The Story of Tobias

[MarisaAndToby]

My Story:

Well hello there, my name is Marisa and I am from Edmonton, AB, Canada. I'm 21 (22 next Wednesday, if you forget I'll never forgive you! ) and am currently working on finishing my Bachelor of Commerce degree.

I have never in my life had a pet. Growing up both myself and my brother had severe allergies to cats and dogs, and my parents aren't exactly animal lovers. I, on the other hand, begged and pleaded with my father for an outside dog, a gerbil, a guinea pig, a rabbit... ANYTHING. I got fish instead.

I moved out in 2007 to start my university career, and since then I have been thinking about getting a rabbit and incurring "the wrath of Dad". I knew he would be FURIOUS. I came close about 10 times to just saying "Whatever" and doing it. But I never did.... until now.

March 2011 was rough for me, I went through a bad break up. The start of April rolled around, and my roommate started talking about getting guinea pigs and I started thinking about rabbits again. I started looking at the Humane Society's website, Kijiji (kind of like Craigslist, but more popular in Canada), pet stores... pretty much anywhere.

April 2 I found "Thumper". He was listed on Kijiji. His owners were getting rid of him because he didn't get along with their guinea pig, Lucky. This is what I first saw.

I IMMEDIATELY fell in love with this guy. I emailed her promptly and I picked him up the very next day. I brought him home, looked at him slowly and nervously exploring his new home and said, "You're not a Thumper... You're a Tobias." And so he became Toby (Tobias is saved for when he's in trouble).

Toby's Story:

I'm not entirely sure on his breed... I don't think he's a pure lop. I was told he is a Mini-Lop, but he's sitting at about 4.7 pounds now which is either a large Holland or a small Mini according to my research. He's orange with black stripes, and is now 1 year old as of September 3rd! He isn't fixed for a couple of reasons. A) It's very expensive (here at least). The cheapest I've found is upwards of $200. and B) I'm worried it will change his personality too much. Perhaps you all can give me some advice about that! (Photo of approx size)

He has literally changed my life. He brightens my bad days, and makes my good days even better. The change I've seen in him since I brought him home in April is mind blowing. Knowing that my love and care has brought out so much trust and such personality just makes me so happy. My friends all make fun of me due to the 100+ PhotoFacebook Album of only Toby. I am now the crazy bunny lady :confused2:

Fun Fact: Toby was just featured as Tuesday's rabbit on http://www.disapprovingrabbits.com (Scroll to the bottom, I don't think I've ever been so proud.)

I never expected owning a rabbit to be such a rewarding or life changing experience... He's my little monster and will be loved dearlyfor the rest of his life.

(Sorry for all the pictures... It was hard to pick only a few )

Looking forward to bunny talk with everyone!

-Marisa

One more for good luck!

 

[JimD]

:welcome1

I can tell by your intro that your're going to love RO.

Enjoy!!

 

[MarisaAndToby]

Thanks! I decided I needed a rabbit outlet where I won't be looked down upon for my rabbit love.

Seems like a good fit!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

:wave: Hello and welcome to the forum. Very cute little man. All of ours have been neutered with no adverse personality effects, just less smell and spraying. Check around with the rescues and you might find a rabbit-savvy vet that will be more cost effective. We drove 20 miles and saved $200.

 

[MarisaAndToby]

Only one I know of around my area is within Edmonton, the Edmonton Humane Society. They don't offer spay/neuter services to the public.

I've also heard that it may be too late to neuter him? And I've heard that they can become a lot less lively in nature... and golly gee I don't want him to do that; I love his energy!

 

[JimD]

Awesome picture !!!

 

[MarisaAndToby]

Thanks so much, I'm quite the fan of it myself

It was taken during one of Toby's cuddly moods (becoming more and more common ).

 

[jujub793]

hey welcome to you and Toby (who is quite adorable i do agree):wave:

 

[Tuckerbunnies]

Hi Marisa & Tobias I joined on Wednesday so I am new here as well

Tobias is gorgeous I can see why you fell in love with him :hearts

I have 22 rescue bunnies :wave:

 

[gmas rabbit]

Tobias is really cute. No he is not too old to be neutered. He will be even more cuddly when neutered. As he gets older he could become territorial about you nipping and spraying. Neutering also prevents certain types of cancer in male rabbits ( such as breast cancer ). Check the vets online in your area and see if that price is typical or not. Seems pretty high. I paid $150 in Salmon Arm, BC to have Benjamin neutered. Some male rabbits like other neutered male animals can gain weight but the pros are definitely better than the cons.

 

[BunnyLove♥]

Welcome Marisa!
I'm also 21 and new (and I even lived in Alberta for a little while when I was younger )
I just had my bunny fixed like a week ago and I was worried about the same thing about messing with his personality and the cost. He is still completely himself though. I paid about $200 also. I looked up a million organizations that help with the cost of spay and neuter since I'm a starving college student myself and all the ones I found only help with cats and dogs sadly. It was worth it though.

 

[juliew19673]

So nice to meet you and Tobias (and so glad you found his correct name!)..

Tobias is adorable, and NEVER apologize for putting up photos - we here at RO love them..

Loved reading your story of finding Tobias - start a blog on this site so that you can pack it full of photos and daily updates.

Glad he found you - you look like a super sweet couple.

