# Blanco BunBun's Journey



## BlancoBunBun (Jun 29, 2014)

WOW! I did not know there were so many bunny blogs! I am going to be up all night reading all of these wonderful blogs!

I am a new mom to a 1 year old one-eared rescue bunny. I saw his picture online after a shelter volunteer posted that he had little time before he was going to be euthanized. I immediately fell in love and knew I needed to save him. 


I started a blog to document our struggles and accomplishments...
Blanco Bun Bun

:bambiandthumper


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## Aubrisita (Jun 29, 2014)

Yay, welcome! Can't wait to read about your adventures. Luna says hi.


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## Azerane (Jun 30, 2014)

I'm glad you started a blog here  I look forward to reading more about him.


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## BlancoBunBun (Jul 1, 2014)

The rest of Sunday went well - Blanco _seemed_ happy in his new home. The only thing that concerned me was that I got sprayed with pee FOUR times today. Oh, and Jenny got sprayed once. Blanco should have been a fireman, because man does that kid have great aim! Right for the face each time...gross! Even with Jenny!


From what I can tell, this is his rebellious, cranky "teenager" stage, which neutering should help with. Since he was only neutered a week ago, his hormones are still raging for about another 4-6 weeks. I also read that it could be him marking territory..._ok, ok...Blanco we get it now....we are YOURS! _It could also be that he is getting used to his new surroundings. 


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On Monday, he seemed happy again - he was most active early in the morning around 6am. I saw him running around the bottom part of his hutch. Then most of the rest of the day he laid around. I cleaned his entire cage out today. It was pretty easy to get him into the carrier - just add a carrot and he walks right in! I put the carrier in the x-pen to let him hop around a bit more. He hopped for a bit, then relaxed the rest of the time in the x-pen.



I already have a better idea for the shading of the x-pen area...and some different floor material.
*Dog and Bunny*
Jenny did a great job out there with us. Whenever she got too close to the x-pen I would call her over and she came running (she has been learning "come.") I was quite proud of them both! She tried to spray at Jenny today, but missed _(phhhhhhew!)_ and did NOT try to spray at me at all today! I hope we have another day tomorrow of not spraying mom!
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*Cleaning*It was pretty easy to clean out the cage - sweeping up the poop pellets is a breeze, but 
Blanco's aim in the litter box for pee leaves something to be desired. He seems to enjoy peeing right outside of the litter box. I also noticed that he peed in his sleeping box on the fleece I put up there 


*Blanco is famous already!*
The Beach Reporter (local beach cities newspaper) posted a picture of Blanco today! I was so excited!
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## Azerane (Jul 1, 2014)

Aww, looks like things are well set up for him  I should think that the spraying will die down with time, and probably is a combination of marking new territory and crazy hormones after neuter. Hopefully it will settle down so you don't have to get pee on your face anymore 

If he's peeing literally just outside the litter box, it could be that he's in the box when doing it, but his butt hangs over the edge. Bandit used to pee over the edge of the litter box until I got a slightly larger one with higher sides. Not a single accident since. As for peeing on the fleece, a lot of rabbits like to pee on soft things, so it's no surprise. At least with fleece you can just throw them in the wash.


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## BlancoBunBun (Jul 1, 2014)

OMG I feel SO terrible! I thought I was doing a good thing by giving him a tissue box with a few lettuce leaves inside as a playtoy. Boy, was I wrong! Poor Blanco got his head caught! PLUS, silly me did not realize there was plastic around the top of the box...the plastic got around his body as he was thrashing about his hutch peeing EVERYWHERE trying to get loose. I was finally able to get the box off his head and then cut the plastic off him (luckily carrots are the ONE thing I can use to calm him down and keep him in one spot.) 

I feel like a horrible mom, but I guess it is part of the learning process. :in tears:


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## pani (Jul 1, 2014)

Aw no, poor Blanco. 

I'm sure he forgives you, after all you're the one who set him free and then gave him carrots.  Can't get over how similar looking he is to Luna! It's crazy!


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## Bville (Jul 1, 2014)

Your story about the tissue box reminds me of a time when I gave my bunny Fred a paper shopping bag to play in. It had handles on it and one got caught on his leg. He started running around like crazy because he thought something had a hold of him and he was scared. I got him free, but he ended up hurting one of his front paws and limped around for about a week. It didn't occur to me that the handles would be a problem, just like you with the tissue box. Live and learn!:sigh:


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## Azerane (Jul 2, 2014)

BlancoBunBun said:


> OMG I feel SO terrible! I thought I was doing a good thing by giving him a tissue box with a few lettuce leaves inside as a playtoy. Boy, was I wrong! Poor Blanco got his head caught! PLUS, silly me did not realize there was plastic around the top of the box...the plastic got around his body as he was thrashing about his hutch peeing EVERYWHERE trying to get loose. I was finally able to get the box off his head and then cut the plastic off him (luckily carrots are the ONE thing I can use to calm him down and keep him in one spot.)
> 
> I feel like a horrible mom, but I guess it is part of the learning process. :in tears:



At least he's alright. I've never had that problem with the plastic because I'm a pedantic recycler and I rip the plastic off the boxes and the plastic windows off of envelopes before I put them in the recycling bin, lol.


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## Aubrisita (Jul 2, 2014)

Poor Blanco. Tell him that my cat Tonks had a similar incident with a tissue box. Glad he is ok.


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## Azerane (Jul 2, 2014)

Aubrisita said:


> Poor Blanco. Tell him that my cat Tonks had a similar incident with a tissue box. Glad he is ok.



Oh my goodness, that reminds me to back when I was 5/6-ish. My brother's cat, Kitty, got her head stuck in a tin can, lol. It was the funniest thing, but also not  She was fine once we took it off. Pet's just seem to have a way of getting into trouble.


