to meet you and I will be coming back for more!


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## JadeIcing (Aug 10, 2011)

lol


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## TinysMom (Aug 11, 2011)

Oh wow. I'm so sorry about the test results - BUT - if it helps you to feel better because they know what to put you on....I suppose that is a good thing.

I will be praying for you - let us know how you adapt to the meds. 

I can't imagine going vegan....I love to eat meat and can't see myself giving it up totally. 

Congrats though on losing 20 pounds already this year...that's awesome. Can I ask how much you want to lose total? I'm wanting to lose about 65 pounds...maybe more but that is my goal for right now.


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 11, 2011)

Redjess- Thanks, I would love to see pictures of your turtles and tortises too. I hope you start a blog soon! Hopscotch is way too cute.

To me, life is so much better with the animals. They give me something new to smile about every day. They are constantly doing something new and silly.

Peg- Thanks. I had a bit of a pitty party for myself last night, but now I'm in gear figuring things out. There was a mix up with my meds. The nurse sent them to the normal mail in pharmacy rather than the CVS so I could pick them up right away. So, Joshua took my car today but he will pick them up when he gets home tonight. I took the day off work to help give me time to adjust and fight this cold that I have. I'm feeling better after getting more sleep and relxing today.

I'm not positive how much weight I want to loose total. To get down to a good weight the number seems to high to be realistic, so I'm taking it a little at a time. However, if I do have weight loss surgery, then I think I can more realistically reach meaningful loss. At the start of this year I was 336, which is my highest. I'm now 316. If I get down to 300 that is what I was when I moved to PA about 10 years ago. If I can get to 275 that is what I was at when I got married 12 years ago. If I can get to 200, that is what I weighed in 6th grade. Yes, 6th grade. My whole family is very round. I started formal exercise and a doctor prescribed weight loss plan when I was 5! I don't know what it is like to not be on a diet. I just end up switching from one plan to another *shrugs*


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 12, 2011)

I'm very frustrated with Indy. His potty behavior is not improving  I got their house all cleaned up. He hops out of bed, sniffs, pees on the clean sheet, and lays down in it. How can I get him not to associate urine with comfort? He came from horribly filthy conditions. Will it just take time? I hate the idea of locking him and Becky in the cage until he gets it. She also came from cramped quarters and goes a little nuts if I shut the door to the cage.

On happier news, I'm starting to feel a bit better. I'm having vegan sloppy joe for lunch. I think the gleucophage helps me not be so hungry which is a nice feeling. I also got more information on how to manage diabetes being vegetarian/vegan. They have a nice program where when you get a diagnosis like diabetes a nurse calls and answers all your questions since doctors don't have enough time to spend with people any more. She is going to send a number of helpful links that I will post here when I get them. She wanted to consult with the diatician for me as well.

I also found out that the insurance changed their policy so they will cover bariatric surgury! I hope that eventhough it is drastic, it will help me win this fight. Until then I will rejoice over every pound my body gives up.


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 13, 2011)

I just found a wonderful webpage that pulls out all the biblical understanding and verses from the bible about animals. I particularly like this one:

"Search in the Lord's book of living creatures and read what it says. Not one of these creatures will be missing and not one will be without its mate. The Lord has commanded it to be so; He Himself will bring them together. It is the Lord who will divide the land among them and give each of them a share. They will live in the land age after age, and it will belong to them for ever." Isaiah 34:16, 17

â"A good man takes care of his animals, but wicked men are cruel to theirs." Proverbs 12:10

See, I have to spoil my pets. God told me to! :biggrin2:

Here is the website if you would like to read more: http://www.frontline.org.za/articles/animals.htm

I wonder if the reason the animals, my formally abused bunnies in particular come to mind, show such joy is because they know they are loved by God? They are innocent and not in need of salvation, so they rejoice every day. It always boggles my mind how Indy and Becky can be so joyful every day even after such abuse and neglect at the hands of humans. They trust me so completely to take care of them and always touch with gentle hands that it is humbling. I am learning so much about life and how to live in a seemingly unjust world from these lovely creatures. I am greatful that I opened my home to them because they have opened my heart. Just who saved whom? ray:


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 13, 2011)

I just found out why Indy basically never leaves the play pen area even though I leave it open. I thought it was because he doesn't like walking over the tiles to get to the open part. Nope. He did come out and was wandering around. Becky came running out of the bed and nipped him in the butt until he got back into the play pen! Perhaps she doesn't want him to pee on the floor and get her running access taken away? The gate is open 24/7 now and she likes it that way! 

Becky is such a smart bunny! She is keeping her husbunny in check.


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## TinysMom (Aug 13, 2011)

Brandy,

I always tell my bunnies that God loves them and I do too. I also tell them that the Bible says "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord" and that I expect them to praise the Lord by being a bunny. Sometimes I think that binkies are their way or praising God....just rejoicing at how they're made...know what I mean?

I'll have to check out that website later.


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## redjess (Aug 15, 2011)

Ohhh can I borrow Becky to help potty train Hopscotch?? :biggrin2:


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 15, 2011)

No way, Becky is my baby 
I wonder what she would think of such a big bunny? I hope Hopscotch learns soon. It's such a pain to deal with when they aren't. Heck, I hope Indy learns soon. I think she's getting mad at his sloppyness as well.

I am rather discouraged with the diabetes. I got up and ate my carefully planned breakfast, then ended up throwing up about half of it all over the bathroom floor. I just wasn't quick enough. When I tested at 10 this morning before my snack I was 300! *sigh* Today is my first real day of precise meals- everything calculated for carb, protein, fat, and cal; timed and measured. I will be so upset if my class at the gym gets rained out. If there is lightning we can't be in the indoor pools because the water system is connected to the outdoor pools.


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## TinysMom (Aug 16, 2011)

How did the rest of the day go? Any idea why you were throwing it up? Are you not used to eating breakfast or something? Or meds? Just curious...

