Rabbit support thread - Page 4

[BookGoddess]

What's your best trick for getting rabbit pee stains from the carpet? Since her illness, my bunny has had a few accidents. The carpet is a very pale gray blue so the stains show up. Luckily, they aren't in a high traffic area. Please tell me what you've used to clean up the stains. TIA!

[Birth&Bunnies]

Originally Posted by BookGoddess

What's your best trick for getting rabbit pee stains from the carpet? Since her illness, my bunny has had a few accidents. The carpet is a very pale gray blue so the stains show up. Luckily, they aren't in a high traffic area. Please tell me what you've used to clean up the stains. TIA!

Vinegar and baking soda or rubbing alcohol, you can then try an oxyclean carpet spot remover.

[BookGoddess]

I have all three of those products at home. I'm going to give them a try this evening. Thanks!

[dharmamama]

I'll join in. We don't have a rabbit, but some of you may remember my thread last month about whether a bunny would be a good fit for us.

I have since started volunteering at the Humane Society, mainly as a bunny volunteer. My younger two kids and I go in twice a week to socialize/exercise the bunnies. I am completely in love with a big, grumpy lop named Merlin. He is definitely a disapproving rabbit. Today when I went in (the fifth time), he seemed to recognize me, and when I was in the exercise pen with him, he was affectionate and seemed to be happier than he's been before. He was binking around, and hopping in circles around my feet, and he even put his feet up on my legs and stretched his nose up to my face and just looked at me for a long time. He was also chewing my clothes and head-butting my butt. Before this, he's consented to be petted but mainly ignored me. Today he seemed really interested in me.

Ramona, my five year old, is completely in love with a Californian named Manuela. She is a real snuggle-bunny. I held her for an hour last week and she was just as content as could be. She also hopped right out of the exercise pen, which surprised me, because she's pretty little. Ramona just can't get enough of smooching her. Manny is extremely mellow.

And we had a surprise when we went in today! Hobo, the HS's most recent arrival, surprised us all by having three babies! Everyone thought she was a boy! The babies are about the size of my thumb, with the tiniest little ears you've ever seen! They are definitely the wee-est buns ever.

So we are in bunny heaven around here, and even though I don't think a bunny would be a good addition to our family right now, we plan to continue our work at the Humane Society. I do seem to be allergic to bunnies, but mainly if I bury my face in their fur. If I keep them away from my eyes, I do ok.

Btw, when I called the city department here to inquire about having chickens, I was told that chickens are a no-no within the city limits but that we could have rabbits, provided that we had three or fewer, they lived indoors, and they all had names. Those are the criteria they have to meet to be "pets" and not be considered farmed (for food or fur) or bred (no breeding of bunnies for 4-H, etc., within the city limits).

dm

[FarmerCathy]

Awww.... That is so great! I wish my ds was old enough to do something like that. Sounds like a great way to get kids used to the bunnies. Merlin seems like a real character. I'm looking to getting German Angora's from a breeder here in town. Want to be able to spin and sell the fiber. I'm still saving up for them though. Need to sell some stuff on e-bay. Since I want to get new cages and have an automatic water system and the rabbits will be a little pricey, but I want to get a black and a white one. Sigh..... I do want to have them inside some, but we are renting and have new carpet and the place is pretty small.

[accountclosed3]

that's awesome dharma mama. and it seems you have a new boyfriend.

[dharmamama]

Well then it seems like I have boyfriends all over the place, because I also have a Trader Joe's boyfriend (his name is Marlon) and, of course, there's Keanu Reeves.

dm

[accountclosed3]

i think October J was definitely one of them. and those bunny-boys know how to romance!

[BookGoddess]

Awwww! Thanks for the update, Dharma mama (love your name btw!). You've come upon a great alternative to your desire to have a bunny in the house. Oh and I still get a good laugh out of the disapproving rabbit link.

Originally Posted by dharmamama

Well then it seems like I have boyfriends all over the place, because I also have a Trader Joe's boyfriend (his name is Marlon) and, of course, there's Keanu Reeves.

dm

Sorry, Keanu is mine. Hands off, mama.

[dharmamama]

Originally Posted by BookGoddess

Sorry, Keanu is mine. Hands off, mama.

