2011 Texan Tales & Tails

[Nyx]

Dear Forum Members & Bunny Friends,

I am writing to file a complaint. I'm MAD at mom right now and I'm so furious that I think if I smelled a banana in her hand I'd still ignore her. Ok...I'd find a way to get the banana...but still yet.

She was discussing her breeding plans tonight with the girls and the bucks were listening in.

I didn't mind y'all encouraging her to breed Fat Butt....I told Fat Butt it was time she carried her part of the rabbitry load so that was fine. But that was when mom was gonna breed her to Big Jake.

NOW SHE'S GONNA BREED HER TO DUKEY? MY DUKEY?

I am not a happy bunny at all.....I don't care if Dukey is doing binkies in his cage because he has a date tomorrow - that was never part of the plan.

Then to top it all off...well you tell me - how would you feel if this was the way you were treated...?

Mom is telling the girls their assigned bucks (and she's even breeding MEATBALL by the way!)....but she never mentions my name.

So I flick my butt and raise my tail and ask her who I'm getting.....

I mean sheesh - I'm the herd matron -s he should've announced me first - RIGHT?

So she looks at me and sighs and goes, "Nyx honey, you're a bit out of condition and you just raised a litter....I think we'll pass and just let the other girls breed this time.."

Of course they started snickering behind their paws at the "out of condition" comment.

Out of condition my rear.....so what if I'm missing some fur. I've been away from my litter for 2-3 weeks now....just cause I gave her mostly boys last time (as did Cindy and Portia I might add)...doesn't mean I can't do my part this time.

Why even "Princess" is snickering about all of this....saying, "Maybe you should get YOUR baby-maker removed Nyx.."

Ha ha ha. I'm good at making babies and raising them.

So now I've got to sit around all next month and listen to the girls talk about being pregnant and tired and getting big....and not be pregnant myself. Then I get to listen to them talk about baby-rearing for two months while I don't have a litter of my own.

ITS NOT FAIR!

Anyway - don't tell mom but a couple of the bucks have said that if I can find a way to sneak into their cages while mom has her back turned...they'll help me out and I can have a "miracle litter".

Oh good lord...I gotta go. Dianne is sitting by Rudy's cage and flirting with him. Mom and I already told her that she's either going to be with Mercury or Big Jake because Rudy is her brother.

Back to my matron duties.....

 

[MiniLopHop]

Poor Nyx, you know your mom makes decisions in your best interest. She knows your a great mom and that's why you need to have a break :hug: You have to stay healthy afterall or the heard would fall apart.

 

[Nyx]

Well - I'm back for a couple of minutes. Mom's getting ready to go get food for all of us and I thought I'd let you know that I've decided to be gracious and forgive mom for her words.

Mom and I sat and had a talk and she apologized for making me feel bad. She explained that it would be a lot of extra work for me to be the herd matron and have a litter AND coach all the other girls on how to be good mothers. She pointed out that all the other girls (except Fat Butt) will be first-time mamas (even Thunder who has never successfully raised a litter)....and that if I have to spend time going from cage to cage to check in on everyone - I'd get exhausted.

She also pointed out that it will pretty much be me flirting with the bucks and maybe Cindy and Portia....that the other girls will all be with babies.

She said that I'm so good at flirting that I could handle it on my own but that none of the other girls could do as good of a job and they do need a chance to be mothers.

She also explained to me that she's trying for the "best" does in the litters and that according to the various charts, etc. she's read - there are only two or three dates to breed on - and she needs to get these other girls bred pretty soon for their first litter!

I still was feeling a bit bad until she mentioned how much fun she and I can have sharing a banana or apple without the other girls coming in and grabbing some of it because they'll be with their litters.

So I guess I understand where mom is coming from.

She even made a big show of petting me and then saying in a loud voice, "Wow Nyx....you really are in excellent condition. Its too bad I really need you more as herd matron this time because you're such a great mama....".

The girls have stopped snickering now and they are showing me respect again.

Well - I better go. The girls went into hiding when mom came out today and they're now a bit nervous about breeding (even though we've all been talking about it for weeks and weeks). Diane is worried her butt is gonna look fat and Melody is worried she's not going to know what to say or do for her first date.

Even the boys are starting to get nervous...

Mom says she's gonna go get our food first and then come back and start the dates....

So I'm gonna take this time to go and reassure the girls that it will all be ok.

After all - that's what a herd matron does....take care of her herd.

(and sometimes - her breeder mom too).

 

[TinysMom]

Just found out a few minutes ago that I lost the "pick of the litters" broken tort holland lop buck that I adored.

I knew he wasn't feeling the best a day or so ago but I thought I'd just woken him up from a nap.

I'm pretty devastated right now.

Oh - and anyone who says "its easy to get rabbits to breed" is more than welcome to come help me here.

