May Chat

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Hey everyone, it’s a wonderful day in May, welcome to the May chat! We enjoyed the lovely weather and went shopping for bunny toys today. We bought large willow chew toys, which Owen seems to love. I got a lot of exercise with my wheelchair ^_^ We also had a successful bonding date. This is so heartening!

We always thought that the lawn behind the building was too polluted to use as a bonding space, but they mowed it last week so we could check it properly. Owen and Molly had their first date since their fight last month.

It went quite alright, they just explored a bit and ignored each other pretty much, unless a sound startled them. Then they cuddled up. Owen attempted to mount Molly once, but she wasn’t having it.

After a short chase she pinned him against the fence and she humped him into next week! 😳 She was very fierce: she humped him, walked to his head to present for grooming and when he didn’t groom her she just humped him again. This went on for 5 times I think. We didn’t expect this from our little girl: she’s always so dainty and timid, and scared of every little noise 😶

After 15 minutes we brought them back inside, and they’re both grooming themselves a lot. They’re tired too. Owen is quiet, very very quiet, and has retreated to the furthest corner of his hutch. Normally he rattles the bars of his X-pen every few minutes, now he’s on his very best behaviour 😅

 

[Bam]

Omg, feisty girl!! Maybe Owen is exhausted emotionally and physically from all these new impressions? Learning new things grows the hippocampal part of the brain, and that consumes lots of energy.

May has been lovely here too. Everything is so amazingly green!

[Azerane]

Can’t believe I posted in the April chat completely forgetting we had already moved into May, lol.

The weather has started to turn wintery here which I’m not a fan of but it hasn’t been too bad so far. I’m also back at work after having some of my long service leave which is a bit of a bummer. I had a really relaxing time off so being back at work has been quite draining. If only I was a multi-millionaire and didn’t have to work XD Or work could just pay me indefinitely for being at home, lol.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

@Azerane: What’s an Aussie winter like? I’m having some problems imagining it, because we always hear that Australia is baking hot.

 

Yay, major breakthrough here! I could pet Molly for a couple of minutes while she sat out in the open. She started to purr softly after a while and didn’t freeze ^_^

Molly is a little bundle of nerves, and her first instinct is to freak out about everything. She’s not sure yet about being petted: we think she likes it but is still a bit scared. She has the tendency to freeze a little. This lasts for a couple of seconds after you stopped, but then she enthusiastically licks your hand, and sometimes she sits down again for more

We can give her a few pets on the head sometimes, but it’s never really predictable when. Often she just walks away a couple of cms from your hand or nudges it aside with a firm nudge.

Today I walked into the living room after my nap, and Owen and Molly were sitting nose to nose out in the open. I petted Owen, who’s always up for it, but Molly sat still too.

I softly started to pet them both, and even Molly started to purr after a while! I could pet her on her back as well, and it was all fine. When I stopped after a couple of minutes Molly wasn’t frozen, she just changed position to present herself to Owen. 🥰

[BunnyLass568]

It’s getting hot here, so hot that we have the air conditioners in and mine is currently on! We also have a lot of dandelions and other wild flowers that I don’t know the names of but they’re pretty. I wish I could show you guys but I can’t seem to post pictures. The other night I was getting my room ready for bedtime and I was talking to Blossom and Thumper and Blossom almost flopped next to me in her X-pen, first time she’s done that!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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)💔💔💔💔

[DanaNM]

Sounds like a great breakthrough Ellie!

I thought we were in real spring finally, but apparently it was our third false spring because it’s been cold and raining all week! Things are blooming and starting to grow but it’s been very slow to warm up this year compared to last year!

My four got their Medgene booster today, I’m so relieved that’s done for the year! They were all great, but the technician said Bun Jovi was VERY unhappy with her, which is true to form for an aging rock star. He thumped louder than I’ve heard in a while once we got home to express his severe disapproval. 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.  

