King Kirby's Rabbit Nation 2011

[kirbyultra]

Quick update - December 14, 2011

Penny stinks. Literally. We did her scent glands today and by the time we were done, I felt nauseated.... It's *really* strong stuff. Toby's was not as bad but still stinky. Guess who's a clean rabbit? King Kirby. I love that rabbit!!!!

Toby is still acting crazy and pawing at the rabbit proofing. He's so angry these days but I think it's because I was forced to block him out of his napping spot under the couch. It's his fault for being so smart and breaking through the proofing. But I'm sure it's my fault for being a bad slave. Poor Toby

:dutch

 

[kirbyultra]

December 28, 2011

I have pictures! But I will post them in a tiny lil bit, promise.

I've been like a crazy bat lady lately, mostly because of lack of sleep. Lots of things have been happening that's making me very nervous about all my bunnies. We did a makeshift thing with our proofing so that Toby could still run in the living room and not get into the electric wires. But he has been so fixated on getting into it still. Some friends' bunnies have been ill. I had some nightmares about things happening to my bunnies. Toby just started to shed again and he seems to always have tummy problems sometime through his molt. I'm really on edge about the whole thing.

So my husband swooped in and saved the day by making another improvement to the rabbit nation. The barrier under the couch that shields the buns from wires is now made of metal baskets. No way that they can chew through that!!! It was a rather simple solution. Just cost us some money buying metal closet baskets with the right height to fit under the couch. I'll have to take some pics of this set up. It's weird but it works!

The buns had a great Christmas. They got their presents early, which were tunnels. Toby's been so nutty lately since he lost his fave nappy spot under the couch. He found a new favorite place inside one of the cardboard tunnels. Pics of that soon.

Penny's finally stopped shedding. Her new coat is fantastic. She is finally what I would call "soft"! Quite luxuriously soft, in fact, because she has a very thick coat!

So that's it for now... in a few I'll post pics.

 

[kirbyultra]

Pictures!

King Kirby, chillaxing with Penny.

Fun times in Tobyland

Toby is very angry while Kirby and Penny play

And just a random pic of my heart Kirby.

:dutch

 

[Wabbitdad12]

Wonderful pictures, I have now had my cuteness fix.

Did you buy the tunnels at a local store?

 

[MILU]

Is this Toby ready to come here? Tell him if he needs a vacation in a tropical country, I have experience bunny-sitting and I'm currently hiring bunnies on vacation to spend some time here. He meets the requirements: being cute, fluffy, adorable, etc etc etc!!
:inlove:

And I love all the pics of the bunnies yawning, you have a lot of talent to be able to take those pics (I remember you had more, I guess on another blog here?) I could never get a pic like that. It's like you're there at the right moment, or that you can tell "bunnies, yawn now" and they do it for you..!

Btw, I hope you had a fabulous xmas, sorry for the delay.. the tunnels are awesome gifts for the bunnies!! Wow, so much fun!!

At least I won't be late to wish you a happy new year, I hope you have a very happy 2012!

arty0002:

 

[kirbyultra]

Yes, Dave, the tunnels were purchased. The cardboard one (which is fantastic for chewers, btw) is a bit pricey but well worth the money. Binkybunny.com sells it. The plastic purple one scrunches up and is easily stored and cleaned. I bought that at my local Petco. My buns were cautious about the plastic one at first (since it rolls and is slippery if they're not careful). Toby likes to sleep in the cardboard one now.

Vivian! If Toby were to go on vacation, I'm sure he wouldn't mind a new slave pampering him

Happy New Year everybody and everybunny!
:toast:

 

[MILU]

Whenever any of your bunnies needs a vacation, please ship them to me!

 

[kirbyultra]

March 22, 2012 - Boy it's been a while!?

Picture and bunny update! And Toby turned 3 on March 15. He has grown up even more mellow and lovely, if you can believe it. Penny's Gotcha Day is coming up soon. Kirby is turning 6 this summer. I can't believe how fast it's all happening!!!

