The lives of Kiwi & Papaya!

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Love Papaya in his castle, what a cutie :) I think you're right, Kiwi looks very unhappy at being woken up, lol. Glad they're doing so good today.

My buns got playtime outside today. They had a blast playing in the fall leaves :)
 
You are so brave to take your buns outside! I really want too and have considered getting a enclosure for them for outside, however; I'm just too nervous!

When I first for Papaya, Kiwi jumped on top of Papaya cage and peed and pooped on him. I had never seen her jump up there before so imagine my surprise when I came around the corner, saw Kiwi on top the cage and Papayas poor little head soked in urine... Then I look in an kiwi had pooped at what like seemed like a million poos all through the top of his cage! Poor Papaya!

Then another day acouple days later, I come home and there was a leak in the ceiling and of course it was all over poor little Papaya!

I always joke that if I took him outside, a hawk would probably get him... Funny, but not funny at all!

So basically what I'm trying to say is that I can't take my buns outside because I'm too nervous something would happen to them.

Tonight, kiwi is well. She ate and played! No meds needed today! The last med I gave was the simethicone yesterday evening and nothing since! I'm so happy :)
 
I have a side yard that my buns can't escape from, but I live kind of in the mountains, so we have lots of predators around, not to mention the occasional neighborhood dog on the loose, so I'm with my buns the whole time, but they just love it. It makes them really tired too :)

Wow! A whole day without meds. That's so great. Way to go Kiwi!!!

Poor Papaya must have been wondering why Kiwi was peeing on him. I bet that was fun to clean up :)
 
Well Papaya got Kiwi back eventually when his hormones came into play. He would spray right into her cage... Kiwi was not happy about this. Since his neuter he's only had two per accident which didn't include spraying. Since then, the spraying has stopped as has kiwi peeing on him! Thank goodness!

Ya, you live in Utah. What's that like? I've never been there! I'm in Canada and live in the country. So lots of trees and farmland :) I love it except for the winters! We have had lots of rain over the past couple of weeks so it make it damp and chilly... :(

Buns are now in bed. I've done what you said and saved some pellets for now, so they are happily munching away and will have sweet bunny dreams tonight :)
 
What good little bunnies I have! They pretty much ate all their hay overnight!!

Now they are having some playtime together until I leave to go see my horses later on :)
 
I love the pictures of them! Papaya is SO cute! I just want to kiss those little ears! So glad Kiwi is feeling better!!
 
So what diet have you ended up doing with Kiwi? It sounds like it is working out well for her. Poor Papaya, is he cut out of treats too because of Kiwi's problems. Just because of the GI problems with Zeus, I'm more nervous about giving my other rabbits treats, even if they've never had any tummy troubles. The bravest I get is to give a little baby carrot each day.

It's pretty nice living here. We have plenty of trees but it's also a semi desert, so it can get a little hot and dry in the summer. Nothing like Arizona though. I'm in the foothills outside of the city, so it's nice not to be in the city but close enough to get to the shops. It's not a big city, and we do have farmland within 15 min. of the city. I'm not a big fan of the cold though. I pretty much freeze all winter long.

I hope you had a fun day with your horses :)
 
Qtipthebun- thank you! His ears defintely give him a different but cute look!

Jenny- kiwi gets a little less then 1/3 cup of pellets a day but divided into two feedings of course. She also has unlimited Timothy hay and water. I want to start giving her Quakers oats as a treat again... I don't think that was causing her issues but I really won't know for sure until I try.

Papaya is on 1/4 cup of pellets a day divided into two feedings. I've also cut out the oats from him as well. Unlimited Timothy hay and water.

Now question: the Timothy hay cubes. Is this just meant as a treat?
Is it safe to give without causing a tummy ache? They both really like the cubes but I only give it to them for less then 5 minutes and I take it away from them. I'm scared of causing an upset!

Horses were really good today despite the cold and wind! I had to go searching in their field for Billy's halter. They like to play halter pull and Sully had ripped it off Billy's head... All the clips still done up. Little monkeys!
 
Sorry me again. So I think I'm being over parnoid. Kiwi has eaten some hay since I've been home and she's pooped. But, the buns are not hanging out together like they usually do. Kiwi is in Papayas pen, and Papaya is in kiwis pen.

I'm confused? Normally they are together!

And Jenny, what do you think about kiwis diet?
 
