Krissa's Kritter Korner

[Krissa]

Hi all. I wanted to introduce all my critters as I have a new bunny, Zander! He is 13 weeks old and a Californian. I drove 2 hours to get him and so far he is worth it.

We are so excited to have him in the family, I've missed having a bunny since my last one passed away early this spring. He has been a crazy spaz hopping around his room and loves flopping next to my cats (on the other side of the cage bars). Everyone is getting along well and I hope to allow him free run of the house when he reaches his full size. Right now he looks too much like a kitty snack!

 

[Whiskerz]

Great start to your blog. Can't wait to watch him grow

 

[Krissa]

Here are some of Zander's friends. Hopefully as he grows everyone will get along.

This is Arwen, my Australian Shepherd and Keristraza (Keri) my ginger cat. We found Keri at a local park as a kitten, she was starving and I just grabbed her and took her home. Arwen is 3 years old, her AKC name is Arwen Evenstar RN. She also has her Canine Good Citizen Award. She is a bit of a crazy so I have taken a break from her Rally and Obedience career to let her calm down a bit. She does backyard agility with me and we occasionally do some sheep herding.

 

[Krissa]

Here are all three of my cats in a very rare photo together. This is what it looks like when I am folding laundry! They are waiting to steal the socks!

They are Malygos (on the left), Onyxia (middle) and Keristraza (right)

Malygos is from Wilson Pet Rescue, we got him as a kitten to be a companion for Onyxia - but she hates him. Its Ok though because Arwen loves him and will clean his ears for hours. Onyxia is my first cat, she is from a PetSmart adoption day, originally at a shelter in Indiana. She is such a tiny kitty and it is difficult to keep her weight up because she is such a picky eater.

Malygos makes a good study buddy.

 

[cheryl]

He's adorable..love the picture of him sitting in the hammock..very cute..

 

[luvthempigs]

Aww, All your critters are very cute! I love orange cats although I don't have one at this time.

I used to have Australian Shepherds and I must say they were high energy dogs and very protective of their home and people.

 

[Krissa]

Yes, Arwen can be very protective, if I take her for a walk by myself she gets very upset if someone approaches me. I've been working on that. While I love her, my next dog will NOT be an Aussie. I love the energy - I can hike her 7 miles and she is ready for more. She is great on backpacking trips. I can't take the attitude though. You have to be a very strong willed individual to butt heads with an Aussie.

She loves HER kitties (because everything is hers) and she is very protective of Zander. I call her my enforcer. The first time I let the cats in the room where I keep Zander she was right there and if they got too close to the cage she would pounce on them and drive them away. I had to put a stop to that, but it is nice to know that if for some reason one of the cats went for Zander - Arwen would step in.


Oh and Zander loves his hammock, it is the same one I used for my last rabbit. I did reinforce it a bit as he will be much larger. I'm going to build a second cat tree this winter and at the base of it I plan on putting a bunny hammock - although the cats will probably end up stealing it. :biggrin:

 

[Krissa]

[align=center]

[/align][align=left]Here is Zander's cage. It is around 4ft tall and 5 feet wide. Two levels. I may add some more shelves as time goes by. He has a larger litter box now, he outgrew his first one in a week! He is already the same size as the dutch I had.

He has been really good about his litter box. I had to remove the fabric lining as one night he did pee on it. I took it out and put up a divider to make the cage smaller. I think I just gave him too much room all at once. So I have been moving the divider a foot at a time each day. No more accidents so far. Lets just hope when the hormones kick in he will keep the good habits.
[/align]

 

[Krissa]

This morning Zander and Malygos had some through-the-bars play time. Malygos would lay on his side outside the cage and tap Zander in the nose with his foot. Zander would then zoom around the cage doing binkies and come back for more.

I guess that tired everyone out because now they are sleeping next to each other with the cage bars between them. I hope Maly and Zander get along this well outside the cage. So far Malygos has been touching with a soft paw (claws retracted). He is also stalking Zander less - more laying around and less crouching.

I just gave Zander his veggies, he has been eating them great. I started out the day I got him with just one dandelion leaf and gradually increased from there. He is eating around 2 cups a day of fresh veggies, and his poops are still perfect. I have been giving him variety to see what he likes. He also had his first bit a fruit yesterday - one blueberry.


