Hazel and Flopsy

[Hazel]

So when I read TinysMom's post about blogging and pictures, I knew she was right. So I decided it was time for me to start a bunny blog for my bunnies.

I'm not sure exactly how to go about this, so I guess I'll start with descriptions.

That's young Flopsy. I had been thinking about getting a dog for awhile because my family has always had animals and being at college made me miss my family dogs:

Emma and Nelly (they're goldendoodles, )

The only problem with a dog would be it would have to be small and I knew dog vet bills could really add up and dog food wasn't exactly cheap. So I started looking around for another pet. My boyfriend Ryan:

sent me this picture:

with the caption: "Bunnies are sooo cute!"

So I started looking into rabbits. I didn't think I'd be interested since I had many of the misconceptions most people have that rabbit lives for 3 years in a cage, you feed it and hold it sometimes, and then it dies. I knew I didn't want something like that. But much to my suprise when I started researching, I discovered they are very unique animals who interact and play with you and who have strong personalities. Then I learned they could be litter box trained! That's when I decided I wanted a rabbit and began researching them. I actually talked to Ivory on facebook about rabbits when I was researching them because we were in a group together and I noticed her picture was a rabbit!

I learned a lot on the internet and decided to go for it. Unfortunately(kind of) I did not have this website or another website, so I went to the pet store to find my rabbit. I walked in and saw Flopsy*why it's only kind of, I regret not adopting, but I love Flopsy so much). I didn't even check to see what the other bunnies looked like, I knew Flopsy was mine. She looked like a little wild bunny and was so cute. She did this thing, which she still does, where she spreads her legs out while you're holding her, kind of like she's hugging you.

So Flopsy joined the family. That's when I bought "Rabbits for dummies" and started doing more research. I realized there were SOOOOO many differring opinions on rabbits. I also discovered I should get Flopsy spayed. That's when I started researching vets.

While reading something online one day, I came across a picture of 5 bunnies all curled together. It was sooo cute. I started reading about bonding and how most rabbits enjoy company. I worried about Flopsy because she was couped up in her cage during the day and she did get time out, but I worried about her being loney.

So I called the pet store(I know, I know >.< and found out when bunnies were coming in again, that Thursday. So on Thursday I told Ryan we needed hay for Flopsy and dragged him out to the pet store. Now I'm sure many of you have seen what Ryan calls the Super Pets bunny, the rabbit on a lot of the produts who is brown with a white nose and the white goes up their face a little. Well when we walked into the store, there were about 8 rabbits who had come in. They were all adorable. Ryan lifted up the igloo, and low and behold, there was the super pet bunny, except in grey! It was love at first site for him, and he knew we had to have her. She came home and we bagan the bonding process.

 

[Hazel]

The Bonding Process

Hazel was soooo tiny. She was absolutely adorable. Flopsy didn't think so though. I was laying down with Hazel when Flopsy was brought into the room. She sniffed Hazel and then ran at her. Hazel ran into my arm pit to hide, haha. So for the next 2 weeks, I tried everything I could to get them to bond. Ryan was ready to kill them both and be done with it, but I knew they could love each other.

That's when I discovered a woman who had seriously 15 bonded pairs. She had a ton of tips, and one included using banana on the top of the "dominant" one's head. So I put some banana on Flopsy's head and Hazel went crazy. I did this for about 30 mins and then put them on the floor together. Flopsy went over, sniffed Hazel, and began to groom her. They've lived together ever since.


The Cage

When I bought Flopsy, she got a blue medium sized super pet cage. Hazel got the small blue one because she was so tiny. When they were bonded I had no idea what to do. So I disconnected the two cages sides and basically taped them together. The poor buns lived in that for about a month. That's when I finally decided to build them a NIC cage. They LOVED it. It was 4x3 with a litter box and a sheet as the bottom. They now live in the bedroom in a 4x5 cage with a bigloo(big igloo, ) and tons of toys. They rarely want to come out, haha.

Bad Buns!

They chew EVERYthing. Carpet, wires, floorboards, anything they can get into their mouths. I thought my play area for them was secure until they went out into it, I discovered I was so wrong. They ENJOY getting in trouble. "NO" means they binky off, laughing at you. Spray bottle works kind of... but isn't too preventative, >.< I truly believe they think it's funny to do things they know they';ll get into trouble for.

