Bandit: rabbity antics

[Azerane]

I left Bandit overnight last night (about 32 hours), it's only the second time I've done it, he made much less mess the first time I stock him up with extra hay tucked away and in toys, I gave him two water bowls, pellets in his bowl and some extras in his treat ball. I came back to hay EVERYWHERE, one of his hay toys in one of his water bowls (it's why I put in two bowls on different levels) and water splashed everywhere etc It was funny, but Bandit didn't even seem to care that I was home, haha. His cage has been open for 3 hours and he hasn't even left it yet, he's such a weirdo. You would think he would be eager to be out and run around... but apparently not. I feel like, he enjoys it when I pet him and pay him attention, but he doesn't really miss it if he doesn't get it. Ahh well.

In other news, I got to go camping for one night at one of my favourite places and got to help out with some bird banding this morning, it was amazing

 

[BigBunny]

Oh they know how to make you not feel loved. No matter how long I am away from Boomer he never shows any excitement or care when I'm back. Only time he cares is when you carry food in for him. Haha .

 

[Azerane]

It's been a while but I thought I'd give a brief (somewhat long) update since we had to run to the vet today.

Bandit's been perfectly happy, hoppy and healthy until this morning. I got up around 9am gave him his pellets (which he didn't move for, a little odd), grabbed his litter tray and went outside to clean it. 15 minutes later when I come back in, he still hadn't moved and I noticed he was belly pressing. I shoved all of his favourite foods in his face and he drew away from every single one, not even a sniff. Much to his disgust I then dragged him out the cage and took him outside to brush him (brushing always makes him move around and gave me a chance to massage his belly, plus avoiding further fur ingestion since he's shedding).

I brought him back inside and bullied him around the lounge room a little to make him move about and hopefully stimulate some digestion. I let him be and he hopped around a tiny bit, would lay down for a minute then a few more hops. At about 10:20 he was hunkered down in a tight space belly pressing and looking very unhappy again. So I decided to call the vet. On Saturdays my vet closes at midday, and to avoid the cost of an after hours vet and also since I had no idea how long he'd been like this already (could have been 20 minutes before I got up or 5 hours) I thought it was better if I took him in.

After sub-cutaneous fluids, pain killers, gut motility meds, consult fee and some critical care (just in case, I didn't expect to use it but my last bag was too old anyway), and an x-ray because I believed it to be a fur blockage and they wanted to double-check it wasn't fully blocked cause of the way it felt. I came away almost $200 poorer. Worth it for my little man though.

So now we've been home from the vet for about 3 hours. In the past hour he's started accepting strands of hay and ate a single pellet, though he isn't looking for hay or really moving around. He hasn't pooped, so I've got no idea how long it's been since that happened (at least 6 or 7 hours). He's not belly pressing anymore but he's sitting hunched up like it's still uncomfortable. I'm not considering him out of the woods until he's pooped, but at least he's showing signs of improvement.

Will post photos when he's feeling better, no one likes their sick face plastered on the internet

 

[Azerane]

I've never been so excited to see poop before!! Hooray my little man is on the mend!

 

[BigBunny]

Oh my gosh! Bandit ... Oh dear I got so sad reading that but happy with the update. Hope things are all good for you and bandit. $200 you got out good!!! Expensive here. Good vibes for bandit and a speedy recovery . I'd hate anything to happen to my buns so I know how you would feel right now. Give him cuddles from me boomer and roo. Xx

 

[Azerane]

Thanks, he is improved this morning though still not seeing as much poop as I would like. When I got up I came out to find him eating his leftover pellets from yesterday's breakfast, then he jumped into his litter tray and nibbled hay but didn't leave much behind. So at least he's moving about and eating, but I'm still a little anxious until he poops more. Especially since mornings are his favourite run-around time and instead he's just sitting in his cage looking a tiny bit uncomfortable.

 

[Azerane]

I think I've got my greedy little monster back today. After getting home from work all his breakfast is gone, there's decent-sized poops in the tray and after changing his litter tray and refreshing hay he was trying to eat it before I even set the tray down. Now he's just finished munching and has come out for a run-around

 

[BigBunny]

Good ! So happy to read that. give bandit some hugs from us for being a champ !

 

[Azerane]

Bandit is back to his naughty self. I lost another laptop power cable a couple of days ago. I needed to run to the bathroom, so I shooed Bandit away from the corner with my laptop, moved the laptop so as little cord was out from behind the couch as possible, wrapped the visible cord in a blanket. I ran to the bathroom, was gone less than 60 seconds and there's Bandit on the couch, blanket has been pulled back and the power cord has a big bite through it. Still, this is why I keep a spare

Here he is, passing me the tissues

 

[Ana_The_Dreamer]

Hehe, what a cutie Bandit is!!

 

[BigBunny]

Oh cheeky naughty Bandit. He can join Naughty Roo in time out !

 

[JBun]

They're fast, that's for sure! Nothing is safe around these fuzzy little chewing machines

 

[Azerane]

The cheekiest thing about it is that he clearly knew exactly what he was doing to get at what he wanted while I wasn't there to see. It's my own fault for not having bought tubing to slip around the power cord though. At least it's something replaceable, and not part of the rental house or anything, he's actually very good that way.

 

[Azerane]

Well, after never protecting the other cable, I bought some clear pvc tubing yesterday and wrapped it around the current laptop cable. Obviously he can still bite through that, but if I happen to catch him nibbling it will likely be around the tubing before he gets to the cable. And I can check it for nibbles etc on a regular basis.

 

[BigBunny]

Great idea . Yeah gives you more time you catch them! I think they can chew through anything after seeing a huge hole in the wall thanks to Roo

 

[pani]

Bandit is back to his naughty self. I lost another laptop power cable a couple of days ago. I needed to run to the bathroom, so I shooed Bandit away from the corner with my laptop, moved the laptop so as little cord was out from behind the couch as possible, wrapped the visible cord in a blanket. I ran to the bathroom, was gone less than 60 seconds and there's Bandit on the couch, blanket has been pulled back and the power cord has a big bite through it. Still, this is why I keep a spare

Here he is, passing me the tissues

"Don't cry mum, it's just a power cord. Cheer up."

He's so cute. Naughty little bugger!

 

[Azerane]

Bandit is very happy this morning, doing lots of binkies. We'd been away for 8 nights so he was staying at another lady's house, seems he's very happy to be out and about at home again

 

[BlazeBunnies]

Sounds like bandit missed you

 

[Chester1_andblueberry]

Awwe cute love this blog hah

 

[Azerane]

Thanks guys, Bandit's been pretty chilled out lately, he still binkies around and has fun, causing mischief and trying to get to things he shouldn't We're actually moving house again in two weeks so there's a lot going on here. Bandit is very excited about all the extra cardboard boxes in the loungeroom, though is disappointed he's not allowed to chew on them, haha. The new place is a little smaller, but there won't be much less room for him. He'll still have the whole lounge, kitchen, dining and hallway to run through. And I am going to have to finally invest in a baby gate to block him from the rest of the house, though I can't decide if I should go for the extra tall one or the standard size. He's never really shown much inclination to jump over my current doorway barrier (60cm) but that could be because he can't see through it and because the floor is slippery.

He's also shedding yet again, which is great fun. :vacuum:

After we're moved and all settled, I'm actually considering switching him from oxbow to burgess excel. It's quite a bit more expensive but seems to be much better reviewed in terms of quality and crucial ingredients etc.