July chat

[BunnyLass568]

White rabbit, white rabbit, white rabbit

 

Not much to say on my end except that Thumper’s been licking me without me smelling like food and Blossom stood on her back feet to sniff me when I was giving her fresh water today

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Pets-Passed away: Hailey (9 years old, half rat terrier and miniature pincher, Feb-5-2019),Monster (13 years old, mixed breed, Lhasa Apso and some form of terrier, Sep-14-2020), Demon (14 year old Lhasa Apso, Aug-3-2022) Blossom (6 year old bunny breed(s) unknown, April-7-2024) Thumper (6 year old bunny breed(s) unknown, April-12-2024)💔💔💔💔

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

What? That’s GREAT news ^_^

 

July started off great here as well: I have just given Molly her first bunny massage!!! She enjoyed it immensely and sat there against me for about 15 minutes. Then she moved to scratch an ear, and stood up on her hind legs to give my face a very thorough grooming 🥰

The strange thing was: I could touch her almost everywhere, even in places that other bunnies would find very private, like her flanks and back legs. She just sat on the floor loafing against my knee, purring softly and just enjoying herself.

She has a lot of tension in her shoulder area, which seems common in anxious bunnies. I hope to address that one day, but I kept it light as it was her first massage. Some smaller knots popped, and it didn’t seem to scare her. She didn’t tense up afterwards either.

 

More great news: her peeing and pooping everywhere gradually decreased during the last week, and it stopped yesterday. I don’t know if it’s the pheromone spray that worked, or if she just got back to her normal routine, but I’m happy! (There was such a persistent aroma of rabbit pee in the room that it put me off my food!)

 

[GlennTheLionhead]

Awww yay to bunnies coming out of their shells!

Great progress for Molly, seems shes in the flow of domesticated life now!

Nellie is binkying and very chill around us now, taking food out of our hands but doesn’t like to be petted… Not sure if we will ever get there but we’ll see!

The new things in our household is bonding is starting back up again as of this evening! But I’ve restarted the Glenn and Nellie bonding thread for that over in the bonding section.

[Azerane]

It’s great to hear about bunnies making good progress 🙂

Yesterday (July 1st) was Jasper’s (cat) 4th birthday, which is crazy to think about. The bunnies’ 6th adoption anniversary is coming up at the end of July too. Luna has been doing well, maintaining her low weight ok, she’s got a great appetite which is very pleasing but her movements and activity levels do concern me sometimes. Apollo is doing very well, a happy and active bunny, despite the fact he is back to having problems eating pellets.

My dad recently stayed with us for a week from interstate. It had been 2 and 1/2 years since I’d seen him so that was really nice. Last time he stayed with us Jasiri (cat) peed on his sheets after he left. This time I had the sheets he used on the tile floor waiting to go in the washing machine and Jasiri peed on them again. She never pees outside the tray, I’m wondering if she misses him or is just reclaiming her turf, lol.

Dory hates my dad for seemingly no reason, he talks to her and makes noises but she’ll sit there in a huffy ball staring at him if he’s too close to her cage, lol. All the other pets love my dad.

In other news we were worried we would have to move house again this year, the owner put it up for sale but fortunately the new owners want to keep us on as tenants (they’ve been through the house and seen the rabbits etc) which is a relief. Just not sure how much they’re going to want to charge us for rent yet, so that could be a risk factor.

[BunnyLass568]

The other day Thumper chinned me! And, although she was really stressed, Blossom let me groom her and clip 3 or 4 nails today! Anyway I heard that Chinchilla’s and other exotic animals are going to be banned in the Netherlands in 2024; I don’t know if that includes rabbits or not but I feel kinda neutral. Like certain exotics (like a fennec fox) shouldn’t be pets but yet some other exotics make great pets and shouldn’t be banned. Does that make sense?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Pets-Passed away: Hailey (9 years old, half rat terrier and miniature pincher, Feb-5-2019),Monster (13 years old, mixed breed, Lhasa Apso and some form of terrier, Sep-14-2020), Demon (14 year old Lhasa Apso, Aug-3-2022) Blossom (6 year old bunny breed(s) unknown, April-7-2024) Thumper (6 year old bunny breed(s) unknown, April-12-2024)💔💔💔💔

[prince dorian the bun]

Happy July everyone and every bunny too!

