Bandit: rabbity antics

[Ilovemyrabbit]

I know how scary clipping black nails are as Ash's nails are black too, I sure wish they were white. I can't believe a vet would even handle a bunny like that. I'm so glad you found a better one. I hope Bandit takes everything okay. Haha, when I think of the name Bandit it reminds me of the movie Smokey and the Bandit.

 

[Azerane]

It reminds me of that movie too, even though I've never seen it, I just know the name. It kind of works though since Bandit is a smoke pearl

I just dropped Bandit off at the vet, the vet I really like wasn't in today (she was in monday but the time didn't suit), but at least I didn't get the one I don't like. It's good that they have several rabbit vets there, makes it easier to find a suitable time. So the vet we saw today was also really nice, she really only did a quick check to listen to his heart and lungs before taking him in. I had some of his pellets and a bag of hay, she said he could stay for a week on the amount of food I brought with, lol. I don't think Bandit will eat much at the vet, but he eats an incredible amount of hay every day, it amazes me too.

So here I am, worrying about Bandit while he's probably getting prepped for his surgery. He's going to end up with a tattoo in both ears, one for his desexing, and the other for his microchip. They said I can ring around lunch time to see how things went, but they wouldn't call me unless something went wrong or they had questions. Otherwise, I just go in between 4 and 6pm to go and pick him up. I'm probably going to end up calling, otherwise I'll worry too much

In the meantime, since I just got a new power cable for my laptop yesterday (thanks again, Bandit) I've been able to transfer some more photos onto my laptop, so have some cuteness from Bandit to you.

Chilling on the lawn.

Investigating the funny metal burrow that mummy accidentally left open. (sorry it's so dark, didn't want to flash him)

Couch bunny.

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Yes, Smokey and the Bandit is a funny movie, I just watched two of them about a week ago it is pretty funny.

I loved the pictures Bandit is SO cute! My favorite was the one of him in his little burrow . Good luck on getting him neutered, I'll be thinking of him tomorrow.

 

[Azerane]

Thanks, I love that pic too! His op was today, but I think I said it was on thursday and with time zone differences it makes sense. I just rang the vet clinic to check on Bandit, she said everything went really well, no problems at all and that's he's just starting to find his feet after the aneasthetic. Can't wait till I can pick him up this afternoon

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Oh yes, I didn't realise you were in Austrailia. Now it makes since . Glad to hear everything went okay! I can't wait until you can pick him up! He is so adorabe! Its 11:24 here, how many hours until you pick him up? If its soon maybe I'll stay up for a little longer to read the updates.

 

[Azerane]

At least another 3 hours yet... It's going to take forever.....

 

[Azerane]

So I just got Bandit back from the vet. He's a little woozy and his eyes are wide and glassy, but he's doing well. Came right up to the door of his carrier when I got there to say hi. And when I let him into his hutch he ate a piece of hay straight away and then went inside to start grooming. The vet said he did great, was really happy to eat and drink as soon as he could after the surgery. I'm annoyed that on his desexing certificate they got his date of birth wrong, when it's written on the form I filled out for the microchip, I just hope they didn't copy it wrong onto that either.

Only cost me $145 for the neuter, microchip and nail clip, pretty pleased about that.

EDIT: Phoned them and got his birth date corrected, all good. Bugs me to no end that it was wrong, not sure why. Apparently I'm particular with details. Like no matter how many times I tell them that his breed is Smoke Pearl and his colour is Marten, they keep writing his breed as Rabbit and colour as Smoke Pearl. In this country, Smoke Pearl is a breed, not just a colour!!!! Damnit!!

 

[Chrisdoc]

I do so love that color, he´s such a lovely looking bun.

Glad to hear it all went well and he seems to be doing fine, I´m sure he´ll be back to normal in a few days, boys do recover amazingly quick.

Love the photo of him in his new hidey place and I love the way his colours have come out in that first photo.

 

[Azerane]

Thanks. I felt awful last night because I put him outside in his hutch (because I didn't want him running around in the laundry and aggravating the injury) but it was so windy and quite cold and I just felt awful that he had to be out there in that after his op, so today I got creative with his fencing panels and made a temp indoor hutch. It actually turned out really well, measures roughly 125x60x60cm. It means I can watch him more closely, and he seems to have picked up a little since being brought inside, playing with some toys, throwing his food dish around, going to town on his seagrass mat etc. He's also eating and pooping well, which is good. I can tell he's getting better though, he's trying to shake the cage bars to get out, something he does to the fence panels when they're blocking him, and he can often lift them out of the way (bad bunny).

Here's the temp hutch.

And my little man

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Wow! That is so cool that you just built that! Crafty!

I'm glad he is recovering well, pooping and eating is good news. He is such a cutie! I loved the pictures of him but the last one was my favorite he is so adorable.

 

[Azerane]

Thanks so much. The cage is working pretty well and he's got plenty of room in it for hopping and stretching out, causing chaos etc.

He seems to be doing pretty well, eating, drinking, pooping well. I managed to pick him up and look at the site yesterday, it looked alright as far as I could tell. Haven't managed to get a look at it today like I wanted because every time I try to secure him he freaks out (probably because he's in pain?) So then because I don't want him struggling and hurting himself more I've just let him go. It's a pain because the op prevents me picking him up the way I usually would by scooping a hand under his bum, which clearly isn't an option at the moment. But I'm guessing that because everything else is good, and he's not fussing with the wound at all that it's doing well. I might give it another day or two before I try another proper look. I mean to ask the vet about pain meds because they didn't mention any when I dropped him off. But when I picked him up I was so happy to see him that I forgot to ask. He doesn't really seem in pain (though I know they hide it well), the only time it seems to affect him is when I go to pick him up.

