# The troublesome twosome



## geekgirl101 (Oct 31, 2011)

How old are they? What breed type are they? These are the questions I should've asked at their temporary stay in Pet Smart where I bought them, but I totally forgot after waiting 40 minutes for a single person to notice I was interested in purchasing a pair of rabbits and not just going aww at them. Luckily though I learned they were both female and had been spayed but were still requiring vaccinations. I was supposed to get a free health check but living 2 towns away and having no means of transport except either a bus or a car at weekends when my husband was free meant that I couldn't arrange for one any time soon, and the following weekend I was going to be out all day which put more pressure on us. We were gonna have to miss out on the free check and arrange one with a local vet instead.

Their first day here they were terribly nervous as they came out of their boxes into the hallway. They cautiously sniffed around, bobbing their heads up and down and sniffing everything in sight. They always kept an arms-length distance from me, staring at me with their eyes wide open showing the whites at the sides of their eyes, then dashing off to hide inside the big cardboard tunnel I made for them. Bonding wasn't going to happen today.

Day 2 and me and Tony (my husband) realised we used far too much sawdust for the floor of their cage. Half of it was on the floor and the low table the cage was on. They glared at us from a corner of their cage, their backs to us. Neither of us could speak rabbit so we didn't know that this was their way of telling us to get lost.

Once they were out on the floor though it was a different story. They immediately shot back and forth up and down the hallway, in and out of both tunnels. Each passing moment they got more and more used to their surroundings. One of them even started doing funny little kicks in the air. Whilst they were busy nudging toys and dashing up and down the hallway I was busy in the next room adjusting their dig box as it was too tall and with another cardboard box I built them a "rabbit chapel." I stuffed some hay inside and put in their food bowl and they immediately took a liking to it.

I sat down in the doorway watching them dashing around, stopping to snuggle together, grooming each other, eating inside the little rabbit chapel. One of them got a little daring and approached me, sniffing my knee. I put my hand nearby and it dashed off, but then came back again to sniff the hand and then dashed off again. It was slow progress but none-the-less progress.

Hours ticked by and just watching them was wearing me out. Every few hours I had to keep sweeping up their poopies onto a small brushpan and dropping them into their litter box. They constantly kept inspecting me, sniffing my hands, feet and knees, and rushing off again. They got more and more daring each time, sometimes putting their paws on my legs to look over me. Eventually curiosity took over and they jumped over my legs and started to investigate the living room. Me and Tony were worried that the number of cables in this room would be too irresistable for tiny teeth as the room was not yet bunny proof, so whenever they approached the cables we slowly walked over and would wave a hand over them if they took interest in one. This and the constant poopie scooping made it a very exhausting night for me.

Day 3 and the bunnies are struggling a little less when it comes to getting them out of the cage. Last night was bad though, the little one is the big kicker and left a couple of nasty scratches on my chest as she struggled for freedom. We still haven't come up with names yet, I've been referring to them temporarily as Flopsie and Mopsie but I haven't yet assigned the names to any particular one. The bigger girl is more adventurous than the little one and they often do things together, also the rabbit language she shows me tends to be "you're not a nice person" but she has braved approaching me, even so close as to letting me touch an ear or her nose for a second. The smaller one hates my guts though and kicks like crazy when I try to pick her up. I may end up calling them something like Kick and Lara, even though Kick is a boy's name.

Today they've braved the stairs and gone all the way up to the top landing. They've been up here for some time now, relaxing with a couple of chew toys nearby. I had to clear the lower shelf of the book stands here as they started chewing on the books and I pushed a large vase into a corner one of them began digging at. They seem pretty content, just laying there together peacefully. The little one (Kick) doesn't have her back to me tonight, maybe that's a good sign. Lara just spread her back legs out and is just enjoying the luxury. I can hear a gurgling sound coming from one of them, like trapped air escaping. I was hearing it yesterday too, perhaps this new food is giving one of them an icky tummy. I should get them to have a checkup with a vet asap to make sure they're healthy bunnies and hopefully learn of their age and get them vaccinated.


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## Nancy McClelland (Oct 31, 2011)

Time and patience work wonders. Keep working at holding them for a short duration as they have to get used to being handled. Congratulations on becoming slaves.


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## Wabbitdad12 (Oct 31, 2011)

I agree time and patience. I rescued a bunny this past July that was let loose in a sub-division. For several weeks she would run to the back of her cage as soon as I came near, then eventually she came to the front of her cage and took treats from my hand, now she loves to get pets in the morning on her terms.

So it will come.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 1, 2011)

Last night I tried something different for their cage to reduce the confusion. I replaced the sawdust with a lovely orange and yellow beach towel and placed their little pet bed inside the cage. I put sawdust and lots of hay in the litter tray and moved the hay feeder so it was above the toilet.

Today I'm now getting a clearer picture of what's going on. One rabbit is using the litter tray but the other is still using a corner as its toilet. I'm gonna have to watch to see which one is responsible, and maybe invest in a 2nd litter tray if it's a case of them not sharing the same litter tray.

They've gotten the idea that the pet bed is a nice and comfy place to snuggle in, they were in there together snuggled up today when I went to check on them and give them their pellets. It seems the gurgling noises are coming from Kick, definitely doesn't sound pleasant and is probably causing her a lot of internal pain. I'm gonna make an appointment with the vets to get her checked up.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 3, 2011)

Yesterday I bought Lara and Kick (as they have now officially been named) a new pet toilet for both inside their cage and outside. They seem quite happy with the new arrangements for their cage, however they haven't quite got the hang of it outside the cage. I resorted to laying down paper and cardboard around the litter boxes.

I bought a baby gate to protect the front door, although I can't yet install it as it's in need of some expensive extension bits. The gate will happen next week I guess when I get my next lot of spending cash.

Getting the bunnies into their cage at night is really proving a chore, on top of that I think I'm scaring the bunnies to death. They're rushing about the place when it comes to picking them up and hiding into corners as tight little balls with their rears high up. I tried to make a peace offering today with a few leafs of spinach, but they're still afraid of me. Even if I move or talk they dart off. It's not looking good at all.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 5, 2011)

My bunnies are not happy bunnies.  They cower when I go near them, they run away and hide when I get too close, they freeze up into tiny balls if I reach down to pick them up or try to escape.

Kick has been less kicky when picking her up, she relaxes a little bit when I pet her but she's still on edge and when she wants to let go she starts to squirm and kick. Lara is ultimately petrified of being picked up, her eyes are wide open showing the whites and she is eager to be put down the moment she is picked up. No matter what I've done to attempt to show them that I'm not going to harm them is just not working out. I've tried talking to them calmly, petting them whilst both picked up and on the floor, offering them the occassional grape or handful of spinach as a peace offering, but it's still not working out.

They're afraid of me. They no longer do binkies in the hallway. They just dash into the tubes to the toilet area, hide in the rabbit chapel, or they go upstairs and just sit up there doing nothing. Once I go up the stairs they get out of their relaxed positions and get read to bolt it and hide. If I go on my hands and knees to their level they run and hide under the book case. I tried putting my hand at a position they could sniff at it, most the time they go just a few inches towards me and then start to turn away in fear. If they sniff the hand they do it with an outstretched neck and then immediately turn and run.

I honestly don't know what to do to assure them I am not going to harm them. I no longer see them come into the living room. They just hide upstairs all day on the landing. I can't think of what I've done to scare them so much apart from trying to catch them as they run away and pick them up to put them in their cage at bedtime. I only ever raised my voice once when one got her teeth around my laptop cable and that was just a "Oh no!" and she legged it out of the room.

I think I'm not a very good bunny owner, I don't think they'll ever forgive me for scaring them so much.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 5, 2011)

If you start hearing the tune to Popeye beware, my bunnies just ate 2 handfuls of fresh spinach of out my hand today. They love the stuff! I got a little lick from Kick and then she experimented with my finger thinking it was another sprig of spinach... ouch!


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## Nancy McClelland (Nov 5, 2011)

When it's time to go up, we have a litter box in side and apple box--the one with a top and bottom piece. I cut a hole in each end and put a litter box with shredded newspaper inside, which they love to play with/in. I just herd them to the box and they go right in and then I hold up one of the holes to the door of their hutch. Simple and easy.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 6, 2011)

I decided to go another route. Since the bunnies like to relax upstairs I've moved the bookshelf into the bedroom and put the rabbit cage there. Now they can happily jump in and out without me carrying them. I'll still keep up with holding them now and then but now they'll be at floor level and not 5ft in the air it'll be less traumatising and they can happily hop down if they don't feel happy and not get injured.

They've been a little less scared today. This morning they were sniffing around me and Tony (my husband) and doing a couple of binkies. Tonight when we got home they came to the front door to greet us and have been sniffing around our feet and hands. They still get startled now and then and run off into their little chapel, and then they either come out and investigate or munch away at the hay inside.


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## MagPie (Nov 6, 2011)

Well, good luck with your babies. I don't really have any advice for you. My rabbit pretty much made himself at home right away. Isn't too fond of being picked up, but I have other tricks of getting him in without chasing. Chasing is a big pain. However Harvey always come running when I shake his craisen bag. Then I just lure him in with food haha. That way it's less stressful for both of us.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 7, 2011)

The bunnies couldn't be more happier with their new arrangements! They hopped into their cage when it was bedtime and this morning when Tony let them out they've been non-stop dashing up and down the hallway, up and down the stairs, sniffed me a few times, and playing with their toys. I'm happy they're happy once again. Bonding is back to stage 1 however but they're slowly regaining my trust.


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## Nancy McClelland (Nov 7, 2011)

:clapping:


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 7, 2011)

I bought some fresh parsley and basil pots today and tried them on a bunch of each. Kick was happily nibbling away from one hand while I sneaked in a few tickles on her head and behind her ears. Lara was just staying in the cage so I was feeding her the herbs through the cage bars. Kick was hungry for more so I had to keep distracting her while I was feeding Lara, greedy bunnies.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 9, 2011)

Tony was unable to sleep with worry last night. He was talking of taking the rabbits back to the shop, unsure if I was a good pet owner and wasn't taking care of them. He told me he put a load of hay into the feeder because it was empty and they were wolfing it down like they'd been starved. I told him I already filled the feeder twice that day and gave them half an apple between them and a handful of parsley and basil. I checked their cage to see what was going on and there was an inch of hay at the bottom of their cage. Definitely not starving.  I need to remind him of Norns from Creatures 3 how they had emptied a carrot dispensers full of carrots and moaning they were hungry while surrounded by a million carrots.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 9, 2011)

I gotta admit when you see the rabbits pulling desperately at the hay from the feeder and wolfing it all down within minutes it would make one think they are being starved. I'm topping that hay feeder like 3-4 times a day and they're just munching it down as fast as it's going in. It's top-grade fresh timothy grass, has a powerful sweet fragrance to it, not like the dead grass that's in normal pet shops. It's also very expensive too, I think he's also worried at the rate they're eating it we won't be able to afford to eat ourselves. Their pellets also go down fast in the morning, by noon it's all gone. That's expensive vet-recommended stuff imported from Germany, same place we're ordering the hay from.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 10, 2011)

I dunno what's with the bunnies today. They've been behaving ultra scared around me. Lara is constantly hiding in her cage, I've tried taking her out and holding her but she squirms and fights to get away, and Kick has been dodging my hands and running off when I reach for her to sniff them. I went to bring Lara downstairs to the living room and she nearly squirmed free at the very top of the stairs, I was seconds from dropping her that I had to quickly turn around to the landing and go on my knees so that she landed on the landing safely. I picked her up again and brought her downstairs and sat on the sofa where there was a couple of grapes and a handful of parsley. She wasn't interested at all, she just wanted to go down. I put the parsley down on the floor but she had already gone, so I went after her to give her at a couple of grapes as a peace offering. When I got back downstairs the parsley was all gone - Kick found it. 