I always think it’s weird Bunnies are considered exotics. And even though I absolutely love Fennec Foxes totally agree with you. The average pet owner is not set up to own a non-domesticated animal… I think a sadly large number can handle owning even a domestic one. Maybe just a bit cynical as I am seeing the rise in post lockdown pets being dumped at our local shelters and it makes me a bit frustrated at people.

I need to do nail trims, I haven’t done Miu’s yet as she had them done at vet visit. Dreading it, that little bun does NOT like contact. She even gets grouchy at Dorian if he’s poking her too much. I mean he doesn’t like trims either and is super pathetic (he squeaks, it’s very sad) , but after a couple of little foot flicks at me to let me know how he feels he comes right back over for treat and snuggles. Probably give them a few days to get over the trauma of the vaccine and long car ride to get it.

[DanaNM]

Oooh we just did all 4 buns nails today and I always feel like I should get a gold star. LOL

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

There is a new list yes, it’ll become effective in 2024. It’s a greenlist of 30 mammals, and all other mammals will become off-limits. You can still keep existing pets if they’re not on the list, but you’re not allowed to buy, sell or breed new ones after 2024.

Pets that will be forbidden after 2024 are: serval cats, degoe mice, Russian dwarf hamsters, chinchillas and hedgehogs. The experts say that these species aren’t domesticated enough, and should be respected as wildlife instead of being owned as a pet.

The animals that are still allowed include some interesting species. Apparently you can still keep camels, llamas and water buffaloes in a private zoo ⁉️😵‍💫

This is the greenlist:

Alpacas, rats, guinea pigs, European polecats, donkeys, ferrets, goats, dogs, domestic cats, camels, llamas, horses,  🐰rabbits🐰, cows, sheep, pigs, water buffaloes, and several domesticated mouse, hamster and gerbil species.

[Bam]

Im delighted wabbits are still ok. For now.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Yes, we’d hop the border if they were forbidden! (It’s barely 10 miles from here anyway…)

Funny though that they took the level of domestication to decide whether an animal would make a good pet. According to that logic cats shouldn’t be kept as pets. Free-roaming cats are a massive threat to local wildlife, even if they have a home. There are more reasons to take cats off the list than rabbits.

I’m not afraid that rabbits will be forbidden, because they’re very common pets and they’re not a threat to nature and farming like in Australia. They have many natural predators here as well. Our wild rabbit population has taken a major hit from RHD2: there are barely any rabbits left in the wild. Even dumped pet rabbits breeding in the wild wouldn’t cause an issue (apart from that it’s cruel for the rabbits).

What I’m more worried about is the downright fanatical stance of animal organisations: to them any single rabbit is a mistreated rabbit. I really hope that they won’t push for legislation. You’ll probably remember that awful behaviour when I asked if I could adopt a special needs rabbit after Breintje passed away: they promptly told me that Breintje couldn’t have been truly happy. Well, fluff them! 🤬

Some of the happiest and most spoiled rabbits in the world are/were single rabbits of forum members here. There are plenty of reasons why a rabbit can’t be kept with others, and with the right owner they live a better life than 99% of all rabbits worldwide. A little nuance goes a long way.

[Bam]

<p style=”padding-left: 40px;”>I agree. For a few years (too few, because I’d have wanted a longer life for my Yohio), I had 2 male rabbits that I couldnt bond despite serious efforts.  They free roamed in half my apt each, separated by a double gate. They as a rule lounged next to each other alongside the gate, but could suddenly, wihout warning, charge at each other and growl and claw at the gate.</p>
After one of them passed, it was like the other bun got a new lease on life. He became outgoing, bold, super-cuddly and full of curiosity. I didnt expect that at all, but since then Ive read that cats often react  much in the same way at the loss of a co-cat in a household.

We have legislation prohibiting single life for guinea pigs, donkeys and parrots. I do think it’d be a mistake to forbid single buns. Not all rabbits are interested in sharing their lives with another rabbit. It can be very stressful for them if they’re forced to.