Hazel!

Hazel:

She looks so different from the day I took her home. She only had a white nose a paw and the little patch on her chest. The rest was dark grey. Then one day I noticed her belly was a little lighter and it spread. And then black began on her nose a spread. And then on her paws. Now she has a few spots of black on her back too. We call her our little chamaleon. She's such a good natured bunny. Flopsy is territorial and tempermental, but Hazel loves completely and without reserve. She will cuddle with you, let's you hold her, and is probably too trusting. She's adorable.

Other Pics:

Bananas!!

Their litterbox got cleaned right after!!



:heartsThey are my babies, and I ended up loving them sooo much. I'm so glad I found out about rabbits and ended up with Flopsy and Hazel. :bunny18

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

They're so cute! I really like Hazel's coloring. Is that carpet covered peg board in the cage? Where'd you find that at? That's neat!

Hee, Emma and Nelly are cuties! I've not seen goldendoodles before.

 

[Hazel]

Oh god, I wish it was, haha. That's actually my carpet at my parent's house. Those were taken this Christmas when I was at home. Normally they live on a sheet.... but I'm going to have to go to Lowes soon and get some plastic for under their cage, their digging at the carpet in the corners, >.< That's why the topic is titled Always in trouble, haha. They ALWAYS, every single day, do at least one thing to get in trouble with their daddy and me.

I like Hazel's coloring as well... and I'm sure I will when it stops changing too, hahaha!

Yeah, a lot of people haven't seen goldendoodles before. They also think they're going to be ugly before they do, which is sooo not true. I know this is my bunny blog, but I have to show off my pups, they're so adorable too, and they're one of the reasons I had to have bunnies!

Puppies!!!

They were smaller than my buns!

They do the "mirror thing" a lot:

Hiding!

Fluffier and by the compost their Mom uses to make a garden full of things buns LOVE to eat!!! (They were SOOOOOOO spoiled when I went home, my parents gave the buns tons of fresh veggies and groomed them every day and it was just ridiculous!)

So this leads me to a funny story. Emma and Nellie are about 75-80lbs. Everyone was warning me against letting them anywhere near my buns. I wanted to let Nellie see them since she loves everything and I thought she might like them. So I let Nellie come into my room, which she had been wanting to do since she first smelled the buns. She comes over, sticks her nose in the bunny cage and sniffs Flopsy. BIG no no. Flopsy doesn't tolerate ANYTHING in her cage. She lunged at Nellie's nose, leading Nellie to back away and then gave out a HUGE thump to show she was ticked. Nellie went running out of the room, never to return again. She's scared to death of buns.
I tried introducing her and Hazel, which went ok at first, but only when we dragged Nellie on a leash to Hazel. Hazel's so fearless and loves everyone, so she went right up to Nellie and sniffed. Nellie finally sniffed back and gave Hazel a lick... Hazel didn't like that so she gave out a little thump... bam, Nellie won't go near buns.

Emma had a different tramatic experience that was tramatic for the buns slightly too. I had their NIC pen set up at home, but just a small one so they had a little extra room. Well I stupidly set it up with the connectors that came with the cubes. They suck imo. I thought it was Nellie coming down the stairs, so I thought she would come close to the door, but wouldn't come in. It was Emma. Emma came in and immediately noticed the buns. Well she wanted to get a closer look and went to sniff. Flopsy did the lunge again but was in the pen, BAM the pen collapsed, Hazel and FLopsy zoomed under the bed and Emma ran off crying to her kennel... Yeah...I have 2 dogs scared of rabbits...


Which also makes me think of Ryan's cats. His mom owns two cats. I was worried when they were first introduced but as soon as Flopsy ran over and started humping Heather(the cat) I knew it was going to be ok. It was absolutely HILARIOUS to watch because Heather was on her period(not spayed quite yet) so she would lift her butt up and back up towards Flopsy until Flopsy would hump her. I had tears rolling down my cheeks I was laughing soooo hard. Ryan's mom was like "Poor Heather, she's so sex deprived she's trying to get it on with a female rabbit." It was great.

So it seems like Hazel and Flopsy don't play well with others....

 

[Hazel]

So bad internet makes you post twice. >.<

What to post here?

Hazel and Me!!!