I got a couple of bunches of spinach later on and went upstairs looking for Lara, as usual she was hiding in her cage. I took her out and offered her a few leaves. She munched away cautiously until she had enough, then I let her be. Kick was waiting downstairs for me so I let her have the rest of the leaves and a couple of grapes.

Lara hasn't done a great deal today still, as soon as she sees me she legs it and makes a hell of a noise as she darts into the cardboard tunnel and embeds herself in the middle. I wish she wasn't so scared. I don't think my handling Lara on a daily basis is helping her at all, she just doesn't seem to be coming out of her shell and is more and more afraid of me.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 11, 2011)

Bought some fresh carrots today from the nearby greengrocer. Washed the leafy greens and cut off a tiny bit of the carrot with it, thinly sliced a couple of medallions, and took it upstairs with a handful of fresh basil. They took interest in the carrot greens momentarily but then turned their noses up at it and the carrot medallions and went straight for the basil. They don't even share the same love for parsley no more. If it's not rabbit pellets, timothy hay, basil, apple, grape, or spinach they're not as interested. Fussy bunnies!


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 12, 2011)

I live and learn I guess. Today I discovered that the hay I've been using as both the rabbits' toilet and food was an expensive blend of timothy hay and dandelion. Not that I know a vast amount of German to realise it was way too good for rabbit toilets. So today I bought a bag of fresh hay from the pet shop, certainly smells much different, and mixed it with the timothy hay in their feeder. I'll be using that stuff from now on to line their toilets. They seem not too interested in it, at least the smaller one doesn't. For once their hay feeder wasn't totally emptied within the hour. I don't think they like it. 

Lara is still extremely scared of us. She trembles when I come near her. I've tried to not be so touchy-feely with her as I guess the frequent picking up and putting her down has traumatised her. I'm letting her decide whether she wants to nudge me with her nose or not. She seems more confident when Kick is there.

Kick has gone more and more adventurous. Today she got into our bedroom, whoops, and was having a ball exploring the new sights. She's been making frequent visits to the living room too and greets us when we arrive home. She has a nose for apple cores, I have to make sure I dispose of them in the bin otherwise she comes from upstairs all the way to the living room and tries to run off with it. She's eager for treats whenever I bring them upstairs, I have to try and distract her while I pass some to Lara. I want Lara to come more closer to the point where she has to put her paws on me to reach the treats, but Kick just won't let me. If she can get to it first she will. Kick has virtually climbed on top of me to reach a small handful of basil. It's quite amusing but it's a little irritating when I'm trying to break one of the bunnies confidence so she isn't afraid of approaching me no more.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 15, 2011)

Lara gave me some kisses the other day, although I think she was just licking off the apple juice from my fingers after eating a slice of apple. Lately though she hasn't deserved treats, she's taken to wanting to destroy cables and the woodwork. I'm not happy with her, I know she's scared and frustrated and is taking it out on everything, but I fear her frustration will get her killed if her teeth go through a mains cable when I'm not looking. She's ripping up everything she sees now - rabbit chapel has had its insides torn apart, she found a load of excess cardboard bits that she's been tearing up, she's been trying to nibble through the rabbit cage even though there's an opening to get in and out of, and any mail that arrives she chews up if it hits the floor. I honestly don't know what to do with her, considered putting the rabbit lead on her and taking her out to let off some of her steam on nature.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 15, 2011)

Kick is now leaping up onto the sofa. I encouraged her with some spinach and now she keeps hopping up every so often to check for more. She's been a greedy little bugger. She's had like half a bag of spinach today and when I went upstairs to give Lara a handful she kept pushing her way in to try and get some, even nibbling the stems sticking out of Lara's mouth! Giving Lara her daily treat of a grape was also difficult as an ever determined Kick kept trying to push her way in frantically after the grapes. She was so desperate for a grape that she was licking the juices that landed on the floor. Lara then kept trying to eat my fingers as the juices made her think it was another grape. She later got the hint they were fingers and instead gave a little lick. She let me touch her head briefly but wasn't too keen on the contact. I think she was appreciative that I was feeding her with one hand and fending Kick off with the other.

Speaking of which Kick has just arrived under my feet and is sniffing around for more treats, lol.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 15, 2011)

I went to hoover up and the hoover was in the gaming room where I have their food and bedding hidden out of sight, and no sooner did I turn my back when Kick snuck in behind me, found the food bag, and had her nuzzle stuck in it eating the food! I ushered her away with difficulty, and as I pushed her out the way Lara ran in and started eating out the bag. >.< I grabbed a small handful of the pellets that fell to the floor, gently moved them out with my feet while dragging the hoover behind me, and offered them the pellets once they were out. Amazingly Lara was the one who approached me and ate out of my hand! I think she's finally starting to recover from her trauma.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 16, 2011)

The baby gate arrived! And just to show how useless it was Kick squeezed with ease through the bars and did her toilet on the welcome mat. >.>


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 16, 2011)

Several cuts and scratches later I attached some chicken wire to the gate. I'm hoping they can't get their heads locked into it trying to get through.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 18, 2011)

Everything seems to be working out fine at the moment. The bunnies are happy, Lara is still nervous but when there's treats to be had she doesn't mind the occassional tickle and doesn't race away from being mauled a little, although she still doesn't like being handled and will eventually back off if there's no more food around. Kick is on and off with me, if I do something she doesn't like she kicks her back feet at me and rushes off. A handful of spinach and half a grape later and she's friends once more.

Cleaning the home is a regular chore now, as is cleaning their cage. Rabbit pee + british hay really smells rancid after a day. They haven't tried leaping over the baby gate yet so now that area is poopie-free once again and we can safely go in and out of the house without fear of a rabbit escape.

I'm keeping regular supply of fresh things for them to nibble on. They love British Cox apples, they like both red and green grapes although I think they prefer red, and they're fond of fresh basil and fresh spinach. They don't like the fresh carrot as much, although I tried a bit myself and it was bitter like nail varnish remover so I threw them out. I think they were just either a bad batch or had been in soil laced with pesticides.

Lara sometimes tries to sleep in a corner of the living room behind a chair and sometimes Kick joins her. While I don't mind them being there while I'm around I don't like the idea of them being there all night as I noticed a chilly draft coming from the floor boards in that corner and worry they'll get ill from the drafts. I try to usher them upstairs at night to where I put a fluffy blanket to sleep on until I wash their pet bed after they saturated it with rabbit piddle.

Tony says every morning when he gets up for work they are sat by the food bowl looking at him like starving pups. We bought a new type of rabbit food for junior rabbits that looks a bit like rabbit droppings, and they love it better than the other stuff.

Lara let me give her a bunny kiss today, although she was very very nervous and kept backing away and bobbing her head up and down.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 20, 2011)

I'm so not happy with Kick.  I bought some fresh carrots from the superstore yesterday with their greens still intact and both Kick and Lara have been eager to wolf them down, and then Kick later goes into the living room where my laptop is and severed the mouse cord. Now I have to resort to the trackpad, which I hate. >.< I'm not giving her any more treats or pets for doing this.


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## Wabbitdad12 (Nov 20, 2011)

I know how you feel, one of my buns snipped the power cord to my laptop before I could even react.

To protect wires, cables etc, some people use plastic tubing that is used in cars to bundle wiring.


> Tony says every morning when he gets up for work they are sat by the food bowl looking at him like starving pups.


I thought this was funny, bunny's are good con artists.

When I put my buns to bed I give them a treat and when they hear the craisin or banana chip container opening they all go crazy and try to bust out of their cages. They always act like they have never had a treat before.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 21, 2011)

She didn't deserve it but I gave Kick and Lara a blackberry today, they were on offer at the supermarket so I thought why not. Kick had no problems putting her paws on my lap and eating it out of my hand, Lara however needed a little convincing it was food so I gave it a little twist to squeeze out some juice. Once she realised it was food she then was quite happy to eat it by herself, however I had to lift Kick away and block her way to Lara's snack as she was about to stick her head under her chin and steal it.


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## Wabbitdad12 (Nov 23, 2011)

*geekgirl101 wrote: *


> She didn't deserve it but I gave Kick and Lara a blackberry today,


When I first read this I was thinking they got a phone?:? Then it dawned on me that they got a sweet treat! :headsmack


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 23, 2011)

Yeah, they've taken a liking to blackberries now, which is cheaper than the grapes hehe. They've been right little sods today though so no treats except a handful of spinach. They were both exploring in the living room, Kick was constantly getting behind the hifi unit and bouncing on the cables while Lara was munching on the legs of our TV stand and almost had her teeth around the TV cable. I couldn't take it anymore, I ushered them outside of the room and promptly shut the door. They don't like me now but I'd rather they didn't like me and kept away from the cable salad than trying to eat the cable salad and turning into fried rabbits.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 27, 2011)

Bought a new hay tunnel yesterday and they've already taken it down to the cardboard. Got them a rabbit tent too, although I bought the wrong size so I'll have to take it back on Monday and see if they have a larger one. Also bought a huge bag of timothy hay with dandelion and marigold, although they've taken no notice of it and have been fully focussed on stripping the hay tunnel bare.

Woke up this morning to find them both sat infront of their food bowl pining for their pellets. Lara's a bit more relaxed this morning, she didn't dart into the cage when I put the food bowl down. Infact she was almost eating out of the bowl before I put it down. She's letting me pet her a little bit, although she still flinches and stiffens up and she'll move off if she's not happy with being mauled.

