Mary Catherine's Bunny Blog! :)

[missyscove]

I like your name list, very distinguished.

 

[MCatCar]

I'm leaning towards Oliver tooo~

 

[jcottonl02]

:agreeYeah I agree- I reckon he definately looks like an Oliver. And Oliver isn't a cutesy name but it's still a warm kind of name, imo

I want more pics! :biggrin2:

How does your mum like him?

Jen

 

[MCatCar]

So, I just went out, checked on my bun, and he had eaten all of his hay, that I had filled the hayrack last night completely full, so I think I'm going to have to find a cheaper brand than Oxbow, its 5 dollars a bag, and I'll go through, -at this rate- at least a bag a week. Any suggestions?

So, I'm thinking Oliver is reallly fitting him, so from now on, I'll refer to him as Oliver.

 

[MCatCar]

Sorry Jen, I didn't see your post!

She thinks he's adorable! But, I know for a while at least she still won't let him in the house for good. Yesterday when I was holding him, he was really gentle, and she petted him, and was like 'Awh, he's so soft!'

I think he got scared, because now if I touch him he freaks out, and runs to the other end of the cage. I guess I should probably leave him alone for a little bit longer.

 

[jcottonl02]

Well what I do is go down to my local farm- I can get a bale of hay for £4 which is fantastic, but I have to take my Dad's van when I need to buy it because it's so huge!!! That could be a solution for you?

I think the more your mum is around Oliver, the more she will realise he is just like a dog/cat and can come in the house- I don't think that Lionhead's moult much do they? Unless in the moulting season (anyone got experience with lionheads?) and of course she'll realise that he doesn't smell- in fact she may find he smells nice! Like fresh laundry like mine . I know why I think of fresh laundry now- it's because it is dried on the washing line, and so smells of outside, and so do my buns when they have spent the day in the run lol. So that is just 'the laundry' smell.

Yeah I would give him a bit of time without being handled. He needs to get used to being without the other bunnies, and in a totally new place that smells all different and scary. I would recommend completely leaving him for a few days, but talking to him for a while every day and maybe offering a hand every now and then for him to sniff. You don't want him to associate you with being scared as he is lifted out of his pen etc. when he's not ready

*cough* pics *cough cough*

Jen

 

[kirbyultra]

Cute bun! Do you need us to edit the title of your blog? Maybe once you're sure about the name?

So, I think that you should try to buy hay in bulk. I'm probably making a stereotypical assumption but I am inclined to think that there's probably lots of horse places in Kentucky? You should research a bit in your area where they sell horse stuff, because they'll probably sell you bales of hay (it's like 50 or 70 lbs! The only issue is that you'd need some space to store it) for as cheap as $5 a bale...? Local farms also have great prices on bales of hay. Buying little 40 oz bags of Oxbow hay is totally too much money, I agree!

 

[MCatCar]

We don't really have any place to store it, I've heard of people buying something like 'cleanmama' or something like that.

& I would love for someone to change it once, I'm 100% sure!

 

[MCatCar]

& More pictures will be coming soon!

 

[missyscove]

My family wasn't interested in a whole bale of hay, but my feedstore will put two flakes in a giant trash bag and sell me that for $5, so that's what we do.

 

[ariusshadow]

Plastic totes work well. You can get these at wal mart, sometimes in pretty colors. Our current hay tote is purple. A whole bale sometimes won't fit in a tote. Maybe if you have friends that have buns, you can all split the cost and the bale. My friend and I did that. Fellow RO'er, Ecresi and I both have buns and she and I paid $4.50 (Bale was $3.50 plus we had to pay for gas to get out there. ) When the bale was purchased, we brought it home and half went in a garbage bag, half went in her tote. We cut the strings, and I brought home the garbage bag and moved it to a tote (with 2 garbage bags extra still left over!). The totes work well keeping bugs and moisture out and the hay in. And most people have a few of them laying around.

 

[kirbyultra]

missyscove wrote:

My family wasn't interested in a whole bale of hay, but my feedstore will put two flakes in a giant trash bag and sell me that for $5, so that's what we do.

Yeah, 2 flakes out of a bale and paying for the whole bale is still way cheaper than $11 for a 40oz bag of Oxbow that the stores here sell.

 

[MCatCar]

Much cheaper!

Every few hours I go out to the garage, and sit and talk to Oliver. Sometimes he'll come over to my side of the cage, and look at me.

Last night we turned off the light in the garage, and it was completely dark, do you think thats okay, or should we leave the light on?

 

[jcottonl02]

I would imagine rabbits are fine in the dark, as long as it's not pitch black. They are crepuscular, so they are only active in the wild at dawn and dusk anyway, when it's not light (but not pitch black). Just......dingy lol.

I assume it's not pitch black in there cos the moonlight would shine from the window to the hutch, yes?

Jen

 

[MCatCar]

My Dad thought I should get him out for a little bit, and so I held him for a while, and say him down on the garage floor, after I had swept really well. I really need to get a pen, because I have to stay RIGHT on him, or he'll get into things that he doesn't need to!

 

[jcottonl02]

Aww look how fluffy!

Well I guess if he seems totally fine with being handled and being out then it shouldn't be a problem. Some of them just need a bit of time.

Jen

 

[kirbyultra]

How cute is he! I'm glad your dad is ok with letting him out to stretch his bunny legs a little. That is really good of him. And you're so right about keeping right on him. My bunnies get into all sorts of things -- I didn't trust them for 5 seconds until I bunny proofed all my space. And even then when I hear them doing something, I have to go look to make sure they didn't break through my bunny proofing.

About the darkness... They are most active at night. It helps to have even a little bit of light, like moonlight, because that is what they would naturally get. They won't be able to see all that well anyway as their eyesight is not as good as their other senses, but I don't leave them in complete darkness. However, I am inclined to think that complete darkness is not something that is unfamiliar because bunnies in the wild burrow in the ground for safety. No light there!

I live in the city so there's always light coming through my window. I leave the shades up at night to let some low light in from outside. That way when the sun comes up in the morning they'll get the first splash of sunlight as well

 

[slavetoabunny]

Congratulations! Oliver is definately a cutie-pie. I would check with some farms in your area. I've heard that some will let you fill up a garbage bag for little or no cost. I order from Kleenmama's, but when you factor in shipping it's pretty expensive.

 

[Wabbitdad12]

Very cute!

 

[MCatCar]

Oliver still gets a little freaked when I take him from his cage, but there's NO other way to get him out for free time.

He's out in my kitchen, thats barricaded off, and he'll come over here, sniff my feet, my legs, and now he's climbngon me, and it TICKLES! He's so furrry, and it rubs my legs!