BunTastic!

[Fancy77]

I am happy to hear Popeye is taking meds well. It is too bad about Petunia tho and maybe if you need help with the bond your rescue will help you...

 

[Torchster]

I let the kids all out together for some run time. Petunia is still chasing Popeye. I just have Popeye come lay down next to me and if Petunia gets to close I just move my hand in her direction and she takes off. She has always been skiddish, so it doesn't take much on my part to get her to move in another direction. Heck all I have to do is act like I am going to pet her.

Bert was on a terror this morning. Must be time to get them some new toys or something.

I went out and bought another 60 some NIC panels this past weekend. Now all I have to do is get some flooring materials. I was going to make one giant cage for my kids, but I will probably have to settle for two smaller because I don't see this issue with Petunia getting any better.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Yeah, if you could build one for Popeye to be next to Petunia would be best. Ithink stressing him out with Petunia's aggressions would be too risky to his health. At least if they can see each other through the cage would be best for now. Just my opinion of course as I've dealt with this illness

Give him as much attention as you can. It can turn downhill very fast.The best tip I haveis to listenfor anylabored breathing. I'm sorry to be morbid, but, unfortunately, it's the truth. I had no one to talk to about what to do when it was my bun, as I mentioned, I didn't have this great site yet. Even since, I don't think anyone else has had this issue here.

Please post all your updates in the Infirmary thread. Yours and mine are all we have to go on as far as this disease. Thanks.

Thinking of you guys.:hug:

 

[Torchster]

This is a cross post from the Infirmary thread...

I've pretty much resigned (sp?) myself to the fact the Petunia will never accept Popeye. She seems to do OK when I put them in a carrier...but the second I get them in open space she chases after him. Perhaps the stress of the carrier makes her behave. I've never seen this kind of aggressive behavor out of her before, she is such a timid bunny.

This has really upset the balance at home. My perception is that Bert preffers to be with Popeye over Petunia. I have seen some minor chasing of Bert by Petunia too, but nothing like what she does with Popeye. With Petunia not being one for much human contact, at least she has never really cared for me much...I'm concerned for her. I'm sure I could put Popeye in with Bert and they would be very happy. But that would leave Petunia by herself. She doesn't always come out right away and usually keeps away from me when she does have out time. It would seem to me to be a lonely existence.

It makes me very sad that the trio is not working out. I work so hard try and get a happy trio.

 

[Torchster]

I've in the planning stages for my new cages. I don't like the sound of that though. I don't like the sound of having two cages. I just don't see Petunia giving Popeye a second chance though. I was going to build a big 4 square tall, 4 square wide by 4 square deep NIC cage for all my babies. I guess that I am going to settle for two cages that are 3 by 3 by 3. It will have a ground floor and a second floor. I will put them side by side.

The only thing that I really need to get is some flooring, probably that chloroplast (sp?) stuff.

Looks like I have something to do this weekend.

 

[Fancy77]

Have fun this weekend with the cages. When I needed more than one i connected them side my side or on top of one another, space issues

We have a store called Fleet Farm here and I got my coroplast from there for 5.00 a sheet

 

[Torchster]

I've now started to divide up my out time. Little over an hour apiece. Doesn't seem like much time out of their cage.

 

[Torchster]

Wow - my chloroplast (sp??) was 25 bucks a sheet. Ah well.

Anyway, I got a lot of work done on the new cages, but I'm not really happy with the result. I had a small NIC cage that I really only used as a cage when I just had Bert. Since I got Petunia, I put them in their own room and just left the cage open in that room. I would close the door to the room when I wasn't home and the could go in and out of the cage when the wanted to too.

But since Petunia and Popeye don’t get along…I felt the need to make the each their own cage.

Well, their old NIC cage was 3 panels wide by 2 panels deep by 3 panels tall. It has two floors to it. The ground floor was only 1 panel high, but the second floor was two panels high, that way my babies had some room to stretch out. I guess that I had really built that one right. I had got plywood from Home Depot cut to right size that I needed. Each floor was built out of plywood covered by peel and stick tiles. I kind of built the NIC cubes around the floors.

