yes, i used 2 36-inch high xpens. i called my sister, who just happens to work at the PetSmart PetsHotel that just opened in our city, and it turns out she gets a nice lil’ 15% discount. i tried to make a NIC enclosure like the one i had around Mead’s Marchioro cage, but it wasn’t going to work. so four hours later and my fingers about ready to fall off, i had to take the dang thing down, it was not sturdy enough, and the way i was imagining it in my head was not going well. so i had to spend more money, but i think it’ll work out better.

we leave at about 3:30 to take Michael to my parent’s, then we need to drive 90 minutes to get to this woman’s house.

yes, i was really impressed by the quality of the xpen. it was pretty easy to get together since it’s already connected. we just had to stand it up and bend it the way we needed it. if you’re not creative, you don’t have a lot of building time, or you just want something very very simple, the xpen is the way to go!

i didn’t find out until the end that she runs her rescue all by herself.  she does ferret, bird and rabbit rescue and rehoming.  so the long process was more due to her working by herself and us playing email/phone tag.  i also had to make sure we could make it work.  i don’t take getting animals lightly at all.  once he’s here, he is here forever.  so i had to make sure my husband was as commited as i am and that we were going to have money for the added expenses and vet care.  i still have not told Michael at all.  we’ve been spelling over his head… so it will be a bit of a surprise.  even now, we have two xpens set-up and he hasn’t asked WHY once.

i tried to do the pics from my email.  they showed up for me, but not you guys i guess… here they are.

this is his Petfinder pic…

and some pics she sent… she said in the summer, the bunnies have an outdoor run.  i hope he will adjust okay to being an indoor only rabbit.

no more cage for Mead.  it’s really not necessary.  she’s litterbox trained.  actually the pens are set-up on the rug.  i took another pic so you can see what i mean.  you’ll notice i had to already block off the sides and the middle from her.  of course Michael had to sneak in too.

i know Sage! we put her in last night b/c i wanted to clean up her other area and she already has hay everywhere.

she seems okay with it. she had to walk around and sniff every xpen bar last night… for me, it’s so strange not having her right here in the living room. fortunately, she has so much out of cage time tho… so it’s not like i’m never going to see her. she took right to the litterbox, it’s a new one and it’s not a corner box, so i didn’t know if she’d like it, but she’s been using it. she’s already hopping in and out of the xpen to do her business, so she really does not seem too traumatized by it.

well, he’s home! i am exhausted. 3 hours of driving. she lets the buns run outside in an enclosed area, so he was a bit muddy b/c there was rain yesterday. so i had to give him a bath. i’ve never given a bath before and i kinda freaked out, but he seemed okay. i pretty much just put a couple inches of water in the tub and let him hop around. get the mud out of his toes… lol.

i wasn’t able to bring Meadow with us. my husband didn’t think it was a good idea. it was in the mid 90s, and a looooong drive, so we decided not to stress her with it. they’re in separate rooms right now. i put him in her Marchioro cage (cleaned very well) temporarily b/c i want him to be checked by my vet this week before introducing them (seeing as they were outside and all).

i will post some pics tomorrow. he is such a beautiful boy. he loves to be held… and kissed on the nose… and i never knew lops were so expressive with their ears… he’s been moving them up and down and back and forth… and if he hears something he will lift his ear towards the sound.

PLUS… he does Edson’s “waiting for the bus” routine. Knowltons… you know what i mean! he was even doing it in the bathtub! he just stands there, for like a minute!

he’s munching some hay right now!

i think he is very scared today. apparently, he was grooming himself during the night (my hubby was up late), so i don’t know if he was nervous, or just didn’t like the bath. he’s drank some water but i haven’t seen any pee. he has pooped some, altho he’s been diggind in the litterbox. i gave him some greenleaf lettuce today. i’m going to do that for a week and then introduce something new next week (i’m not positive what kind of veggies he was getting before and what quantities, so i’m kind of starting over with them.)

Michael just came up to me and asked, why are Max’s ears down? i told him, some bunnies have up ears, some bunnies have down ears. he seemed satisfied with the answer… lol!

^^ as i was typing this i heard the munchy sound of veggies… i looked over at him and he had a big mouthful of greenleaf. YAY!!!

well… they have met thru the bars. they have been sniffing noses. there’s been no sign of aggression as of yet. she keeps hopping back forth along the length of the cage, he keeps hopping and following her every move.

i might have seen a bit of a head binky from Max. but i’m not sure…

honestly, i sleep like the dead. Mike was up watching tv on the couch pretty late, he didn’t say anything about any thumps, just that he was grooming a lot. they seem okay when separated. i put them together in the bathroom and there was a scuffle, but i guess that’s to be expected. a lot of chasing back and forth. i moved him into the other half of the double xpen, he seems okay. he’s sitting in there eating veggies, exploring around. when i moved him i noticed he had peed in the hay i put in the bottom of the marchioro last night, so i put fresh hay in the litterbox to entice him. (see… Meadow doesn’t get hay in her box, so i didn’t even think about it. i keep doing everything in comparison to how Mead gets it.) i’m going to keep checking on him. i did put Mead back in her side of the xpen for now. i’ll let her out again later. she left some poos next to the marchioro this morning when she was out.

and… Mike went to a car racing show (Pinks… it’s on tv) so he TOOK THE CAMERA!!!!  i had to tell him about 50 times not to drop it… but alas, no pics today.