Do keep us updated on how you're doing...


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 16, 2011)

Last night I did go to the harder water aerobics class. We had a substitute teacher that kicked my butt. I was so tired last night and sore, but I have an anti-inflammatory cream I used so I'm only mildly hurting today 

My sugar number came down to 214 last night, so I am inspired to go to the gym for my lunch break today. Tonight I have the chiropractor so I won't be able to make it after work. I will still eat, but just do it while I'm working rather than socialising. I've never liked working out before, but if it doesn't hurt so much I might get hooked 

I'm not sure why I threw up, but did it again this morning.I think it is just a matter of getting used to the medicine. At least I was smart and brushed my teeth before breakfast today (which is what gets me started) so it wasn't such a mess.

Last night Houdini and Cindi did their best starving bunny act and got Joshua to feed them a second salad for dinner. LOL Naughty buns fibbing and telling him they had not been fed :innocent :eats:

Then this morning Indy and Becky were both in their cage. Indy got all excited for breakfast and was blocking the door. Becky was very content to hide behind him. I have to give Becky her medicine before they eat, but she hates the antibiotic. She's still good at taking it, but now she makes me corner her before picking her up. I also have to make sure she is swallowing because she likes to spit it out. Needless to say, my cruel administrations led to a thump. I'm happy that she's mad though, it's much better than quiet acceptance, it meas she's feeling better. Just a little over a week left for the oral. I'm sure at recheck she will be doing good enough that we won't have to use that any more. :biggrin2:



I just tested for my 10:00 jab. Yesterday it was 300, today 282. Still obnoxiously high, but most definately going in the right direction. I have to remember that it will take a little while to adjust and not get too hard on myself.


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## TinysMom (Aug 16, 2011)

Well - the way I look at it - any amount that you go down - is still going down! Congrats! And all that in 24 hours even...imagine a week from now or a month from now as you get things under better control.

I don't know if you've see this but I LOVE Tropicana's Light Fruit Punch. It has 10 calories per serving...2 grams of sugar per serving (the only bad thing about it - but hey - it beats a soda) - and is only $1 for a half-gallon at Walmart! It compares quite well to the Fuze drinks if you've ever had them - and those are $1 or $1.25 for a much smaller size.

May I ask how many grams of sugar you're allowed per day? Carbs?

Just curious....


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 16, 2011)

Peg- Thanks for the tip, I will have to point that out to Joshua. I hate anything fruit punch flavored because of medicine when I was a kid. Luckily I like water and tea without sugar, so that is pretty much the only things I drink.

This is the diet I am following and it seems to be going well so far:

Breakfast (385 cal): 1 fruit, 2 starch, 1 fat, 1 milk

Snack (140 cal): 1 starch, 1 fruit

Lunch (420 cal): 2 starch, 2 fat, 1 vegetable, 1 protein, 1 milk

Snack (155 cal): 1 starch, 1 protein

Dinner (560 cal): 2 protein, 1 fat, 1 vegetable, 2 starch, 1 fruit, 1 milk

Snack (155 cal): 1 starch, 1 protein

Totals: 1800 calories, 50% carbohydrates, 20% protein, 30% fat

1 starch = 80 cal, 15 g carb (1 slice bread, 1/3c rice, 1/2c pasta, 1/2c starchy veg)

1 fruit = 60 cal, 15 g carb (1 small fresh, 1/2c juice, 2 tab dry)

1 milk = 120 cal, 12 g carb (8 oz soy milk)

1 vegetable = 25 cal, 5 g carb (1/2c cooked, 1c raw, 1/2c juice)

1 protein = 75 cal, 0 g carb (1/2c tofu, 2Tab peanut butter, 2oz meat substitute, 1/2c cooked beans-also counts as 1 starch)

1 fat= 45 cal, 0 g carb (2Tab reduced fat salad dressing, 1 oz nuts)

Free = up to 4c leafy greens, 1c raw non-starchyvegetables, unsweetened pickled veggies (couple Tab due to salt), mustard, vinegar



Obviously you would have regular milk and meat/eggs, but this is what I am using. I feel like I am eating all the time since there's only a couple hours between meals, but I'm also not hungry. It seems to be a good detox diet because I have already lost 2 pounds since Friday. :biggrin2:

Have you gotten your results yet?ray:


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 16, 2011)

And thank you for the encouragement. This is a huge change for me but luckily I am seeing results. I'm glad the doctor caught it before real damage was done.

I have the chiropractor tonight so I knew I wouldn't be able to get to the gym. I went at lunch and then ate at my deak. It was surprisingly nice. I did strength training today. Tomorrow night I have a trigger point massage so I'm going to go to the gym at lunch again. I think I'm going to try the water yoga class, sounds cool.

I have a friend at work that keeps trying to talk me into taking a zumba class that isn't in the water. There's one scheduled on Friday, so I'm thinking about taking the leap and trying a land class. It's so much more intimidating to me and I'm rather nervous. Time to be bold


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 18, 2011)

I had to stop in to whine and cry before I go to work and have to pretend I'm fine. I hurt so darn bad. I have been up since 3:30 am. I took the max dose of my painkillers and a hot shower. It took the edge off but I'm still miserable. :tears2:

Yesterday I knew I wouldn't get to the gym after work so I went at lunch. I finally got to try the water yoga class and I loved it! I'm going to make that a normal part of my schedule. It was so freeing being in the water and more boyant. I could concentrate on exact positions, stretching and breathing rather than trying to keep myself up. After work I had my trigger point massage. I think the term massage is misleading. It conjures up soft hands and relaxation. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I get tears in my eyes and he leaves bruises, big ones. But, it's the quickest way to get rid of the toxins that childhood abuse left in my muscles. I really hope between this and the acupuncture I can really reduce my fibromyalgia symptoms. I hurt after each session for a while, but then I feel so much better for a couple weeks. He really went deep on my arms though for the first time. The first is always the worst. It's a bone deep ache with fire at the center. The thunderstorms this morning don't help either.

