Rachet and Plank

[CHEE65]

Here's another picture of Rachet with my son. Rachet is my son's favorite.

 

[CHEE65]

Well, we let the bunnies run in the house againand they had a lot of fun except that they were really hard to catchtoday. Even my son had a hard time. Anyway, I thinkI'm going to wait till their a little older and bigger before I letthem loose in the house again. i just can't believe how theycan make their bodies small enough to go under my couch the gap is onlyabout 2 inches. I sure hope it won't always be hard to putthem back in the cage.

I am a little concerned about Rachet (the white one). She wasin the cage by herself for about 20 min and I didn't notice her goingpoop. Plank seems to be the one that poops alot. Ialso notice that when they are outside the poop looks like they are inclusters rather than separated little balls. But in the cageit's not in clusters. I'm just a bit puzzled. Theyboth seem to have a very healthy appetite. Just in case Iwent ahead and put some pineapple for them to eat. Rachetdidn't seem to care too much for it but Plank seemed to really enjoyit. Do you think I should be concerned? Yesterday,I also gave them some oats, Rachet ate some ofthat.

Thanks,

Charlie

 

[CHEE65]

Hi guys. I hope that someone answersme real soon. I know that everyone is real busy but I reallydo need to knowwhat you guys think. I had Rachet in the cageby herself for over an hour and still she hasn't pooped except for 1little tiny piece about the size of half of a baby pea. Butshe is eating fine and drinking alot. I keep alfalfa hayandrabbit pellets in their cage constantly, she eats alot ofthat. She runs around alot but why isn't shepooping. Plank on the other hand poops a whole lot.Only about 1 min in cage and already pooped, hers looks like bigpeas. So this morning I gave them some more pineapple Rachetfinally atejust a little, I guess she doesn't really care forit.. I guess if this is a sign of her stomach notdigesting the food well I want to catch it real early. Isthere anything else I should be doing? When you guys talkabout pumpkin does it have to be fresh? We don't have anyfresh pumpkin in the stores today.

Thanks,
Charlie

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Hi Charlie,

Use fresh pineapple, canned pumpkin and alfalfa hay for yourlittle ones. You can also try papaya (fresh,dried, or in the pill form). Oats is a favorite.

Just keep an eye on Rachet for now. Watch what sheeats, and don't let her chew on the carpet orcardboards. Is she shedding? She might beunder some stress, or something has been changed from herroutine.

The cluster poops are cectotropes. Those are the poopsthat rabbits reingest. They are different from the regularround droppings that goes in the litter box. Cecotropes arenot feces. They are nutrient-packed dietary items essential to yourrabbit's good health.

There are certain times of the day that Pebbles (my Netherland Dwarf)poops. During the day her poops are small and not thatmany. In the evening during her free run and dinner she haslots and bigger size poops. And in the morning when I wakeup, I find alot of poops in her box.

Rainbows! :angel:

 

[CHEE65]

Thank you so much. I feel alot betternow. I guess it's hard for me to tell if she poops at nightor not because she shares the cage with Plank and I know for sure thatPlank has no problems at all. Okay, since I gave thempineapple yesterday and today tomorrow I will put oats in there againand see how they do with that. After I came home this eveningmost of the pineapple is still there so maybe they just don't likeit. I will try the pineapple again the day aftertomorrow. They sure are drinking alot. By morningtheir alfalfa hay and most of their pellets are gone. So theyare eating very well. I also checked their stomachs and bothof them have rounded bellies (they are constantly eating it seems) butnot enlarged or anything. I'm also glad to know that thecluster poops are healthy. I guess I shouldn't remove themwhen I see it then. I guess I was afraid it would get stuckin their hair if I didn't remove them. But if they eat it andits good for them then I will start leaving it.

Thank you again,

Charlie

 

[Pet_Bunny]

CHEE65 wrote:

I'm also glad to know that the cluster poops arehealthy. I guess I shouldn't remove them when I see itthen. I guess I was afraid it would get stuck in their hairif I didn't remove them. But if they eat it and its good forthem then I will start leaving it.

Do remove the Cecotropes, if yousee them laying around. Usually rabbits eat them as soon asthey come out. If they are laying around, they arein excess, and they can stick to the bunny, and make amess. They are quite smelly and can attract flies.