I'm not opposed to sharing ... how 'bout you?

dm

[BookGoddess]

*grumbles* Ok, ok...since I'm teaching my toddler how to share I suppose I should practice it too. You can have him on the weekdays. I get him on the weekends.
BTW: My husband is also a Chinese Hawaiian with a bit of other ethnicities thrown in. He looks somewhat like Keanu.

[accountclosed3]

keanu is apparently no monogamist. LOL!

he's been mine since i was 12. i'm 31.

[dharmamama]

I'll take him on the weekdays, no problem! There's five weekdays and only two weekend days! Btw, Zoe, I'm 33, so I outrank you.

My husband is Slovenian. He doesn't look anything like Keanu.

dm

[Birth&Bunnies]

Originally Posted by dharmamama

I have since started volunteering at the Humane Society, mainly as a bunny volunteer. My younger two kids and I go in twice a week to socialize/exercise the bunnies.
dm

I wish I could do it with Dd, the rules at my shelter say she has to be 12 years old even if I'm the one doing the actual volunteering. I asked if there was some kind of Release of Liability cause I'm not worried in the least about her getting bit. She's not quite 5 now.

[accountclosed3]

yeah, but seriously, have you really loved him since you were twelve? LOL and to be honest, i havent' thought about keanu in many years. he was just my go-to symbol for a long time.

but now. . .well, i don't really have one. . .and here's why (i think). . .

what i've learned is that keanu's looks might have been my first attraction but the man that i created him to be in my mind is the guy that i married.

i wanted someone to love me for me, to understand and respect my autonomy and agency, to really be an equal partner at every level, and to be just a beautiful, graceful person.

i don't know keanu, and perhaps he is all of those things and i hope he is. but i do know my ryan, and he definitely is everything i imagined.

and he's beautiful too, with a nice danish look to him (because he's mostly danish).

and so, keanu has been released, because now i have what i wanted--which is the man i imagined keanu to be, and the man my husband is.

we both miss our october j.

[Birth&Bunnies]

Ok so Monty got neutered yesterday. I failed to specifically ask a question about how they removed the testicles. UGH! They removed them via the abdomen, exactly the way House Rabbit Society doesn't recommend! He's doing super well though. By 11pm he was at it again mounting and try to do Hopper. I was surprised he felt up to that. I got pain meds for 4 days for him to make sure he's comfy. So even though they did it the more invasive way, he seems to be recovery very quickly.

[vivafab]

I thought I'd put up my hand too - we just adopted an albino bunny from the rspca. He is not my first bunny - my lovely rabbit Harvey lived to be 10 and was a delight.
This rabbit is very friendly and cheeky, he is only 4 months so I'm hoping he will become as attached to us as Harvey was.

[dharmamama]

So it turns out that Merlin, my rabbit boyfriend, is a transgendered lesbian rabbit. They went to fix him and he is a she, but she displays all kinds of male rabbit mating behavior. (They were not able to fix her, btw, for a series of complex reasons.)

I'm having problems picking the rabbits up. Except for one rabbit who is extremely laid back and loves to be held, the other rabbits tend to kick a lot when I try to pick them up. I don't pick them up gratuitously, but when they are being transferred from rabbitat to exercise pen and back, or when they are being taken in to be groomed, they need to be picked up. Once I get them in my arms, they are fine, but I often need assistance picking them up. I try to make sure that I get one hand under their rumps and back feet so they feel secure, but it doesn't seem to be working. I read that you should handle rabbits gently yet "confidently." I don't feel confident picking them up except for the one docile rabbit.

Does anyone have any tips?

I asked for help getting the new rabbit out yesterday and one of the HS staffers scruffed him, which I wasn't too pleased with.

dm

[accountclosed3]

i love how magical rabbits can be. merlin is particularly special. hopefully, they can 'fix' her eventually. it would be better for her health. and, she's probably just exhibiting dominating behavoir, as humping is not unusual for both male and female rabbits.

as for holding, i can't give you any more tips than what you already know--put a hand under the feet! otherwise, more confidence, perhaps?

[Birth&Bunnies]

The best way is to grab the scruff of their neck, scoop the body up and hold them like a baby. Not all rabbits will be calm right away, pet their head for a sec. This is called the sleeper hold for a bunny. They nurse on their backs, so this is a fetal position. These pic might help...

http://s41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...t=IMG_5103.jpg

http://s41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...t=IMG_5109.jpg