# Rachet and Plank



## CHEE65 (May 24, 2005)

I'm still new to this forum but would like tointroduce my bunnies. They are Rachet the white one and Plankthe black one. They are 5 weeks old and the sweetestbunnies. They have been wonderful additions to ourfamily. Rachet loves to be held and isn't afraid of anythingit seems. Plank is a little more cautious but lets us holdhim for a little while from time to time mostly on his terms.They eat alot for such little guys and they love to play outside intheir playpen. They love to bounce around and are curious ateverything. 

I hope the pics turn out okay. This is my first time to post on this forum.



Charlie


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## TinysMom (May 24, 2005)

Great pictures - good looking bunnies too - hope you share more pictures in the future!

Peg


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## CHEE65 (May 24, 2005)

Thank you. I will try to send updatedpictures of them from time to time. I just love thesebunnies. I can't believe what a joy they are. WhenI have them outside in the mornings when it is still cool out, I justlove to watch them bounce around while I am eating mybreakfast. 

Charlie


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## naturestee (May 24, 2005)

this is naturestee's husband. I think your newfriends look very cute and hyper (I always liked a bunny with a littlespunk). Tell us if they ever get into any cute trouble, I love to readabout the silly things our bunnies will do.


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## CHEE65 (May 24, 2005)

I will make sure to let you guys know what kindof trouble they get into. So far they do have a lot ofspunk. I think that's why they are so much fun towatch. I put the cardboard core of toilet paper rolls intheir cage and playpen and they like to toss it up in the air which isreally cute to watch. 

At first when my dog tracey (she's a minpin) would run outside and barkat something they would huddle in the corner till tracey was done butnow it's like they try to look to see what tracey is barkingat. Brave little critters.

Charlie


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## pamnock (May 24, 2005)

Cute photos!

Pam


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## bluebird (May 24, 2005)

Nice pictures were did you get that pen the ones i see have larger holes.bluebird


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## ayglnu13 (May 24, 2005)

Hey! Welcome to theforum!



Your bunnies are soooo cute! What breed are they?

Be sure to check out (if you haven't already) the Top picks thread

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=7329&amp;forum_id=1

And click on "Care sheet" there is so much valuable information in there 

~Amy


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## Carolyn (May 24, 2005)

Welcome Charlie, :wave:

I love the way little Rachet is hopping in the picture. Glad you found us. Hope you enjoy the forum!

-Carolyn


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## cirrustwi (May 24, 2005)

They are so cute!! What little sweethearts.

Jen


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## Fluffy (May 24, 2005)

aww what lil cuties!


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## bunnydude (May 24, 2005)

Congratualtions on those wonderful bunnies. They are really cute.


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## CHEE65 (May 24, 2005)

*bluebird wrote:*


> Nice pictures were did you get that pen the ones i see havelarger holes.bluebird


I got it at Petsmart for $39.99. It's called the "SmallAnimal Playpen". I got it in the Large size. I planto add more panels which can be ordered on the internet. Asthey grow I believe they will need more room. But right nowit's perfect for their size. Today I added a couple of frozen2 liter bottles in the playpen to extend their time out their and theyseemed to love it. They really enjoy being outside.But by noon I have to put them back inside thehouse. They get about 4-6 hours outside per day onnormal days. 

Charlie


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## CHEE65 (May 24, 2005)

Thank you so much for all yourcomments. I am glad I found this forum. I lovereading about your rabbits too. Before I signed up I readalot of threads on this forum. It's nice to share theinterest with other people. But I believe that if things gowrong I will also know where to go for advise. You guys seemto really love your bunnies like I do. Thank you again.

Charlie


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## CHEE65 (May 25, 2005)

*ayglnu13 wrote:*


> Hey! Welcome to theforum!
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I'm not really sure what breed they are. I know for sure theyare mixed. They look mostly like mini-lops. Sorry Ididn't answer your question ealier. forgotonder:


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## CorkysMom (May 25, 2005)

They sure are cuties!! Welcome!


