Shiloh's Happy Herd

[SnowyShiloh]

Time for a new bunny blog!

About us: My name is Shiloh. I live with my fiance, Paul, in Alaska with our 3 bunnies, 5 rats and 2 cockatiels. I'm 25 but still in college because I just had to go and switch majors! I'm going to be an elementary school teacher and love kids as well as animals. My favorite things to do, other than look at, spoil, and cuddle my bunnies, are to read, cook, grow plants, and do any number of crafty things. Paul and I are getting married on August 1st, 2010. He is my best friend and does a great job of putting up with the bunnies even though he claims to not like them. That doesn't explain why I "catch" him petting them every day!

My bunnies:

Rory, short for Rhiordan Blackberry Bean, has the nicknames Wowo, Beanie, Beanie Weenie Tooter Man, and about 5 billion others. It's no wonder none of my pets know their names! He is 3 years old and is a Mini Lop or something. We got him shortly after I joined the forum. When I joined, we were planning to wait a year or so to get a bunny, but a forum member sent me the link to Rory's Petfinder page and I convinced Paul that night that we neeeeeded him. How right I was! Rory is my grumpy, bunny and linoleum hating, ultra disapproving, binkying, licking, cuddling baby boy and is undeniably my favorite bunny. The birthday we decided on for him is March 17th because he's my little Irish bunny and the vet said he was probably born sometime in March.

Phoebe Mae, short for Phoebe Marigold MacBinky, has the nicknames WeeWee, Tinkette, and tons more. Stupid nicknames, I know. It's like I don't have any control over what nicknames they get! She is a 1 year old Mini Rex-Holland Lop mix and so cute. She's very athletic, very smart, very feisty, very sweet, very cuddly, and very long eared. I think she looks exactly like a Mini Rex, but has longer ears like a Holland Lop and she has the regular for of a Holland Lop too. Oh and her second birthday will be our wedding date, August 1st!

Ned's full name is Ned Zaccheus Doodle. For some reason he has even more nicknames than the others. Neddie, Neddo, Nedders, Doodlebug, Tootles, Neddie Z, Ned Z Doodle (Nedsie Doodle), etc. I honestly have no idea how old he is or what breed he is. He's at least a year and a half old. Sometimes I get the feeling that he's older than the other bunnies, but I hope not because I want him to be young and live a long time. Neddie's defining characteristic is that he loves FOOD. Boy will eat anything, except for the fancy shmancy bunny treats I ordered online. We think he was never fed anything but pellets at his previous home because the first couple times we gave him other food, he didn't know what to do with it. Aside from loving food, Neddie is a a super sweet, snuggly, very innocent, possibly not very smart, and very endearing little guy who likes everyone. He has a sad story though. His previous owners ditched him at the animal shelter (we saw his page on Petfinder but Paul said 'no'), and the shelter staff stupidly put him in a cage with a MUCH larger unaltered male bunny. The big bunny ripped one of poor Nedders' ears off and bit the tip of the other ear off. So sad. Then he got adopted, but his new owner changed her mind after a week because her bunny hated him. Called us, we figured out he was the bunny we'd seen on Petfinder a couple of weeks earlier, and he came home to us! Yay for happy endings!

Sweet Neddie on his birthday (May 28th) a few days ago (no, he doesn't normally get cheesecake!):

I have three angel bunnies, too. Cinnabun was my first rabbit. I got him when I was 10 years old. He was my first pet. I can safely say that I was a fantastic young bunny owner, though I feel guilty about some of my bunny keeping practices because that was 15 years ago and the guidelines about how to care for bunnies has changed somewhat. Regardless, Cinny was a happy, very loved Netherland Dwarf who lived to the age of 7 (May 7, 2002). I'll always miss my Cinny. He is responsible for my deep love of and affinity with rabbits. I had to wait 5 loooong years to get another bunny after he passed away.