I would say that as long as she's eating and pooping normally, then it's probably fine that they don't want to be with each other. There are times when Dakota and Flopsy don't like to lay by each other to snuggle. I think our buns are a bit like us and just need time apart sometimes.

You may want to wait on the oats until she's had several consecutive days or even a week or two, of eating good and no health issues. If you want to give treats it would be a lot better to start giving her leafy greens. I would start gradually, one at a time, just to make sure that she's ok with them. If it ends up being the pellets that were the cause of her problems, it would be because pellets have grain and sugar in them, so giving her oats might just start causing problems again. So give veggies for treats instead, and just give it some time before you try anything like oats, and even then I wouldn't give more than a pinch of them, but be aware that if her problems were GI issues, and if she is susceptible to them, then giving extra grains, sugars, starches, and carbs, could just start this all over again, it could even be worse next time. If after a while you do try introducing oats or maybe a piece of carrot, I would start with very small portions(like 3 pieces of oats or a very tiny piece of carrot) and keep an extra close eye on any changes in her poop, because that will be your first sign something is wrong, even before she starts showing any signs of feeling sick. I would think Zeus was better, and all I tried to do was gradually change his food to a new one, and he would get sick again.

Kiwi's diet sounds good, unless she keeps having tummy upset, then you may need to decrease the pellets more. But as long as she seems to be feeling ok and her poops look normal with none of those really small ones, then I think you can stick with what you are doing. And you could start adding the green leafy veggies in. With Papaya, unless you think he needs that amount of pellets, he could probably be ok with more. My Pip is only 2 1/2 lbs. and she only gets a 1/4 cup. So if he weighs more than that, and since he wasn't having stomach problems, you could probably give him 1/3 to a half cup a day, depending on his weight. And he can be getting veggies too. If you want to do treats with him and he hasn't had any problems, then it might be ok, just don't let Kiwi see :)

Those hay cubes should be just fine as long as it's just hay in there and nothing else added.

Lol, I can totally see your horses doing that. I found that no matter how hard I tried, Deniro would find ways to get into trouble. When he was down at my brothers' property, there was a bin of grain in the tack shed, and the shed was in the horse pen. Well apparently it was too irresistable, so Deniro ripped the lock off, broke in the tack shed, ate all the grain, and chewed up the saddles. Naughty, naughty horse. He was in big trouble after that :)
 
Hahaha, Deniro! Horses are such funny animals! My boys are best buddies. They get themselves in trouble. At one barn I was at, Billy was letting Sully out of his stall everynight! We had to put a extra clip on Billy's door because of it :)

Kiwi did poop a lot tonight, as did Papaya. Her poops look normal so I am very happy. I watch them like hawks because its like I don't believe that kiwi is better...! I'm being over caucious and I will jump on the simethicone at the first sign I see that she's not well again.

I will hold off on the oats and lettuce too. It was just wishful thinking on my part. I feel bad that I can't give her treats, but her health and well being is more important. I will wait a couple of weeks, and then maybe introduce lettuce slowly again.

For their weights- I know Kiwi weighs more then Papaya so that's why he gets less pellets then Kiwi. I will have to check on their actual weights when I'm back at work on Tue.

Another reason for decreasing Papayas pellets was he was having extra cecotrophs that he wasent eating. Now since the decrease, I've only noticed a few. He had extra today and I picked it up (stinky!!) and he ate it from the paper towel I had it on. Do you know the reason for this?

Ill let you know both their weights, and then maybe you can confirm what I should be feeding? Well, for Papaya anyways as kiwi I don't think can have anymore because of her sensitive stomach. :(

Would there be any kind of downfall for Papaya if he stayed on the decreased amount of pellets if I'm not feeding enough for what he weighs?
 
Your horses sound too smart for their own good :)

No oats is probably the best thing, but I was saying that starting leafy greens would probably be fine now if you feel ok with it. Maybe give her another day or two just to be sure she really is feeling well, then go ahead and try a little bit of leafy greens. Cilantro is my rabbits favorite, but if she's used to the lettuce you could start with that and see how it goes.

I don't know about the extra cecals. The reasons I have heard were too rich a diet in pellets, bun is too fat to reach them to eat, and young bunnies with short attention spans. So if he's still pretty young and hyper that could be it, or it could have been the pellets. How old is he anyways? I know that unlimited pellets are recommended until about 6 months, unless there are weight issues. If he seems to be leaving less cecotropes around with decreased pellets, then maybe that's what he needed. You just want to be sure that he maintains a healthy weight with the decreased pellets. It would be good to get a starting weight on him, then after a few weeks of the decreased pellets, weigh him again and see where he's at. I definitely wouldn't increase Kiwi's, unless she starts loosing too much weight. But I think the amount she's getting now is probably good.
 