Gave their pet bed a wash after they made it into a urinal. Lara's not used to the bed since it's been in the wash pile for a few days, so she's been precariously avoiding it and sniffing it from a distance with her body outstretched and her back leg to the side ready to bolt it. No matter how much I try to reassure her it's not a purple carnivorous monster that's gonna eat her she's still nervous of approaching it, despite Kick jumping in and out of it like a bouncy castle.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 27, 2011)

Went to the garden centre this morning, was intending to find a rubber or plastic bin for making compost but they didn't have anything like that. We did find an entire animal section though with more rabbit stuff. Tony bought some grass tubes that look like cigars and I got hold of some cage disinfectant. Tony presented one of the cigars to Kick and Lara, Kick doesn't seem too impressed with it but Lara once she got the idea it was edible has been munching away at it non-stop. Finally, a treat that Kick won't try and steal from Lara when she's mid-eating.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 27, 2011)

Lara's in trouble. Her destructive behaviour has resulted in both rabbits being barred from the living room. She's taken to attacking the wallpaper despite having over a dozen toys to chew on. We can't have her doing that in this room, it's the only room we've been told not to redecorate. I'm not sure what I can do to solve her destructive behaviour but I'm half tempted to either return her to the pet shop or drop her off at a rabbit sanctuary.


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## geekgirl101 (Dec 6, 2011)

I've found a way to block the wall temporarily with a foldable laptop table that never gets used. She now just chews her cardboard tunnel and pieces of cardboard in the living room, which I don't mind.

I rearranged the furniture in the living room too so that there's not so much a dark corner to hide in and built a little rabbit hole out of a cardboard box for them to hide in. They only went in it once but don't seem too interested in the idea. Because of the rearrangements Lara's been nervously exploring the changes. That in turn has resulted in us having more contact with her that she's no longer too scared to be approached. She still gets a little stiff when I stroke her and sometimes she'll back off if she's really not into being petted. When she does let me pet her I try and give her a treat.

I've been down with a cold. This is unusual for me as I don't usually suffer with colds. It's lasted 2 weeks so far and all the coughing and sneezing has given me aching ribs and a real nasty headache. I haven't cleaned up because I've been so ill and the bunnies aren't happy with their quarters being so smelly. It's gonna be hell cleaning that because I know what bunny urine smells like after 2 days. 

I'm slowing down on the amount of spinach I'm giving them after I read that it was high in calcium and noticed that in some areas where they urinate that it's leaving a chalky deposit. While I know parsley and basil are good for them they are terribly expensive to buy daily as they can both easily eat an entire plant in a day and if they don't eat all of it after a couple of days the plants die for some reason. I'll be hunting around for some alternative veggies for them this weekend that they can happily munch on that isn't high in calcium and buy some cranberry juice to spike their water with if they keep producing calcium in their urine.

We found another mouse which I've been using on my laptop for a few days... that was until the other night when I fell asleep and the door was slightly ajar and woke up next morning to find the mouse unresponsive. A quick inspection and I discovered the cord had been viciously mutilated. >.< Bad bunnies!


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## geekgirl101 (Dec 9, 2011)

RIP rabbit chapel, you were a good little hidey hole but after vicious tearing and being used as a bunny bog you collapsed into a mushy heap.

Today I put the rabbit harness on Lara and took her for a little wander into our back yard, I was hoping the new surroundings might've helped her to focus on something other than chewing. She was very reluctant to go outside like a scared pup. When she was finally outside I watched her carefully like a hawk, making sure her harness fit on properly and that her paws weren't getting caught up in it or that it didn't fall off. Most importantly I had to watch her by the ivy plants. Personally I'd tear them all down, but it's not our garden. Unfortunately she got a little tangled under a big bush and while I was trying to untangle the leash she swiftly picked up a young ivy branch and began nibbling. I raced over to her, pulled the ivy away, and picked her up to see if there was any ivy hanging out of her mouth, luckily there wasn't any but I think she might've ingested a small amount from a young shoot. I'm worried, I'm hoping the tiny amount she may have ingested will just give her a mild tummy upset and nothing more. I'll be keeping a watchful eye on her, any signs that are not normal and she's going straight to a vet.

Right now Lara hates me for dressing her up in a bunny harness and picking her up so much.


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## geekgirl101 (Dec 9, 2011)

I got some piccies!





Kick saying "hi" to the camera.




Lara having a good munch at the cardboard.




(From left to right) Lara and Kick inspecting my feet, Kick thinks I got food for her.


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## Wabbitdad12 (Dec 11, 2011)

I hope you are feeling better now. There was something similar going around here, the cold that took weeks to get over. I definitely feel for you.

Great pictures of your sweet bunny's.


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## geekgirl101 (Dec 11, 2011)

Lara's looking healthy. She had her tummy pressed to the floor a little yesterday, no surprise there, but her appetite is far from off. I bought some yummy dandelion and thistle roots from the nearby pet shop and her and Kick just love them. Kick seems to like them more than Lara.

Despite a little scary experience with the great outdoors and being picked up Lara's been ok with me, still a little nervous at times but I think she's getting used to me petting her every time I go past.


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## geekgirl101 (Dec 24, 2011)

It's a good thing I've been testing out the bunnies with cardboard cutouts of what would cost me lots of money from the pet shops. So far they've turned every dog-house box and bed into a toilet, giving me more washing to do of the blankets that are saturated in rabbit pee. Their official pet bed I bought online just before we got the bunnies had been completely saturated in rabbit pee, coated in poopies, and had the embroidering chewed off, so it went straight to the bin. I made them a larger cardboard bed with lots of padding in it to see if they get the idea it's a sleeping area, but they prefer to either sleep on the carpet either in a corner of the living room or on the landing.

Today bought them some fresh carrots and gave them a couple of carrot medallions with the carrot greens, they didn't last long.  They've been getting other treats throughout the week such as dried and fresh herbs and dandelion roots. I've avoided all the christmas-themed treats as they contain stuff like millet and seeds in them, last I heard these were bad on a rabbits' digestive tract. They're quite happy with all the other fresh fruit, herbs and veggies I've been giving them and the herb cigars. They're eating more healthily than I am.

It's a bit of a love-hate relationship with both of them at the moment. They try my temper when they come in the living room at 5am while I'm still playing away on my laptop and start chewing the table legs of our TV stand or leaping up onto the window ledge and tugging at the xmas tree. They ate half a christmas card already, luckily it was one from the lib dem party so we're not too upset at that. They've attacked the carpet by the door leading to the room with all their hay and treats so we've had to cover it over temporarily with a side panel from one of our unused PCs until we buy some ceramic tiles. We keep rotating their toys to fool them into thinking they're getting something new to try and discourage nibbling of furnishings and boxes. They've eaten an entire cardboard box despite being given a healthy diet of lots of fresh and dried food and piles and piles of hay. They still give us the "I haven't been fed" look every morning after being given a bowl of pellets, and they'll even do it while there is still food in there!

Kick's been grooming me a lot lately. I think she's hinting to me that I need to take a bath.


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## Wabbitdad12 (Dec 25, 2011)

I wish I could find a market in my area that leaves the greens on carrots.

My rabbits love to destroy phone books and cardboard boxes. I cut a hole in a box big enough for them to get in and a couple of small "windows". Then they redecorate and widen the openings as they please. I also give them bank and credit card statements to chew up for me.


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## geekgirl101 (Dec 26, 2011)

Oooh, that's a clever idea there Wabbitdad12! I'll give them my statements so they don't end up in the wrong hands. 

Well from what I read the persistant chewing and eating of cardboard is down to the lack of hay that they look for an alternative source of roughage. They will still chew on cardboard if it's around to break down their teeth. We've increased the amount of hay they're given now to try and avoid being woken up at all hours to the persistant gnawing of cardboard boxes.


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## Wabbitdad12 (Dec 26, 2011)

With my buns, they always have hay, but sometimes I will see them happily chewing a phone book or gnawing on a cardboard box. Its almost like they get bored with the hay and decide to do something else, silly buns.


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## geekgirl101 (Dec 30, 2011)

Yeah, that could be what's up with mine. They have plenty of hay but they'll sometimes just decide they don't want hay and want the cardboard box that my new laptop arrived in.

Well today I bought some more dandelion and nettle roots and some rabbit pellets since they ate the last of it today. They were both sat outside the room with their food stored in it waiting for breakfast this morning. I bought some fairtrade pineapple chunks from the co-op and gave them a couple of pieces each as well as a packet of fresh basil. They have some watercress in the fridge waiting for tomorrow and a few more pieces of pineapple.

Kick's been giving me the cold shoulder despite her luxury treatment of fresh fruit, herbs, veggies, and healthy treats. I dunno what's up with her, she cringes or runs away when I go to pet her, she won't kiss me no more, it's like she's upset with me over something but I can't think what. Maybe I've raised my voice a bit too often for her jumping up onto the window ledge and knocking all the toys off it or chasing her out of rooms we're not sure are safe for rabbits to venture alone. She's quite happy to eat the treats I give her but when it comes to showing her affection she doesn't want to know. Wonder if she's hitting that age where rabbits hate everyone and sit in corners sulking while tearing off the wallpaper...


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## Wabbitdad12 (Dec 31, 2011)

A bun I rescued this summer would let me give her pets in the mornings. Now she will still take treats from me but when I try and pet her she runs to the back of her cage, so I feel you frustration.


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## geekgirl101 (Jan 1, 2012)

Well it's not so much frustration, more confusion. She's been well pampered along with Lara but both of them are just behaving nervous all the time or turning their backs on me.


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## geekgirl101 (Jan 4, 2012)

Today's lunch was a tropical fruit salad which I shared with the bunnies along with a packet of fresh coriander. They must think it's still christmas. /^.^\


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## geekgirl101 (Jan 7, 2012)

Yesterday I discovered our local greengrocer did huge bundles of herbs for dirt cheap. I bought a huge bundle of parsley and divided it into 2 and gave them one bundle last night and the rest this morning. While they were more than happy to be faced with an entire herb garden of parsley I think it's had some bad consequences. Since last night they haven't been behaving as normal, resting a lot and being generally grumpy. Today I noticed Kick was lay down sleeping with her hind legs raised high as if she was resting her stomach on the floor, Lara was also lay down in a similar position. They're just as grumpy as last night, and Lara appears to have developed the hiccups. I'm guessing that the amount of parsley was a bit much for them. I'll take it easy from now on and slowly ween them on it until it's not affecting them adversely. I guess the fresh carrot greens will have to wait until tomorrow.


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## geekgirl101 (Jan 7, 2012)

Quick update on the bunnies, I bought some dried treats for next week - some dried dandelion and nettle roots and a bag of dried mixed herbs. I just checked on them now after arriving back home, Kick was hidden in the bathroom which is like a refridgerator and Lara was poking her nose out through the landing bars upstairs. Kick seemed quite pleased to see me and even let me pet her. Both of them still look a bit peaky but they both are now eating some fresh hay from the feeder so I'm not too worried knowing they haven't completely lost their appetite.