Tallulah still breaks my heart. I had her for 5 short months, but fell hopelessly in love with her during that time. She had a lot of health problems. We finally thought she had grown out of her health problems when she died suddenly. She's been gone for 2 years May 29, 1008), but I still miss my baby girl and hope to someday have another sweet little loppy baby like her (she was a Holland Lop). We got Ned almost 1 year after she died and I assigned him the birthday of May 28th so that the time around the day she died would be happy instead of sad.

Skyler is my most recent angel. He just passed away on May 13th, 2010 at the age of 2 1/2 years. Skyler was one of a kind. He was the cutest Dutch ever born and honestly I think one of the cutest rabbits I've ever seen. He had the sweetest little Marilyn Monroe style beauty mark on his cheek! His personality was awesome- very sweet and snuggly, happy, loved food, and would let complete strangers hold him and pet him. He came from another forum member (JAK Rabbitry) and actually traveled over 5,000 miles to get to us. Unfortunately, he had E. Cuniculi which was diagnosed back in December 2009, and that's what killed him. His last few months were surprisingly happy though, which I'll always be thankful for.

Okay, I still have to talk about the birds and rats, but I think I've written enough for now!

 

[SnowyShiloh]

This evening I decided to do the first session of trying to bond Ned and Phoebe Mae. Their cages have been across from each other in the same living room for the past year and they've played in the same place. Last night I switched their cages too, so Ned was in Phoebe's and Phoebe's was in Ned.

The intro went very good, then very bad. For 40 minutes they ran around the outdoor bunny enclosure, ignoring each other or sitting next to each other and eating. I saw Phoebe stick her head under Ned to be groomed once, but he didn't want to. "I don't know you well enough for that, lady!" Then, Phoebe Mae was under my chair and Ned went under too. I immediately got up to move the chair so I could see what was happening, but before I could move it, a fight broke out. Fur flying, biting, growling. I separated them with a NIC panel, but they kept going for each other. After about 15 seconds I was able to scoot Neddie into the carrier and close the door.

After I got them inside, I checked them over for wounds. Both seemed fine, but Neddie wriggled away from me when I was checking out his belly, flipped over my shoulder, and fell 5 feet to the floor, handing on his face :cry2 I scooped him up right away, checked him over again, and there was blood in his mouth... I couldn't see any cuts though. Put him back in his cage and he's acting completely normal. The blood is gone. This was about 15 minutes ago. Poor baby! I have never, ever had a bunny get away from me and fall like that! I really hope he'll be okay

Assuming he seems fine tomorrow, we're going to try taking the bunnies for a car ride tomorrow night. I'm really encouraged by how well the intro went at first. Sad they fought though. I was keeping a good eye on what was happening, but naturally I didn't get to see what happened under the chair- it was the only 2 seconds I wasn't watching them! I *suspect* Ned tried to mount Phoebe Mae. She doesn't take kindly to that AT ALL- Skyler tried it on her when she was only 12 weeks old. She threw him off, attacked him, and flung him off the bed. He was twice as big as her! Poor guy was bleeding from his wounds! This fight was actually less serious- only a couple fur wads and no bleeding. At least, not until Ned plunged to the floor!

 

[SnowyShiloh]

I'm relieved to say that Nedders seems to be okay after his fall yesterday. It's been almost 20 hours. I wonder how long I need to worry about him. We're going to try another bonding session tonight. First a car ride with them together, then in the bunny play yard! This time I'll be sure to keep the time in the play yard to only 20 minutes or so.

 

[kirbyultra]

Your bunnies are gorgeous. Your angels too

40 minutes is quite a long time for a first intro. Go slow, your patience will be rewarded :biggrin2:

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Helen, thanks for replying to my blog I love when people leave comments. Then I don't feel like I'm talking to myself! I agree, 40 minutes was too long yesterday. I didn't know how long we'd been out there until we came back in (I thought it was only 20 minutes or so).