Well, I gotta get to work. Thanks for letting me whine here so I can be civil there.
:bigtears::cry4::cry1::cry2:bawl::in tears::tears2:

ok, done with the pitty party for one. :biggrin2:


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## JadeIcing (Aug 18, 2011)

I would hug but nah just vibes.


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## TinysMom (Aug 18, 2011)

Would you like some cheese with that whine - or would it throw off your food plan for today?

Seriously - I'm very very VERY proud of you for what you're doing. I know its hard...but you can do it.

And hugs to you from here in Texas...


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 18, 2011)

Thank you Ali and Peg. Sometimes I just have to get it out.

LOL I would LOVE cheese with my whine, but unfortunately I can't have it. I do have some rice "cheese" on my sandwich for lunch. I will have to be content with that 

I was able to take more meds and they have kicked in so I'm feeling much better, just achey rather than miserable now.

I'm getting so excited about all the possibilities of finding the perfect Flemish Giant for Joshua. Every time I show him a picture of a big bun he really gets into it rather than just humoring me with the little ones. He loves our kids now, but he's such a big guy that he feels a little strange with the little ones. He says he's afraid to break them because they are too small. I think the 4.5-5.5 pounds is just right. His face just lit up so much when he saw the Flemish at the pet store. I think he would have brought her home that day if she would have been for sale. Well, I'm sure God will send us the perfect new addition. 

Speaking of additions, I just adore Indy more every day. The last couple days after breakfast he just turns into a puddle while I'm getting ready for work. It makes me so happy to see him all relaxed and content. This morning he puddled onto Becky. They were laying side by side and her head was under his chin. Double puddle of mini lops, nothing cuter!  Unfortunately when I got my camera they moved  One of these days I will get it.


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## JadeIcing (Aug 18, 2011)

So I shouldn't mention the 300lb biker that adopted a 1.5lb nethie from the rescue.


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 18, 2011)

Oh that is a cute mental picture! I will have to tell Joshua about that. 

I had mentioned getting the FG and a netherland to bond together. Call them Tiny and Mighty, but the opposite of what you would think. Have one be black and the other white. I think it would make a very cute couple, but he says nope. He doesn't want a bun that small. He has a good point that it might trigger Victoria's hunting instinct at that size. Once in a while she will bop a bunny on the head with her paw (claws in) and we want to make sure the rabbit can hold it's own and not get hysterical. I certainly do not think she poses a risk because she is curious. I just don't want to have a rat-sized bun to get her to start thinking lunch.


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## JadeIcing (Aug 18, 2011)

Yea


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 21, 2011)

We went to the Kutztown fair and I was seriously bummed. It took us 90 min to get there an just an hour to see everything. There were some cows, few pigs, goats, sheep. That's it for animals. NO rabbits, chickens, geese, or horses of any kind! What kind of fair is that? *sigh* 

Perhaps we can get back home to go to the fair I grew up with. It's the largest junior fair in the country. There's barn after barn of animals. 4-H is a HUGE thing where I grew up and kids get off school if they have animals in the fair to take care of. All the kids get Monday off to go. I knew it wouldn't be as big, but come on.

Oh well. Tomorrow Joshua is going to DC to a chess book store with a couple other chess guys. I'm going to clean bunny pens and lots of litter boxes. At least I will get ready for the new week.


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 22, 2011)

I am rather optimistic this morning. I put in a HUGE litterbox for Indy. It's bog enough that all four of my rabbits could stretch out in it at the same time. So far so good, the floor is dry. Andre even laid in the box this morning. I think he is going to be disappointed when Indy starts to go in the box hehehee. Oh well. The cat will get over it. :biggrin:



When I went up to feed Houdini and Cinderella they were out running around the room. I had forgotten to clip the locks on yesterday so ofcourse Houdini let himself out and Cindi followed. He so loves being naughty he binkied his way back in for breakfast. Cindi ran right behind him back into their space. :innocent

Yesterday I had been brushing Houdini when it started to thunderstorm. I was going to finish brushing, but Andre jumped up crying to be held. That freaked out Houdini who thought the cat was going to eat him. Houdini jumps and starts going to his room. I start to follow him to make sure he got back ok and didn't stop to chew on anything. Andre followed me still crying, which made Houdini think he was getting chased. Ah my little scardy bun. That's how I ended up just shutting the gate so I could pick Andre up so he would stop crying and freaking out the buns. At this point I was afraid Cindi was going to have a heart attack running back and forth because she picked up Houdini being afraid. I got the cat out of the room and everyone settled down. Luckily the storm didn't last too long. Andre is terrified of thunder and cries the whole time unless you hold him.

Sometimes I think my life should be a tv show, a comedy of errors


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 23, 2011)

We just had an earthquake! anic: Parts of the world have this happen frequently, but It's weird for PA. It wasn't dramatic, just strange.



Tonight Becky goes back to the vet for her check up. She's feeling much better, but her right eye is still runny. I hope we can get this cleared up because I would like to train her as a therapy rabbit. She so loves to visit people and check out new places that I think she will really enjoy it. :bunnynurse:



I had a meeting with the dietitian at the gym. She was very nice and I'm happy to report that my diet is good. She liked the program I picked and we talked about various choices. I think I am on the right track. :bunnysuit:



Last night I went to my normal arthritis water class because I was tired and cranky. After the warm water and gentle movement I decided I was up for the intermediate water aerobics class. It was intense for me, but I'm glad I went. It is a challenge to get in exercise, but I understand how important it is. I ended up gaining 2 pounds this past week even sticking to my diet and exercising. Frustrating, but that is life. I hope one day it will look like I exercise regularly. :muscleman:



Why do I keep seeing Flemish Giants everywhere now? I would love to get one for Joshua for his birthday, I'm just having a hard time finding the right one. Oh well, if it is meant to be it will be.ray:


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## EmmleMae (Aug 23, 2011)

You have an adorable animal family! They sound like an amusing bunch personality-wise. I've never had a bunny escape artist... but I used to have a hamster that would pull itself up the bars of the cage, climb upside down on the top... and push the door open. He got out once when I was away (I was uninformed of this)... but apparently he survived in the house (we had 4 cats and two dogs at the time)... for over a week! And then one day my sister found him walking nonchalantly down the hallway.