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Whoa, get this. I was finishing up reading your last post and noticed you double posted and was going to delete it for you, so I hit delete and this pic of you came up. I was like what the? So, from what you said, it looked like you caught it and deleted it yourself and you did! Good Job! Great pic, btw!

That story about the dogs scared of the buns is funny. Especially the pen collapsing:shock:. I'm sure it wasn't funny to you when it happened though. I bet that scared the crap out of the dog, and she probably thought it was all her fault.

If you didn't know, most of us use zip ties (cable ties) in addition to the connectors, because yeah, the connectors alone aren't very good. If you need a pic, let me know!

 

[trailsend]

Enjoyed reading your blog - and just LOVED your pictures Lovely buns. Those puppies are too cute... a lot of people think dogs and rabbits should never be together but that's not always true (of course sometimes it is!) My rabbits have been the boss of all my dogs! and cats!

 

[Hazel]

I use zip ties on their home cage, but I didn't think I'd need it for their visiting pen (I was visiting my parents). I was very worried when it first happened, but right after I checked on the buns, I laughed and laughed. My mom actually called me to ask what we had done to Emma, lmao.

I like the pic of Hazel and I, but I wish she didn't look so disapproving, haha. And the red eye!!! >.< It's ok, I love her slightly ruby eyes anyway,

 

[Hazel]

trailsend wrote:

Enjoyed reading your blog - and just LOVED your pictures Lovely buns. Those puppies are too cute... a lot of people think dogs and rabbits should never be together but that's not always true (of course sometimes it is!) My rabbits have been the boss of all my dogs! and cats!

Thanks! Yeah, EVERYONE was warning me the dogs were going to eat the buns, I was so worried. Next thing I knew, the dogs wouldn't come near them, haha. My rabbits rule over Ryan's cats too, it's so funny. If Heather or Angel(the other cat) do anything Flopsy doesn't approve of, she charges them. It's so funny to watch. Poor cats hate when the buns are brought to "visit" with them, hahaha

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Hey, here's that code, where it says rabbits, put the url.

[rabbits="http://www.rabbitsonline.net"]This is my blog[/rabbits]

Sorry, I was thinking you were talking about the cage, oops. For the pen, do you put it together everytime you put it up? With the zip ties, you wouldn't have to and it would just fold up too.

 

[TinysMom]

I love your photos....whenever I try to photograph a bunny in a cage it comes out awful...yours came out nice...

Keep blogging!!!

Peg

 

[Hazel]

After the Emma incident, I actually did it like that, haha. And Let me try the code, thanks!

 

[Hazel]

TinysMom wrote:

I love your photos....whenever I try to photograph a bunny in a cage it comes out awful...yours came out nice...

Keep blogging!!!

Peg

Thanks! They were in a strange place, so I didn't want to take them out because they weren't really comfortable being out. I just received the camera for Christmas, so I had to try it out on them,


I'm glad you made your post about blogging, you're so right. My bunnies are still babies, so I forget they could get sick any time and not live those at least 8 years I'm hoping for. Your post was a great reminder of this. So I'm hoping to update my blog every week at least, it all depends on my school and work schedule, >.<

Once I can remember where I put my camera CD I can start downloading new pictures that are really cute. After your post in Dusty's thread, I took about 75 pictures of Flopsy and Hazel and like 5 videos... I was a little sad and over-enthusiastic about it, :?

Hazel and Flopsy seem to do well with the camera, which is nice, We had an Irish wolfhound, Peg, who hated it, and I was afraid my buns would be that way.

 

[Hazel]

AngelnSnuffy wrote:

Hey, here's that code, where it says rabbits, put the url.

[rabbits="http://www.rabbitsonline.net"]This is my blog[/rabbits]

Sorry, I was thinking you were talking about the cage, oops. For the pen, do you put it together everytime you put it up? With the zip ties, you wouldn't have to and it would just fold up too.

I'm sorry to keep asking, but I seem to be completely link-silly.

 

[Phinnsmommy]

Your blog is awesome!

Your bunnies are adorable, and your dogs are sooo cute !

More more more :biggrin2:!

 

[Hazel]

Phinnsmommy wrote:

Your blog is awesome!

Your bunnies are adorable, and your dogs are sooo cute !

More more more :biggrin2:!