Zander's veggie list so far:

Green Bell Peppers - he will eat them
Rose Petals - loves them
Nasturtium - his favorite
Fresh Grass Cuttings - saves them for last
Grape Leaves - does not like
Dandelion - yummy!
Plantain - hates, but I will try again in spring when the plants are young
Turnip Greens - loves
Parsley - loves
Carrots - will eat them, but eats the nasturtium first
Marigold - loves the flowers
Peppermint - one of his favorites

At least I know what to grow in my herb garden next year. :biggrin2: I have some basil that will be ready to pick next week, hope he enjoys that too. It's nice to have a rabbit that can eat greens, poor Gandalf (my last bunny). If he even looked at a green he would have runny poops!

I went to a farm this week and got two bales of alfalfa and one orchard grass. I plan on giving him the pure alfalfa for the next couple of months, then mix in the orchard grass. I've been looking for a farmer with timothy hay bales but they keep selling out before I get there. Looks like he might have just alfalfa and orchard grass for his first year.

Oh, and right now he is eating Bunny Basics alfalfa pellets - it was difficult to find alfalfa pellets as now all the pet stores around me only carry timothy hay pellets.

 

[Krissa]

I started Zander's clicker training this afternoon. Just "loading" the clicker. I also had him try on my smallest harness (it belonged to my dutch). I left it on him for ten minutes as he zoomed around the room.

I don't like the figure-8 harness that I have, I think I like the H-harness type better. Less pull around the neck.

 

[SOOOSKA]

Nice start to your Blog. Wow you have lots of pets.

Zander is absolutely adorable. I'm looking forward to more pictures of him.

A word of caution, those hamocks are not the safest for rabbits. I had one for Buttercup years ago, I let him try it out for about 10 minutes then took it away. He had a hard time getting out of it and I felt he could really hurt himself/his spine. Just my opinion I'm not saying it is right but for me it was the correct decision.

Susan

 

[Krissa]

I'll keep an eye on him. Maybe I will lower it some, since I made it myself I can adjust it. Right now he can't get to it because I blocked off the top part of his cage (he was peeing up there). Thanks for the warning! Now I'm almost nervous enough to take it out.

I had similar thing happen in high school with one of my pets. I had a Pacman frog. She was huge. Well, I woke up one morning and she was dead, upside down in her water dish. My best guess was since the sides of the bowel were steep and she was so fat, she flipped and drowned. I cried for days. My next Pacman frog did not have the same water dish - I made sure the sides were very low.

 

[Krissa]

Today Arwen (the dog) and Zander had two 10 minute interaction sessions and Arwen was wonderful. She laied down even though Zander was binking around the room like crazy. I wanted to get a video but I did not want to be distracted in case something happened. I will have my hubby take a video tommorw.

Zander got his ears cleaned by Arwen. He even ran over and scooted in under her nose to be groomed a second time. I'll keep increasing their time together, hopefully by the time he is neutered they will get along safely.

Does anyone have any suggestions for introducing the kitties to Zander? There has been plenty of interaction through the cage bars and no one is afraid of anyone else. I would work with one cat at a time but beyond that I would love some advise from someone with cats and rabbits. I am much more wary about the cat/rabbit relationship than the dog/rabbit. Not worried because my cats seem out to get him, just worried in general.

 

[jessicalovesjesse]

malygos?
are you perhaps a WoW fan?
;D

 

[Krissa]

Yep, the kitties are named after dragons in Wow

 

[Krissa]

Here are some more pictures of Zander - I've been having so much fun with him I keep forgetting to take them. He is getting along great with Arwen, she is very gentle with him. The kitties are also very good with him through the cage. I think next month I will let the kitties meet him outside the cage.

Here's some sleepy Zander pics - too much binkying!

 

[Krissa]

Zander also got to go outside today. The weather was beautiful - 75 degrees. Perfect bunny weather!

 

[Dragonrain]

Great blog! Zander is a very handsome bunny.

I love your dog! I have a year old papillon (He'll be 2 in December) and he's such a nut...very VERY hyper. But dogs are so much fun!

You're pets have the best names! I've wanted to name a pet " Arwen" for a long time now, but never had a pet that really fit the name.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

great pics.

 

[Wabbitdad12]

Great blog and he is a very handsome bunny. Wonderful pictures also.