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 23, 2011)

Em- Thank you, they do keep me entertained.
Oh my, what a lucky hamster that the cats didn't find him first! I had heard of the small animals getting out so I have twist locks on the gerbil cage just in case. The cats love to lay on the top and the silly gerbils will touch noses with them! It's a good thing the gerbils only come out to play with the cats are locked out of the room.
Clover is way too cute! I'm glad you were able to save her and her siblings


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 24, 2011)

Becky had a good appointment last night. The left duct is now open and looking good. The right side still needs a little more time. I'm going to continue the antibiotics another two weeks and see where we are. She's getting tired of the medicine, but I still get it down her. :imsick:



Indy is back to his peeing ways unfortunately. He totally soaked himself again, so he's getting a bath tonight. The vet confirmed that it is better to bathe him than let him stay soaked in urine. I think I'm going to get him a snuggy for when he's drying so we don't risk a chill. et:



I officially can not get a flemish giant in the near future. Our landlord added a "no more pets" clause to our lease. I'm grateful that he tolerates so many animals, but it is still annoying. :grumpy:



I'm tired and cranky today. I don't think I am getting enough rest. It seems like I run from one thing to another lately. It was 8 pm by the time I got home last night and 10 by the time I had meals packed for today and all the kids put to bed. There's no time to just read or surf the net or cuddle with Joshua. I keep having dreams that we are visiting my family in Ohio and he leaves me there! I call and call but he won't talk to me for months. It makes me sad all the next day. :cry2



Tonight I will be at the gym late then have to wash a bun. Hopefully I will see Joshua at some point before I pass out for the night. I don't know how people with kids manage life and still have a connection with their mates. :?


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 25, 2011)

Why does my anorexic co-worker feel she has the right to belittle me for my food choices just because I'm fat? Not everyone can be a size 2! :banghead

This morning there were all kinds of cookies, brownies, zucchini bread, beagles, etc. out at work. I took one bite of zucchini bread and she tells me how much sugar is in it and how horrible I was for giving into temptation. It just irritates me to no end. It's none of her business! I was all proud of myself for not giving into temptation to scarf down all sorts of things. Now I feel like eating stuff just to spite her, but I won't because I would only be hurting myself. Gerrrrrrrrrrrr! :rant:



Sorry, it has been a rainy day and I'm hurting. It makes my temper short, particularly for stupidity. I can't wait until it is time to go home.


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## JadeIcing (Aug 25, 2011)

I wish I had been there...


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 26, 2011)

So Ali, any suggestions what to say to her? She's from NY and can be very vindictive so I find myself holding back. She has got to stop it.

Last night I stopped and got diapers and a little fuzzy outfit for Indy. He has to get a bath and I don't want him to get cold or mess himself again before he's dry. This will also let him in on the tv cuddle time. So far his snuggle time has been very limited because he tends to pee whenever he feels like it. My hope is that he will begin to associate us with comfort and stop peeing and laying in it to comfort himself. Now when I hold him, he just trembles. On the bright side, he's not boxing anymore so I think we are making progress.

Joshua just rolled his eyes and said I was turning the rabbit into our baby literally. Oh, yes I have tried a wash cloth and baby wipes, he's just too soiled. He's much better about the pooping, but he still pees on the floor. I think I'm going to have the vet check his bladder when she checks Becky's eyes. He saw the first vet and was given an all clear, but since they couldn't fix Becky I'm starting to wonder. It's sad because they came highly recommended here, on bunspace, and by the rescue. I'm starting to think that just because you deal with rabbits in volume doesn't mean you stay up to date with the latest improvements.


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## JadeIcing (Aug 26, 2011)

I can't say them on a family forum. I would just stop her right than and there.


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## TinysMom (Aug 26, 2011)

I would say "thank you but I already am working with a CERTIFIED dietitian/nutritonist" and walk away.


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 29, 2011)

TinysMom wrote:


> I would say "thank you but I already am working with a CERTIFIED dietitian/nutritonist" and walk away.



Peg, you are so good at calming heated situations. I could say that without making her mad but still not letting her walk all over me. Thanks, I will keep it in mind.

So this was the big hurricane weekend. Irene luckily fizzled a bit before hitting here. There's some flooding and trees down, but not nearly as bad as predicted. 

Saturday was great and so productive! In the morning I went to the expo center. They had a reptile show and a cat show, a double header! It was cool looking at all the animals and I got a CD of frog songs. I saw some pretty snakes, and scarry venomous snakes, and turtles, and bearded dragons, and all sorts of fun things. Not sure if I would go to another one unless I was going to buy something though. They look a bit sad in the little dishes everyone had them in. The cat show was small, but fun. I had a couple good conversations. I found one Turkish Angora shower and we talked for a good long time. The cats got a new toy and I got a face finishing comb that I'm going to use on the rabbits. It started to rain right as I was coming out of the expo, but it didn't get bad until later Saturday night.

My office looks lovely and all the critters are clean. It must be that the exercise is working that I am stronger. Normally I wouldn't be able to walk around all morning and then get all of my office done in one day. I took some pictures.

Kate and Leo's house:






Kate laid an egg while they were having their bath time. I don't think it is viable because it got turned all around, but I'm keeping it a while to see. I was hoping for more eggs laid in the dirt, but nothing so far.

Houdini and Cindi seem to like their new green rug. Or perhaps it's just dinner 





















Birds are all clean too!















