Hopping Through The Forest With Bunny Foo Foo

[HolyHandGrenade]

Rice bags are awesome! I make them too. If you want to help the rice stay in place, you can sew across the pouch every couple of inches (after nudging the rice out of the way, of course) so it's in ribs, kinda. Easier to do before it's filled, but probably possible after also. I made one that way and it helps it lay flat and keeps the rice evenly distributed

 

[whitelop]

That's a great idea!
I'll probably be making the one for my chickens tonight, so when it cold cold I'll be prepared. I'll definitely do the ribs in that one so it will stay even and flat in their house.
Thanks for the tip Missy!

 

[whitelop]

Well as I was thinking about it last night, I realized that my math has been off on how old Foo is. She is only 2 not 3. She'll be 3 in I think March of next year.
I got her sometime in late May in 2010 and I think she was between 12 and 14 weeks old. So that would make her birthday the end of February or the beginning of March.
Its amazing how having a kid and life makes you forget how old your animals are. hahaa.
It makes me feel better though, so now I know she'll probably be fine when I get her spayed because she isn't as old as I thought! And maybe some of her bad habits will be more easily broken. I feel like a dummy for not doing the math better! hahaha.

 

[holtzchick]

Foo is a charmer bun (even if she does have the occasional cage aggression)! I too often forgot how old the family dog (Tyson) is. He's about 12 and some ought years but I always think he's 13-14.

Love reading about your farm! There's something about living on your own piece of land that just gives you satisfaction. I never had the joy of having too many animals, we just lived on a small hobby farm. Oh, and regarding you MIL's comment, when people assume I am crazy for doing what I do for animals, I also laugh because they are just ignorant and don't actually know the pleasure that you get from their love even if it seems insignificant to them!

 

[agnesthelion]

Morgan, that's great she is one year younger than you thought! Now you really have nothing to worry about with the spay!

 

[whitelop]

Thanks for reading Holtz! Maybe I am a little crazy, but its alright. My MIL is the real nutjob.
And Foo is a great bun. Shes so funny to watch. I think she feels really bad about biting me, she's been really sweet since it happened.

And Lisa, I know! I won't have to worry much at all about her now! I think she's going to be great. I need to call the vet on Monday and see if she needs a check up before she gets spayed. If she doesn't, then I'll be making the appointment for her to get spayed in the next few weeks. I'm excited and scared at the same time.

 

[whitelop]

So, I never sleep. Well, I do sleep, just not a lot. I don't know whats wrong with me. I think its because my mind keeps going and never shuts down and my body just follows suit.
So I'm always up in the middle of the night, watching strange movies. Tonight it is, Jesse James meets Frankenstein's Daughter. Yes, thats right, Jesse James the cowboy outlaw and Frankenstein the doctor who brought the dead back to life, well its his daughter in this one. Up next is Billy the Kid versus Dracula.
Weird right?

Well, anyways...I just went in to check on Foo and she came running up to me in the kitchen. I noticed she left foot prints across the floor. I looked in her cage and it was wet. I put a bowl of water in there earlier to see if she would drink from it and she tipped it a little. It wasn't all in the bottom of the cage, but enough of it was. Its too late and I'm too tired to clean out her cage, so I locked her out. haha. I turned her water bottle around for her, and put her hay box out for her and gave her some greens. She can sleep on a towel in the floor for tonight until I clean her cage out.
Her poop tonight has been a little soft, I think its because I gave her some apple last night. I took a little bite and gave it to her, she hasn't had any apples in a long time so thats probably what it was. Once she got some greens in her stomach and some hay, she started to poop normal poops again. Oh and I gave her the tiniest sliver of banana today. I guess I gave her too much fruit, because she never gets fruit. Its amazing how just the smallest amount will mess them up a little.

I also read this: http://language.rabbitspeak.com/
It gave me some good insight on rabbit behaviors. I read it yesterday. I tried out some of the things that she says to do, like circle your bun to show you like them or whatever. I did that, and Foo won't leave me alone now! hahaha. I also "cleaned" myself in front of her and I think she really relaxed. She comes up to me more now when I sit on the floor, she puts her front feet on my lap and sniffs my face and rests her head on my legs. She also thinks she dominate, because she comes up and puts her head down for my to 'groom' her and I do. Its so funny how they kind of know what we're trying to say when we 'speak' their language. I haven't tried to binky to show that I'm happy, because of my sciatic nerve, I'll hurt myself. hahahahaa. Yeah, picture that; an adult binkying through the kitchen!

This is super long, I just wanted to share my last day or so with Foo. We've had a good few days. (I think she feels bad for biting me, she keeps sniffing my hurt finger and then putting her head on my leg)
She's so silly, but so awesome. Sometimes it takes small things to remind me how great she is!

 

[Imbrium]

awww, cute!

I'm sure her spay will go well... and it'll feel so good to have it over and done with and not have to worry any more. I worried from when I got mine and found out that bunnies have to get spayed until they actually made it through their surgeries 3 months later.

 

[whitelop]

OMG I slept SO good last night! I went to bed at like 10pm and got up at 8. I got up a few times through the night, but I consider it a success! Its the best I've slept in...well, years!