[LBJ10]

Yes, please define this “winter” that occurs in Australia.

OMG, it has been SO hot here. In the 90s!

Bunnylass – Is it henbit?

[Azerane]

Well I’m going to get laughed at for explaining my “winter” lol. Winter in Australia really varies quite greatly depending which end of the island you’re on. For us the nights are commonly between 0-5 degrees Celsius, although I think between 5-10 is probably more average. Not every year but some years we get below freezing on a few nights. Shocking I know. Daytime temperatures for the coldest month (July) is probably 10-15C. We count ourselves lucky if we get snow at the local hills one night a year which may last for half the morning if it even settles on the ground at all. We had some below freezing nights a couple of years ago, and I work partly outdoors before the sun comes up so that was not a fun experience. Not very cold compared to many places but when you don’t get those temperatures often and your work clothing isn’t designed for it you really do suffer. I was wearing pyjama pants under my work pants to keep warm, lol. My dad lives interstate closer to the equator, he’s cold in any temperature below 20C 😛

In summer I’m pretty content in anything up to 35C (95 Fahrenheit), although I have found that in the last year or two my heat tolerance has decreased a little (not sure if that’s from wearing masks in the heat at work for the last 2 summers, they really make it worse). Above 35 and it’s uncomfortable, above 40 and it’s too hot.

[BunnyLass568]

@LBJ10 I don’t think it’s that, it’s closer to Myosotis Arvensis but not as fuzzy on the stems. Today it got over 100°F for us.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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)💔💔💔💔

[LBJ10]

Ah… OK, maybe speedwell then?

[BunnyLass568]

Maybe? Here’s a link to them that I just put on deviantart, https://www.deviantart.com/inuysha-link-lover/art/Flowers-915993965

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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)💔💔💔💔

[LBJ10]

Hmm… that looks like bedstraw, but the flowers seem too big to be bedstraw.

[DanaNM]

You really do acclimate to the temps you are in! And that is so true about the clothing and gear you have. My husband and I were amused at how much we’ve adjusted to New England weather. Coming out of winter a 45-50F (10C) day felt warm and we were just working outside in light jackets, but that would have been a really cold winter day in Southern CA and everyone would have been super bundled up!

. . . 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.  

[GlennTheLionhead]

Thats so true about the acclamation to your climate!

In the UK 17C (62F) is pretty much considered summer weather and peoole are often in shorts and T-shirts by 20C (68F). If it hits 30C (86F)  here it’s colloquially known as a heatwave lol!

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

@BunnyLass: yay, sounds like progress 🙂 It’s such a great feeling when they become more comfortable around you, even if it’s with baby steps

@Dana: Happy that everybunny had it now!

@Azerane: ah, yes, I can imagine that it feels cold when you’re used to warmer weather. Sounds like Australia would work wonders for my rheumatic illness.

When I was little we had very crisp winters where it stayed well below 0 °C for weeks. That’s rare now, and we get temperatures between 0-10 °C with lots and lots of rain. Cold+moisture is awful for rheumatism.

It can be cloudy and overcast all day during winter, for weeks on end sometimes. The sun is up at 9, and down at 16:30, so you leave home in the dark and come home in the dark. It’s very depressing for some people, especially for exchange students who came here from sunny countries.

Every winter people have a little hope when the temperature drops below 0 for a week: will it be cold enough for an Eleven Cities Tour? That’s an extreme endurance skating event: it’s over 200 km long and it passes through the canals of 11 cities in the province of Frisia in the North of the county.