It's very hard to get a good picture of the birds, they like to fly away from the camera.

Becky is re-arranging her sheets:





Barnum having a bit of a snack:





Sunday was less productive, I ended up watching a lot of tv. I did have good bunny cuddle time and groomed Houdini. I love how the new comb works so much easier on his legs. He hates his legs getting brushed, but I just gave him an extra snack and he tollerated it.


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 29, 2011)

Warning, these pictures of Indy afer his bath Friday night are way too cute. I am not responsible for any cuteness overload. 

a diaper to keep him clean





jammies to keep him warm


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 29, 2011)

Ug, I can tell it is a bad fibro day because everything is out of order. Oh well, as long as I get the photos all put up so you can see the cuteness!

So Friday night I gave Indy his bath and got him all snuggled up. I took him and Becky upstaris and we watched tv for almost 3 hours before Becky started to get restless and I got sleepy. I had both buns sitting on my chest and a light blanket over us. It was just so sweet that they were happy all snuggled in. At one point I was rubbing behind their ears and BOTH toothpurred! I was so happy about them being happy I started to tear up. Joshua thought I was crazy because we were watching tanked, certainly nothing to cry about! LOL This was Indy's first toothpurr since we got him. It just makes me so very happy to know that he really is a happy bunny. He even gave me the first kiss! He was purring away and gave me a little lick on the arm. I totally melted. I guess I am forgiven for the bath. It must make him feel better to be clean though. 

After about an hour of petting and snuggling Indy just melted into the crook of my arm. I still stroked both of them and he ended up falling asleep! His little eye just slowly closed and he was totally relaxed. At one point I almost paniked thinking he died, but his little side was slowly going up and down. I have never seen a rabbit so relaxed in my arms.

Today since I am home sick both of the lopies are in bed with me. I type a bit and then pet a bit. Indy gave me nose bonks for more attention! It's hard to put into words the joy I feel over Indy's progress. My little boy is finally starting to trust. He knows that I won't hurt him and that he's safe here.

Aww, I look over and he's laying snuggled next to my pillow starting to drift off to sleep. Just a sliver of eye open at the moment. SShhhh, the baby is sleeping


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 29, 2011)

Well, I thought I would finally try on Aunty Susan's outfits for the cats. The bunnies were much easier! Victoria handled it as a diva of course. Andre just wasn't having any of that no matter how many treats I gave him.


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 29, 2011)

LOL Becky just tried to get Indy to move. She nipped him on the bottom, but he's wearing a diaper so he didn't move. She gave him a disgusted look and bit harder. He finally moved over for her. Now she has room to lay between him and the pillow. Silly bunnies


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## SOOOSKA (Aug 29, 2011)

Brandy those are so adorable. I really needed those pictures to put a smile on my face.

The pictures in the PJ's and on the U pillow make me melt.

Thank you so much for poisting them.

Hugs

Susan


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## JadeIcing (Aug 29, 2011)

Aww love the kitties in clothes. Bunny in pjs..... priceless!


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 30, 2011)

Today I am feeling a bit sad. I had posted Indy's pictures on FB in the rabbits with disabilities room because there was a conversation about clothes. Now there is someone leaving the group because they feel that we are treating the bunns like dolls. That is not my intent and I do not think of Indy like a doll. I want to keep him clean and warm after his bath. He has come such a long way and the urine scald is almost gone. He is really starting to trust. He doesn't fight when I put him in his clothes and he fell asleep in my arms, so I can't imagine he's upset. He seemed to really like the cuddle time. I guess some people jump to conclusions and I can't have everyone like me. Oh well.

Tracy has a bug up her bum today too. For some reason she is taking it personally that I was out sick yesterday. Excuse me for not being able to walk. I'm so frustrated with her sticking her nose into my business. She goes out of her way to point out my absences and tries to make it look like I am abusing the system. Yes I have been out a lot of days this year, but 2 weeks was from Lyme and crap happens with Fibro. Gerrr She just wants my job, but she couldn't do it if she were given it. There's a reason why she's in her 50s and still an admin. Technology isn't her thing, she gets bored and doesn't pay attention. I have tried to be nice and teach her things, then she just stabs me in the back. No more nice, I'm not teaching her anything else. She screws it up anyway.

Oh I wish I were home with my pets. They just love me and are straight forward. I hate politics in the work place. Leave me alone and let me do my job! I guess it's another cheese with my whine day.


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## JadeIcing (Aug 30, 2011)

Eh some people just go to the extreme.

So like a well yea anyways.

I know the feeling.


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 31, 2011)

This morning I was watching Indy and Becky eat. They both have such gusto when eating. It's adorable to see them race to their bowls and they both make the cutest little piggy grunting as they eat. The funny thing is that they never finish their pellets all at once. For all their enthusiasm they save some for later. LOL Too cute. 



Houdini was a naughty boy. At some point last night after dinner he managed to jump up on the desk, then to the hay pile, then down on the wrong side of the fence. He had himself wedged in and covered with hay. Luckily he didn't fight with me when I got him out because where he was I probably would have dropped him had he squirmed to get away. He's safe and sound back on the right side of the fence. Next time I'm going to have to take a picture and see if anyone has ideas on how to keep him from doing this. I'm just glad I went looking for him when he didn't rush to his breakfast. That would have been horrible to stay like that all day. h34r2



Ok, gotta go to a webinar on mergers. We will see if it's useful.


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## MiniLopHop (Aug 31, 2011)

The webinar was surprisingly good. It went over the emotional transition people make with mergers. I has been a long haul from April when the hostile take over was going to happen, then May when this take over was announced. We are expecting a close date in mid October. That is a very long time to remain uncertain if you have a job or not. I'm feeling more optimistic though knowing that everything I have felt and gone through is to be expected. I guess it makes it feel less crazy. There are still a lot of questions, but I feel like I can wait it out rather than jumping ship out of fear. :?