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## Pet_Bunny (May 25, 2005)

Welcome to the forum Chee65,

Your picture turned out well on the post!

Make sure they get water when they are outside andset something up so they can sit in the shade, out of thesun. Looking forward for more pictures!

Rainbows! :angel:


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## CHEE65 (May 25, 2005)

Could it be? I think they are almostlitter trained at least for urine.I decided to take out the aspenbedding from the floor of their cage, it was getting toomessy. It keeps getting caught in their hair then when wepick them up it gets everywhere else. So anyways, I only putthe aspen in their litter box. It was like that all dayyesterday. So when I brought them inside about noon, Inoticed that there was no mess except for the litter box.Then this morning I noticed that most of the poop and all of the urinewas in the litter box. The poop that wasontheoutside of the box, I believewerejust dragged their from their hair. Because it wasn't a wholelot.I am so excited that they are using it. Do youthink they are almost litter trained or just a coincidence?They are only 6 weeks old.

Thanks, 
Charlie


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## CHEE65 (May 25, 2005)

*Pet_Bunny wrote: *


> Welcome to the forum Chee65,
> 
> Your picture turned out well on the post!
> 
> ...


Yes, definitely I always put their water bottle out there and somehay. I also put an umbrella over it and I also put an oldcloth shower curtain on top of the playpen to make sure unwantedpredators such as big birds and such can't get to them. Myyard is also fully fenced with block walls and a gate so other thanpredators that fly nothing else can get into my yard. 

Thanks for the concern,
Charlie


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## CHEE65 (May 25, 2005)

Well, something funny happened today.Since we've had our rabbits for a week and a half now and they don'tseem skittish around us or our dog anymore I decided to let them runaround the living room for a while (I made sure all cords were up)under strict supervision to see what they would do. And alsoto see how my tracey, my dog, would react to having themloose. Well tracey sniffed a little then totally ignoredthem. They loved hopping around and nosing ateverything. They loved to come up to us too. Wellit was time to put them back in their cage before they did their duty,they were in the living room for about 30 min..Well, they didn't want to go back in the cage so we had a hard timecatching them. I would tell my 4 year old son to sit calmlyand let them come to us. Well after a while I decided toleave the room and lo and beholdthey came up to my son and hewas able to pick them up. Here I thought he was the problemnot being able to sit still for a minute, it turned out they didn'twant me to pick them up. Isn't that funny. I'm justglad that they like him enough to let him pick them up. Iguess I'll just have to get over it. :foreheadsmack:


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## CHEE65 (May 25, 2005)

Here's another picture of Rachet with my son. Rachet is my son's favorite.


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## CHEE65 (May 27, 2005)

Well, we let the bunnies run in the house againand they had a lot of fun except that they were really hard to catchtoday. Even my son had a hard time. Anyway, I thinkI'm going to wait till their a little older and bigger before I letthem loose in the house again. i just can't believe how theycan make their bodies small enough to go under my couch the gap is onlyabout 2 inches. I sure hope it won't always be hard to putthem back in the cage.

I am a little concerned about Rachet (the white one). She wasin the cage by herself for about 20 min and I didn't notice her goingpoop. Plank seems to be the one that poops alot. Ialso notice that when they are outside the poop looks like they are inclusters rather than separated little balls. But in the cageit's not in clusters. I'm just a bit puzzled. Theyboth seem to have a very healthy appetite. Just in case Iwent ahead and put some pineapple for them to eat. Rachetdidn't seem to care too much for it but Plank seemed to really enjoyit. Do you think I should be concerned? Yesterday,I also gave them some oats, Rachet ate some ofthat. 