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## geekgirl101 (Jan 9, 2012)

Kick is suffering I think with mood swings. One minute she loves me the next she hates me, although the love bit seems to be whenever I bring her food. I thought she was approaching me to say hi, I went to pet her and she kept moving away until she hid in rabbit chapel mark 2. I decided to open the lid to see what was wrong with her and show her it was just me and nobody else and she bolted out and kicked her heels at the back of the box. I've done the same to her now, I grabbed a spanner, went upstairs to where she was looking at me with her back turned and one eye looking at me. I walked right past her, banged the skirting board with the spanner and turned my back to her completely. She looked a bit horrified that I dismissed her like that and came running to my feet and sniffed them. I think we've established a form of communication.


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## geekgirl101 (Jan 9, 2012)

Lara's being a real problem. She will not stop attacking door edges. I've given her boxes, dandelion roots, sticks, but she's insistent on grinding her teeth on the doors. I've chased her out of the room numerous times because I usually keep it ajar to let them in otherwise they scratch at the door to enter, but the moment it's open she's there chewing it. I can't keep this up, she'll have to go.

Kick is also being a nuisance. The pair of them have totally destroyed segments of the hall carpetting and keep pulling off the loose bottom peice and pulling the piling off it. It's turning into a ragged mess and our landlord is going to be furious when she next visits, if not about the carpet but about the walls in the living room where Lara's torn off huge pieces of wallpaper and eaten it. We are not allowed to redecorate this room at all. I'm going to have to discuss this with her about stripping that entire wall since the last tenants wrecked it by playing darts on it and attempt to recreate the same paint textures used in the rest of the room. With fresh wallpaper firmly stuck to the wall Lara will have a harder time trying to peel it off.

Right now they're making a huge noise destroying rabbit chapel mark 2 and trying to pull off the metal grill I made that's covering up the gaps in the baby gate.


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## geekgirl101 (Jan 9, 2012)

Can't eat an apple in peace where there's 2 rabbits around. It's like watching a school of fish jumping over each other trying to be the one on top.


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## geekgirl101 (Jan 12, 2012)

I think the new parsley I'm feeding them has been fertilized with LSD or something. I gave them a small amount last night and they took to it well, too well infact as they were doing their bunny 500s at 9.30pm in the living room. My husband has never seen them like this before so it surprised him.

This morning I gave them another small handful and they're like kids on a sugar rush. Kick's been jumping up and down the window ledge and getting stuck behind the hi-fi units while Lara's been chewing just about everything in sight, including the hallway carpet. I even bought them a new baby toy today and they've had a little play at it but at most they're not that interested in it.

I'm gonna end up with a sore throat and lost voice if I shout any more at them for chewing something they shouldn't.


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## Wabbitdad12 (Jan 21, 2012)

Must be some really tasty stuff! I give my buns craisins just before I turn the light off in their room. Its like they've never have been fed before.


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## geekgirl101 (Jan 21, 2012)

What are craisins? I guess we don't get them here. I tried them on raisins but they don't like them, they prefer fresh stuff like carrots, carrot tops, apples, pears, grapes, melon, basil, mint, spinach and parsley. They turned their noses up at asparagus the other week. One thing I've noticed though is once they've had a treat they then misbehave afterwards. Today they tore a hole through the stairway carpet after being given a grape and a melon chunk, and they've been chewing the wooden stand in the bathroom which doesn't belong to us. I'm really not happy, our landlord will go ballistic. I fear we'll be evicted unless I contact them before they make a visit and agree to fix things up like sanding/varnishing the door edges, repapering the damaged area on the walls, and replacing the hall carpet. They need to be trained out of these habits first though, the yelling seems to work for the stuff we've caught them on.


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## Wabbitdad12 (Jan 21, 2012)

One company that makes them is Ocean Spray. Craisins are dried cranberrys, they also have blueberry, cherry and other fruit flavors. These and dried banana chips are their favorites.


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## geekgirl101 (Jan 22, 2012)

Oooh, dried cranberries! We get them here, I'll try them on those.


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## LakeCondo (Jan 22, 2012)

My rabbit Honey loves to chew on things, no matter how much hay she has, so I'm glad she's in an xpen, so can't chew on everything. And she's a digger, too.

If you want another suggestion for a treat, Honey loves banana peel. I wash it before I eat the banana, she gets some of the peel, & the rest goes in the refrigerator for later.


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## geekgirl101 (Jan 22, 2012)

Oh, they like to dig into their cardboard boxes. Luckily they haven't taken to digging the carpet up yet. I'd hate to have to give them up if they start doing that though, it's hard enough keeping them from chewing furnishings they shouldn't, especially the ones that don't belong to us.


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## geekgirl101 (Jan 25, 2012)

The bunny behaviour has been changing over time I've noticed. Kick has become very dominating and possessive. If she has a toy or a treat she likes she'll take it away from Lara into a corner where she has it all to herself, or if Lara has it she'll rip it from her mouth and runs away with it. When I sit on the stairs and give them a grape each, Kick runs off with hers to another room while Lara sits by my feet eating hers, that is until Kick has greedily wolfed down her grape and then comes running up to Lara and trying to steal her grape from her mouth. I don't know what to do about this greedy and dominating behaviour.

They've got a new toy, it's supposed to be a hanging toy with wood blocks and carrot-encrusted mineral blocks, but they love to pull it around different rooms and gnawing at the mineral blocks. It's made a massive mess though.


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## LakeCondo (Jan 25, 2012)

One rabbit is often dominant. It's just the way animals are. They don't understand democracy. So just let it go, unless one isn't getting enough food, or something serious.

And you can always get an xpen & put down a piece of linoleum over the carpet if you find their being free-range a problem. Shouldn't you stop even thinking about getting rid of them? In some ways it's like a couple who mentions divorce every time they argue.


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## geekgirl101 (Jan 25, 2012)

It's nothing compared to a couple who mention divorce every time they argue, unless the other person goes and tears things up, smashes all the plates, severs all the cables, and totally wrecks the house that they're only staying in.

Something is really wrong with Kick and I think she's entering her teen stage. She's being super destructive, super dominating, and is really testing my patience more than I can handle.


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## LakeCondo (Jan 25, 2012)

You are expecting a rabbit to behave like a person. So it may be best that you DO give them up to someone who understands rabbits or is willing to learn.


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## Wabbitdad12 (Jan 29, 2012)

I can't remember is Kick fixed? Definitely sounds like teenage period of her bunny life. You may just have to give them their treats seperately, so Lara gets all of hers.


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## ZRabbits (Jan 30, 2012)

When Dobby and Kreacher lived together, Dobby would do the same thing. Grab his treat and run to the other side of the crate. Wolf it down and then come and try to grab Kreacher's treat. It got so bad that Kreacher would then go after Dobby for stealing his treat. 

I had to split them up and feed individually. No problems afterward. Dobby doesn't need to hide his food, and wolf it down and then go after Kreacher's. Kreacher has his own. Everyone is happy.

Dominance issues rear their ugly head at puberty. If Kick is not spayed, maybe doing so will help her loose some of that dominance over food and harmony will reign. 

K


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## geekgirl101 (Jan 30, 2012)

Hmm, I think she is spayed, I should take them both to a vet for a health check at some point.

btw, Kick's been a real pest lately. If I point a finger at Lara and tell her to move or tell her not to do something she'll look at me and hang her head in submission and move out, or if I'm being gentle she'll just happily bop along unless she was having fun doing what she was doing and then she'd hang her head as if to say "awww, but I was enjoying myself " If I do the same to Kick she will be very determined to do what she wants to do, half the time stamping her feet at me in disapproval for getting assertive and using a broom handle to usher her out of corners or under shelves that she's gone and sat in as her way of saying "I'm staying right here and there's nothing you can do about it, so nyah!" even trying to bribe her out doesn't work half the time.

Kick's been much more explorative than usual, and has been getting a little destructive too that we had to move their rabbit cage right into the corner of the room to stop her from shredding the carpet to pieces at the corner. Last night she climbed up onto the antique fireplace and started to look up the chimney. I told her no several times and the first time she looked at me as if to say "who are you to tell me what to do?" and then started to look deeper into the chimney. Before I knew it she lept up the brickwork and suddenly vanished. I thought the way the fireplace worked was that it was a solid brick back that went all the way into the back of the chimney, but when I put my hand there realised it wasn't and that there was a gap... where Kick was trapped. I woke my husband in a panic and we tried to pull things out but the stone backing is very solid and several inches thick, there's no way we could move it. I tied a pen to some string and dropped it down the back to see how far down the hole went, fearing it went into the cellar and that she'd be trapped or worse injured or dead. Luckily it tapped at floor level, so the only thing now was to try and get her out. We were discussing what we might have to do, like call the housing association, call the fire brigade, we just didn't know what to do. After about 10 minutes suddenly her head popped out from behind the fireplace. I didn't know if she'd be big enough to climb out of it herself, but luckily she did, and then I had to chase her around the house with a damp towel to try and wipe off the soot and dust she may have picked up. She was not happy at all. I've now made a makeshift fireguard out of some leftover chicken wire so she can't climb into there again.

At the moment our friendship is very shaky. I now know how my mother felt when I was 14 years old.


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## Wabbitdad12 (Jan 31, 2012)

Wow tht was pretty scary! I am glad things worked out and you didn't have to tear your fireplace apart.


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## geekgirl101 (Jan 31, 2012)

The little sod is lucky she didn't get made into a pie after that stunt. Her lively late night activities have been keeping me awake for 3 nights in a row, although last night she was unusually quiet and today she's been quiet too. She's not too into being petted by me now either. I guess she's both a little shaken and sulky.


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## geekgirl101 (Feb 11, 2012)

The rabbits are sorted for treats for the next month.  Visited our local garden centre and bought them some Excel nature sticks that were going for a pound each, so they now have 2 packs of each flavour, 4 bags of meadow hay, 2 strawberry crunch sticks, a bag of Naturals herb garden, and a metal feeder ball to stuff in things like carrot slices, parsley, and whatever other fresh treats to offer them. They had fun pulling some fresh parsley out of it, I gave them a small carrot each with greens too today. Lara's got the hiccups, again.

Lara's looking a bit porky. I gave her back a little rub today even though she's not into petting, and noticed she's feeling rather chubby. Kick on the other hand feels a bit bony along her back, but I know she's eating well. Lara is much less active than Kick, she spends more time sprayed out and sleeping while Kick darts around doing bunny 500s. I've heard Lara snoring while sleeping at times too, have wondered if she was wheezing a few times. I think I need a vet to take a look at her.

In the meantime they've been utter little *******s. They've had a chomp at a mains cable to our living room lamp, they've ravaged a speaker cable, Kick's had a munch at the cable on one of the 4-ways in the living room, she destroyed a network cable to the xbox, Lara attempted at digging through the living room carpet, and the pair of them have tried eating everything that's wooden, and Kick pulled away all the blankets I put down for them to sleep on to the pillow underneath that I used to use when sleeping in the living room and then pee'd all over it. It's been utter mayhem.