I think more people should have taken the class. There were just people yelling in the VP's office. I hate it when people feel the need to yell at work. Luckily he was able to calm the situation. :shock:



I'm focusing on the bright side, water latin class tonight. It's basically zumba in the water, such a fun class! :biggrin2:


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## MiniLopHop (Sep 1, 2011)

Last night at the gym was great 

I never thought I would ever be the kind of person that enjoyed going to the gym, it's strange. I'm not really loosing weight, but I am becoming stronger so it's going in the right direction. Yesterday I scheduled my first diabetes education session at the hospital. I want to make sure I know what I should know so I'm making good decisions. I also scheduled a bariatric surgery information session. I think going through Joshua's friend is just going to take too long. I want this done before my insurance changes in January. Hopefully I can push it through that fast.

I'm starting to think about all the things I could do if I were thinner. I would so love to travel more and do more nature hiking. Now it is so hard because everything hurts and I get tired so easily. I may be able to encorperate the hiking soon, but travel is just too hard. I HATE asking for a seat belt extender when I fly. It's just so humiliating. I also very much dislike being stuck like a saussage next to a stranger. 

When I hit my goal weight I'm going to the Gallapigos. I have wanted to see it all my life. I hope Joshua looses enough to come with me as well, but I will go by myself if I have to. Some times I wonder if he sabbatoges my food choices. He eats so terribly and loves to eat out. He just doesn't understand why I have to eat certain things at certain times. I'm hoping he will go to my diabetes classes with me so he can understand a bit better. He should be eating this way too, but that is impossible. Even when he was taking the diabetes medicine he wasn't eating properly. He evntually lost 100 pounds and didn't have to take it any more. Unfortunately he has gained it all back. I wonder if he's afraid of me making these choices and leaving him behind? I hope he decides to get the procedure as well so we can go on this adventure together. It will have to be his choice either way.

Sorry, lots of rambling and nothing to do with bunnies.

Oh, Becky was a naughty girl this morning. She is clearly feeling better. I had to scoot her out from under the dresser for her medicine. She thumped me and tried to hide behind the hay box. I gave her the antibiotic and she took it well but thumped me again when I put her down. My little girl is getting more feisty and the eyes are drying up so I'm optimistic that she will be able to stop when we go for her check up next week. 

I'm also going to have the vet look over Indy just to be sure. My confidence in our old vet has been so shaken by this experience. They were so highly recommended but couldn't clear the infection. This vet is clearing it up with nothing invasive and the first approach. Plus her fees are half the price, so I'm moving all the animals over to her practice. I was not impressed with the old vet at our last turtle check up either. Rather than discussing feeding and housing with me she gave me a hand out to read. Just seems odd. I was already doing everything in the hand out, but makes me wonder what the check up really included other than a check on their toe nails and beaks, which I do at home. It's so challenging to find a good exotic vet.


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## JadeIcing (Sep 1, 2011)

This blog is for you to ramble about whatever you want.


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## MiniLopHop (Sep 1, 2011)

Thanks, I do like to ramble 

Breaking up with the vet is hard to do. I just called the old vet and had my records mailed to the new one. I feel so guilty, but I know this is the right thing to do. My mom just instilled too strong of a guilt reflex.


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## JadeIcing (Sep 1, 2011)

LOL I lucked out. I convinced my friends to dump their vets.


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## MiniLopHop (Sep 2, 2011)

It's great when you find the right vet :inlove:

It is going to be so hard to wait until December for the turtle eggs to hatch. I keep peaking in on them every day but they just SIT THERE! I know, there's all kinds of cell division going on inside, but I can't see it. I wish they had a little text screen on the side: "fertile and healthy, arrival as scheduled". Wouldn't that put my mind at ease? 

Anyone know when I can candle to see if they are growing inside? :?

I don't want to handle them too much in fear of hurting the potential babies. I have them in slightly damp sphagnum moss in a butter bowl floating in an old aquarium. The water temp is a consistent 80* and it's nice and humid with the solid aquarium lid. There are two eggs. She laid a third but she was in her bath when she laid it, it got kicked round and round so it was no good. The eggs she laid in her house look good. They are beautifully shaped and no dents. They are a nice creamy white and still were slimy when I found them. :biggrin2:

The first year she laid eggs she laid 12 all together! But they were wonky shaped and had brown splotches on them. None of them hatched. They ended up turning black and gross. I think they were stored up eggs from the years of being neglected. The rescue lady said Kate had not laid in the year she was at the rescue. I'm guessing just having consistent nutrition and a happy home got her back to laying and she had to clean out the system before producing healthy eggs. 

If nothing else Kate and Leo are happy together, which is what matters. They are so outgoing though I would love to get a baby with their personalities for my nephew. He was so very disappointed when none of the eggs hatched. I'm not telling him about these eggs until the babies are here. That would be a super present for his birthday to give him a little turtle all set up. Don't worry, my sister has agreed. Last year I sent him a turtle care book with notes as to the specifics for three-toed turtles. My sister said it became his favorite bedtime book to read. He's excellent taking care of the guppies I gave him too. So, even though he's 6 I think he would be able to do most of the care on his own. He helps a lot with the family dog and cat as well. He really loves animals. My sister will also be responsible to make sure it is getting the care it needs. It was cool that she asked me a few care questions when she read the book to make sure she understood everything they needed. 

Now I just have to wait.... and wait.... and wait! :grumpy:


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## JadeIcing (Sep 6, 2011)

Waiting sucks!


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## MiniLopHop (Sep 7, 2011)

Waiting is indeed hard, but I checked in on them last night and the eggs still look excellent. 

Poor Indy just can not catch a break. Over the weekend I noticed his eye is getting runny too. So off to the vet we went in the pouring rain last night. He's on antibiotics as well. Hopefully since it just started it won't take as long to clear him up. Becky is doing so much better she will be clear by her check up. The only down side is that she's becoming a pain in the rump to dose. She hides under furniture, she thumps, she kicks, she sulks. Like I want to torture her? I just have to make sure it is completely gone because I don't want it to come back! Only a little while longer.