CJ refused to have anything to do with Rudy - she remembers the first time I tried to put them together and she hates his guts. So I had to put her with Mercury who I'm beginning to wonder about as far is...can he still "get it done"?

Meanwhile, Thunder and Hermes (steel and white) are curled up together and she was grooming him and giving him kisses.

Dukey & Harmony ("fat butt") are hiding out in the back of his cage - its pretty darn quiet now but earlier he was thumping up a storm.

Sting (lionhead) appears to be too small to breed with Dotty - so I've put her with Hope - a broken black lionhead who lives with another buck....right now he doesn't seem to realize Dotty's a female...

I haven't yet bred Melody and the only available buck is Rudy (her brother) unless I breed her tomorrow to one of the others - which is a possibility.

Right now though - all "compatible" couples are gonna spend the night together most likely....

 

[Wabbitdad12]

I had to laugh at Thunder and the mouse cord. She looks like she is thinking blah, blah, blah, Thunder, blah blah while you were talking to her.

 

[TinysMom]

Its a really rough morning for me here - this is how I updated my facebook page a bit ago...

For some reason, I seem to have an abundance of "whine" this morning...anyone wanna send me some cheddar & crackers to go with it? (Seriously - I'm gonna make myself some coffee and try to pull myself out of this funk!)
​

I think a lot of it has to do with losing the baby - some of it has to do with a few other things (like the house is a disaster) - part of it might be finances - and part of it is just...I don't know.

Last night all of the girls who were breeding had their "dates" or attempts at their dates.

Here's how it went (without the details).

Harmony seems to have enjoyed her date with Dukey so much that she's refusing to leave him.

Thunder enjoyed her date with Hermes so much that when I tried to get her to come out - she went back and snugggled with Hermes and groomed him - until I tricked her into coming out. Now she wants back in his cage.

Diane definitely wanted out this morning from being with Big Jake. Of all the girls, she was the one who seemed like it stressed her the most.....I'm gonna spend some time loving on her. BJ isn't rough.....and once they were together the first time things seemed ok but still yet - I don't know. I'm not "worried" about her getting hurt, etc. - just gonna keep an eye on her.

Melody isn't leaving SchiBro yet...I'm going to try again to get her in a few minutes.

Finally - poor CJ. She hates Rudy based on a bad first try a while ago....so I put her with her dad, Mercury. She doesn't want to leave this morning .... I can't get her to come out from behind him.

Oh - I finally decided to try RiverSong with Rudy because even though he's her brother - she's REALLY nice. Well....that was a no - go.

Rudy seems to be having problems - its almost like his heart isn't as strong and he was tiring out easy. So I went ahead and took her out and decided to just let him rest.

I wonder if perhaps Rudy could have heart issues just from watching him this time....I don't know.

Anyway - going to clean off my desk, load & run the dishwasher, make some coffee and then try to get the last girls to come out of the cages.

Oh - and Dotty .... Sting appeared to be too small to be able to properly mount her (poor guy) - so I put her with Hope. She spent the night with him and they were all cuddled together this morning but she was ready to come out and play.

I guess that's all for now.

 

[TinysMom]

Wabbitdad12 wrote:

I had to laugh at Thunder and the mouse cord. She looks like she is thinking blah, blah, blah, Thunder, blah blah while you were talking to her.

Yeah - her mom seems to be that way too....

Maybe its cause Nyx was raised in a home....maybe its cause I spoil her too much. I don't know.

 

[TinysMom]

I'm very very discouraged right now - and yet also a bit hopeful.

We lost another holland lop doe today. Don't worry - it wasn't Cindy or her daughters Portia & Dotty. At least I still have these three.

But that's all I have for adults - is those three. Plus since we lost the pick of Cindy's litter - we're down to 7 babies - 5 bucks and 2 does.

So yeah - I'm down. Particularly because I just spent quite a bit of time working with the two litters (I will do photos tomorrow) and Portia's daughter is pretty cow-hocked....and Cindy's daughter just refused to nurse when mama was nursing....so that has me a bit worried since the buck I lost did the same thing before he died. (I'm gonna try a bit of probiotic in a bit).

Anyway - as I worked with the litters here are some of the mental notes that I made...

Cindy's litter - the broken buck is very nice. He doesn't have the massive bones like his brother did - but he doesn't have fine bone either. He will be a nice addition to the herd.

Her other buck is fairly nice. I need to look at him some more to remember and write down his strengths and weaknesses. I sorta have him in the "potential" category. Her doe is nice - as long as she makes it through weaning in a while - she'll definitely join the herd as I don't see major problems with her.

On to Portia's litter. The first two bucks that I pulled out were ok....I will probably do photos of them tomorrow. The third buck hasn't dropped both ears (which has me concerned) - but I like the crown for the ear that has dropped. I especially liked the fact that he would pose naturally and is very trainable (with flakes of oatmeal right now). I think he's the pick of Portia's litter.