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## geekgirl101 (Feb 17, 2012)

I ordered a rolling hay feeder the other day and a grass mat. The rolling feeder arrived first but the gaps were way too small so that's going back and I ordered another one with much wider gaps so they can get to the hay. The grass mat when it arrived took the rabbits a day to get used to the idea, but after that they've had so much fun scratching and tearing at it inside a box with some scrunched up newspaper. It's been both a great toy and treat for them, and they've been less interested in the carpet since. I hope the new rolling hay feeder arrives soon, the less mess I have to clean up the better since the hallway is constantly covered in hay, shredded cardboard, and rabbit droppings.


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## LakeCondo (Feb 17, 2012)

I'm glad that the grass mat was a hit & hope that the new hay feeder will be as well.


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## ZRabbits (Feb 18, 2012)

My boys love their mats. It makes a mess but they have a ball shredding them. 

It did take them all a bit to figure it out, but once they did, game on.

Kreacher likes to lift his up and try to toss it. Dobby and Willard go to town digging at it and getting pieces to rip off, tug and chew. 

Keeps them occupied and helps mental stimulation, along with exercise and strength.

Can't wait to hear how the new hay feeder works out.

Please keep us posted.

K


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## geekgirl101 (Feb 19, 2012)

Just waiting for it to arrive, should arrive within the next couple of days hopefully. But yeah, the grass mat is definitely proving to be a hit. Putting it in a cardboard box was definitely a good move considering how much fun Lara is having attacking it. If she's not eating or sleeping she's showing her wrath on the grass mat, hehe.

Kick on the other hand isn't much into it, maybe because Lara is dominating the only grass mat. I suppose I could order a 2nd one and put that in a different cardboard box. She seems to have more fun in tearing their cardboard hidey hole to pieces. It's now turned from a box to a tunnel where she hides in when she's feeling moody.

Speaking of moody Kick's been stamping her feet at me almost every day, and then minutes later she'll be sniffing at me and begging me for treats. I've been giving her dried cranberries for doing good things, like letting me stroke her or when she chews a wooden stick instead of the door frames. Seems to be working, she's given up on doors and tables and happily chewing sticks.


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## geekgirl101 (Feb 23, 2012)

We can't keep them no more. It's just not practical for us. They make so much noise and so much mess every day. The hallway carpet is so damaged it needs replacing, the wallpaper in the living room is gonna need repatching or replacing, the doors are going to need sanding and revarnishing, the speaker cables are gonna need replacing or patching up with insulating tape as are any other damaged cables.

We've given then so much and they've given us nothing but noise, mess, grief and hostility. We can't pet them because they hate our guts so we hardly ever see them. We feed them and they go and destroy things shortly afterwards. They wake us at all hours shredding boxes or scratching doors. Despite putting lots of rabbit toilets down they still aren't house trained at all, they'll pee or crap on the carpet away inches from the toilet and leave a whole mess on the floor which is a pain to constantly clean up. On top of that despite all the toys and accessories they have to keep mess to a minimum they just generate mess by kicking out sawdust and shredding boxes into bits.

My husband and me are totally stressed out. He thinks he has 100% rights to be stressed because he works and doesn't know what it's like for me at home with them so therefore I have no rights to be stressed out and we're having arguments about it.

On top of it all the costs in trying to provide for those rabbits just isn't bringing us any returns from them. We spent so much that we're broke, and they don't appreciate anything we give them.

It's been almost 4 months and while it's only a short time in a rabbits' life it's long enough for us to decide that enough is enough. I'm calling a rabbit sanctuary tomorrow. This is the end of their story.


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## LakeCondo (Feb 23, 2012)

I hope they'll be going to a home that understands rabbits.


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## geekgirl101 (Feb 24, 2012)

Tony worked out a compromise this morning. Since the rabbits spend most of the time upstairs on the landing and the only reason they come downstairs is to poop and get into mischief he took the baby gate off the entrance to the front door and moved it to the top of the stairs. It's not a massively big area, but it's got a nice long running area that they can do their rabbit runs on, and it keeps mess confined to that area. He's gonna see how that works out, and if they can get used to being confined there and eventually grow out of their destructive behaviour we may let them have a chance at being around the rest of the house once more. They may get to stay with us after all, providing I make sure I keep the landing cleaned up.


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## geekgirl101 (Jul 30, 2012)

I never thought I'd still be owning the two little rascals, but the last time me and Tony talked about sending them to a sanctuary because of their behaviour we looked at them with puppy-dog eyes and they were aware we weren't happy and behaving good as gold. Tony had grown attached to them, and personally I was stressed by their lack of affection and their continuous destructive behaviour on the doors and carpet, but again part of me was attached to them.

It's been several months now and their destructive behaviour has tamed down a lot. They still scratch the back bedroom door for our attention if they want more food or water. I really wish they'd do something else for our attention, like ringing a little bell, something that doesn't require me having to sand over and revarnish before the landlord does her annual visits. 

They were vaccinated last month. I wasn't there to see it happen but I heard amusing stories. Lara was in "don't kill me please" cringe mode so she was easy to vaccinate and had her tails trimmed. Kick on the other hand was fighting to escape, and even when the vet had her held down to the table by her neck she knew her back feet were free, so Tony had to hold her back feet down. He said there was lots of loud thumping from her, she was not happy.

They've happily lived on the landing now since we've set up a pair of baby gates to block access to the bedroom doors. We don't always let them roam the house as we noticed if they have too much freedom they decide to be too adventurous and begin gnawing things we don't want them to. If they want to be locked in, which they do at night, they'll scratch the back bedroom door and wait for us to go up and then both hop over to their pet blanket.

All in all we're all now trained.  Rabbits tank us when they want food/water/locking in, and they no longer chew the carpet or furniture, unless they're in a testing mood.

We've ordered an outside hutch and rabbit run too, orders from the landlord. She isn't happy with the rabbits living on the landing, so since they're conditioned not to be destructive we're thinking of having them in the hutch when she does her visits and also when it's nice and dry weather so they can bask in the outdoors a little and treat it as a play house.

They no longer really hate us. Very rarely they ever thump their feet at us now. I think sometimes they have a bunny argument with each other and Kick gets moody and thumps her feet if we go near her while she's sulking. They let us pet them occassionally. Lara still cringes but she'll let me pet her sometimes. I wonder if she doesn't like the touch of human hands on her, a bit like some people don't like the feel of wool on their skin. I'm surprised she still cringes when I tickle her. She also still stretches out to inspect things but not as much as she used to. Slow building confidence in her.

We still need to repaper the wall where Lara chewed it last year. I've used a different excuse to the landlord to repaper the wall myself and she's agreed to it. She hasn't seen the damage to the wall that Lara did, we covered it up so she wouldn't go mental. She did go mental about the hall and landing carpet though. We have 6 weeks to replace it. Glad I had some money in savings for this. Does mean I'm going to have to condition them again once the new carpet is in so they don't go and chew it, same for the wallpaper once we redecorate the wall in the living room.


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## geekgirl101 (Jul 30, 2012)

Oh yeah, Tony tells me that they thump their feet if he gets up too many times in the night to use the bathroom. Their way of saying "wtf you keep waking us up for?!!!" XD


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## agnesthelion (Jul 30, 2012)

Quite the journey you've had with these buns! I sure hope things are getting better and it sounds like they are 

I do actually think rabbits are messy little beings  they aren't low maintenance and require alot of attention. If you can provide that to them, I think the payoff in return is great.

I do have to ask, you say they "bug" you for water. Do they not have unlimited access to water? And do they have unlimited access to hay?

Just curious. Hope things are going well!


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## LakeCondo (Jul 30, 2012)

I'm so glad things are going well.


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## geekgirl101 (Jul 30, 2012)

There's times when they drink the water as fast as we provide it. Often when I go upstairs they still have plenty of hay and water, but then I'll go downstairs and 5 mins later they're scratching the door upstairs for my attention and I'll find they've wolfed down all the hay and drank all the water. The two seem to go together, when they eat they drink loads afterwards. I've even had some days where I refill their water bowl, go to the toilet, and when I come out they've almost drank all the water already.

If me and Tony end up going out for a good portion of the day what we do is we overload their feeder with hay and put out 3 bowls of water. We'll come back and find they've still got half of the hay left over and 1.5 bowls of water, so we'll assume they're fine until 10 mins later we get the "service please" scratching from them, hay feeder and main water bowl empty.


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## LakeCondo (Jul 31, 2012)

Can you tell if they're both heavy drinkers [no, not alcoholic, lol] or just one & have they always been this way? It sounds as though they just like attention & use hay & water as an excuse, but sudden heavy water consumption CAN be a sign of a kidney problem.


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## agnesthelion (Jul 31, 2012)

Wow, that does sound like alot of water. Could you provide them a water bottle in addition to the bowl? Water bottle might "slow down" their water consumption a bit.

But yes, do make sure there is not a health issue too.

Good luck!


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## geekgirl101 (Jul 31, 2012)

Lara is a little more porky than Kick since when Kick is given something she'll run off with it, while Lara stays where the food is so she ends up eating more. I've watched them eating and Lara virtually shovels food down her while Kick only eats what she can fit in her mouth. Lara eats almost endlessly too. She's the first one to reach the treats and hay while Kick aggressively pushes her way in to get some, and when Kick's had her fill she goes for the water while Lara just keeps on eating and eating, and the more she eats the more she drinks, until she gets hiccups from overeating. And when she sleeps she snores. We're a bit concerned that she's on the road to obesity if she doesn't slow down her eating. We've reduced the amount of treats they get to just herbs but she still scoffs more of them than Kick does.

We regularly inspect their cage when we clean it. Once they had calcium deposits in their urine and we discovered it was from the spinach so we greatly reduced the amount of spinach and carrot they were given. Since then their urine and droppings have been normal.

I think the thing is this flat can get fairly warm sometimes, and they are just drinking to cool down. When we let them roam free I noticed they pick areas where there's a bit of a draft from the cellar and they'll flake out and fall asleep in that area. They don't drink so much when they sleep down there, it's just days when they're kept upstairs that they both go on a heavy drinking spree.

Oh, I tried a bottle on them and they never used it. My husband said he watched them once make an attempt at trying to get water from it but nothing came out, so they gave up trying. That's when we replaced it with a water bowl.


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## agnesthelion (Jul 31, 2012)

You should try frozen water bottles if they are hot. Bunnies love to lay up against them to get cool


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## LakeCondo (Aug 1, 2012)

And if you have some ceramic serving platters you're not using, they stay cooler than room temp, see how they like laying in them. Honey loves the platters I bought her. On the hot days & keep one in the freezer & rotate them. Fans of course help too.