On the bright side, I cleaned up the house on Sunday and Indy hasn't peed on the floor! I hope that he's finally cured of the horrible habbit of laying in his urine. He's spending a lot of time in the litterbox, but since it has a grate he's staying clean and dry. The key seems to be to let Becky nest in the clean sheet for a week where she likes to lay by the hay box outside of their pen. Then when I use the sheet on the floor it already smells like her so he doesn't pee. I think it is because she won't tollerate it. Even with the door open all the time if he tries to get out of their pen she chases him back into the house! She is very protective of her roaming rights and doesn't want him to pee on the floor and mess it up. Even confined to their house space Indy has a heck of a lot more space than he had previously, so he seems pretty happy. He also gets out for snuggle time with us.

Houdini is taking a particular interest in rearranging his fence along the back wall. Oh what a naughty bunn in a cute way. He is getting behind then fence and then will push it out of his way. I took pictures that I will try to upload tonight. It also looks like he's throwing hay over to Cindi, who then makes a hidy hole out of hay. It can


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## MiniLopHop (Sep 7, 2011)

Got interrupted mid thought. I have no idea what I was going to say. Oh well


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## SOOOSKA (Sep 8, 2011)

Hi Brandy how are you doing?:wave::wave2

Hoping your bunnies all get better soon.:bunnynurse:

Love reading your blog you write so well. Love the pictures but I need more. I put a couple new oneson my blog last night.

Are you in an apartment or a house? With all those animals.... you need a castle. LOL. I was in a house now i'm in an apartment . I hate it,but you gotta do what you gotta do. Maybe one day i'll have a house for me and the bunnies. 

Hugs to all:hug2:

Susan:weee:


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## MiniLopHop (Sep 8, 2011)

Hi Susan! I'm doing well. I'm getting the diabetes under control. I start an education series at the hospital tomorrow. It's 5 sessions, 10 hours, of individual and group education. I'm also meeting my life coach at the gym today. I started a program called slimdown. It isn't a diet per se, but more of a life style change to healthier. It helps me to have someone hold me accountable other then Joshua. I love him dearly, but he's too good at rationalizing things. Your in pain, so you need the french fries to feel better. Um no, your sympathy is appreciated, fries are my nemesis! It is also a bit of a challenge to stay vegan with such a meat-eating husband. We just end up eating a lot of separate meals. 

:bunnysuit:

As for pictures, I take them and end up uploading in bulk. I can write from work but I can't mess with the pictures here. I end up only doing them on weekends because I'm so tired when I get home at night. :caffeine

We are in a 3 bedroom house, 2 of which are animal rooms :biggrin2:I couldn't imagine trying to squish into an apartment with our zoo. I'm sure you will be back in a house once you are more on your feet. Going through a divorce is very difficult. :hug2:

Becky and Indy are well on the mend. His tear duct has already opened so his face is dry. He still has a little bit of a runny nose, but it's getting there. Becky seems totally fine now, but I'm finishing her doses until her check up to be sure. A friend on FB recommended "perfect food" supplements. I actually take them myself for all the benefits of intense chlorophyll and all the good greens it contains. I asked the vet (they don't get ANYTHING not approved by the vet) and she said it looked very good and should help their immune systems. I tried mixing with baby food and that just madea mess. This morning I opened the capsule on top of their breakfast. Indy inhaled everything as normal. Becky sulked as normal since it was right after her medicine. Plus they got basically double dinner last night. I was so tired I just crashed when I got home. Joshua fed them a HUGE salad. LOL I guess he has big eyes for the bunny meals too. Good thing extra greens won't hurt anything. 

Luv-n-bunns is putting up a new website so I wrote up little bios for the kids to be posted with pictures:

*Rebecca Lynn and Indiana Bunns: The tail of two extra special lops*

I fell in love with rabbits the day I met Becky. She had been abused- kept in small, dirty conditions and had neurological damage from being hit in the head. As she settled in I found myself amazed at the resiliency of spirit. She learned how to hop and periscope, she gives kisses freely, and loves to play with the cat. I was afraid that she was lonely and went looking for a husbunny. After a long wait Indiana Bunns finally came home. It was love at first sight! Indy had also been abused- kept in small, dirty conditions and an infection was neglected. He lost hearing in one ear and his eye on that side. Luv-n-bunns so lovingly gave him a chance and excellent medical care. Indy is so enthusiastic for food that he drools when its meal time; he likes to sleep in the litter box with his bottom in the air, but has learned to hop in and out; he motors around the room with his nose to the ground sniffing for anything of interest. There is such joy evident in the awkward binkies they display on their evening romps. They are always close to each other and frequently press together for an afternoon nap. Nothing melts my heart more than cuddling them both and hearing them tooth purr as they get petted. Indy still has some emotional scars but he is healing. Both of my little lops are âspecialâ but together they are an extra special pair that I am so grateful to have in my life.



*Cinderella and Houdini: The bold and the beautiful*

Cinderella spent three years in a rescue after she wasnât sufficiently âcute and cuddlyâ, as so many bunns arenât, after the hormones kick in and before getting spayed. I found her to be a little shy but there was no real aggression. Houdini was born at Luv-n-bunns where he spent most of his first year. When the two met it was love at first sight! Houdiniâs boldness complimented Cindiâs shyness. They now have so many adventures together, Houdini leading the way and Cindi close behind. They love to test my intelligence by escaping from their NIC house on a regular basis and roaming the house getting into mischief. Every time I have figured out a solution, I end up finding bunnies where they shouldnât be. Houdini is notorious at chewing wires so he has to be supervised when out and about. After escaping again, I will tell Houdini heâs a naughty boy and he happily binkies back to his house with Cindi scooting right behind him. As it turns out, Cindi is quite the love bug. She liberally kisses and purrs during cuddle time. Houdini likes to sit next to a person and be stroked, but doesnât like to sit on laps. He is extremely tolerant of getting groomed, which is a relief since he has long hair. When he is done getting attention he hops back to his house and puts himself away. Cindi and Houdini have been a lovely addition to our animal family.