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## pani (Jul 2, 2014)

Azerane said:


> Oh my goodness, that reminds me to back when I was 5/6-ish. My brother's cat, Kitty, got her head stuck in a tin can, lol. It was the funniest thing, but also not  She was fine once we took it off. *Pet's just seem to have a way of getting into trouble.*


*_"Fondly" recalls tiny budgie flying behind refrigerator..._*

:headsmack


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## BlancoBunBun (Jul 2, 2014)

The rest of the day went well. I picked up some PUL fabric from Joann's to line the bottom of the x-pen area (thank God for the 40% coupon!) It is the same waterproof stuff people use to make diapers. I clipped it on and it made cleaning up from playtime SO MUCH easier! Plus, check out that super cute fabric!  All i had to do was sweep up the poop pellets and wipe up the pee. What a difference from yesterday - I had to pick poop pellets from in between the pavers and hose the whole area down.
When he is in there I already add his water bowl and some toys, although he has yet to play with them. I realized that I need to put a litter box in the x-pen area, too.Maybe he can learn to use that and keep the x-pen area even cleaner? Oh, the things we learn as we go!


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## Aubrisita (Jul 2, 2014)

Wow, that looks awesome! What a great idea to use that fabric as a liner. You got that at Joanns? I may have to make a trip there. Right now I line Luna's cage with newspaper but I am running out. That would be very cool to use.


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## BlancoBunBun (Jul 3, 2014)

Aubrisita said:


> Wow, that looks awesome! What a great idea to use that fabric as a liner. You got that at Joanns? I may have to make a trip there. Right now I line Luna's cage with newspaper but I am running out. That would be very cool to use.



Yes....I suggest finding a 40% coupon. I had to ask where it was because it was in a special aisle with baby stuff, not where the regular fabric rolls are. It cost me about $16 for a 5x5 piece. I use it for the 4x4 pen and then clip it up with clothespins. The newspapers were getting messy on Blanco's white body!


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## Aubrisita (Jul 3, 2014)

Yeah. Poor Luna has grey feet. I feel bad but I had no idea what else to line her cage with. This is perfect. I hope my local store has some.


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## Azerane (Jul 3, 2014)

Depending on how keen Blanco is, you might soon find the fabric pulled through the bars and chewed on  Will see how long it takes him to find his new toy, lol. Love the idea though, and very cute fabric


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## pani (Jul 3, 2014)

BlancoBunBun said:


> Maybe he can learn to use that and keep the x-pen area even cleaner? Oh, the things we learn as we go!


I'm sure he will.  Whenever I have to move Felix and Clem's litterbox they just keep using it as if it were in the old spot, so I'm sure he'll pick it up just as easily. Blanco's a smart cookie!


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## BlancoBunBun (Jul 19, 2014)

Blanco has still been settling in nicely. He has still been spraying pee a bit at me - most of the time I think it is because I startle him or he feels that "his space' is being threatened, but yesterday he seemed to do it "just because." 
People have assured me that it's just his hormones and that it still takes about 6 weeks after neutering for them to calm down a bit. We shall see!


He still does not like me picking him up. Part of it, I am sure, is my lack of confidence when trying....and NOT trying enough! To get him from the play area to the hutch I have to bribe him into the carrier with a carrot then transport him that way. Someday I hope to just pick him up and bring him over, but for now I am thankful the carrier method works easily! Luckily he is very food motivated - even getting him from having the run of the yard back into the hutch is easy with the right food!


Craig and I are in the beginning stages of planning the new bunny home. We knew his hutch / x-pen area were just going to be temporary. We plan on still getting Blanco a bunny buddy, so we want to coincide a new home with when we get Blanco's new friend so that there are no territorial issues with the old setup. There are SO MANY amazing setup ideas online - this one is my dream setup, if only we had grass!



My *DREAM* setup!










Some recent pictures....







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Chinning mom....and to think he was labeled "aggressive!"





He LOVES having the run of the yard!





With Jenny




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## BlancoBunBun (Jul 19, 2014)

In the first picture of Blanco, do you see how dirty his legs and bottom are? Will that change? I tried to use natural unscented baby wipes but it did not seem to help much..


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## Azerane (Jul 19, 2014)

That's stained fur from when you got him? Providing he has firm poops and isn't sitting in dirty litter now, it will go away, yes. Wiping down can help, but sometimes the staining is just too ingrained and will go away once he goes through a molt and sheds that fur  So it won't be there forever.

He's looking pretty good, that bunny set-up is absolutely amazing.

I'm glad he's spraying less, even if he hasn't stopped completely yet, I'm sure that it should continue to decrease as he settles in more etc. If you move house, I wouldn't be surprised if it picks up again in new territory as he will likely feel that he has to mark it.


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## Aubrisita (Jul 19, 2014)

Aw, he looks so happy! It looks like he is settling nicely and it is so cute that he is chining you.


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## BlancoBunBun (Jul 19, 2014)

Azerane said:


> That's stained fur from when you got him? Providing he has firm poops and isn't sitting in dirty litter now, it will go away, yes. Wiping down can help, but sometimes the staining is just too ingrained and will go away once he goes through a molt and sheds that fur  So it won't be there forever.
> 
> He's looking pretty good, that bunny set-up is absolutely amazing.
> 
> I'm glad he's spraying less, even if he hasn't stopped completely yet, I'm sure that it should continue to decrease as he settles in more etc. If you move house, I wouldn't be surprised if it picks up again in new territory as he will likely feel that he has to mark it.



Thanks for the info about the stains...yes, it was stained when I got him. He has firm poops and I clean his box every day. Good to know that someday he may have a white bottom again! 

I'm glad you told me that about the spraying when we change his home around in a few months. Now I know to be prepared and not wear anything nice outside when I am playing with him!


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