 

[Chrisdoc]

That last photo is lovely, he is so handsome. The cage looks great, for a quick fix, you did really well. Mine had pain meds after the op but didn´t come home with any and they did fine. If he looks uncomfortable, I´d ask but neuters are less invasive than spays.

 

[Azerane]

Thanks so much. When I came downstairs this morning and opened his cage to say hi, he was immediately very bossy and nippy. I could tell straight away that he was simply sick of having spent 3 days in a cage without any run time. We were out for lunch but after we got home in the afternoon I set up his toys etc in the laundry and let him out. He's been so happy doing lots of binkies and jumping here and there I figured if he's jumping around a lot he can't be too sore. It will be back in the cage tonight again though, then maybe after a few more days I'll transition him to being back outside at night time.

 

[Chrisdoc]

Mine were exactly the same. They are feeling better and they´re not used to being cooped up and have nothing to do with all that energy. I let mine out after about 3 days as they looked fine and were chewing the cage bars and they were the same as Bandit...so happy and running around. it´s amazing how they bounce back.

 

[Azerane]

Yeah, he's come back really well. I haven't been letting him out for as long as I usually would, but I figured I'd slowly increase it back to what it was so that he doesn't overdo it.

Here's something interesting. I had been buying bags of hay (because I hadn't figured out what I do would do with a bale storage-wise yet) which cost me I think roughly $6 each, give or take 50 cents. These bag are the size of the one in the middle in the photo below labelled "Meadow Hay L" though as an example of the size, it's a tad underfilled because I filled it myself, but it's pretty close. Yesterday I bought a bale for $14, and today I bought a pack of three large garden bags for $6 (which is a set up cost only but I thought I'd include it). I filled one of the original hay bags and two of the large garden bags with the bale that I bought (minus a handful or two which was lost to the boot of my car or ground in the transition). Now given that the garden bags I bought hold probably 2.5 times as much hay as the original bags I was buying, I've come out with around 6 bags of hay, which buying individually at $6 would cost me $36, whereas here I've only paid $14. Incredible the money that can be saved with a little bit of planning. I was originally going to store the bale in a storage tub and cut some vent holes, but then I remembered you could buy bags like this as my hardware store (much cheaper than a storage tub big enough to fit a bale) so I bought a pack and voila. I didn't even have to buy the blue string to tie the bags up with, it was around the hay bale Super glad to be saving money this way, it also saves me a tiny cost in petrol since I don't have to go to the fodder store as often to get more bags of hay!

In conclusion, everybody should buy hay in bales from fodder stores! Also, if anyone has a tidier way of transferring a bale into separate bags, I would LOVE to hear it.

 

[Chrisdoc]

Good on you, I love saving money on things and you´ve done really well there. Hay is really messy, don´t have any ideas there but I´m sure someone has found a tidier way lol.

Glad to hear Bandit is raring to go....yes, mine were out for less time for the first week after their op but they do bounce back so quickly.

 

[JBun]

I know! Buying hay by the bale, is the best way to go. As long as you can get decent quality. It's so much cheaper, especially longterm. When I pick up my bales, I use a tarp to put them on. Then any loose hay can be saved easily. You could try that next time you get a bale, and when you are transferring to the bags. Then any loose hay will be easy to gather up. But a tarp, or any large sheet will work.

 

[Azerane]

I know! Buying hay by the bale, is the best way to go. As long as you can get decent quality. It's so much cheaper, especially longterm. When I pick up my bales, I use a tarp to put them on. Then any loose hay can be saved easily. You could try that next time you get a bale, and when you are transferring to the bags. Then any loose hay will be easy to gather up. But a tarp, or any large sheet will work.

Good idea about the tarp, I will certainly have to do that next time since when I swept up the hay this time it was obviously full of dust and various other ground goodies

Bandit's personality seems to be changing a little. Whether it's due to his neuter or whether it has to do with the fact that he's been inside in the living area. But when I let him out into the laundry now, he's stopped shaking the fence panels blocking the doorway. He used to grab them and violently shake them to get them to move so he could escape, and he would do it almost constantly. Now, two days in a row he hasn't done any shaking of the fence at all!

The second change is that he absolutely LOVES head rubs. If I reach in to pet him he'll immediately sink down to the ground and just soak it up and he would just sit there for a half hour or more if you just kept petting him, he only stops when you do. It's really adorable, then if you go to move your hand away he'll crawl under it again or bump it for more rubs. And if you scratch the side of his head he'll lean into it, he never used to do that before, it's absolutely adorable. He's still not much of a lap guy, he'll jump into my lap for pellets, but that's about it. Have only picked him up twice since his op, don't want to risk hurting him or damaging anything, so I don't know if he's going to change in that regard or not.

Loving my "new" head rub-loving bunny though

 

[Chrisdoc]

I love it when they do that, you´re his groomer.

Great that he´s out and about now and recovering really well. You will notice the changes in the coming weeks, it´s lovely as they settle back down to life minus the hormones lol.

 

[Azerane]

Super excited, I got my very first licks from Bandit today! I had opened his cage door and let him hop to just outside of it and I was giving him lots of head rubs and pets and he was "purring" and then he gave me two licks. A minute later though, he wanted to explore the room beyond the barrier of my legs and he gave me a light nip when I prevented him, so much for the loving I had earlier! I pressed his head down and turned my back for a moment.

I also bought him a new toy yesterday, we're calling it his solar system because it looks like little planets, not sure if it's actually supposed to be, but this website calls it planets: http://www.mypetwarehouse.com.au/SUPER-PET-PLAY-MOBILE-PLANETS-p-14753 though the picture doesn't really do it justice. Bandit has nosed it a lot and spent a lot of time sniffing and I've even caught him standing up on his hind legs to chew the top wooden piece.