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## MiniLopHop (Sep 8, 2011)

Oh, I forgot the most exciting news..... Indy is still DRY!!!!!!!!!!!! No peeing on the floor in 4 days!

:biggrin2:arty0002::weee::yahoo:inkbouce::clapping::thankyou:


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## JadeIcing (Sep 8, 2011)

Awesome news.


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## MiniLopHop (Sep 15, 2011)

It is with a heavy heart I report that Indiana Bunns passed away during emergency surgery Tuesday night. He was fine that morning, perhaps a little less enthusiastic about breakfast, but he ate. I was packing raspberries in my lunch and took the time to go feed him one because he loved snacks. I wish I would have given his big, soft ears one last kiss. At least he had a special snack that morning. After work Becky had a vet re-check for her eyes. She's all healed up and looks great, but I wanted to have the vet check just in case. Both bunns go so they end up smelling the same and we don't have any fights. When I got them out of the carrier I noticed Indy's blank eye was a little bulgy.

The vet took him back for emergency surgery because obviously the abscess was back. After they did the prep work, Valium, Metacam, shave the site, and had him out I went back to watch the procedure (I know, I'm weird). They did everything right. They were trying to keep the gas as low as possible, but it looked like he was feeling a little so they turned it up slightly, the pulse ox was good. The abscess was horrible once they got in there. Everything was out and they were putting in a drain when he had a seizure and died. It was so quick, the procedure was only about 10 minutes. 

I am grateful that I was with him in the end, he didn't die with strangers. I brought Becky back to see him so she would know what happened. She leaned into him, then nudged his side. When he didn't respond she went up and nudged his nose, but I think she smelled the blood on his face (they tried cleaning him up, but it was still there) and she knew. She turned around and put her feet up on my chest to be picked up. I just cried and cried. Luckily Joshua was with me so he could drive.

We went home and laid in bed eating. Joshua had regular ice cream, I had vegan ice cream, and Becky had banana. The stress caused a fibro flare so I was home yesterday. I coaxed Becky to eat some during the day, but she was clearly sad. I ended up cleaning the litter boxes and rearranged her space so it was different. That seemed to perk her up a bit. She's eating better this morning and I think she will be fine. Andre laid with her yesterday and groomed her face, that helped too. I don't think I will be getting her another husbunny. I think she will be happier with Andre.

I have been going over this again and again in my head, but I can't see where anything went wrong or a bad decision was made. It was just his time. His urn will say "Indiana Buns, loving husbunny and brave adventurer". At least he knew great love at the end and learned to trust. The evening we spent snuggled up together when he gave me a kiss and fell asleep in my arms is even more precious now. I know he will be waiting at the rainbow bridge, whole and never again in pain. Binky free my baby Indy.

:bunnyangel2:


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## TinysMom (Sep 15, 2011)

:hug::hug::hug::hug::hug::hug:

Oh no - I'm sitting here in tears over this. I'm so sorry for your loss - I can't begin to imagine what you must be feeling - it was so sudden.

I just want to say that I'm here if you need someone's shoulder to cry on. 

I wish I had some words of wisdom or comfort - but everything just feels so empty right now.


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## MarisaAndToby (Sep 15, 2011)

I'm so sorry... I was just flipping through your blog enjoying the stories and pictures and came to your most recent post and immediately teared up.

I'm so sorry for your loss... Binky free sweet Indy. :hearts:


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## JadeIcing (Sep 15, 2011)

I am so sorry.


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## MiniLopHop (Sep 23, 2011)

I have to admit, I have been avoiding my blog. It is just hard to know what to say when I'm still so sad over loosing Indy. Luckily Becky is adjusting well and I think she will be perfectly fine being a widow. I took the fence down completely since I never shut it anyway. She likes not having a fence. She still hangs in favorite spots in the bedroom, but she's out in the open a lot more now. I think she feels like she can bolt easier, without the fence, to a number of places so it's ok to just hang out. She's eating well, a little too well when I was in Ohio, Joshua is very free with the oats.

The rest of the zoo is doing well too. Houdini had a couple knots in his fur when I got home, but they brushed out easily enough. Cindi is the same cuddle bun. They haven't had any new adventures to report. The turtle eggs are looking good. I'm too afraid to touch them so I haven't candled them yet.

I have lots of pictures from my trip so I will post them this weekend. It was wonderful to see my family and friends. It was a bit difficult coming back.

Then this morning when I got into work the first message I read had a subject line of "CephDocs blew up". Oh that is never good. CephDocs is our Electronic Document Management System. I work in the EDMS all day, so when it is down it sucks. Luckily it just needed restarted to go again.They are discussing upgrades for more stability. I will just be happy to make it through the day at this point.


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## SOOOSKA (Sep 23, 2011)

Brandy I'm so sorry about Indy.

Binky Free Indy at the Rainbow Bridge:rainbow:. Buttercup and Jackie now have a new friend to play with.:cry1:

Hugs:hug2:

Susan:bunnyangel2:


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## MiniLopHop (Dec 27, 2011)

I havn't posted here in a long time. I have decided to move my blog to a spot where I can share it with my family and all my friends. Please stop by any time: http://minilophop.wordpress.com


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## 1357rabbitlover (Dec 29, 2011)

My house is like a zoo too!!

I have two dogs - a springer spaniel called Dexter and a cocker spaniel called Sophie.
A ginger cat called tiffany.
2 leopard geckos called Phineas and ferb! 
Last but not least my 4 bunnies:
Alice, 
Bonnie (Bonita - means beautiful in spanish).
Casey-mai.
Buckley.


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