Rosa, the "not-so-agressive doe"...before and now pics.

[wendymac]

This is when we first brought her home. If you look at her back, you can see her backbone sticking up. Her shape was more of a triangle than a nice, round, French Lop back. You could actually feel each individual disc in her spine.

This was taken the other day. Now she's got meat on her backbone, and is more rounded. And this is only 2 weeks of feeding Mana Pro Select pellets, free-choice hay, and a tablespoon of oatmeal a day. I don't know if you can see it or not, but she's definitely wider than she was.

 

[MiniLopHop]

Her fur also look much shinier and softer. What a pretty bun!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

:yeahthat:

 

[wendymac]

Thanks!! The before picture was with a flash, the other without. She's getting really shiny and soft. And now that she knows that the oatmeal comes with the hands, she hasn't been charging. She's the only one that has every single pellet completely gone in the morning. I honestly think she was afraid I was going to take the food, not give her more. I don't know that she'll ever be an "in your face" kind of gal, but she's trying.

 

[ZRabbits]

wendymac wrote:

Thanks!! The before picture was with a flash, the other without. She's getting really shiny and soft. And now that she knows that the oatmeal comes with the hands, she hasn't been charging. She's the only one that has every single pellet completely gone in the morning. I honestly think she was afraid I was going to take the food, not give her more. I don't know that she'll ever be an "in your face" kind of gal, but she's trying.

You really turned this little girl around. Congratulations. Second picture really shows her filled out.

K

 

[wendymac]

Thanks, K. She's really trying to be a nice bunny, but sometimes she forgets. LOL She sure loves that oatmeal though, which is a big help. And she totally loved the apple tree twig I put in with her. She probably hadn't had those before, either. I'm just glad I have an apple orchard, so I can pluck them off as needed. I really do like her, and hope she makes a good mommy.

 

[LakeCondo]

The 2 pictures are so different, except for her expression. She clearly doesn't like cameras.

I assume the apple branches are dried out [maybe in the oven] before giving them to your rabbits. But other people might not know to do that.

 

[wendymac]

She actually had a cute expression, but it gets lost in all the black. :-(

Ummm...no, they usually aren't. I send one of the kids out to cut off some bigger branches. Then I put them in the barn, and break off sticks for them. I keep a supply in there, so I guess they eventually dry out. Why do they need dried out, when they can eat fresh apples?

 

[MiniLopHop]

Apple twigs are one of two, the other being willow, that they can eat fresh.

It is going to be so hard not to meet up with you during the founding fathers days this summer to bring home a beautiful bun. I am so in love with Max, and now this pretty girl. I keep coming back to look at her picture

 

[wendymac]

Brandy, in a few days I'll have baby Frenchies, I hope. The sire is Max's dad (broken lilac chin), and the mother is the lynx doe, Adeline.

Kind of bummed about missing the show on March 4th. But I have a litter of Cals due on the 3rd and 2 litters on the 4th. Probably not a good time to be away from the rabbitry. Plus Ade's babies...provided any of them are even bred. LOL

 

[funnybunnymummy]

Oh, I'm so glad you kept her. She's just lovely. And I'm really glad the gloves and oatmeal are working.

Rue

 

[wendymac]

Thanks, Rue. The gloves are just for me, so if she does make that grunt/lunge/jaws move, I won't jump away. My horsey friends get a laugh out of it, because a thousand pound animal doesn't intimidate me but a tiny bunny does. LOL

 

[LakeCondo]

wendymac wrote:

Ummm...no, they usually aren't. I send one of the kids out to cut off some bigger branches. Then I put them in the barn, and break off sticks for them. I keep a supply in there, so I guess they eventually dry out. Why do they need dried out, when they can eat fresh apples?

Well, fruit & sticks are 2 different things, just like ripe tomatoes are ok but the leaves etc aren't. I switched from apple twigs to mock orange prunings & grape vines when I read on pg 61 of House Rabbit that apple tree branches must be completely dried out for them to be safe for rabbits to chew on. But the same page says wild carrot is toxic for rabbits, which didn't make sense until I found out from another source that it's carrot seeds that are toxic. So who knows.

 

[funnybunnymummy]

That's news to me. Every source I've ever seen before has stated that apple twigs do not need to be dried beforehand, like Brandy says.

Rue

 

[wendymac]

I've never read where they had to be dried, either. And they've been eating them for quite a while, and no problem.