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## geekgirl101 (Aug 2, 2012)

Well, problem solved then if it is overheating. We bought an outdoor hutch and run for them to stay in during the warm seasons. They didn't like me picking them up and taking them to the hutch but once they were inside the enclosure they were too busy exploring the new surroundings and eating hay to be mad at me. They've now got so much hay, 5x more than what was in the indoor hutch. It's a huge hutch!

The garden has a lot of trees and bushes in it. We've tried to tie back the daylilies that were poking through the run, and just when I thought everything was looking well a couple of leaves from a nearby honeysuckle tree blew into the run and Kick ate them. I hope she'll be ok, I'll keep a lookout for her tomorrow and hope she doesn't get ill from eating them.


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## geekgirl101 (Sep 26, 2012)

The rabbits seem quite happy living outside, although with all this wet weather there's times they've let themselves get too cold and are shivvering while waiting for their breakfast.

We let them run loose every day and into the house. They've taken a liking to the bushes and daylilies in the back garden and are constantly keeping them well trimmed for us... a little too well trimmed on the daylilies.

Half the time Tony forgets to check all the doors upstairs before letting them free, and when we realise one rabbit is missing it can only mean one place she's gone... today I found her half-buried in the sack of bird seed munching her way to China. I grabbed hold of her and she tried to dig deeper in and gently tossed her out the room, still munching away on the mouthful of seed she hoovered up.


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## LakeCondo (Sep 28, 2012)

I'm glad to hear things are going pretty well.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 10, 2012)

My bunnies are becoming more and more human. They were lay out in front of the TV like 2 rabbit-shaped rugs. As soon as Tony put on Madagascar 3 they turned around to get a better view and were there throughout the movie right up to the credits, and then they left and went to their hutch waiting to be put in.


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## agnesthelion (Nov 10, 2012)

Glad things are going better. Sounds like you are bonding better with them.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 10, 2012)

Well... sort of. They both have their quirks and are picky about when they want to be friends with us.

Lara is still exceptionally nervous of human contact. She'll stretch her body out and very lightly touch a hand with her whiskers and then backs off. If I try to stroke her she'll run away or cringe despite me being gentle with her, but if there's food in the hand she'll quite happily eat out of the hand.

Kick on the other hand doesn't mind being stroked now and then, sometimes she just isn't in the mood and will run off. She always shakes her body after I stroke her though, so I think she actually doesn't like being stroked or loved like a puppy. Give her food though and she'll take it and run off with it, unless I move away first and then she'll stay until Lara shows up wanting it.

They're ok in my company, we've watched TV together. A few days ago I sat on the floor watching Watership Down with them. I lay back watching it, they were a bit warey of me lying down at first but then later they relaxed, so much that Kick just entirely flattened out on the floor. As long as she's comfy and not nervous then Lara will calm down, although Lara still remains cautious and watchful and will be the first to react if something disturbs her.

Bonfire night I got really worried they'd freak out with the sounds of explosions. The neighbours had a small firework display on the night before and they got a bit freaked out by it. I set up their indoor hutch on the landing with some fresh hay in it and put a litter box nearby incase they'd want to stay indoors for the night and feel safe. Despite my efforts they wanted to go outside to their hutch and were quite happy sitting out in the cold with fireworks going off in the background. I guess they got used to it.

They go to bed at 6.30pm every night now. They will wait outside or inside their run waiting for us to lock them in for the night, and by early noon they'll be sat by the entrance wanting to be let loose. They like the outdoors more than the indoors and just pop in to check on us now and then, but when the TV is on it's like movie night with the whole family.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 17, 2012)

Wow, our local pet shop is stocking more stuff in for rabbits! They're now busy munching away on some fresh parsley from the grocers, a small piece of sharon fruit, and some dried harvest greens from the pet shop. I also bought them some snap n share treats which I'm sure they won't share  some cammomile and marigold sticks which will probably last 10 mins if that, and some other kind of fruit and veg sticks they've just stocked which I've never seen before. I'm sure they'll love them all and wolf them down as fast as they go in their cage.

I already gave them a strawberry stick last night and they were trying to rip it out of my hands before I could fix it into their hutch. Kick literally jumped at it and tore a huge chunk off the top.

For the rest of the week there's more of that parsley, some fresh rosemary, celery, and they can have some of the parsnip I got for some dinner that I haven't quite planned what to cook them with yet.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 28, 2012)

Well... they just LOVED those coated millet sticks I got from the pet shop, and pretty much every treat I bought them. They didn't like the rosemary though. They sort of played with it but weren't that interested with it. Same with the courgette, I left some chunks in the hutch and they were still there next morning. I offered them some asparagus today with a mixture of chopped celery, cucumber, watercress, fig and grape. They ignored the asparagus, so more for me tonight fried in butter, yum.


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## geekgirl101 (Dec 4, 2012)

The little Â£$Â£$%"$^"!!! We're in big trouble now. I was wondering why their toilets weren't being used so much and thought perhaps they were pooping on the plants, which would give them fertilizer at least. Went to get the xmas decorations out of a small dresser in the dining room and to my horror saw on the wooden floor in the corner a huge mound of rabbit droppings. The wood is stained a horrible dark brown and white colour. If our landlord sees that she'll kick us out for sure, not like they hadn't already caused enough damage as it is when they tore a massive chunk of wallpaper off the living room wall last year and wrecked the carpet in the hallway that we've had to replace ourselves, and chewed away at the wooden railings upstairs. I need a solution, I need to get that discolouration off the wood. Any suggestions?


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## geekgirl101 (Jan 29, 2013)

Tony left their hutch open last night...again. Only this time we didn't have the chicken wire around the gate to the neighbours. Got a knock on the door this morning by them informing us that our rabbits were in their garden! Well, I found Kick hunched up in a corner in our garden, she must've had her first close up encounter with the new kittens next door and got spooked by it, so I picked her up and dropped her into the kitchen. Lara was being a real bugger to behave. She was in our garden but was refusing to let me approach her and convince her to enter the kitchen herself or have me pick her up. In the end I got brutal with her. I grabbed her at her hips as she tried to run off, dragged her towards me and pinned her head down until she stopped struggling. Not the best way to grab a rabbit, I know. I picked her up and rather than try to stand up with her I shuffled on my knees to the kitchen and dropped her off.

Thought that was that and they were now safely away from the cats. Unfortunately that wasn't the end of the story. Kick must've managed to sneak out while I was trying to capture her sister and lept over the low fence Tony had erected around the bushes and dashed into the neighbours' garden, and found a way out of it. I literally emptied the cupboard under the stairs to see if she was hiding back there, used a torch and went on my hands and knees looking under and behind tables, fireplaces, and other furniture but she wasn't there. It's been almost 12 hours and she hasn't made an appearance. Lara is back in her hutch. We left pellets and a beetroot outside in case Kick should come back hungry.

It's a very bad situation. I think she's gone for good. I'm hoping she didn't have a first encounter with a dog or that would've ended tragically. Tomorrow going to post lost and found notes around the local newspaper shops and post office.


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## geekgirl101 (Jan 29, 2013)

B*gger me, she was hiding in the kitchen all this time! We think she went behind the chest freezer and hibernated under the engine. There's no signs of her having been there, no urine or droppings, although her botty was wet. She's now back in her hutch with Lara, who was really happy to see her and ran out to greet her when I opened the entrance to the run. Tony just put a mesh there now to stop her getting behind it in the future.


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## JBun (Jan 29, 2013)

Lol, I bet that was a surprise! I'm glad she was ok and that you found her


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## geekgirl101 (Feb 16, 2013)

Here's some piccies I took recently...






Kick and Lara sleeping.





Playing today with their new hay-filled ball.


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## geekgirl101 (Feb 16, 2013)

JBun said:


> Lol, I bet that was a surprise! I'm glad she was ok and that you found her



Yeah, it was quite a shock. I went to the kitchen to make a drink and I turned the lights on and there she was in the middle of the room, I almost freaked out lol.


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## Chrisdoc (Feb 17, 2013)

THey are two cute bunnies, can´t believe they´re so naughty lol.


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## geekgirl101 (Mar 14, 2013)

They're getting into jumping onto the sofa now. Kick is regularly leaping up and crawling over me and today Lara has started to jump up. I've been giving them some new treats to try out, the Fenugreek Crunchies by Rosewood, and they adore them! I've started placing a regular order on Amazon also for the Excel nuggets, tried them on a new flavour yesterday - the one with oregano, and they were happily wolfing it down like no tomorrow. They really do love their pellets. ^^ Shame Amazon doesn't do a subscrption on the Rosewood treats since they love practically everything they make. They demolished that ball in the picture so I bought them a new one the other day. They weren't too bothered with it though when I put it on the ground, they were more interested in the new cookies I had in my hands.

They're now sat in their favourite spot by the fireplace watching the TV. Any minute I'll be hearing what sounds like a dying man taking his last breaths as Lara snores away. She makes quite a noise when sleeping! I thought perhaps she was a bit overweight but she's not much bigger than Kick.


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## geekgirl101 (Jun 4, 2013)

This morning the pair were spayed, as if having already been to vet for boosters at the weekend wasn't bad enough stress. They've been really scared of us all day and just resting loads, which I'm not surprised. I've been spoiling them rotten with loads of hay, ferbivore with marigold, fenugreek crunchies, celery crunches, ginko plus, fresh parsley, and a rose coated millet. Kick is sort of back in action and healthily eating and drinking, but Lara isn't. Lara hasn't moved much, she's only nibbled on some things but hasn't shown much interest. I don't think she's eaten any of the hay, she's ignored the ginko plus, celery crunches and millet, even though Kick reserved half for her. She's eaten some parsley and a couple of the fenugreek crunchies and she's had a little water. I tried mashing some pellets in water and offering it to her but she's not interested. Kick is happy to polish it off instead.

The vet said to avoid fresh foods and fruits for a few days whilst they recover, but if it's a choice between her suffering with damp stools from eating the parsley and dying from a gastric reaction from not eating then I'd rather she'd have the runs for a day or two than a dead rabbit. I fear what will happen tomorrow when the painkillers wear off. I heard a rabbit can lose its appetite entirely when they wear, so with her already showing a lack of interest in anything besides fresh parsley I'm growing very concerned. I decided to keep them indoors where it's just slightly warm, cosy and dry to provide a safe and quicker recovery. I'm also sleeping in the same room tonight in a hopes my company will reassure them they're safe, and hopefully rebuild our relationships.


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## geekgirl101 (Jun 5, 2013)

Woke up this morning to see Lara hop into the carrier where I put all the hay last night. She spent quite a bit of time in there. Left the door open slightly when going to the bathroom, and when I came out both were in the hallway.  Kick had even gone up a few steps. Everyone went back into the living room and I watched Lara tuck into some more hay. I gave them some more celery crunches and fenugreek crunchies. Lara was happy to have me drop them on the floor rather than taking them from my hand, and now they're both munching away on them.