More exciting news: The Rabbit Nation is moving soon! Our family just purchased a lovely home in the suburbs and it'll be a couple months before we can move in but we have a lot of great plans for the buns. They will have a lovely backyard to play in (within an top-enclosed pen and under close supervision!). And they will get their own rabbit room. We're thinking of carving out enough room for a possible 4th bunny if Toby ever picks a girlfriend. I think Toby's going to be very very upset to have to share a room with Kirby and Penny. But I'm going to try and make it as separated as possible so he doesn't freak out all the time the way he used to when he was in the same room as Kirby. We're having the place done specifically as a bunny room so it is FOR them. And we can renovate the place so that fur and hay and stuff stays in there, so my husband and I can enjoy the rest of our home allergen free. But, of course, I'm making sure that the bunny room has a comfortable seat and tv so I can hang out in there with the bun buns and play with them as much as I want. Toby needs to watch Project Runway so a tv is a must I have high hopes for the room but we'll see how budgeting goes!

Kirby and Penny are very good. They both seem to be lazier than before but then again Kirby is at least middle aged by now and Penny isn't much younger than him. They seem happy with each other but I do still see a lot of spark in their eyes when they play and binky. Very happy and playful bunnies. Just a bit lazy!

Anyways, on with pictures.

Sir Toby, in all his glory

LOL - Kirby guarding his wooden block from Penny even as he sleeps

King Kirby taking a bunnap in the morning on the highest part of the Rabbit Nation

 

[JadeIcing]

Vey nice to hear an update from you.

 

[ZRabbits]

Wishing the Rabbit Nation health and happiness in your new Home.

Love your Kirby "sleepy" pics. Reminds me how comfortable Willard sleeps.

Beautiful bunnies and truly well loved. Hope you update when you all reach your permanent destination.

K

 

[candykittten]

You have beautiful bun-children

 

[MILU]

haha how funny that Toby has picked his favorite tv show and can't go without it... I love the pics, it's nice to see the Rabbit Nation back here!

 

[myheart]

Wow!! Am I behind on news!!

A HOUSE!!! How cool is that?!!! Congratulations! Are you all moved yet, since it's been a few months since you posted? I am so excited to here about the new diggs for the kids. I do hope they will adjuste easily enough.

:biggrin:Good for you!!!

 

[kirbyultra]

Sooo It's Been A While!
Hi everybun! So sorry I've been MIA for the better part of 2012. But, it's January 1st and no better time to try and start over than right now.
First things first - the buns, of course. Kirby, Toby, and Penny have officially moved and they are now all living together in one room. The Rabbit Nation has been reunited. Toby isn't very happy about it but we've been trying to make it comfortable for him. The transition wasn't completely seamless. Kirby and Penny took the move much better than Toby did. He did give us a bit of a scare because he stopped eating his pellets a few days, then only nibbled at it a tiny bit each day for several weeks. He became noticeably thinner, but he was still eating hay and lettuce in healthy portions, so I figured it was probably just stress. Toby is pretty bonded to me and with the move, I was busy in the human parts of the house so I didn't get to spend as much time as I would have liked with him. It's pretty much my fault that he was a bit depressed. Poor baby Toby!

Kirby and Penny were scared at first but Kirby was the first to bounce back. I'd never have guessed it. I predicted that Kirby would be the one to take it the hardest but he just started adapting and conquering the new land as if it was his born right (and I guess it is!). Penny was the other one I ended up being worried about. I figured Penny would just take it all in stride but when we moved, she was absolutely petrified of the new digs. She sat in the same spot for days and days, only moving to eat hay, do business, and lick Kirby. Otherwise she would plant herself like a meatloaf in her spot. She's much better now but she is much more reserved about the new space than Kirby.