Tonight Paul and I took the bunnies for a car ride. They were in a laundry basket on my lap. We were out for about 15 minutes driving around. It went really well! I felt bad for the buns because they were obviously stressed, but they were huddled together and I think getting comfort from each other. Every once in a while one would stick his/her head under the belly of the other for a couple of minutes. Surprisingly, Phoebe Mae was doing more "hiding" than Ned. When we got home, I put them back into their original cages (we swapped cages Monday night). The plan for tomorrow is to take them on a 5 minute car ride, then put them in the outdoor play yard for 15 minutes. I'll be in there with them, armed with the NIC panel (to separate them if necessary), a spray bottle of water, and a carrier to shoo one of them into if necessary.

Sappy, sentimental time. I have had the pleasure of "owning" rabbits for 9 1/2 years. I've loved 6 wonderful bunnies. But I have never had the chance to hold two of my bunnies at the same time because I was afraid they'd try to get each other. I've always really, really wanted to be able to hold two at a time, and tonight I did! I carried them back into the house, Neddie in my right arm and Phoebsie in my left It was also so sweet seeing them together today and yesterday. I hope they bond easily and I'll get to watch them together all the time.

 

[crystal]

What a fantastic start to your blog

I have always remembered Ned - I was fairly new to the forum when you got him. He is a gorgeous bunny, and it's so lovely that he now has a happy [and spoilt] home with you. Rory and Phoebe Mae are gorgeous too. I so hope the bonding works with Ned and Phoebe Mae!

You take great bunny photos too, by the way. Keep up the good blogging

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Crystal, thanks for checking out my blog and posting It's funny how you remember certain bunnies, isn't it? Ned is indeed a happy and spoiled bunny. It's hard not to love him. He's Paul's favorite bunny. He has these big doe eyes and just seems so sweet and innocent. Whenever someone comes over and wants to hold a bunny, they get handed Neddo. If a stranger holds him, his eyes get really wide and he looks a little worried for a couple of minutes, but then he relaxes and soaks up the love and attention. You would love him if you met him I wonder why his original owners didn't want him and brought him to the shelter! Wonder that about my Rory too. Doesn't make sense to me. Oh well, my gain, right?

 

[SnowyShiloh]

These Rory tail shots are for Vivian (hotmaildeal)!

being weighed- "This is not dignified!"

poofy tail





Okay, this one doesn't show his tail, but it was the day we brought him home from the animal shelter. He looked so babyish! What a cutie! We didn't even know he had the ability to let his ears lop until like 2 days after got him home. He is talented and can hold them up, down, out to the side, or one up one down, all depending on how he's feeling

Somewhere I have a picture of him and his tail is so long and curly... Can't seem to find it right now! It's funny because Rory has such a long tail, but Ned has the stubbiest little tail ever. Half the time you can't even see it!

 

[MILU]

Hi Shiloh, Thanks for posting the pics, Rory's tail is really long!
Now, once again, I went "ooooooh this is the cutest bunny ever", "aaaaaaah this is the cutest bunny ever, too", and so on. Sweet, sweet bunnies!
I'm always sad about stories with hurt animals, they're better than many humans and deserve to be treated with care and respect. It's incredible that that happened to Ned at the shelter.
I'm glad that he found a good home with friends who love him, and a good mom and a good daddy - although "we know" his daddy "doesn't" like rabbits
He must be like my brother, who says "this is a silly pet" but always asks about, kisses and plays with my bun. He even talks to him on the phone when I ask him to!

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Vivian (by the way, I love your name!), isn't it fun looking at pictures of other people's bunnies? They're all so cute! I can spend a long time looking at pictures of my own bunnies, too

Neddie is a very loved bunny. Paul insists he doesn't like the bunnies, but he's admitted that Ned is his favorite. It was actually Paul's idea to get Ned!