Well, I went big (perhaps too big). I decided to ditch the plywood floors and go for an all NIC and chloroplast design. 3 panels wide, 3 panels tall (I was thinking four but changed my mind), 3 panels deep, each cage has a 2 floors to it. - 2 cages side by side. Well, at that size you really lose your structural stability - or the plywood floors I had provided more than I was aware of.. I had some old wooden rods lying around that I’ve tried to use to stabilize the structure…But I’m just not lovin this. It isn’t going to fall over - but I wouldn’t sneeze next to it either.

That was my Sunday.

 

[Fancy77]

HOLY COW that was a lot more pricey than I wud have thought. They sound like great cages tho

 

[Torchster]

I finished the two side by side cages a while ago. Not exactly thrilled with cageing my babies, but at least I know that they have enough space to move around in.

Petunia nips at Popeye every chance she gets. If is lying next to the NIC panels on the common wall they share, I have seen her try and nip him thru the NIC panels. I used to be able to let them all out for some joint play time. As long as he stayed away from her, everything seemed to be OK. If he got too close, a chase would ensue. But now, if she sees him from across the room, she will drop what she is doing and chase him.

It makes me very sad that I can't have a happy trio. I tried very hard to get one.

 

[Fancy77]

Hey could u take pics of the buns and the cages??? u torture me with just talking about it

 

[Torchster]

Here is what happened with the cage thingie..

This is the old set up. You can see how I divided the room with the old xpen. And you can see on the far side where I made a little box for them to go up to the window. Its impossible to see, but the window box is inclosed by plexiglass. They can get to the window, but that is all, they can't go anywhere but the box. The ld cage was 3 panels tall by two panels deep and 3 panels across.

This is after I took the old cage apart...mostly.

Things got messy...

And even more messy. I thought that it would be a good idea to try and save the old cage as much as possible (didn't work so well)

Here is the cage almost done. Most of the nic panels are in place, but I haven't put down the cover on the top floor so you can see thru the floor. I have ramp that goes up one set of nic panels to a landing, turns to the side then continues to the second floor. I put the chorloplast (sp) down on the nic panels then used elmers school glue to glue carpet to that for, for traction. Also, you can see the wooden rods I had to put under the second floor for stability...that and thousands of zip ties.

Then the new set up...all done. You can see the cage door is open. That is Popeye on the 2nd floor eating. I use the top of the cages for storage.

This is the cage right next door. This is the lucky cage. It happens to be missing one panel in the bottom back that leads right to the ramp that goes up to the box by the window so they can sun themselves at will, if they are in that cage. The other cage obviously doesn't have feature.

Bert in the cage next door. I love the water jug I got them. Best purchase ever.

Here you can kind of see what the bottom floor looks like. Each ground floor has a dedicated litter box. The top floor litter box has hay in it too.

This is a pic of the bottom floor of the other cage. It has the better litter box. You can also see the ramp that goes up and around to the top floor. The bottom floor is two nic panels tall while the second floor is only one nic panel tall.

This is the set up.

 

[Fancy77]

WOW that is real nice...U have made my day by FINALLY getting pics posted LMAO

 

[Torchster]

The buns seem to be doing ok. Popeye is intent on getting into trouble for the most part. But that's OK. He is good at taking his meds. I have been trying to give Bert and Petunia some apple sauce via srynge (SP???). Bert doesn't seem to mind, but Petunia wants nothing to do with it. I don't want to think that is only for meds, but maybe some good stuff too! That way I might have a chance if they do get sick.

When I took their weight on the first, they had all gained a little weight, not to much, maybe an ounce or two. I weigh them every two weeks and the have all put on a little weight. Nothing major. The rescue said last time they saw them that they looked a little on the light side.