Sadly we rarely get the proper ice thickness now that we’re getting more rain: clouds lock in the heat. For a proper ice thickness you need clear weather and a firm frost at night. Still, we can hope…

 

I wanted to share these pics of Owen and Molly with you all. They were outside for a date for a whole hour! There wasn’t much mounting: they played leapfrog for a while and cuddled up sometimes:

[BunnyLass568]

It really is! Took 4 years to get to this point but it’s well worth it. And Owen and Molly are super cute!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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]

Wow… 4 years?! That’s a major breakthrough! I’m so happy for you ^_^

[LBJ10]

I wish we had winters like that. LOL  Let’s see 10-15C is about 50-60F. Yeah, that would be pretty nice! We do get some “warmer” winter days where it will be in the 50s, but those are just sprinkled here and there. We will also have stretches with extremely cold temperatures. It will be single digits or even below 0F. It sucks because it will be so cold that it’s hard to breathe when you’re out shoveling snow.

 

Of course we didn’t really get to have a spring this year. It was below normal and rainy and now…. SUMMER. It has been in the 90s this week.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Okay, this bonding is going to take a while… Owen cheats! He just sits there in a corner with his bum firmly pressed against the fence so Molly can’t mount! 🙄

Things are looking in favour of Molly though: she’s very tenacious. She made about 20 mounting attempts of which only 5 were successful. Owen either ran away or blocked her. All of Owen’s 5 attempts were successful, but she threw him off most of the time.

It’s going to take a while I think, but it wouldn’t surprise if Molly came out on top over time. As Bas said: “Molly is playing to win, while Owen is playing not to lose.”.

[DanaNM]

Ha!

In many cases it’s super hard to tell who is dominant by the end of it because you’ll see a mixture of behaviors. I’m convinced that often times both rabbits think they the boss!

. . . 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]

Ah, okay, so it may still go any way…

Oh well, as long as Owen doesn’t bully or overshadow her it’s fine. Something like that probably happened in the nest, because she was so skittish and submissive.

She’s come so far, and whatever happens, I hope that she won’t get so subdued again.

She’s becoming a really sociable bunny: always looking up at me, trying to get my attention, and even enjoying petting now. I’d hate it if she became a wallflower again.

[GlennTheLionhead]

I wouldn’t worry about that, usual when bunnies are bonded they love eachother and are very happy!

When I bonded Glenn and Bella it was a stand off for months, both showing lots of dominant behaviours then it one day just appeared that Bella could be bothered putting up a fight against the mounting etc so just submitted to grooming Glenn and then they were both very happy, neither sad or subdeued 😊 like Dana said though I couldn’t never be 100% sure if they both didn’t actually think they were boss… They were both very persistent with grooming requests after being bonded lol.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Picture time! I think that Owen and Molly are becoming very close. They’re constantly interacting with each other through the bars.

They haven’t had a proper date in the last 2 days because of the weather, and they’re clearly not happy with it. They’re constantly rattling at the bars and trying to interact. Hell, even Molly is rattling the bars, while she’s such a good girl most of the time.

Sadly the weather forecast for the next two weeks is poor: it’s either too hot or raining heavily. Tomorrow I’m wiping down the bathroom with vinegar so we can continue our bonding sessions despite the weather.

In the meantime, here are some very cute pics, all taken tonight. I think it’s getting pretty serious between them. Molly is in the pen. Surprisingly Owen is doing a lot of the grooming today 🥰

 

[Azerane]

They are so cute! I’m so pleased to hear that things are progressing well between them.

[Bam]

Ellie, that pronounced flatness does look very promising! I dont think a bun would go that flat in the presence of somebunny not trustworthy or likeable!

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Hehe, thank you Bam, I surely hope that it’s a good sign!

And we’re off! Bathroom bonding for the first time. Wish me luck…

[Bam]

Fingers so crossed, Ellie!!

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Sigh, Owen is such a gentleman when there’s a fence in between them, but when were together today it was nothing but humming and humping. Not a minute of quarter for Molly.

I gave them two breaks to calm things down, but Owen kept at it, so I put them beside each other and petted them for a while. Then I put them back in the living room in their separate spaces.

The good news is: I think that Molly actually enjoys being petted! She calmed down quickly when I petted them both and even started to purr a little. Owen was still in stress mode a minute later.