We're still fixing up the rabbit room to be the way we'd like it. There are some pieces of their Leith condos that I'd like to replace but I just haven't gotten around to it all yet. I have even ordered the replacement parts (carpets, chew guards and such) and they're all just waiting for me to get to it. The buns are getting restless and they want to explore the rest of the room, but I am just not ready to release the buns yet. With some residual construction guys running around patching things, I don't want them accidentally getting hurt. I let Kirby and Toby out for a few minutes a night to run about, but they really only run out to terrorize each other from outside their cages. :headsmack
There will be new pics and things soon. The rabbit room is an impressive part of my renovation so I'm excited to show it off a bit :clapping: The buns are still very handsome and I'm sure the forum oldies will want to see them. There are tons of new members, I see, and I'm excited to read all about you and your kiddies. I hope now that my 9-month-long renovation is done, I'll have more time to pop into the forum. Happy new year, folks!

Kirby's Mom

 

[Chrisdoc]

Wow, just got through the whole of your story and have loved getting to know Kirby, Penny and Toby, what great little buns. Have loved all the pictures, I just adore those of the open mouths, I´m never quick enough to catch mine doing that.

Can´t wait to see the bunny room and hearing more about the three of them, would be great if you decided to get Toby a little wifeybun, I´m sure he´d love it.

I´m having issues with two of mine who´ve fallen out and we´re really trying to get them to make up with each other.

Look forward to reading more on here, I have laughed at more than one thing as I´ve read through it all.

They are such wonderful and complicated little rascals but I couldn´t live without them now.

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Wow, I just read through your whole blog. I love them all.

And I will definitely follow this blog.

 

[kirbyultra]

Aw, thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed reading about my precious bun buns. They are quite something!

 

[MikeScone]

Welcome back!

 

[kirbyultra]

Thanks, Mike!

On a completely separate topic:

I just wanted to throw this out there, in case anyone happens to come by and was shopping for commercially sold rabbit housing ideas. I went through a whole bunch of different habitats for Penny because she still randomly pees places. I settled upon this cage for her to sleep in at night and she used it for a very long time. Midwest and Precision make this side door and top door cage.

I bought the Precision one (above). The cage is nice but the floor being that mesh wire kind of thing made it obviously unacceptable for Miss Penny's footies. I bought a sheet of coroplast from a plastic store and cut it down to the right size so that it acted as a flat floor surface and had side pee-guards. The "catch tray" that it comes with the cage was virtually useless because of the layer of coroplast. But, ya know, I'm sure one day it'll be useful for something when life changes and bunnies create new challenges for me. The cage is a wee bit small in the sense that it's only like 18" in depth. For a bun of Penny's size, it wasn't super. The small litter box that fit in there had to be changed daily. But it was only a nighttime "bedroom" for her. I leave the door open during the day.

When we moved, I ended up getting her a new, though similar, cage for her that features 2 side-by-side walkout doors and a top door.

This new cage was nice because the doors on the side actually pop off completely for a cleaner look when I want the door open (which is 95% of the time). The doorway itself is closer to the ground (only 1-2 inches high) and eliminates the need for a ramp. Penny has a weird gimpy leg (though the vet and x-rays don't show her having any bone issue). She doesn't like climbing up and down ramps. This cage was a nice lateral upgrade for her. It came with its own plastic tray so I don't have to cut any coroplast. The company also sells urine splatter guards made of sheet metal. I ordered a couple but found that the corners of the guards were a pointy 90 degree angle. If your bunny licks/chins everything or bumps into stuff, I don't recommend it. It might be better to just toss the built-in tray and cut your own coroplast to form a urine guard. My tray was actually shipped to me cracked and the Midwest customer service replaced it for me right away, free of charge.

If you're considering such a rabbit cage, it's really not a bad choice. But as always, consider the size of your bunny and the amount of stretch room he/she needs and any special requirements of your bun when buying a cage.

 

[MILU]

I missed your updates here!