 

[LBJ10]

Chinchillas? Um… pretty sure they are just as domesticated as guinea pigs are. Both are caviomorphs, so what’s the difference?

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

@Bam: yes, rabbits will tell you what they’re comfortable with. We don’t have to force companionship onto them if they don’t want it. The behaviour you mentioned clearly shows his feelings about the situation.

Look at Breintje for example: he had no interest in other rabbits, not even if there were cute does around. With humans he was always cuddly and inquisitive, even if they were strangers on the train. He’d attract people’s attention and hung around them trying to get treats and pettings.

Friends always brought their rabbits over for New Year because their neighbourhood sounds like a warzone around that time. Breintje just sniffed their pen, chinned it to mark it as his, and moved back to where the humans were sitting. This happened with all of their different rabbits over the years.

The only time he was interested was when I made a mistake: I was giving the bunnies their dinner and scratched one behind the ears. Breintje started to thump angrily, wouldn’t take a raisin or be petted, and gave me bunny butt for the rest of the evening. Oof, I really was in the doghouse… 😮‍💨

Anytime he smelled somebunny else on me he was very upset and I was in serious trouble. We’ve seen revenge peeing on my spot on the sofa, destroying my craft projects, throwing stuff off the sofa, lots of bunny butt, and very forceful chinning. When I fed the neighbour’s rabbit I had to go in barefoot and sleeveless, and wash my arms and legs straight away. The first time I fed Ollie Breintje got so upset that he forcefully chinned my slippers and clothes for days.

All this made us think: as long as he’s healthy and happy we’re not going to force bonding onto him. He’s clearly very attached to me, gets angry when he needs to share me with others, and shows no interest in other rabbits. He’d declared himself my husbun, so I did everything to be the best bunwife I could be for him 🥰

 

@LBJ10: Yes, it’s really odd. And it’s such a shame about the hedgehogs: they’re popular pets for people who have a serious allergy to fur or feathers, but still want an animal that interacts with them. Hedgehogs can be cuddly and great pets for allergy sufferers.

[Azerane]

Oh bummer, I just wrote out a big post and then accidentally clicked away from the page 😛

Regarding the ban on some pets, I don’t know much about Chinchillas but I do know that parrots aren’t technically considered domesticated, each individual is either tame or not. I can certainly get behind species such as Servals not being allowed as pets but I suppose at the end of the day that’s how cats were originally domesticated over time. Australia has a ban on anything but a domestic cat, so with Bengal cats, any generation closer than F5 to the Asian Leopard Cat can’t be imported, which is good. I can’t get behind species hybridisation anyway.

In Australia, rabbits are completely banned in one state (Queensland) and the fine for having one is ridiculously huge. We don’t have a large variety of non-native pet species, but you can keep a lot of native species depending on the laws in your state which is pretty cool. Here we have cats, dogs, rabbits (most states), guinea pigs, rats, mice, ferrets (some states), axolotls, and some non-native birds (some parrots, canaries and finches). In terms of native pets there’s an assortment of birds, reptiles, mammals and frogs that can be kept as pets depending on the laws in your state. At one point, it used to be legal to keep foxes as pets in a couple of states, but that law was overturned a few years ago now. The shame of that is it that it was rescue foxes that were kept as pets. So a farmer who wanted to get rid of a fox den on his property could contact the rescue and they could either keep the foxes at the rescue or if they were suitable for rehoming they were rehomed. Now there’s no option but to kill them if you want them gone.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

On the topic of Breintje being dramatic about me feeding other bunnies:

[Azerane]

Luna has been full of beans this morning, which was very cute to see. She was digging and chewing at fleece, exploring, and even went through the tunnel (which she doesn’t often do I think because of the position it puts her in might be a little painful with her kidneys). Apollo is the charmer as always, coming up for head pats and booping me if I ignore him for too long.

It’s their gotcha month this month so I’m going to go through their toys and treats and see if I can find something they haven’t had before and do a fresh toy set up.