I also pet Molly if I have to pick her up to do a hutch swap or to bring her to the bonding space. She recovers quicker every time and she’s less afraid of my hands.

Of all the bunnies I’ve met, it looks like it’s the stressy or excitable bunnies who like being petted the most. They just need a little time and positive experiences to get over their fear, and then they become cuddly. It was the same with Breintje: when he was young he was very excitable and couldn’t sit still for a minute. Then he discovered that being petted was good, and became super clingy.

[BunnyLass568]

I feel like I should post here again but I don’t know what to post…. Oh I know! Blossom let me feel her spine for the first time today! She didn’t let me feel her ribs, she got scared to I apologized to her but she’s starting to let me pet her more often. I wanna mention something about my nephew but I don’t know what. My mom and dad had a scary morning, our dog Demon collapsed for the second time in his 14 year long life but he’s doing ok right now. Uhhhhh….Sorry I’m just kind of rambling.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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]

14 is old for a dog, hope he is okay BunnyLass568.

& it looks like things are going well Ellie! I mean other than the excessive humping. Have they both been neutered/spayed then?

[BunnyLass568]

Yeah, especially for a Lhasa Apso. He’s kinda…not quite himself but is doing ok. Thank you!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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]

@Bunnylass: That’s a big scare, I hope Demon will be alright! It’s great that Blossom is giving you her trust though, even if it’s in little steps.

@Dorian: Yes, they were fixed in December and March, so it couldn’t be hormones. My boyfriend’s first reaction was that the bathroom may not be as neutral as we’d hoped, because Owen also showed excessive humping when I tried to bond them in the living room.

But I’m not stopping this immediately, I’m going to give it a couple more tries. Let’s see how they do tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

[BunnyLass568]

Yeah, it is. My mom and dad thought he was dying earlier. He’s doing ok, not quite himself yet and thank you. It really is! It makes me really happy honestly since it’s been a while since they came into our lives.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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]

Hmm, about the excessive humping: this was the first time that we were bonding them when Bas wasn’t there. He’s away for work and an event for a week. Maybe Owen is trying to assert his position as top male. He’s been extra noisy too: rattling the bars and throwing toys around.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Observation of the terribly sleep-deprived:

It’s good that the hobby breeder didn’t keep Owen to breed with him further. He can’t make heads or tails of the whole mounting process, and the ladies would only have ended up with stuffed noses 🙄

I’m constantly watching them as they interact, making sure that Molly doesn’t give him a neuter 2.0

Picking him up to realign him doesn’t work, he keeps going for the head. Ah well, luckily the rest of the species breeds like… well… rabbits.

[Azerane]

Poor Owen, so misguided 😛

I used some of my long service leave from work recently and have now been back at work 2 weeks plus today. It’s amazing how much less time there is in the day when you have to go to work, and how tired my feet get! I’d almost forgotten. I’d like to have paid time off forever please!

On the plus side, since returning to work I’ve actually lost 2kg. Which is a little on the quick side but the sudden increase in activity is certainly making an impact. It means I’ve lost 7kg this year, which is really good. While not obese I have been carrying a little extra weight for a few years which I’m looking to get rid of. I figure that aside from me feeling better about it, it may also help ease the strain on my feet and knee at work. If I can lose around another 5kg and maintain there I’ll be happy. The maintaining the weight has always been the tricky part though.

Trying to think what else is new. Had to make a new batch of cat food recently and must have accidentally put a beef bone into the bone broth mix because Jasper started itching like crazy. Every morning I would find new tufts of fur everywhere and she even managed to cut the top of her head a little. Needless to say I had to quickly scramble to make another batch of food just for her and within 24 hours there was a noticeable difference. It’s interesting because I thought that Jasiri was also allergic to beef, but she hasn’t had any reaction at all, so perhaps Jasper is simply much more sensitive to it, it would have been a very minimal amount. At the very least, I’m pleased it wasn’t fleas.