Thanks,

Charlie


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## CHEE65 (May 27, 2005)

Hi guys. I hope that someone answersme real soon. I know that everyone is real busy but I reallydo need to knowwhat you guys think. I had Rachet in the cageby herself for over an hour and still she hasn't pooped except for 1little tiny piece about the size of half of a baby pea. Butshe is eating fine and drinking alot. I keep alfalfa hayandrabbit pellets in their cage constantly, she eats alot ofthat. She runs around alot but why isn't shepooping. Plank on the other hand poops a whole lot.Only about 1 min in cage and already pooped, hers looks like bigpeas. So this morning I gave them some more pineapple Rachetfinally atejust a little, I guess she doesn't really care forit.. I guess if this is a sign of her stomach notdigesting the food well I want to catch it real early. Isthere anything else I should be doing? When you guys talkabout pumpkin does it have to be fresh? We don't have anyfresh pumpkin in the stores today. 

Thanks,
Charlie


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## Pet_Bunny (May 27, 2005)

Hi Charlie,

Use fresh pineapple, canned pumpkin and alfalfa hay for yourlittle ones. You can also try papaya (fresh,dried, or in the pill form). Oats is a favorite.

Just keep an eye on Rachet for now. Watch what sheeats, and don't let her chew on the carpet orcardboards. Is she shedding? She might beunder some stress, or something has been changed from herroutine.

The cluster poops are *cectotropes. *Those are the poopsthat rabbits reingest. They are different from the regularround droppings that goes in the litter box. Cecotropes arenot feces. They are nutrient-packed dietary items essential to yourrabbit's good health.

There are certain times of the day that Pebbles (my Netherland Dwarf)poops. During the day her poops are small and not thatmany. In the evening during her free run and dinner she haslots and bigger size poops. And in the morning when I wakeup, I find alot of poops in her box.

Rainbows! :angel:


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## CHEE65 (May 28, 2005)

Thank you so much. I feel alot betternow. I guess it's hard for me to tell if she poops at nightor not because she shares the cage with Plank and I know for sure thatPlank has no problems at all. Okay, since I gave thempineapple yesterday and today tomorrow I will put oats in there againand see how they do with that. After I came home this eveningmost of the pineapple is still there so maybe they just don't likeit. I will try the pineapple again the day aftertomorrow. They sure are drinking alot. By morningtheir alfalfa hay and most of their pellets are gone. So theyare eating very well. I also checked their stomachs and bothof them have rounded bellies (they are constantly eating it seems) butnot enlarged or anything. I'm also glad to know that thecluster poops are healthy. I guess I shouldn't remove themwhen I see it then. I guess I was afraid it would get stuckin their hair if I didn't remove them. But if they eat it andits good for them then I will start leaving it. 

Thank you again,

Charlie


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## Pet_Bunny (May 28, 2005)

*CHEE65 wrote:*


> I'm also glad to know that the cluster poops arehealthy. I guess I shouldn't remove them when I see itthen. I guess I was afraid it would get stuck in their hairif I didn't remove them. But if they eat it and its good forthem then I will start leaving it.


Do remove the Cecotropes, if yousee them laying around. Usually rabbits eat them as soon asthey come out. If they are laying around, they arein excess, and they can stick to the bunny, and make amess. They are quite smelly and can attract flies.

Rainbows! :angel:


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## CHEE65 (May 28, 2005)

Oh, okay I will remove them then. Ican't believe how much there is to learn about rabbits. Butthey are so much fun. Today I let them run around the livingroom again. I puttheir cage in the living room toowith the door open. I reversed the door that's supposed to bea ramp but is not real functional and made it go up instead of downthat way I can keep it up and I just put a little step stool in frontof the door. This time Rachet would go back in and out oftheir cage all by herself, Plank has still to do it. Theywere out for about 4 hours. So far they haven't caused anyproblems. When I was ready to keep them in the cage Rachetwas already inside but I had to pick Plank up and put her in.She would just peer into the cage from on top of the step stool, butwasn't sure if she wanted to go in or not. Since she reallydidn't want me to pick her up I gave her some craisins which she lovedthen put her in the cage. They are becoming moreand more used to us specially Rachet. Theywere noseto nose with Tracey today just sniffing away at her. Traceydidn't even know what to do so she just licked them. LOL.