Portia's doe.....can I cry? I mean like - really cry?

First of all - her doe has these awesome massive back feet. I love the bone structure - she reminds me of the buck that I lost. She poses somewhat naturally and is fairly easy to work with.

BUT...she is what is called "Cowhocked".....very very bad thing to introduce or reaffirm in my lines. I will definitely have to stay away from breeding her because this isn't exactly the thing you outgrow. When I take photos this weekend, I will probably double-check what I'm seeing with the breeders in the rabbitry area - but I really think she's gonna have to go to a pet home (or be a pet here) because she just isn't worth breeding back into my lines - even with those nice massive feet.

I wish there was someone here on the forum who lived close by me and wanted her....or that I could afford to fly her to someone - I mean - her personality is sorta funny. I suspect she is gonna be quite a handful - wanting to be her own boss and getting into mischief. Almost like an e-lop in a holland lop body. (Poor girl).

For those who might be interested in seeing what I'm talking about as I talk about the rabbits - here are a couple of links:

Holland Lop Type - notice the part at the bottom about being "undercut" - that is what Portia's girl is like only almost worse.

Holland Lop Crowns - because this person is in the UK - he calls them "Miniature Lops" and not "holland lops" like we do here in the US.

I guess that is about it for now....I'd write more but I just don't feel up to it.

I've had to make some changes here at the house and I'm just really down about it....and guess I'm also just tired in general...

Maybe more later....

 

[JadeIcing]

Sorry about the losses. I know I want a boy when it comes to hollands.

 

[TinysMom]

This should work - I hope. I set it to public viewing...

Newest photos of holland lop babies

 

[TinysMom]

First of all.....a picture for the day (I'm restarting my 365 project where you do a picture a day)...

How can you NOT smile at that?


Now for some good news....

ZEUS LOVES ME AGAIN!!!

He's getting back on the bed and letting me pet him. He started this the other day when Ali and I were on the phone and I wasn't sure if he'd keep it up - but he has.

Its so nice when a bunny forgives whatever grudges he has (or decides to put them aside) and loves you again....especially when they share your bedroom with you!

 

[TinysMom]

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R.I.P. Jar Jar Binks
Gone - but never forgotten


[align=left]I will share details later - Jar Jar just died a few moments ago and I'm still sitting here in tears.

He'd been ill for quite a while with abscesses.....he was on meds, etc. but the doctor had been worried that he might have abscesses in his lungs, etc.

We were going to do surgery later this month - when she put him on different meds he had a bad reaction and dropped some weight and I was trying to help him get stronger.

Many breeders probably would have put him down quite a while ago - he had a lot of abscesses and they were huge. We were treating him with antibiotics and hoping to get them to go down....and then when we went to the vet she wanted him on different antibiotics before surgery.

I sometimes struggled with whether or not I should have him put to sleep - I knew he had so many abscesses and he looked so bad. BUT...I couldn't bring myself to do it - he was alert - he was VERY affectionate (he just gave me kisses not half an hour ago) and he enjoyed eating.

I guess that's all I can say for now. Somewhere I have a picture of him I want to share here again....of him playing outside and binkying.

Binky free my boy - binky free.

I never meant to get you when I went to the breeder - but you jumped into my arms and gave me kisses and more kisses and I just couldn't resist you.

I just feel bad because it seemed like you & your sister kept coming down with health problems after I brought you home.

I hope you enjoyed your life - short as it was - with us.

Mama
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[TinysMom]

I found two of my favorite photos of Jar Jar - from this spring (Thank GOD I took them!)...

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That was my boy - JUMPING for joy - he was so happy every time I took him outside to play on the front porch.

Here he is as his abscesses started developing. They got worse than this and it almost felt like the meds the doctor prescribed made them get even worse too.

He had the most kissable nose and he loved it when I petted his nose and kissed him.

I could work on him brushing him, etc. and he'd wait so patiently for me and then I'd say "All Done Jar-Jar" and give him cheerios and he'd wait for me to rub his nose and give him kisses and then I'd hold him close to me sometimes and he'd give me kisses on the neck and just lean against me as if to say, "I love you mommy".

I know it is for the best and he's not in any more pain - now I'm the one in pain.


[/align]

 

[Pipp]

Peg, I'm so sorry. Poor bunny. So frustrating when these things go bad in spite of great efforts. He's pain free, there is solace in that.

And in those great shots that will live on forever.

:rip: Jar Jar Binks.


sas :sad:

 

[Wabbitdad12]

I am so sorry Peg, Jar Jar is such a good looking bun. Jenny and Daisy Mae send their condolences.

Binky free Jar Jar.

 

[TinysMom]

Well FINALLY - some GOOD news to share.