So, about Foo. She is fine! I think I was over reacting a little the other night about her eating. It was a weird few days for her. She spilled her water bowl in her cage and made a huge mess, so I had to lock her out. (I posted about it in an earlier blog post) But she was out for a day and a half. I put her food bowl on the floor for her, and I put her hay box out and turned her water bottle around. I also gave her her greens and stuff while she was out. She did pretty well, slept on her dirty blankets on the floor and looked pretty comfy. hahaha.
Anyways, I think because she was out for over a day, I think it kind of confused her. I cleaned her cage out that night that I posted about her not eating well. I had given her her greens in her hay box like usual, but she was out so she didn't eat a whole lot. After I put her cage back together and got her in it, she ate a little more. But not a whole lot. I gave her the simethicone and left for like an hour and when I got back she had eaten the rest of her greens and a few more pellets.
I waited to feed her greens and pellets yesterday, until the evening. I made sure I filled her hay up a few times with nice fresh hay, she ate a lot of hay yesterday. So I noticed when I gave her greens, she only ate a little bit at a time. She has eaten all of it since I put them down, but I think it took her a while. I think its because she's eating so much hay now. I've gotten the feeding schedule down now, so I only feed her 2 cups plus a leaf or two extra of greens instead of 3 cups. 3 was too much, she wasn't eating enough hay because she had so many greens. I've taken her down to 1/8 cup daily of pellets and she almost has no interest in them. It takes her a while to eat the pellets now.
Oh and I gave her a bite too much fruit the day before I thought something was wrong. She got a bite of apple and a sliver of banana. Which is out of the norm, she usually doesn't get any fruit expect for her dried papaya bites. So many the fruit didn't agree with her. Her poop was a little weird because of it, its back to normal now though. And I won't be giving her fruit two days in a row anymore.

So to sum all that rambling up, lol, I think because she's eating so much more hay, she isn't really super interested in the greens like she was before. Her weight is the same as it was before, so I think she's doing pretty good! I think I'm just a worrier! hahaha.

I will also add that my chickens are molting right now. Of course they had to wait until its getting cold to shed their feathers. hahaha. Thankfully, they're not the kind of breed that goes bald all at once. But my yard looks like it snowed, my rooster is white. So there's fluff everywhere!

 

[whitelop]

I woke up this morning to Foo under her blanket. I gave her an extra fleecy one last night and I think she liked it. I looked in her cage while I was getting my son some milk and didn't see a bun. I was a little confused then I saw the blanket switch. I had to silently laugh to myself, she's so silly!

So she's having some fur issues. This morning after she got out of the the blanket, I saw her ripping her fur out. The loose fur I guess. She was very violent with it. I try to brush her but I feel like not much comes out. I have a furminator and a slicker brush and its just not getting the fur. I pet her with damp hands, I wipe her down with wet paper towels, I pluck, I rub backwards. I get a lot of fur, but I feel like there is so much more. She has a skirt, but she shouldn't have a skirt. At least I don't think so. I can't tell if the skirt if loose fur thats just collected or if it is actual fur thats supposed to be there. Are mini lops supposed to have skirts? Ahhhh.

I noticed her string of pearl poops last night. There were like 4 hooked together! Unbelievable! I syringed her some pumpkin and some simethicone. She probably didn't need the simethicone, but she got it anyway. She was not a happy bun about the syringe. When I have to do things like that to her, she starts out fighting me then towards the end of it she just gives up and lets me do whatever to her. But it really hurts my heart when she just gives up like that, like goes limp.
I gave her a ton of extra hay last night, it looks like shes eaten a bit of it. Shes doing a lot better eating the hay. I've found she doesn't really like the timothy, she likes the orchard and botanical better. I don't blame her, the botanical smells so good.
I'm going to up the hay, decrease the pellet. Make sure her greens have water on them for eating, and decrease her kale. She hasn't had kale in a long time, so I started it slowly with no problems; but I feel like the increase of kale could be contributing to this problem. So I might not give her anymore kale at all. I wonder if chickens like kale?
I got her some greens with no calcium and low in OA so she'll be getting those from now on.

Oh willow balls! I forgot that I got her a willow ball, the ones with the walnuts in them. I got the walnuts out of her cage, she doesn't eat them or mess with them once they're out of the ball. But she ate the whole ball, is that okay? You would think that I would know, but I'm just not sure! I feel like things started to happen and be weird once she got into that ball! So could the ball have something to do with it?

 

[whitelop]

Oh and I have to share about my rice heating pad. I put that thing in the microwave for 2 minutes last night, it was hot as all get out! I didn't put it on me, but just in bed with me and I swear it kept me warm for hours! I got up at 4 and put it back in the microwave for 2 minutes and when I woke up at 7 it was STILL hot, like the heat that I would have warmed it to to put it on myself.
That little thing is like MAGIC! Except between it and my husband, I was sweating at one point in the night. hahaha. Gross I know, but it was like double heat! I guess the rice bag is like when they used to put hot embers in the bed warmer things and put it under the covers to keep you warm. It probably works the same, just more safe since its not FIRE in the bed. hahaha.
Happy Tuesday everyone!