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## geekgirl101 (Jun 5, 2013)

Made a quick dash to the garden centre when Tony revealed that rabbits seek lavender when stressed and is a natural anaelgesic. I have 2 small lavender pots now in the living room for them to munch on when they feel like it.


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## geekgirl101 (Aug 26, 2013)

Been a while since I updated about the bunnies. So far they're doing well. I've been in and out of hospital and had an operation myself so now I know how they felt. Today Tony rearranged their extension so the back yard looks more tidier and gives the illusion that their hutch is bigger than ever. They're happy with the rearrangements. Need to put their dig box back in there once all their self-provided fertilizer has broken down and fed the grass seeds.


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## PaGal (Aug 26, 2013)

There set up looks very nice.


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## Chrisdoc (Aug 27, 2013)

Agree with Denise, a great set up. I love the tunnel going from one end to the other. Bet they just love it.


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## jemm (Aug 27, 2013)

Loving the tunnel


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## geekgirl101 (Sep 24, 2013)

Oh yeah, they really love the tunnel. It's so funny now when they're sat where they are now and we go out to give them their breakfast they both dive into the tunnel, exit into the hutch/run area, and then jump back to the big metal run where they started. They do it every time hehe.

Munch time!


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## Chrisdoc (Sep 24, 2013)

They´re just so lovely together. See they´re munching away, is that spring cabbage, mine just love it. I just love how the leaves are so big.


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## geekgirl101 (Oct 31, 2013)

Lara, you were such a sweet little bunny. You were ever so gentle and timid. I'll miss you so much.





We don't know why she passed away. My husband found her lying in the run this morning. She was feeling rather boney compared to Kick and we noticed she had issues jumping up things and not making it which was odd. We didn't spot them as warning signs that something was wrong. She was eating fine, she was pooping all over the place, we increased the food rations to plump her up a little to prepare for the cold weather. There was no signs of fly strike so we're just baffled.

We're going to get Kick checked in with a vet to make sure she's perfectly healthy, and also look into introducing a rescue bunny to the family to keep Kick company.


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## geekgirl101 (Oct 31, 2013)

Just a couple of days before we gave the bunnies a big feast of curly kale, spring greens, parsley, carrot tops, and half a green pepper. They were both happily munching away, chewing at each others' carrot tops like lovers eating the same string of spaghetti. We bought an unhealthy treat with lots of fats and seed hoping that the fats would help put on a little weight. Tony watched Kick rush up to the treat and pin Lara down to stop her reaching the treat. After a few seconds though Lara had enough of it and wrangled her way from Kick's grip and got her share of the treat. Yesterday they both munched away at carrot tops like no tomorrow. We didn't think any more of it, we thought perhaps Lara just was burning off energy, but it never really occurred to us that she was lethargic and weak until now.


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## Tauntz (Oct 31, 2013)

I'm so sorry for your loss of your sweet little bun, Lara. Hope Kick is okay & will get over the loss of his bunny mate, Lara.


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## geekgirl101 (Oct 31, 2013)

Kick's also female, I know strange name for a girl. She's not behaving "normal". She's got gurgling noises in her tummy, she's hunching up a lot and constantly repositioning herself to get comfy, her head was shaking earlier and she was making grinding noises with her teeth, I was able to catch and hold her earlier for a good 5-10 mins while rubbing her tummy and she just relaxed in my arms. This isn't normal, she hates being caught and held and will scratch the skin off my arms and chest to get free, but she left no marks on me and didn't even bolt off and thump her feet when I let her go. She's not moving much, she's picked a spot under a coffee table and has barely moved from it. I turned the heat up, put in some fresh water, chew sticks, rabbit toilet, and a pet carrier filled with fresh hay. She had a good munch at some carrot tops earlier but then she suddenly stopped eating part-way, was making motions like she was about to regurgitate, and then she "limped" to the coffee table and hunched herself up like she had thorns in her paws and was just trying to get comfy. I'm taking her to a vet in 2 hours.


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## geekgirl101 (Oct 31, 2013)

Kick is in an emergency animal hospital. She was very close to death when we arrived. They're going to call us and let us know more of her condition.


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## Chrisdoc (Oct 31, 2013)

Devastated to hear about Lara and am praying that Kick will pull through. I love these two and can´t believe Lara´s gone. Keep us posted about Kick ray:


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## geekgirl101 (Oct 31, 2013)

The vets called, Kick's been given treatment for worming and antibiotics and they said she's perked up and is now passing stools and munching on fresh dandelion leaves. She's not completely out of the woods yet but they're hoping she'll be much better tomorrow and they're gonna let us know tomorrow how she is. They said that the gradual weight loss and sudden lethargic behaviour is likely caused by worm burden. We didn't think they needed worming because we don't have neighbouring dogs entering our garden, however our neighbours recently got cats and it's now a likely thought that the cats have explored other gardens where there's dogs, picked up worms, and then visited our garden and the rabbits have gotten infected. We're going to make sure Kick gets regular worming from now on, and we'll look into adopting a new bunny for company once she's back to her normal self so that she doesn't pine and get depressed.


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## geekgirl101 (Oct 31, 2013)

I'm crying buckets now in my stupidity in thinking that the bunnies didn't require regular treatment to protect against paracites. It's a hard lesson to learn that by trying to save money endangers the pet and that the risk is not worth it. I feel I neglected my rabbits by not opting for a regular worming plan because I wanted to save the stress and cost of my husband having to drive to the vets every couple of months to have them treated. I feel I was blind to not notice that Lara not only felt bony but couldn't even jump up a coffee table because she was so weak and wasn't the result of not getting enough food. I am so angry with myself for letting this happen in thinking they didn't need the treatment and didn't take into account that cats can scale fences and pick up paracites from other infected animals.


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## Chrisdoc (Oct 31, 2013)

So relieved to see she´s on the mend and hope she recovers quickly. 

Don´t beat yourself up about what you didn´t do, you´ve now learnt the very hard way and Kick will be protected from now on as well as any other bun you take into your home who will be a very lucky bun. You´ve also made me think as I haven´t had mine wormed, I only had them vaccinated last week cos I thought they didn´t need it in Spain but I will be going back to the vets now to check if they need worming as well even though they´re indoor buns. Your experience has made me think so thank you for that. 

Lot of good vibes and bunny hugs for Kick.


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## geekgirl101 (Oct 31, 2013)

Indoor buns maybe don't need it so much, maybe only every few months since there's the possibility of treading ground where infected animals have been and walking that into carpets, but since mine are outside they're labelled "prone to parasitic infection". I'd still make sure your buns gets treated whether you think they need it or not and your vet could probably discuss a regular plan that suits indoor buns. I wish the vets I went to who offered the plan in the first place were more persistent and warned me of the dangers of not being treated and that to ignore their advice would be neglecting them. I'm just so angry with myself for not paying proper attention and angry with them for not being more persistent to get me to agree to a treatment plan against parasites.


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## Chrisdoc (Oct 31, 2013)

I had a similar experience as the first vet where I neutered them didn´t feel it was necessary to vaccinate. I came across this second vet by chance and she said that it was really important to do it and explained the reasons which is why I went ahead. If something had happened to any of my three I would have been devastated but I took the advice of the first vet which was incorrect. You can´t foresee everything and now you are taking steps so that it doesn´t happen again to Kick or any other bunny you take into your home. I will certainly be asking the vet if mine need it.


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## JBun (Oct 31, 2013)

I'm so sorry that you lost your rabbit and that your other one isn't doing well. Don't beat yourself up. Regular worming really isn't a normal thing to do with rabbits, and isn't even usually recommended. Rabbits can be affected be certain worms, but very often it doesn't become an issue, so that's why regular worming isn't usually done like it is with cats and dogs, but is instead just treated if evidence of a parasite burden is present. Is there a reason your vet believes that it is worms that affected both of your rabbits? Was evidence found in a fecal test or other test? 

I'm glad Kick is improving and hope that he will be back home with you soon.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 1, 2013)

They said that the gradual weight loss despite eating loads and then the sudden deterioration in health was typical of parasitic infection. They may have done other tests while she was in the hospital to determine the cause of her sudden illness and weight loss. She was extremely cold and thin when we brought her in and her breathing and pulse dropped that we thought she died in the car just short of arriving, but luckily she bopped her head up as we pulled up outside the hospital and tried to put up a bit of a fight when they took her out of the blanket but was more like "get of me... urgh... whatever" What treatment they've given her has worked a miracle in bringing her round. She's been on medication to clean her gut out and she's responded well to fluids and antibiotics. They said she's still very thin but she's eating and drinking healthily and is more active than when she first went in and was even moving around this afternoon. We can bring her home tomorrow since they want to keep an eye on her for a further 24 hours with her having gone downhill so quickly, but we'll need to clean out all her toys and living quarters first with bleach to kill off any remaining parasites that may be lurking around.

We've come to the conclusion that the new kittens next door have now grown to an age where they're capable of scaling fences and exploring their surroundings. It's highly likely they've picked up the parasites from another garden and transmitted them to ours and then the bunnies got infected. I've informed the neighbours that the bunnies had worm burden and that they may want to treat their cats since they've made frequent visits to our bunnies and may now be contagious themselves.

We're ever so sad to have lost a rabbit to those wretched parasites, and such a loving and gentle rabbit too. We were so certain they were both to live long and happy lives that we spent much money on treatment plans and spathing, never crossed our mind that they would catch worms and that they would kill them. Kick will be getting lots of unwanted attention from us for the next few weeks until we're certain she's no longer contagious and then we can take her on a bunny date at the local sanctuary to find her a new friend to replace Lara.


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## Chrisdoc (Nov 1, 2013)

Glad to hear she´s doing so well and recovering quickly and she´ll be back to normal in no time with lots of love and care from you. 

I look forward to hearing news once she´s well and you start looking for a new friend for her.


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## ladysown (Nov 1, 2013)

i wanted to delete this post


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 2, 2013)

Kick is back home with us, and she's not a happy bunny. She's shying away from being touched on top of her usual "I don't WANT to be petted!" attitude. She still seems a little weak, wasn't able to make it up the stairs so I carried her up to where her indoor hutch is. Straight away went for the water, then she noticed the carrot/hay box. We've given her access to the living room and hall/landing only and will put her carrier with hay in the living room plus an extra toilet and water bowl in here so if she does make it downstairs and can't get back up again then she's got a source of food and water down here. I'll probably sleep downstairs with her too for a few days to try to gain her confidence in humans again, especially if I got to administer medication for the next 6 days! Good thing I learned how to make a bunny burrito from youtube.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 2, 2013)

I feel so sorry for Kick. Even though she saw her sister lying dead in her run a few days ago she is still looking around for her and leaving half the food for her. She's quite willing to eat all the bunny snacks we have to offer but she's eating only the best half the greens and then waiting around for Lara to come for the rest. Wish I could tell her that Lara isn't coming back so that she doesn't keep looking so unhappy and leaving half the food.