yes, he’s neutered. the rescue only adopts them out that way. i thought he was younger, but she said he is about 3 years old, he’s been neutered for a year. Meadow left a few droppings next to the cage he was in. you saw the pics, i have the room to keep them separately until… so i’m not in a huge hurry to bond them, i know it will take a bit of time, and i’m kind of excited for the process.

they’re sitting next to each other, on their respective halves. i have a few inches betw/ the xpens just in case. they both look relaxed.

he is mostly white and black, but he has some brown fur at the base of his ears, and a bit of brown in his mustache. he’s such a cutie.

i said he could take it. he’s excited about the car show, so i don’t really mind. i just hope it doesn’t get broken. if i had it i’m sure i’d have already taken about 100 pictures!

i know… it’s all about making the SO’s happy! when we were driving to the rescue yesterday, Mike said, “that’s it! only two bunnies.” i agreed.

on the way home, after seeing those flemish giants, i said, “you know, when we have a larger house, how fun would it be to have one of those big guys hopping around?”

he agreed.

the new guy is flopping everywhere, but when i walk in he runs to the back. Mead, as usual, runs up to greet me… i vaccuumed up some of the excess poops and i switched them. they both ran around wildly sniffing everything, but they’ve since calmed down.

he’s on his way home… he’s ten minutes away…

you can see the brown he has at the base of his ears…  it matches the brown in his mustache…

and the little white tips on his ears.  in this pic you can see that his left ear is damaged.  it happened in a brawl when he was a little baby bunny…

flop!

double Flop!!

and one of Ms. Meadow E. Bunny relaxin’…

*sorry for the weird eyes… i had to edit to get the red-eye out…*

last night i had hay separately for him, so he peed in the hay. today i cleaned up and put hay in the litterbox, he’s been peeing in there ever since. Mead is actually leaving more territory poos than he is. they are everywhere… but i’m guessing this will subside as they bond. it’s not more work really… not that i can tell yet. he loves his veggies… a lot. i’m thinking my veggie bill is going to triple rather than double.

i switched their pens last night. Meadow is out right now… i’m going to put them on the washing machine in a little bit here (Mike’s home to help me) and see how that goes. afterwards i am going to put her back in and let Max have some time out.

we took a washing machine ride. it went so well… i was actually really surpised! i brought Meadow in first, put her in the laundry basket. asked Mike to go get Max. he couldn’t… he kept running away from him. so i said, “well stay here with Mead… i’ll go get him.” i get Max, bring him in, Mike was wearing an oven mitt holding onto Meadow. he FREAKS OUT! (Mike, not Max… he is very scared of Meadow getting hurt, thinking that since Max is bigger he’ll hurt her.) i tell him not to worry, Mead can hold her own. we put them in together. i had to take over the mitt, MIke took over the squirt bottle. Meadow got a shot in the face right away b/c she’s the instigator. there were a couple nips… Meadow nipping Max on the back, but no real scuffles. they did end up huddled together. Meadow got another squirt each time she went to nip. Max was licking the water off of her face. she’d stop to groom herself, then huddle back down with Max. the whole thing took about ten minutes. after it shut off, i took Meadow out first and she got a few raisins for being a good girl. she went right back in her pen (she had been out for two hours previous this.) Max got a few rainins in his dish. he won’t take treats from us yet… and he got to run around in the room for about 20 minutes. i sat on the floor in there with him and watched. he’s still getting used to everything, so i kept his time short.

Max wants to be friends with Meadow sooo badly… he looked absolutely thrilled to be laying next to her.

you should’ve seen the look at Mike’s face when i said, “hey honey, we’re gong to put Max and Meadow on the washer…”

priceless.

Posted By kimberleyanddarren on 06/09/2008 2:40 AM
aww that was soo sweet beka congrats! keep us posted! i still cant believe that mine just bonded instantly and there wasnt even one nip or fight! I hope everythjing goes that well for u!! its so worth it when u see them snuggles up together

well yours are still babies tho.  it’s a bit different to bond two adults, esp. when one is already well-established in a household.  but i’m not giving up!

^^^yes i figured. on the washer, today he kept bowing his head (to be groomed) and she wouldn’t do it. so he just sat back up. i’m wondering if i should encourage her grooming him, or just let it go for now…

i only have the two xpens that are their cages, so it’s not neutral. i tried the bathroom and there was a scuffle. i might have to try and confine them in my son’s room or mine b/c they never go in there. Meadow was still nipping thru the bars earlier this evening.

the article i was reading said to stress them first a couple times and return to their  respective pens, and then start doing some non-stressful activity after, so i will try that tomorrow.  washing machine, and then a confined area.  i’m trying to keep it short and sweet and end it on a positive note.  they both get a couple treats afterwards.

****i just went to go do some laundry (real laundry, not bunny bonding… lol) and Mike said Max did a few Binkies in a row!

and i MISSED it!!!!!

uh-uh! you gotta get your own! i am in love with my boy!!!

after your vaca i think you should give it some serious thought knowls…  even penned separately, it is so fulfilling having him here.  wouldn’t you just love a sweet lil girl?

oh i think we’re beyond that point!  lol!  yes, we’re already calling it the bunny room.  we’re keeping the pens in there, but ideally, once they’re bonded they’ll have the whole house to roam in, and the two pens will get combined for night and when we’re not home.  right now we’ve been alternating them with their runtime.