 

[Imbrium]

yeah, rice heating pads rock!

as for the willow ball, mine will nom the hell out of those and we've never had any problems.

 

[JBun]

Yeah, my buns love willow too. It's good for their teeth and gives them tons of fiber.

When rabbits are molting, there is going to be hair in their poop, you just have to make sure that they are getting enough fiber in their diets to keep it moving through their digestion, so they don't get a slowdown in there, because that's what starts to cause the problems.

The way you are describing Foo's grooming, makes it sound more like a false pregnancy, especially since she was just gathering hay for a nest not long ago. Pregnant females will start ripping out chunks of fur to line the nest, and with false pregnancies, rabbits will do the same.

 

[whitelop]

Oh Jenny, you should see the huge clumps of fur she pulled out this morning! I walked back in after I posted that this morning and her blanket is in a nest shape and covered with fur clumps. This will be her second false pregnancy nest in a few months. She's gone insane!
She's getting spayed soon, so it will end. I'm actually pretty glad she's getting the fur out though! She's so much better at getting it out than I am. She's got more hay than she knows what to do with and shes still pooping. Which is a great sign.

I'm a chronic over-reactor and worrier. So these things may not sound bad to everyone else, but in my brain its a HUGE thing. haha. So I'm glad you guys can talk me down off the ledge when it comes to these things and help me realize its probably NOT as bad as I think it is!

 

[JBun]

Oh, I know! Those false pregnancies can be messy:sweep Before I got one of my girls spayed, she was a nut when she had her false pregnancies. Gathering hay, and more hay, and then fur flying everywhere. Just insane! I'm so glad that's over with. She's much tidier now

Yeah, with the amount of hay Foo is getting, she should be staying very regular. The only way she'd eat more is if she didn't have any pellets at all. Eating that willow ball will help. If you have apple branches or willow branches that she can chew on each day, that will help too. But I know how you feel. I hate seeing their poos strung together. Makes me a little worried too. I think at least half of us on this forum are worriers. That's probably why we're all on here. We need the moral support of each other

 

[whitelop]

I don't think I have any apple trees anymore. There were supposed to be some somewhere in our field/yard, but I think they got logged.
I do have 2 pear trees though, could she have some of those twigs?

I also have a fig and peach tree, I don't know if she can have any of those branches though. I think I only remember apple and pear.

 

[agnesthelion]

Agnes has had poops strung together alot since we got her. The most I found was probably 10!! I think it's her long hair. I just make sure and increase hay intake by limiting pellets when I see that start happening. We've never had a problem (knock on wood)

I agree with jenny it does sound like a false pregnancy. It could also explain her recent cage aggression too. Sounds like the spay is a necessary at this point!

Oh and as far as not sleeping, I don't either sometimes! I stay up really late sometimes. But it's kinda by choice. I like the quiet, my son is sleeping, I can watch what I want to on TV, it's my alone time. And then I wake up at like 3 or 4am all the time too. Usually I just read for a little bit and go back to bed.

That's funny about your molting chickens. Agnes just got done molting a couple weeks ago and now Archie is starting I think. UHg. I hope in the future they get on the same molt schedule!

 

[whitelop]

Ohh Lisa that would be nice for you if they molted at the same time!
I just wish my chickens weren't molting the beginning of winter. It takes a while for feathers to grow back in. My hen is now missing most of her tail feathers. I don't think I can see skin yet, but she looks funny. They can't help it though, its their age. Unfortunately they'll probably be molting every year at this time.

Yes, Foo is now under her blanket again taking a nap. She is so cute but SO crazy! As for her pellets, she's getting a little less than an 1/8 cup a day, but it takes her the whole day to eat them. She barely has an interest in them anymore, which I guess is a good thing since I'll be taking them away soon.

 

[JBun]

That's so cute that Foo snuggles under her blankie I know that you definitely DON'T give rabbits any wood or leaves from trees with pitted fruit. So no on the peach and fig. I couldn't find anything on pear branches, so I don't know about that. I have a willow tree near me that I like to 'prune' for my bunnies. They can have the fresh branches, but I usually make little willow rings out of the soft branches, then let them dry for about a month before I give them to my rabbits. If you know of a willow tree somewhere near that you could cut some branches off, that's the easiest and cheapest way to have a chew toy for your bun. It's hard to know what is really supposed to be rabbit safe. You'll find one site that says something is safe then another site that says it's not. I always thought apple branches were safe. Every site I found said they were. Now I just found a site that says they may not be. So far I haven't found anything that says willow isn't safe. So willow may be the way to go.

 

[whitelop]

Everything I read about apple branches said they were safe. I know its so hard to figure out what is safe and what isn't.
I did see something about pitted fruit trees, its something to do with the arsenic in them. BUT it did say that, you could give them branches from peach trees as long as they had been dried for a month of more. But I wouldn't trust the peach branches to give to her.
I saw something in pear branches that said they were safe, but I need to look around a little bit more.

When I fed Foo her greens tonight, she jumped all over them. So I think the pumpkin last night helped. I'm going to give her some more tonight.