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## Chrisdoc (Nov 2, 2013)

That is heartbreaking, the poor little love, I hope she finally realises she´s not coming back and takes comfort from you, I´m sure she´ll get loads of love and as many hugs as she´ll let you give here. Bunnies are just so smart and it´s awful to see them miss their companion so much.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 3, 2013)

She's stopping leaving food for her sister and now it looks like she's going through bunny depression. She hates hugs, isn't too into being petted, but she was lying out like a roll of bunny-shaped carpet and we were able to gently pet her and she wouldn't flinch. She's still eating though, especially treats. We got her ball upstairs filled with celery crunchies to play with, she had a little go at it munching on the bits that fell out and then went back into her hutch and flopped out with her head against the ground. I'll try not to leave it too long to find her a mate but I don't want to risk her infecting a sanctuary. Is a month too long?


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 4, 2013)

Well, I thought she gave up on leaving food for her sister. I gave the kitchen and dining room a mop over with some bleach so she can now explore those rooms too. She saw her reflection in the glass doors and thought it was Lara and left half of her chunk of sharon fruit and sat staring at the door. She's very angry with me picking her up in a blanket and shoving medicine down her mouth twice a day but I can't think of any other way of getting it down her. The paste I could put in a piece of fruit but the other medicines are far too watery, unless I make some bunny cookies and soak them in the medicine, but I suspect she won't like the taste and is far easier to force medicine down her throat than force her to eat a medicine-soaked cookie. I guess she'll have to put up with it for now for the next 5 days until it's all used up, and then it's a once every 3 month treatment for precaution with the paste hidden inside a treat. In the meantime we're friends again since I've been giving her lots of treats to try and win back her friendship as well as put a bit of meat on her bones since she's still very thin.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 6, 2013)

Kick is one peed-off bunny today. She was happy with me earlier today until I bundled her up and took her to the vet for a checkup. They're satisfied she's being a typical angry bunny and has put on 28 grams since they last saw her. We're to cut down the veggies so she doesn't develop gastric problems and can put on the weight slowly through her regular diet. She's now very cross with me, bit my hand earlier when trying to hold her still while the vet checked her heart beat and tummy. I'm glad to hear she's doing great and won't need any more treatment, less stress on her being poked around by strange humans. We'll take her to the sanctuary at the weekend to find her a boyfriend.


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## JBun (Nov 6, 2013)

Well, she's certainly feeling much better if she's biting. I'm glad to hear she has perked up and is doing well. Hopefully you will find a good companion for her at the sanctuary.

If you don't mind me asking, did the vet tell you what parasite they were treating for and what medication did they give you for it?


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 6, 2013)

Ah, no they didn't say specifically but it was most definitely for worms as the paste medication says it's for worming.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 9, 2013)

We have a new bunny in town... photos soon to come once it's more lighter since it's now pretty dark.

Archie is a golden brown/white mini lop, he's 2 years old so he's a little younger than Kick (on another note we've learned Kick is also a mini lop.) On their first bunny date Kick and Archie seemed to take to each other quite well. Kick is still an independent bunny so she's not so into having a man boss her around, but there was no quarreling between them so we were quite happy to take the pair back home together. He looks very much like Lara did with the flatter face, and he outstretches in the same way she used to.

Archie was neutered only last month so he still has a lot of testosterone in his system, and Kick isn't so happy in the constant humping every few minutes... especially when he aims for her face! No, that's not a carrot.

So far he's behaving like a typical new bunny - curious about his surroundings and marking everything as his, but making a bolt for it when we come near him. We're hoping with Kicks' example of being around us that he too will settle down with our presence and let us pet him eventually.

We've had a further look into Kick's medication which ends today. One is a worming paste, one is an antibiotic, and one is to treat GI Stasis.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 9, 2013)

Considering renaming Archie to Snuffles. He grunts around Kick then pushes her out of the way and flops down right next to her, followed by a little sneeze. Doesn't do it too often so not really too concerned, but I think that it would still be an idea to have him registered with the local vet and have them do a quick health check. He seems quite ok, he's very big and fluffy (compared to Kick who is all skin and fur and very little meat on her bones), he's got giant brown eyes that look clean, and he has an appetite for carrot-coated boxes... hence why I'm up so late because the darned thing is keeping me awake!


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## Chrisdoc (Nov 10, 2013)

Great news and I´m so glad you took the plunge so quickly, I think Kick will really appreciate it. I like Archie but Snuffles is cute as well, I´d have to see a photo to decide lol. 

Glad they´re getting on so far and hope they settle in together and become two very happy and loved up bunnies :wink


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 12, 2013)

Archie's doing very well. He's a bit overweight and his behaviour indicates that his last owner must've kept him in a small back yard hutch for over 2 years and ignored him because he wasn't responding well to human interaction and is still extremely jumpy and not very active. He's also not a big eater and is eating hay in very small amounts like it's new to him which makes me think his last owner probably only fed him museli or pellets and didn't provide him with hay for eating. Today he's gotten as far as letting us pet him and lots of sniffing hands, and while he's still slow going down stairs he was doing bunny 500's earlier this afternoon from the kitchen to the living room before taking a breather on the cold tiles in front of the fire place.

Anyways, here's a picture of the little furball.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 18, 2013)

Life's been good for Archie and Kick. Every morning it's bunny 500's, they get a regular snack of something green when I have lunch and dinner, they lounge around upstairs most the time and hop down for hay nibbles and box mutilation, I've received and given kisses, and today I watched them grooming each other. He's now top of the pecking order for grooms, but when it's food time Kick is her greedy self in forcing herself in the way and wolfing down the best bits before Archie gets a sniff, and she steals his treats too.

I've learned Archie isn't so much into fruit as Kick is. Kick has happily munched on a little bit of mango today but Archie wasn't so keen on it. He doesn't like persimmon either whilst Kick will do her usual snatch and run with her piece. In a way I'm kind of glad he's not so excited about fruit as she is as there's less chances of him getting more porky than he already is.

The other day I let them out for an hour to play in the outdoor hutch. Archie took some time to get brave enough to explore but once he did he had fun running around in and out of the tunnel and buried himself in the bed chamber full of hay. I want to give them more time in there but I don't want them getting too cold, so I ordered a snugglesafe heat pad to put in the bed chamber so if they get chilly they can snuggle up warm to it. I'm thinking of keeping them outside during the day and inside during the night until the really cold weather sets in, although we may have moved house by then to one that has a brick shed that we can modify and put their hutch in there and the run outside with the tube connecting them together. Means we can also tear up the existing plants to rabbit-friendly ones too so that if we let them run around they won't make themselves ill if they have a nibble.


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## Chrisdoc (Nov 18, 2013)

He´s adorable, I just love him and I am so glad they are getting on together. 

He doesn´t look too porky, maybe try cutting back on some of his pellets and seeing if he´ll eat more hay if he doesn´t have anything else to eat. You´re right, maybe better if he´s not keen on the fruit and if he likes his veggies then you can replace some of the pellets with those. 

Sounds good if you can house them somewhere safe and warm in the winter, just need to get them growing their winter coats. 

I would love to see some pics of them together and once again, congratulations on the new addition :adorable:


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 18, 2013)

Yeah, he's eating more of everything else and less of his hay. It's something I'll have to work on with him to get him into eating hay, should be able to fix that over the next few days if the weather isn't terrible as then he'll be in hutch/run where all to eat is hay.

He did something absolutely cute the other day and I wish I had a camera at the time. He suddenly flopped onto his side really quickly then rolled to his back, lifted a paw in the air, and was washing it. It looked so cute!


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 19, 2013)

ok, here's more piccies as promised.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 19, 2013)

More pictures of Archie and Kick. I'm going to be fixing that loose cable in the background soon to put it in the cable protector. Just waiting for Archie to get off his soft fuzzy butt first.


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## geekgirl101 (Nov 30, 2013)

Now that I've had an attempt at weighing the bunnies it seems Kick is now a healthy 3.5lbs whereas Archie is a little over 4lbs (he was even puffier when we first got him!) We've started rationing their foods to a suitable amount for their sizes. Archie is beginning to lose the weight, can now see definition in his back legs. He's learning to eat faster if he wants to eat else Kick will greedily wolf hers down and then forces Archie's head up to see if there's any food he's still chewing on and snatches it out of his mouth, then she shakes her head and turns around when he tries to get it back. Seems I'm going to have to separate them when eating because she's being far too aggressively greedy.


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## Chrisdoc (Dec 1, 2013)

There´s nothing cuter than a lot sitting to attention. The face on that photo is cuteness overload. I love them both, such lovely buns. Looks like they´re getting used to each other now and enjoying it. I really am glad you found another bun for Kick. I´m lucky, both of mine share quite well but one is quicker eater the greens than the other. I just have to give him more on the sly when the other two aren´t looking although that is hard, they never miss a trick lol.


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## geekgirl101 (Dec 22, 2013)

Archie certainly puts on the cute look. The best is when he flops on his side then rolls onto his back and starts grooming himself, it looks so adorable!

We've decided to put a baby gate on the entrance to the living room. They're owning so much of the house now that they're being disobedient and disruptive. Today Kick jumped onto the christmas tree (like she has been doing the past few days) and eventually the weight of the board holding it couldn't take her weight any more and it bent over, causing the tree to topple over. A ceiling garland was destroyed and the wings of a very expensive tinkerbell tree topper that I imported from the US a couple of years ago were broken off and her neck was damaged too.  We're tired of them using behind the TV as a toilet, not just the potty but the entire area. The carpet is horrendously stained in bunny urine and there's just handfuls of poo all over the carpet, it's disgusting.

Tonight I witnessed for the first time Archie attack Kick. Every time I go to the kitchen to prepare something they both bolt up to me and press themselves against my legs, and when I move they weave around my feet and go on their hind legs to see what I've got and it's dangerous because they keep tripping me over and I'm scared they'll make me fall over whilst holding a glass or a knife and badly injure myself. Whilst making myself a cheese sandwich after a minute of them tripping me over and sitting on my feet suddenly Archie chased Kick around the room at high speed and chased her out of the kitchen into the living room. I've never seen them do that to each other before, I think he's just had enough of her antics and wants to show her he's boss.


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## Chrisdoc (Dec 25, 2013)

I love my bunnies but sometimes when they break or ruin something you´ve had for ages or really treasure....well, it kind of makes you rethink. 

Sorry they broke your tinkerbell and they don´t even realise. I decided not to put up a big tree, I´d have had to fence it off and don´t really have the space so I bought a small fibre optic one last year and I have a little corner for it with some other decs and the buns can´t get at it. 

Two of mine chase each other and I think it´s just to show who´s boss as my smallest one is the leader of the pack...he´s a REW with attitude lol.


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