[BunnyLass568]

Aww that’s cute! That she’s full of energy I mean, not the pain and Apollo being cute too! Hoppy gotcha month to them

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Pets-Passed away: Hailey (9 years old, half rat terrier and miniature pincher, Feb-5-2019),Monster (13 years old, mixed breed, Lhasa Apso and some form of terrier, Sep-14-2020), Demon (14 year old Lhasa Apso, Aug-3-2022) Blossom (6 year old bunny breed(s) unknown, April-7-2024) Thumper (6 year old bunny breed(s) unknown, April-12-2024)💔💔💔💔

[Azerane]

So I started clicker training with Jasper today. It’s something I wanted to do with both cats from when they were kittens, but the whole cute kitten thing kind of distracted me and then I just never got around to it, lol. So here we are, Jasper just turned 4, she’s crazy food motivated so it should be pretty straightforward. We did two training sessions today just establishing the clicker, and we did “sit” a couple of times because she already sort of knows that.

I’m trying to work out how many clicks/treats should be in a training session, I’m thinking maybe up to 10. Ultimately I’m trying to end up with a calmer cat at meal times, and hopefully get some positive training in with her carrier (she happily goes in but meows the whole time) and obviously we’ll try to get as many cute tricks out of it as possible 😀 I’m not sure if I’ll train Jasiri, she’s not food motivated at all, but I do think she could do with the mental stimulation.

I discovered that Luna’s medication is less than half price if I buy it online. I had to pay for the script from my vet but it will still work out cheaper. Unfortunately because I had covid early this month I couldn’t get the script in time to order online so I’ve had to order another bottle from my vet, which I’m really hoping comes in tomorrow because we’ve just finished the last drop of her medication tonight.

[DanaNM]

I love clicker training! I was working with my cat Toby for a while and he learned to “target” really quickly.

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[prince dorian the bun]

I have always been interested in clicker training, but neither Dorian or Miu are particularly food motivated. They like food, but they won’t do anything they weren’t planning on doing for it. Just getting them to eat lunch is enough drama these days as they can’t both be bothered to come into their room anymore so now lunch is served under the couch (they may be a little spoiled). I think Dorian would be good at it if he could be motivated, he has a pretty good vocabulary of things he understands, he even does somethings when asked or at least looks like he is thinking about it before hoping off in the opposite direction. Not as sure about Miu, she doesn’t get human speak and always looks at Dorian to see what we are going on about. She’s learning though, I think she just taking a little longer than Dorian as she has him, where as he just had us.

[BunnyLass568]

Not big news but I gave Blossom and Thumper a bit of peach yesterday (skinned and no pit) with their pellets and that was the first thing they ate and I think they kept looking for more, and their poops have been normal. Another treat success!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Pets-Passed away: Hailey (9 years old, half rat terrier and miniature pincher, Feb-5-2019),Monster (13 years old, mixed breed, Lhasa Apso and some form of terrier, Sep-14-2020), Demon (14 year old Lhasa Apso, Aug-3-2022) Blossom (6 year old bunny breed(s) unknown, April-7-2024) Thumper (6 year old bunny breed(s) unknown, April-12-2024)💔💔💔💔

[Azerane]

Today is Apollo and Luna’s 6th adoption anniversary! Hooray! 😀 I’m going to dig through their toy drawers to pull out some different toys (I’m sure there’s some in there that are still brand new) and they’ll get some treats and a special salad 🙂

[BunnyLass568]

Hoppy Gotcha/Adoption Day!! 🍓🍌🍉🍇🥕☘🌹🍎🍒 Treats for them

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Pets-Passed away: Hailey (9 years old, half rat terrier and miniature pincher, Feb-5-2019),Monster (13 years old, mixed breed, Lhasa Apso and some form of terrier, Sep-14-2020), Demon (14 year old Lhasa Apso, Aug-3-2022) Blossom (6 year old bunny breed(s) unknown, April-7-2024) Thumper (6 year old bunny breed(s) unknown, April-12-2024)💔💔💔💔

[prince dorian the bun]

Happy Gotcha day Apollo and Luna!

[Bam]

Hoppy Gotcha-Day, Apollo and Luna!

[Azerane]

Thanks so much everyone. The bunnies thoroughly enjoyed their day playing with different toys 🙂 I gave them back their cardboard maze which they haven’t had in a long time, Luna worked so hard on chewing it that I found her passed out inside with her chin resting on one of the doorways.

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