Papaya is 7 months old. With all my babies that I've had, I've never done the unlimited pellets. I've always been to worried that they wouldn't eat their hay if I did unlimited pellets as babies.

Maybe I will increase Papaya since he hasent had any tummy troubles. I only decreased his because I was worried i was over feeding since he weighs less then Kiwi. Ill get weighs on them tomorrow.

Good bunnies overnight. They ate most of their hay but they are a bit ticked off with me this morning because I slept in! They didn't get breakfast till 1045! Lol... Mama needs her sleep too!

And are you saying its ok to give oats to kiwi in a couple of weeks? I've been inconsistent with giving lettuce but she always got oats as she came that way from the breeder.

With the extra cecotrophs, I don't think his diet is to rich. I've just been keeping a eye on them. I think his attention span is very short :)
 
Yeah, my buns aren't too happy with me either when I sleep in. I think they just sit there waiting for me to show up and give them their breakfast, no matter how late I am. Deniro was the same. He would sit in the corner of his pen, just waiting and waiting for me to show up and feed him.

The oats are really up to you. If it was me, I would be too nervous about her getting sick again. So I wouldn't give them to her again. But I know how you feel, cause they go absolutely bonkers for oats. If you do try them again, I would wait a few weeks to make sure she really is all better. Personally, I feel much safer giving leafy greens as treats cause they're healthy and I don't worry about them getting sick eating them.

If Papaya weighs more than 3 lbs, you could probably feed him 1/3 cup pellets, same as Kiwi. If he starts getting fat then you would of course decrease it.

It sounds like they are both doing really well. What a relief not to have Kiwi sick almost everyday :)
 
Kiwi is acting "funny" again tonight. She's laying down more then normal. She will take pellets from me. I gave her two just to see if she would eat and she did. She pooped this morning after I cleaned her litter box. All normal looking and normal size. Nothing since but that's normal for her to not poop a lot or any during the hours of 1-6pm 7pm ish. I'm just monitoring her right now. I guess that's all I can do at this point. If she dosent eat her pellets tonight then I will be very worried.

There's no way Papaya weights more then 3 pounds. I'm pretty sure when he was neutered he was just over 1kg so roughly 2.3 pounds- I think! Ill check tomorrow and post again. I can probably even bring a scale home with me tomorrow and get updated weighs on each of them.

No oats for Kiwi :( No treats at all right now.

I'm hoping her acting "funny" is nothing...
 
This is what they are doing right now... I'm worried about Kiwi.

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Does she look uncomfortable? Or just resting? I think I am making myself parnoid and nervous over with what could be nothing. I just don't know with kiwi...
 
When Zeus was sick he would sit in the back corner of his cage. If he ever did lay down, it wouldn't be for very long. It's like he would lay down then get back up right away, then try again and get back up, like his tummy was making it uncomfortable to lay down. I wouldn't worry about it unless she doesn't eat tonight. Maybe she's just feeling very relaxed.

If Papaya is under 3 lbs. then 1/4 cup is probably the right amount of pellets. You'll just want to make sure he maintains a healthy weight.

I hope kiwi's just chillin' out and that she's ok and eats tonight.
 
That is how kiwi was acting before I decreased her pellets. She wouldn't sit in her cage though. She has a spot where there's not fleese and its bare concrete where she would do that.

Tonight she just keeps doing the dead bunny flop. Papayas being a good little brother and he keeps coming and sitting with her. Does the dead bunny flop mean she's relaxed? She's scaring me! Ahhhhh!!

I'm so parnoid now that every little thing she does I second guess it.
I did see a tiny blinky tonight from her so she must be feeling semi ok... After she ate (yes she ate her dinner) she did the dead bunny flop so I panicked and gave her simethicone... :( I don't know if she actually needed it as the symptoms you described with Zeus are not what she's doing.

She pooped about 1/2 hour after the simethicone which were all normal looking.

I sometimes wonder why I put myself through this and it's all because I love them so much and want the very best for them.

You put my mind as ease (a little bit anyways) Jenny :)
 
She could have had a bit of a tummy upset. You could always try a no pellet diet for a week to see if that helps.
 

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