silvermoon
Well-Known Member
"Hello there! I'm Mr. Bun and my new friend is silvermoon. She's not my total slave yet as we've only known each other for two months, but she's coming around."
Thanks bun! My intro post has a longer version of how we came to be together. Mr. Bun is my very first bun and he literally hopped into my backyard. He is turning out to be a fantastic pet.
I need a better name for him though, although the first order of business there is probably figuring out if "he" is a neutered male or a doe. Darn stray bunnies don't come with paperwork!
WabbitDad guessed he was a Palomino, and that's the best guess I've heard so far. The picture on the official breed page is terrible quality, but I've now seen some pictures on other sites and here that make be agree. He may not be fully grown if that's the case.
We have come a long way in two months. The first week we had to pick him up and move him out of his cage and he'd just shrink into the corner under my kitchen table, and hide every time we walked by his cage. I used bananas to start luring him out of his shell. I was lying on my kitchen floor with my arm fully extended and a little bit of banana on one finger tip! And more bits as a trail.
Socializing him has required a lot of patience. This month I give him pretty much free reign over the kitchen/living room in the evenings when I'm watching tv. He will hop up on the couch with me. Couch time= carrot time.
Yesterday he did two new things! He was sitting on my left side and I was actually looking straight ahead at the tv for a while instead of glancing over at him like I normally do. He was sitting upright, on his feet, in a position I call the Bunny Loaf. All of a sudden he did that sideways FLOP! that I've seen other rabbits do. He flopped right onto my resting arm! It surprised me so I looked at him quickly and he went right back to Bunny Loaf. Ooops.
Not too much after that, I noticed that he finally let himself fully stretch out. I have never seen him in that totally relaxed, back legs fully extended behind pose before. It made me happy. He's getting more comfortable with me!
Shelter buns
I also volunteer at the local SPCA and we have record number of bunnies right now. I was never very interested in the critter room, but now I know how interesting and fun bunnies can be. These poor buns only get out of their cages once a day in the morning, and maybe get 2-3 visits a week from volunteers. A bunch of them were born in the shelter and need some socializing.
I think the trick will be to go over when the shelter is still closed to the public but the staff is there (volunteers can do this) and use one of the visiting rooms. That's assuming I can get them out of the cages. The ones that need the most work are BIG Californians.
Over a year of working with cats and dogs and no injuries other than a jammed thumb. First day I try the buns? Poppy scratched the hell out of me! My fault though. I was holding her too high up on my body. I managed to get her out, and they like to hide their heads under your opposite arm (the one that isn't supporting their butt), so I was maneuvering around to try and get Poppy to calm down. Some visitors came in the room and distracted me and that was it. Bunny kicks right in the collarbone! Owie!
Of course her cage is on the bottom of the stack and I didn't want to drop her. Somehow I semi-loosened my grip and knelt down and boing! into her cage she went. I have some nasty-looking abrasions. That's really all they are. They look terrible but she only drew blood from one tiny little spot. Considering she got off 3 or 4 good kicks, I'm surprised it isn't worse.
The worse part is it happened with visitors/customers there. So I probably look like a total novice. Poppy was fine, I checked on her after they left. I just did in-cage visits with the rest of them. In the training it was much easier, possibly because they know when the cages get wheeled into the classroom that a bunch of people are going to be holding them. Yesterday I just waltzed in and broke up their routine.