There are just some things that I can't figure out. When I get together with them and try and do a bonding session - in my tiny little laundry room, Bert is a humping machine. He'd probably go after the washer. Petunia does nothing. Popeye is Mr. Submissive. I let them out of the room and Bert ignores the other two and Petunia is hell bent for leather after Popeye, and not a good way.

Actually, in their cage, the one with Petunia and Bert, sometimes I see Petunia chasing after Bert. I don't know what to make of it. Sometimes I take Bert out for a while to spend some time with Popeye. They seem to get along well together-Bert and Popeye. Sometimes I see little bits of Bert's fur in the cage, but I haven't seen any marks on him-I check him daily. I don't know what to make of Petunia.

 

[Fancy77]

I think Petunia is a litte Dive lmao

 

[kahlin]

Just catching up on some of your posts. I was out of the loop for a while.

I'm in the bonding process myself to create a happy little trio. So far so good. I hope things speed up though because I may be working at a new job with a lot of new hours in a couple of weeks....and that will cut down on bonding time and it will mean less playtime for all involved unless they are a happy little trio.

 

[Torchster]

Yeah - I'm not too happy about the play time for my buns. By the time I get home, get them their dinner, eat dinner and clean up and stuff, its like 8:00. So I let Popeye and Bert out until about 9:00 or 9:30, then Popeye has to go back in his cage so I can let Petunia out (Bert gets along with both buns so he gets bonus out time) until about 10:30 or 11:00, then its back in their cage. That isn't as much out time as I would like for them. Granted, they have big multi-level NIC cages, but I'd still like them to get more run around time.

I wish I could let them roam more, but Petunia is just too aggressive for Popeye. I want him to get exercise, but she is just after him way too much and won't leave him alone. If he wants to do a bunny 500 or binky or two, that is great! I just worry about his heart condition.

For some reason, things seem to be going worse. Petunia has become even more withdrawn over the last few weeks. She seems to be eating and keeping up her weight, but she has become even more aggressive with Bert and more withdrawn with me (if that was possible). When I would open up her cage at night for out time, she wasn't always the first one out, but she would eventually come out into the living room to check things out. Maybe she would do a couple of laps, or do some remodeling on a box I have for them in the living room. Now, she seems to spend more time in their cage and wants even less to do with me. I could coax her out of her cage with a wheat thin, but she seems less inclined these days. Sure she will take one if I come to her with it, but she doesn't want to seem to come to me to get it. If she does come out to the living room, she doesn’t stay long. Lately, if she does come out, I’ve had to hunt her down and pick her up to go back into her cage. I used to have her trained to come running into her cage with the sound of me shaking her wheat thin box. She doesn’t come as much to that as she used to.

 

[Fancy77]

sorry to hear about Ms. Petunia

 

[Torchster]

Its been awhile since I’ve updated my blog. Actually, its been awhile since I’ve been to active on RO. My bunnies are doing fine. Popeye is doing well. His heart condition improved a little bit, probably due to the medicine.



But I’ve been thinking a lot about RO lately. To me, RO has become such a sad place. The bridge is a tuff place to go, always will be. Scone hit me pretty hard. He was such a beautiful bunny, and in such a wonderful situation. It was just so sad.



Then I saw the post in the welcome section by a meat breeder. That made me really mad that anyone on RO should have to feel that person is wanted on RO. We have a banner about saving all the buns in the Vancover situation, and then having to NOT post flaming comments about a meat breeder wanting to join RO?



I have enough problems with the breeders on RO. I am not going to name anyone, isn’t my point. But I sometimes go into that section and see the conditions that the buns live in. It makes me cringe. Cage after cage stacked on top of each other, 4 or five high. I’m sure that the breeders work hard to give everyone food and water every day. I’m sure they give them high quality food. But, when you have 20 or more buns in the same room, exactly how much time does any bun get out for any kind of exercise? What, the breeder sleeps 4 hours a night and gives each bun 1 hour of run time a day? Really? What kind of social life do these social creatures have in that environment?



