Newbie Question:

[naturestee]

Just Jack wrote:

ok so in the next week or two we'll be able to get themneutered and they can rejoin their female friends

FYI as you might not know this yet- neutered males can still haveliving sperm for 3-4 weeks after the surgery. So you'll needto wait a little before reintroducing them.

I guess the gender fairy found you already!:shock:

 

[Spring]

Don't worry Peg, Jack doesn't seem to upset of the new change. Now you can have two bunny couples :love:

Well atleast look on the bright side, you'll save a bit on the two spayings if they were female.

 

[Just Jack]

naturestee wrote:

Just Jack wrote:

ok so inthe next week or two we'll be able to get them neutered and they canrejoin their female friends

FYI as you might not know this yet- neutered males can still haveliving sperm for 3-4 weeks after the surgery. So you'll needto wait a little before reintroducing them.

I guess the gender fairy found you already!:shock:

well that's some very important information!:shock: Guessthat means they are going to need to be separated longer.We'll still try to supervise short stints of free-for-all playtime asthey seem to have more fun when everyone is out.

We're really having to work on gaining the girls' trust more than theboys. The girls are the worst when it comes to being putaway. Tonight we really upset the chestnut when we had totrap her to get her to go into her cage for the night. Shewas very upset thumping the ground quite a bit. We spent sometime after picking her up just holding her, petting her, and talkingsweetly to her to try and make her feel better.

When she was put in her cage it was like nothing had happened and shejust flopped down to take a nap. However, even if they aren'treally upset it seems like we are losing the trust of thefemales. We're going to try keeping the cage completelyclosed when it comes to playtime and we hope by the time we let them goback to their cage they'll be really hungry and thirsty so they won'thave a problem going back inside. Elsa is also suggestingthat we let them out just once a day (for a good few hours) instead oftwice a day.

We're going to also try picking them up without the ultimate intentionof that being to put them back in their cage. That's anotherproblem I think we've encountered as they seem to have figured out thatevery time we pick them up means they are being locked up.Also there's been a couple times where we've used a treat to draw outthe chestnut and we think she has already learned to not trust treatsfrom us.

Again the old adage is true... boys are so much easier than girls!

 

[TinysMom]

Don't put their food down till you're ready to put them back in their cage...then loudly pour it in from a scoop.

They'll usually come running...

Peg

 

[Just Jack]

yeah I think someone else suggested that too... I dunno how long it will take for them to get trained/used to that.

though at the same time I was wondering if you are also suggesting thatthey at least always have a source of water while playing?

 

[naturestee]

My rabbits get really upset if they can't getinto their cages while they are playing. That's their safeterritory. And yes, they should always have access to water.

Mine got the idea of going back to the cage for food reallyquickly. If you're not feeding veggies, give them each atreat when they go back, too. They do learn.

Give the girls some time- they just went through a major upheaval. Some rabbits take time to settle in.

 

[Just Jack]

yeah and it also looks like the girls may be kind of hormonal. both of them seem to be in heat.

I'll leave a water dosh for playtime. I think they also findmy couches to be their safe areas since those too are quite cage like.

These guys all seem so very smart. They quickly learn all our little tricks and find ways to foil our "evil plans."

it's been kind of shocking how tired these little guys are gettingus. Usually I'm the type to stay up into the wee hours of theAM but now we're both really tired at the end of the day.

 

[Spring]

So cute! I have the same problem with mylionhead Pebbles. She'll be running around and as soon as she sees mekneeling down she'll skitter off to another corner of the room. I'vefound that picking them up a few times before the big deal of puttingthem back in their cage helps. Then they get used to being picked up.The first time they might skitter away but then they getusedto it.It's natural for rabbits to be like thatwhen they think they're going to be locked away.

I'm always finding Pebbles under my dresser laying down. I think theylike the feeling of being under something (like in the wild burrows). Ionce had the bottem drawer open, and there was a shelf thingat the back of it and I looked under and I couldn't see her and thoughtshe had gone under my bed but she was hiding on the shelf.

 

[TinysMom]

Just Jack wrote:

yeah and it also looks like the girls may be kind ofhormonal. both of them seem to be in heat.

These guys all seem so very smart. They quickly learn all our little tricks and find ways to foil our "evil plans."

it's been kind of shocking how tired these little guys are gettingus. Usually I'm the type to stay up into the wee hours of theAM but now we're both really tired at the end of the day.

It does sound like you're enjoying them. The girls may not somuch be "in heat" as working out who is the boss....by showingdominance and mounting.

Also - I should have warned you - one of the reasons we have therabbits play loose in our rabbitry and allow them into our house is webelieve it helps to increase their intelligence and curiousity (asopposed to staying in a cage all the time). We really dothings a LOT differently here than most breeders as we want our rabbitsto be curious and maybe even a bit of a "troublemaker" attimes. I feel like that shows that they have a uniquepersonality...

I really love seeing pictures of the chestnut one.....I'm so glad you shared!

Peg

 

[RO STAFF 2]

Definition: Blog (short forweblog).a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updatedand intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally representthe personality of the author or the Web site.

Hmmm... Looks like a blog.... Readslike a blog... It's just not titled a blog.

What if we merge this thread with the Just Jack Rabbits new (and almostempty) blog thread and just call a blog a blog?

 

[Just Jack]

:lol: well mostly I've been asking questionsabout their behaviors here. For the blog I'm planning (andworking) on something more story-like, organized, and with a lot morepictures.

We've jut been working with the bunnies so much that we haven't hadmuch time for anything else. I have two other boards(non-bunny related) that I frequent and I haven't posted on them prettymuch since we've gotten these guys. :lol: I'm just glad wegot these guys just in time for spring break so we don't have tostruggle with work as well.

 

[Spring]

Enjoy every minute with them! They grow so fastII have Pebbles on my lap right now and she was in the position when Iwas first holding her and she's grown like double in size. I missher tiny size and she's still tiny! LOL

 

[Just Jack]

Well hopefully they won't grow too much bigger!:lol: Peg says that they are pretty much 2/3rds as big asthey will get or some might even just stay that big for good.

We were thinking today that it might be a good idea to get the doesfixed first for a few reasons. First they are the ones havingmore behavioral problems and tend to be just peeing all over the placewhile the bucks mostly pee in the litter box or on other adjacentcorner. Secondly I think the does are older, Cala is over 12weeks old though I'm not sure about Pheebs. Also, unless I ammistaken, once the girls are fixed there is no worries about themgetting pregnant, so the bucks can start being around them again thatmuch sooner.

 

[Spring]

Yes it might be good to get the does fixedfirst. Although I've heard they still have to wait a few days or soafter the surgery to heal from it so I'm guessing in the cage for a fewdays?Yesterday my littel girl snapped at me when I was filling herdish... enough to leave a bruise. Silly girls!