Hi Everyone! I know I havent been talking much lately, I have been so busy with the shop, and websites, and hanging out with Jersey… lol  

I just wanted to share with you a rescue story that happened over the course of the last week, thought you might like to know  

We have a take – away shop in South australia, where we live, and because we have cards of SA Rabbit Rescue on our counter, a fair few people have come in to talk about their rabbits  Which has been fantastic!

A lady came in about 6 months ago and told us about her female who had just had 2 litters, and the babies all had really bad fur mites. I went to visit them then, and she had 6 babies and wanted to get rid of the mother as well. The babies all found homes, and I was going to take the mum but she decided she wanted to keep her, and told us she was getting desexed, and we never heard from her again…. until now.

She came into the shop the other day really upset because her bunny had another 4 litters since then. I was asking her questions about the father etc, and it turns out that the dad is the mums brother. Anyhoo, she had one of the babies with her in the car. So she took me to have a look.

When I carried the baby into one of the other shops to have a look at him, he was doing this strange bobbing thing of his head. I thought it was strange, and then I looked at his eyes, and they are completely clear in where the black bit is meant to be, and at the back of the eyeball it looks very cloudy and strange. We had ostriches like this before who were blind, so I thought he must be blind… When Sally got to the shop (You guys remember her, shes the one who saved Stu-Bob, she visits the shop all the time) – she had a look at him too and said he may have tumours in his eyes and she checked his teeth and he has really bad malocclusion, spurs in his back molars, and an underbite at the front, so its a fairly bad problem apparently. If not looked after properly he would starve to death because of his teeth. Its most likely a genetic problem because of the inbreeding that was happening at this ladys house.

The woman took him home talking about having him put to sleep incase he is in pain. I rang her that night and asked her if I could come and get him, because I wanted to take him to the vet and see what the problem is, and she said ok.

The next night I went over to her house to pick up baby bunny and her children were absolutely running a riot with thise bunnies. She had mum there and the one I was taking and the kids were racing around with them and passing them around, and they were absolutely terrified. I had a look at mum rabbit, she has good teeth…  The lady was talking about how she didnt know what to do with her because she couldnt afford to desex and all her babies had died and she was really upset . There were 2 babies left alive. The blind one I was taking, and another one that she had dropped off at a chain pet shop in our local shopping mall.

I turned mum upside down and was rubbing her tummy. This bunny wasnt in a good situation. I made a huge excuse up about her teeth and how she needed them checked because they were spurring and how her milk ducts seemed blocked (I know nothing about these things), and the lady said she didnt want to keep her anyway, and said I should take them both . I put them in the car and drove away as fast as I could… Gave mum a full check up when I got home and she seems good apart from one cloudy eye.

Then I remembered what I had heard about the baby at the pet shop. I was worried that if it was blind or had malocclusion it would be suffering in someones backyard hutch one day. I rang Jersey and asked her what to do, and she encouraged me to call the pet shop about the baby.

So I followed her advice, called them to let them know I was coming, and walked into the pet shop an hour later. The woman who owns the place wasnt very helpful, but the other staff were great. I mentioned the teeth and the blindness and a few other big words I have learned here over the years and I walked out with the bunny. They let me have him!  I only had to mention the RSPCA once. They were very good

Anyway, now I have 2 babies, and one mum going to the vet tomorrow for a full exam.  I have had people tell me so far that blind baby should be put to sleep because being blind with bad teeth is too much for him to deal withm but Im gonna talk to the vet about the whole situation to see if he is in any pain. The Pet shop baby has bad teeth also but his eyes are fine, and he has already been adopted by the lady who took Squee so hes one happy bunny at the moment.

I havent been bothering mum and my baby too much because they are a bit skittish because of the kids they were with before. But here is a picture I took yesterday. Off to the vet tomorrow morning. Will keep you updated! 

   Mum and Jellybeans

Oh by the way, mum needs a name. Any ideas?