And for what? This is the part that really gets me. For what. To ‘further a line’ or to make a better Flemish (I use Flemish only because I think that they are a real cool bun and would like to have a larger breed bun someday). People are more than willing to bring a whole litter of buns into this world, keep them in small cages so they can take them to a ‘show’ and have some other person vindicate that they were able to breed a good bun. Really, that is a good reason? I mean really?



And I am speaking of the ‘reasonable breeders’ that I believe are on RO, not the ‘puppy mill’ breeders who absolutely don’t care about the animals at all, only about making a fast buck.



As a member of this community, my membership in it, and what it stands for and what it is; that sayssomething about me too…and its something that makes me very uncomfortable.


Not that this is the most read blog on RO (probably no one) - but tell me what you think?

 

[Wabbitdad12]

I hope you figure out what is wrong with Petunia and why she has become so aggressive.

I don't think its fair to judge all breeders by the comments of a few or on stories of irresponsible breeders. Those breeders make me mad also.

Breeders that I know are very responsible with their rabbits. Believe me there is no money in breeding rabbits to sell them at a rabbit show.Responsible breeders spend far more ontheir rabbits thenthey can on any sale. They love a particular breed or breeds and breed with the intent to keep the breed healthy and going.

Responsible breeders spend a lot of time and effort on keeping their rabbits healthy, which includes keeping the environment in which they live in sanitary, the purchase of quality food and hay. There are many breeds of rabbits that we enjoy today, that if it were not for responsible breeders. Some of these rabbit breedsbeen around for centuries, due to breeders.

There also has been a lot of knowledge gained by the experience of breeders passed on to others that has extended the quality of lifeand saved the lives of many rabbits. The American Rabbit Breeders Association has done a lot to improve the health and welfare of rabbits and encourages its member to act in a professional manner.

Many veterinarians have benefited from the experience of breeders. They have used this information to care for their clients that have rabbits as pets. Vet's don't often run into situations that a breederdoes and has had to overcome. My vet, who is very rabbit savvy, and I will talk about situations he has encountered and see if I have run into a similar situation and what I did to correct it. Most vets are well trained on cats and dogs but often lack knowledge about rabbits.

I love my rabbits very much. I make sure that every rabbit from a litter goes to a responsible individual and I make sure they understand that for any reason, no matter how long they may have the rabbit I will take it back if they no longer want it or are having trouble caring for it. I only breed my rabbits when I have the room and time to care for them. Breeding rabbits to strengthen a line is a good reason, it ensures healthier rabbits in the future.

Rabbits Online is the only website I have encountered that allows breeders a place to post. One of the things I like about RO is the focus on the health and care of rabbits. Raising rabbits for meat is discouraged, even though many don't like the subject, RO wants those rabbits to live a healthy life, in good sanitary conditions. People who only want to raise rabbits for meat are informed that this is not a site for that and are referred to other sites that focus on it.

RO mods, task force members, admin and others want all rabbits to be well cared for and make a good conscience effort to pass along information so the person can make a knowledgeable decision.

I don't' think it is reasonable to expect a website to agree with each members point of view. There has to be some give and take. If a topic is posted you don't like, you can post a polite comment or ignore it all together. I have encountered many posts that I don't agree with, but I also don't expect everyone to agree with my viewpoint either. The site would be rather boring if that happened.

As a member of this community, my membership in it, and what it stands for and what it is; that sayssomething about me too…and its something that makes me very uncomfortable.

If you don't participate in the process of exchanging ideas with people that have viewpoints you don't agree with it is hard to facilitate change.

In the sentence I have quoted I also like it for another reason. It is in a way how I view the US. I am a member of the US community, (citizen) and what it stands for and what it is, says a something about me too and the offices of President, House of Representatives and Senate do things that make me very uncomfortable.

However, I don't cancel my membership in the US because of that, I work within the system to voice my concerns as respectfully and politely as possible and continue onward.

Sorry for the long post.