We took Phoebe Mae and Ned for another car ride tonight. It only lasted 10 minutes because I saw Ned's tail go up and he peed in the box! A lot! I was able to snatch Phoebe Mae out before the pee got on her. We turned around and drove home, Phoebe Mae tucked under my chin (incidentally, she seemed much happier there than in the box!) while I held onto Ned and tried to keep him out of the urine. It turned out that the apple box had holes in the corner, so my pants and the car seat got all pee-y Spent a while cleaning that up when we got home! Note to self: don't use cardboard boxes for bonding!

It was raining again when we got home, so no play yard bonding session tonight. I just put them back in their swapped cages (Phoebs in Ned's, Ned in Phoebe's).

 

[crystal]

Lol the undignified photo of Rory being weighed is awesome. He has a very cute face, and gosh is his tail long.

FYI, I was going to be called Rory if I was a boy haha

 

[hln917]

I glad Neddie is ok, that would have freaked me out. Baci missed the couch from hubby's arms last week and landed on the floor. I knew it wasn't his fault but I didn't speak to him for the night.

Love the picture of Rory being weighed. I was looking to get a kitchen scale to weigh my buns and saw the one you have. Here I'm thinking my lops would never fit in it, but if Rory can........... Oh they would hate me for doing that!:biggrin2:

 

[cheryl]

Those are some lovely pictures of your bunnies..they are all very adorable..

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Helen, I was so worried when Ned fell on his head! And felt so guilty! I was in a bad mood the whole rest of the night (which is very unusual for me) because I was worried about him and mad at myself. It's been over 72 hours since he fell, and he seems fine, so I think he'll probably be okay. But the idea that he could have some injury that isn't apparent yet is lurking in the back of my mind. Several years ago, my girl cockatiel flew into a wall. She acted totally normal and I took her to the vet TWICE to make sure she was fine. She died suddenly 5 months later, and the necropsy showed that her liver had been seriously damaged in the accident. I hope his spine or something isn't damaged!

I have more scale pictures of Rory and Tallulah It isn't the ideal scale for bunnies, but all of mine except for Ned are okay being weighed in it. I weigh the rats with it too. May gross some people out, but I weigh food with it also! I just wash it well between uses and put a paper towel or something down if the ratties are being weighed.

Cheryl, thanks for looking at my blog and commenting I'll get some more photos up soon. The weather has been rainy for the past 2 days so I haven't had the chance to go outside and get pictures!

Do any other bunnies have songs? Ned's song is "All I Want is You" and I sing it to him all the time (sans the bride lyrics). Here are the words:

http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/juno/alliwantisyou.htm

I change it to "All I'd want is you to be my sweet Neddie bee" though Poor Paul. I sing a lot, and he has to put up with almost every song being changed so it has the word "bunny" in it or is somehow rabbity.

 

[hln917]

Yes~ I started singing to my buns whenever we'd go to the vet. Baci's song is Baci-razzi from Lady GaGa' Paparazzi.It's funny b/c he actually knows that song now. Shades' song is Shakerdoodle from KC and the Sunshine Band "Shake your Booty."

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Somehow Rory ended up with the Flipper theme song as his song. I have no idea. Poor guy. Tallulah's song is, of course, this song: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_n_Cfw1FVE[/ame]

Paul found it a few days after she died.

Phoebe Mae doesn't really have a song yet. But she is cuddled up with me on the couch right now! What a sweet girl!

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Wow. I'm feeling pretty nauseous right now because I was just reading about culling rabbits. Blech.

In other news, is it just me, or did the forum format change somewhat? I thought the main RO forum used to be ABOVE the Infirmary forum. I keep clicking on the wrong one!

 

[kirbyultra]

SnowyShiloh wrote:

In other news, is it just me, or did the forum format change somewhat? I thought the main RO forum used to be ABOVE the Infirmary forum. I keep clicking on the wrong one!

They changed it!! I was confused yesterday too.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Do you know when it was changed? Don't know if I noticed it yesterday or the day before, but I kept getting mixed up!

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Awwww... We got Rory when he was 6-8 months old, so I never got to see him as a baby, but I'm betting he looked something like this: