Sorry, this is a really long post, I didn’t know how to shorten it!?

Just wanted to let you know that the kits are doing fantastic! They are all very healthy, and gaining weight every day. Kiwi is also doing great, he loves to be carried around, and has started crawling around the kritter keeper by himself. He has still been drinking Molly’s milk through a syringe. Fudgeo(I changed smores name to Fudgeo, it goes with Oreo.? I call him Fudge for short.) Was neutered last week, I got an earlier appointment from my vet. About two days after I got Fudge, I couldn’t take looking at his awful sore hocks anymore. I took him to the vet, and they did a minor surgery where they actually cut off the infection and badly inflamed parts. They stitched and bandaged his feet up, and put a e-collar on him. I take it off a few times a day to let him eat more easily, although he is able to eat with the collar on. I just like to give him a break from the collar, while I can still supervise him to ensure he isn’t chewing the wound. His feet are a bit scarred, but the fur is already starting to grow back. I won’t put him with Molly for at least another three weeks. I did introduce him to Oreo though, they got along pretty well. Oreo just followed him every where, like he does to everybody. Oreo is like a little kid in that way, he will follow everyone! When we have company over, they are always very surprised to have a 22 lb rabbit following them. He is just looking to be petted or snuggled with though, he loves everyone. Considering what he has been through, and the fact that he is deaf(and more easily startled!) and missing a leg, I was prepared for a long road of earning his trust. Turns out, it took less than a week for him to become super friendly. Molly freaked out when I took Fudge to the vet, I could tell she missed him. His poor feet needed help, and I needed him to be neutered. Poor Molly went back into her shell that she had just started to come out of. She huddled in the corner, refused to eat, and wouldn’t go anywhere near me. I force fed her once, then she realized she had to feed her kits, and began eating and nursing her kits again. She loves Fudge though, when he is home, they lie together(separated by an xpen with a coroplast rim around the bottom) for hours. Only getting up to eat, drink or feed kits. They groom each other too. I introduced Bobbi to Fudge too, they are similar in size, Bobbi is only slightly larger. They got along well, I don’t think there was an immediate connection, but they showed interest in each other, and there was no aggression. I think Fudge was pretty scared of her cart though.

Darla(I still laugh at that nickname) comes over occasionally to see the rabbits. I actually invited her over again, I thought I could get her to be gentle with them. I introduced her to Oreo first, telling her she needed to make slow movements, as he is deaf. When she asked what happened to his leg, I gave her a version of the story that wasn’t so grisly. She burst into tears when she thought of someone hurting him. She gave him a kiss on his head, and went over to Bobbi. She was very gentle with her, and Bobbi seemed to like her. Olivia(Darla’s real name) then walked downstairs and apologized to Molly for hitting her the first time she saw her. Molly still hid from her, but it was nice to see her apologize to Molly. She petted Fudge for a bit, he seemed okay with it. She sat down, and I let her hold a kit. She was really gentle and kind to it, she said sorry to him for hurting his Mom the first day. I let her see Kiwi, and she got a bit upset with Molly for not feeding Kiwi, but she didn’t hurt or yell at Molly. She calmed down when I let her help me feed Kiwi. It wasn’t risky, he suckles on the syringe, so it is just like bottle feeding an animal. I think she was really upset the first day because I was taking her rabbits. Even though she didn’t deserve those rabbits, I feel kind of bad that she lost her pets. Of course I don’t think she is old enough or responsible enough to have a rabbit, I’m okay with her coming over once a week to see the rabbits. She seemed like a pretty good little kid, she was really gentle with all of my animals. Maybe an alien swapped the real Darla out with this kid! She is totally different frim the first time I met her!

Thanks so much for all your help with raising these kits!
guineapig724