Rainbows! :angel:

 

[CHEE65]

Oh, okay I will remove them then. Ican't believe how much there is to learn about rabbits. Butthey are so much fun. Today I let them run around the livingroom again. I puttheir cage in the living room toowith the door open. I reversed the door that's supposed to bea ramp but is not real functional and made it go up instead of downthat way I can keep it up and I just put a little step stool in frontof the door. This time Rachet would go back in and out oftheir cage all by herself, Plank has still to do it. Theywere out for about 4 hours. So far they haven't caused anyproblems. When I was ready to keep them in the cage Rachetwas already inside but I had to pick Plank up and put her in.She would just peer into the cage from on top of the step stool, butwasn't sure if she wanted to go in or not. Since she reallydidn't want me to pick her up I gave her some craisins which she lovedthen put her in the cage. They are becoming moreand more used to us specially Rachet. Theywere noseto nose with Tracey today just sniffing away at her. Traceydidn't even know what to do so she just licked them. LOL.



Charlie

 

[CHEE65]

I just wanted to give you an update onRachet. Her poops look normal now. They're the sizeof Planks now. I'm so excited she's okay.

Thanks for allthe help,

Charlie

 

[CHEE65]

Here's a little update on Rachet andPlank. They are definitely going through pubertynow. They are switching dominancy I believe. Itused to be that Rachet was more dominant but now Plank seems to want tobe dominant. I had to get another cage because I'm afraidthat they might fight during the night and I didn't want either one ofthem to get hurt. Besides even though they have a large cageI just felt like it was still cramped for them. At first theydidn't seem to like to be separated but now they don't seem tomind. I just put one cage on top of the other to savespace. I alternate who goes on top. I guess thereason I say that Plank wants to be dominant now is because he keepschasing Rachet and humping her. I've read in other threadsthat this is normal even if they are both female. I flippedthem both over to double check and they both still look thesame. I was glad to hear that females will humptoo. Kind of strange I thought but if you guys say it'snormal than I believe you. They are almost 4 mos oldnow.

Another sign, is that they seem to be in trouble alot. Iblocked the corners of the couch so they can't go under them anymoreand they are very persistent about pulling out the pillows that I'musing to block the couch with. They will just look at mebefore jumping on the shelf they know I don't want them on and soforth. Very persistent little boogers.

They have grown quite a bit and we love them very much even though theycan be real pains at times. I am in the process of decidingwhether to spay them or not. I am afraid of loosingthem. But I guess I have another month or two todecide. I do hope that the humping stops it's driving mecrazy. And I did read on another thread that spaying didn'tseem to stop the humping anyway.

Well I guess I've babbled on enough. Thank you very much forall the helpful information that I've read on this thread.One day I hope to be able to contribute more.

 

[jordiwes]

It's a really good idea to spay the femalebecause there are high risks of ovarian cancer if you don't. It's alsoa good idea to neuter the male to get rid of hormonal behavior. Theprocedure is very low risk with a good vet. And you'll be able to putthem together again a few weeks after it's complete. I'm sure they'dlike that.

 

[CHEE65]

Thank you for the reply. But I guessthat's my concern. I don't know much about vetshere. I'm not sure which one would be a good one whererabbits are concerned. I am looking around for one though.

Plank just did the funniest thing right now. I filled thetoilet paper tubes with hay and she picked it up like she was going totoss it and dumped a bunch of hay on top of her. She ranunder her bench and is wondering what happened while nibbling on someof the hay. It just looked really funny.

Charlie

 

[jordiwes]

hahaha, how cute. I could watch my bunnies for hours and hours!

Here's a good article onfinding a vet:

http://www.rabbit.org/care/vets.html

 

[Snuggys Mom]

CHEE65 wrote:

Plank just did the funniest thing right now. Ifilled the toilet paper tubes with hay and she picked it up like shewas going to toss it and dumped a bunch of hay on top of her.She ran under her bench and is wondering what happened while nibblingon some of the hay.

Ha ha! That's funny! She's probably trying to figure out who to be mad at!

Laura

 

[naturestee]

CHEE65 wrote:

Idon't know much about vets here. I'm not sure which one wouldbe a good one where rabbits are concerned. I am lookingaround for one though.

Try PMing Kricket. I think she lives near you.

 

[user 1981]

cuties

 

[mini lop luva]

Welcome awwwww i love your bunnies there so sweet and so cute xxx

 

[CHEE65]

Thank you. I will try that link andsee what comes up. I will try it tomorrow though because I amso tired tonight I just spent all day painting our schoolroom.I will also try to PM Kricket Not real sure how to dothat but I will try tomorrow. I know I find it so relaxing towatch my babies I just wish they didn't look for trouble all thetime.

Charlie