Our son Eric has worked for McCoys Lumber (a Texas based company) for the last 3 years (and 1 month as he would point out). During this time he's gone from cashier to now working as the store admin (basically a bookkeeper type person). His boss has sometimes used his phone etiquette as an example to other employees of how they should answer the phone and he is known for being so picky that the majority of the time when he was a cashier his drawer would balance at the end of the day.

A month or so ago he decided to apply for a job at the corporate offices - working at the help desk.

Eric knew that he wanted to continue with McCoys but that unless he went into management training (and then management) - he was basically in a dead-end job. Moving to corporate would be one way he could move up in the company.

Last week they called him out of the blue and did a phone interview with him - it was the person who would be his boss and their boss (who is over the division if I remember right).

The interview lasted about an hour and a half and during the last half hour or so they were talking to him about the area where the corporate office is and what the cost of living was like, etc. They also talked earlier in the interview about the job and the fact that he would become "Dell certified" as part of the job (they would see that he got the training).

We've been waiting anxiously since then to see what would happen. Eric looked at apartments in the area and figured that in order to make it financially - the least amount of money he could make would be $12 an hour....I looked up "help desk 1" on monster.com's salary wizard and found out that the bottom 10% of those jobs pay $14.78 per hour.....so we felt he would probably be offered at least that much. (He's currently surviving on $9.25 an hour - but it is tough sometimes).

Eric has even already picked out where he would like to live - it is about 1 mile from the headquarters and the apartments are actually "townhouses". He would get a 1 bedroom 1 1/2 bath townhouse to live in.

Today they called Eric back.....to ask him to come up to San Marcos for an interview. Because the store is currently short-handed and because he has a commitment this Saturday to DJ for a wedding - he can not go up until Monday. They are ok with that....

So - they are paying him mileage (415 miles one way - and they're paying him round trip so it will probably be around $400 we think) plus putting him up in a hotel for two nights - to have him come up for the "interview". About half of the day will be spent going around town together too from what I hear - so he can get a feel for the place.

Eric's boss says that he shouldn't tell him this - but he is one of the top contenders for the job. As Eric & Mike were talking - he also told Eric that from his experience with the company - if they offer him the job - they will probably give him around $1500 (pre-tax) to help him with moving expenses.

Eric is going to come down here Sunday on his way to San Marcos and we're going to take him to JC Penney to get him some new clothes for the interview (to give you an idea about where he lives - he has to drive an hour to get to a Walmart). He'll also get a haircut and we'll get the van washed.

I'm so excited for my son. Its sorta funny cause when he was down over Father's Day weekend - he & I went out for a late supper and talked some about his dreams. He mentioned that he'd love to work with computers and build custom computers, etc. but that he lived in such a small town - it would be very hard to build a side business doing that (which hopefully could eventually turn into a business).

San Marcos is definitely a much larger town - it is halfway between San Antonio & Austin.

Anyway - for those who believe in prayer - please pray for him.

They did ask him today if he'd thought anymore about the job and he stated that he had but he had to make sure that he could pay off his student loans, etc. and have enough to live on. So then they asked him what would keep him from taking the job and he said "pay"...that if he could afford the move and living in San Marcos - he would definitely take the job.

I started thinking after Eric's call a bit ago - he will turn 27 in August and it would be so cool if he got to spend his birthday working at his new job or moving to San Marcos to start his new job.

Anyway - needless to say - I'm HAPPY!!!!

 

[TinysMom]

I was really crying over Jar Jar a bit ago - and decided that he would hate to see me like that - he was always so affectionate with me.

So I spent some time with the holland lop babies and came up with this photo - in his honor - since he was a lop and loved to play....and he would want me to remember that life goes on...

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[TinysMom]

I will try to get better pictures soon but I need help naming the holland babies I'm keeping.

I'm definitely keeping the broken tort buck that is in the middle picture in the collage. I think the one beside him is one of the other two bucks I will probably be keeping. I will also be keeping a doe (and maybe keeping the other doe as a pet only until I find her a good home - but not for my breeding program).

Right now my hollands are Cindy, Dotty (who was gonna be D'Artagnan (sp?) from 3 Musketeers and Portia (Porthos from 3 Musketeers). Unfortunately Dotty & Portia were girls when we thought they were boys and they'd learned their names so we just adjusted them a bit...

I like to go with themes - from a book or tv show, etc.

Mamas are Cindy & Portia and daddy was Zuba.

HELP?

 

[TinysMom]

One of the bucks I like (unless its Kissy the girl - but I don't think so)..

A closeup of the broken tort

I think the one kissing the cage is the other one I like...or maybe the first one? I need to take better photos of them alone..

 

[MiniLopHop]

That is so wonderful that things are going well for your son! It sounds like he works very hard and he deserves a good shot at it.

As for the bunny names, I like Hershy, Smores, and Cocoa. Then again, I have been thinking about chocolate all morning for some reason LOL