Thanks! I have waaaayyyyy too many pics of my puppies. I'm working on gathering pics of the buns. As soon as I can find my CD, there will be a TON of pics of the buns,

 

[Hazel]

Poor Flopsy. She's going throught the ugliest molt ever, I swear. Her fur stands up in the worst places, and she looks like she has a unibrow. She's so adorable though. She really is one of the cutests bunnies I've ever seen (ah a mother's bias). She looks so much like a little wild bunny, I love it.

She and her sister drive me INSANE sometimes though. They are doing something mischievious alllllllllll of the time. I've taken to covering their cage at night hoping maybe they won't notice it's 5:30 AM and the sun's starting to rise. THey dig at the edges of their cage... when? When they know I'm trying to sleep. I'm serious. They have ALLLL day, and they do it when I'm trying to sleep.

Hazel cost me some muhah this weekend. I was on the computer and she walked up to my wire looked at me, and bit right through it.... I'm glad it didn't shock her or anything but ullhair: now I have to go to Walmart and buy a new mouse... for Ryan, because it was HIS mouse. I guess I should be glad it wasn't the computer cord... *sigh*


My mother broke her arm. She's totally cursed, I swear. I feel bad for her. And the puppies, they don't get to go out and play like before. She broke the upper bone, so it's more serious. They don't get their bath this month like they were supposed to either, . Since they're super fluffy, that means they get tangled. When I get the chance to upload more pics of the buns, I will, but until then here are more pics of the pups.

Puppies who think they're rabbits... eating carrots

Don't judge me!

I mention the pups a lot(who are actually turning 3 this month... so not so puppish anymore) because I think I want them to be a part of this blog as well. I miss them They live with my parents who are 4 hours away. Because of missing them I ended up with my babies Hazel and Flopsy so I have them to thank for making me love them, miss them, and get rabbits, .


I also regret that we didn't have a lot of pictures of Peg, our Irish Wolfhound. She was beautiful. She was scared of the camera when she grew up, so we don't have a lot of pics of her. She was such a part of the family. I'm an only child and she was practically my sister. She really was. A lot of people think I'm crazy when I say that, but *shrug* it's true. She died when I was in HS. She had been sick for awhile. I still miss her. For 2 years after her lose I couldn't mention her without crying. I still can't think seriously about her without crying now. It's kind of hard to see the screen when you're crying. I only have one pic of her on the computer. It's a few months before she died.

I wish you could see how gorgeous she was from it. For those of you who don't know, this is an Irish Wolfhound. (a better pic)

They're called the "gentle giants." I can see them getting along with rabbits when they're older. When they're younger they'll try to play with them.... yeah... it wouldn't work out well, haha.

They're pretty amazing dogs, very intelligent(course our goldendoodles are scary intelligent), gentle, loving, loyal dogs. I highly recommend them. They're very big though... so you need to be a big dog person, haha. Peg was 180 and she was a female and the runt...

I guess I'm done with my post for now, I'll add more later. But Peg was right when she said to keep a blog for ourselves and for the animals we love. You miss them when their gone and every little story turns into something you cherish about them.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Awww I love your animals!

Bo is going through a HUGE molt too. Worst he's every had I think. He has had the unibrow too but now he just has angry eyebrows!!! lol

 

[Hazel]

Bo B Bunny wrote:

Awww I love your animals!

Bo is going through a HUGE molt too. Worst he's every had I think. He has had the unibrow too but now he just has angry eyebrows!!! lol

Awww poor Bo!! Flopsy is so grumpy when I groom her. She hasn't molted before really. At least not like this. She has tide marks (I believe I saw someone call them that) allllll over. And hair sticks up funny everywhere. Everytime I pick her up I get hair all over me. I feel bad for her, I really want to just take my lint brush and use it on her instead of having to use it after I pick her up every day!

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Bo has that same thing. Like uneven butt hair all over..... little tufts longer in some places....

Then he has these weird "shapes" over his side, or shoulder or whatever.... he molts WEIRD.

Funny thing tho..... this is the first time I can remember pulling TONS of hair off his chest and tummy! He's completely blown that coat. He has nice white hair under it and it's even and it's all in the same general area across his whole tummy.

He actually laid in my arms so I could pull that hair too! it must have felt good.