:biggrin:

 

[Marisa (now MarisaAndToby)]

Thanks all for the kind welcome

I don't know how it happened, but my password won't work for my original account and neither will the password reset... So I guess I'll stick with this one from now on!

 

[SOOOSKA]

Hi Marisa your Tobias is just to darn cute. I can see why you fell for him.

I agree with everyone else about getting him neutered, he probably will become an ever bigger "Love Bunny" My Bridge Bunny Buttercup was the biggest love bunny of all time. Actually a few members on RO were lucky enough to meet and get kisses from him.

So did you have to bring him to your parent's house for the summer? What did they think about him? Your dad had to fall in love with that ADORABLE face.

Is Toby litter trained? What kind of cage do you have for him?

Yes you must start a blog and put lot of pictures of him.

Susan

 

[Marisa (now MarisaAndToby)]

I did bring him home for the summer... My dad was furious and wanted him to stay in the garage the whole time. Needless to say, he worked his way into the house for about 90% of the time. My mom calls him Tobyfur for some reason, and gets right down to ground level and gets snuggles. Toby also took to following her around the house (it got to the point where I was extremely jealous of her).

My dad took longer to warm up to him, he calls him Bugsy or Wascally Wabbit. But I would catch him with his nose at the cage a few times giving Toby some ear scratches.

Toby came with a pretty small cage, meant as a starter set up for guinea pigs. Way too small for a growing boy!Looked like this :

I now have him in a larger set up (I don't have an actual picture of it right now, once I get home from work today I will) that looks kind of like this (not exact):

I would love to build my own cage (NIC etc), however it doesn't really make sense for me to do so right now since I'm renting and I have concerns about how easy they are to clean.


His cage right now only opens at the top, which I'm not a fan of. But Toby's quite the jumper and hops out on his own (I cover the wire with a towel, don't worry!)

And he sure is litter trained. Hedoesleave his odd pellets (who doesn't, especially as an un-neuteured male!), and he has had a couple pee accidents, especially on my bed... and on me. ButI feel really confident about letting him out when I'm there to watch him, so that's good.



I'll start up a blog this weekendmaybe, lordy knows I have enough pictures for one.

 

[SOOOSKA]

Glad to hear your dad is warming up to Toby. You gotta tell Toby to give your Dad some Bunny kisses. He will fall hook, line and sinker after that first

Bunny Kiss.:big kiss:

I love my NIC cages, they are big and really not that hard to clean. The trick is to make the door big enough so you can get into them to clean. I found that out the hard way after making 2 big cages for Wilbur & Jackie (Rest In Peace Baby Girl). This was when i had the house. Since I moved I made 2 NIC cages (all by myself) for Daisy Mae and Winston & Vega. I use a type of cheap panel like board for the floor. In Winston & Vega's cage I put down ceramic tiles as his litter box habits aren't the best.

I got my flooring at home depot, they cut the pieces for me too.

Buttercup use to pee on me when i was holding him. I think he was relaxed he just lifted his little bum and peed on his mom.

looking forward to your blog.

Susan:weee:inkbouce::yahoo::clapping::bunny18

 

[Lucy500]

Tobias is the cutest thing! Welcome to the forum, youll LOVE it here! Keep those pics comin'!

 

[BrittanyandFruFru]

Toby is really adorable. I will be 22 in December and my friends make fun of me because how much I love my rabbit too, but like you my dad isn't fond of him either.

 

[MarisaAndToby]

Thanks for the welcome everyone!

Now that the account issues have been sorted out I'll be posting like a fiend I'm sure.

 

[Wabbitdad12]

I would like to welcome you to Rabbits Online, my name is Dave and I am a moderator on the forum. So if I can be of any help please let me know. This is a terrific website for rabbits and their slaves, not only is it very active but also friendly. I am so glad you’re here and I know you will enjoy it.

Many bunnies’ recommend their slaves to this site so we may learn of others methods to keeping our furry masters happy.

If you everhave a sick bunny, please post in The Infirmary and include your rabbit's age, breed and health history as well diet and output details leading up to the problem.

Here are somelinks I thought you might find interesting:

*For reference the Library section

*To brag or tell everyone about the antics of your bunny or just to talk about your day here is where to start a Bunny Blog, you can also look back at it later and remember when you had a life before your bunny.

*Now all the bunny’s like talk to each other when we mere slaves aren’t around in the Bunny Chat is the spot to be.

*The House Rabbit Society has a lot of good information on what veggies are safe for bunny’s, etc.

*Here is a link to learn what your furry master is trying to say to you How to Understand Your Bunny's Language

*Rabbits Online also has regional forums , this a good way to find a vet in your area that has experience with rabbits and to find out from other nearby of good sources of rabbit supplies.

The Let Your Hare Down section is for anything non-bunny related.

Here is a link tothat will help you and your bunny to connect, How to Bond with Your Bunny.

Now every forum has rules and ours can be found with this link Rabbits Online Forum Rules. This gives guidelines on what is acceptable, what is not and how we hope everyone will treat each other.

Everyone on this forum loves to see pictures of each other’s bunnies. So if you would like to post a picture this link will help you do that, Upload Photo's to Photo Gallery. Then in the post, you click on the "G" in the tool bar to insert your photo. Many people also use Photobucket. You just copy the img file and paste it into the post.

Don’t hesitate to ask questions and I am glad you have joined rabbits online; I look forward to seeing you around.