Charlie


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## CHEE65 (May 29, 2005)

I just wanted to give you an update onRachet. Her poops look normal now. They're the sizeof Planks now. I'm so excited she's okay.

Thanks for allthe help,

Charlie


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## CHEE65 (Aug 3, 2005)

Here's a little update on Rachet andPlank. They are definitely going through pubertynow. They are switching dominancy I believe. Itused to be that Rachet was more dominant but now Plank seems to want tobe dominant. I had to get another cage because I'm afraidthat they might fight during the night and I didn't want either one ofthem to get hurt. Besides even though they have a large cageI just felt like it was still cramped for them. At first theydidn't seem to like to be separated but now they don't seem tomind. I just put one cage on top of the other to savespace. I alternate who goes on top. I guess thereason I say that Plank wants to be dominant now is because he keepschasing Rachet and humping her. I've read in other threadsthat this is normal even if they are both female. I flippedthem both over to double check and they both still look thesame. I was glad to hear that females will humptoo. Kind of strange I thought but if you guys say it'snormal than I believe you. They are almost 4 mos oldnow. 

Another sign, is that they seem to be in trouble alot. Iblocked the corners of the couch so they can't go under them anymoreand they are very persistent about pulling out the pillows that I'musing to block the couch with. They will just look at mebefore jumping on the shelf they know I don't want them on and soforth. Very persistent little boogers. 

They have grown quite a bit and we love them very much even though theycan be real pains at times. I am in the process of decidingwhether to spay them or not. I am afraid of loosingthem. But I guess I have another month or two todecide. I do hope that the humping stops it's driving mecrazy. And I did read on another thread that spaying didn'tseem to stop the humping anyway. 

Well I guess I've babbled on enough. Thank you very much forall the helpful information that I've read on this thread.One day I hope to be able to contribute more.


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## jordiwes (Aug 3, 2005)

It's a really good idea to spay the femalebecause there are high risks of ovarian cancer if you don't. It's alsoa good idea to neuter the male to get rid of hormonal behavior. Theprocedure is very low risk with a good vet. And you'll be able to putthem together again a few weeks after it's complete. I'm sure they'dlike that.


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## CHEE65 (Aug 3, 2005)

Thank you for the reply. But I guessthat's my concern. I don't know much about vetshere. I'm not sure which one would be a good one whererabbits are concerned. I am looking around for one though.

Plank just did the funniest thing right now. I filled thetoilet paper tubes with hay and she picked it up like she was going totoss it and dumped a bunch of hay on top of her. She ranunder her bench and is wondering what happened while nibbling on someof the hay. It just looked really funny.

Charlie


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## jordiwes (Aug 3, 2005)

hahaha, how cute. I could watch my bunnies for hours and hours!

Here's a good article onfinding a vet:

http://www.rabbit.org/care/vets.html


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## Snuggys Mom (Aug 3, 2005)

*CHEE65 wrote:*


> Plank just did the funniest thing right now. Ifilled the toilet paper tubes with hay and she picked it up like shewas going to toss it and dumped a bunch of hay on top of her.She ran under her bench and is wondering what happened while nibblingon some of the hay.


Ha ha! That's funny! She's probably trying to figure out who to be mad at!

Laura


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## naturestee (Aug 3, 2005)

*CHEE65 wrote: *


> Idon't know much about vets here. I'm not sure which one wouldbe a good one where rabbits are concerned. I am lookingaround for one though.


Try PMing Kricket. I think she lives near you.


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## hoppy (Aug 4, 2005)

cuties


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## mini lop luva (Aug 4, 2005)

Welcome awwwww i love your bunnies there so sweet and so cute xxx


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## CHEE65 (Aug 5, 2005)

Thank you. I will try that link andsee what comes up. I will try it tomorrow though because I amso tired tonight I just spent all day painting our schoolroom.I will also try to PM Kricket Not real sure how to dothat but I will try tomorrow. I know I find it so relaxing towatch my babies I just wish they didn't look for trouble all thetime. 

Charlie


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