[DanaNM]

@Azerane I make my cat’s food as well, and something must have been off with the most recent batch of mine too because my cat Toby has been having some pooping trouble!

The only thing different is I left out the eggs this time, but they are optional and I know I’ve skipped them before…  I can’t figure out if it was a batch issue or he just is having a harder time switchig between the canned food I use when I run out and the homemade… or it could just be a coincidence because I’ve been traveling a lot for work and it’s been stressing my cat out.

. . . 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]

Yay, Owen seems to have found her rear! I’ve seen him mount on the proper side a couple of times yesterday. I still have to keep an eye on him though, because he doesn’t seem to stop on his own. I was taking some pictures and suddenly I noticed that he’d been on her for a minute already. At least she stays still when he mounts like this.

 

@Azerane: it’s an awesome weight loss, congratulations! Not many people manage that! 😄

It’s indeed difficult to maintain weight. I have to do muscle building exercises whenever I can to keep up my metabolism. On some days I can do little more than lay in bed or sit on the sofa, so my calorie use is really low. That means that it’s very difficult to lose weight by cutting calories.

My calorie use is about 1600-1800 per day, tops. My base metabolic rate is about 1300, that’s what you use per day if you’re fully in rest. Your body breaks down muscles very quickly if you cut calories below your BMR.

Your BMR is dependent on some things, but mainly by muscle mass. So my strategy is increasing my BMR by increasing my muscle mass. This way my body uses more calories, even when I’m at rest. It’s my goal to stay under 70 kilos, and I lost 4 kilos last year 🙂

The BMR is the cause of the yoyo effect: people who do crash diets lose muscle, making their BMR lower. When they go back to their usual eating habits they gain weight because their BMR has dropped so much 🙁

[prince dorian the bun]

Azerane, I had a kitty with a lot of allergies, but luckily beef wasn’t one of them. That’s interesting how quickly she showed signs improving when you switched the food. Also congrats on the weight loss! I need to get back into shape myself, for some reason March was a really bad month for me and just now getting back to where I have the energy. Unfortunately I have definitely lost strength & endurance in that time, but need to slowly keep ramping up.

& Ellie your comment: “It’s good that the hobby breeder didn’t keep Owen to breed with him further. He can’t make heads or tails of the whole mounting process, and the ladies would only have ended up with stuffed noses 🙄” had me cracking up!  I had no mounting at all with Dorian and Miu until after they were bonded. I think Dorian had a bit of spring fever, as he would groom her and then 5 minutes in he would just get a little excited and try and mount her. It never lasted long and Miu would spin around and give him a stink eye and he’d just look a little deflated and stop. I don’t think it happened to often either, he’s stopped completely now. Also not sure if it was a dominance thing at all, I think he just worked himself up grooming her 😀

 

[Azerane]

@DanaMN It can be so tricky to pinpoint the cause of issues in regards to diet. I was fortunate that I was already aware of Jasper’s allergies and given that all the bones came from the freezer unlabelled it was a likely point of error.

Thank you for the weight loss support, I’d actually like to be a little more fit in terms of cardio, but I do so much walking at work that it hurts my feet and the thought of extra walking or even cycling is just a no go.

Very much looking forward to the weekend, my feet are very tired 😀

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Bonding is still ongoing, and they still don’t agree on who’s boss. But after each bout of chasing and mounting they come together for a snuggle. The love is there, but they need to work on the details a bit more.

This is one of my new favourite pics of them:

[Bam]

Ellie, they’re so adorable together! They’d better bond, if only for the sake of aesthetics 🥰🐰🐰

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

For the sake of my sanity too… They suddenly had a fight yesterday 😔 Lucky it was very easy to break them up: just a HEY! and a tap on the back stopped them enough so I could separate them.

Before that there was some chasing going on, and I was filming it because I wanted to ask people here: is this still acceptab….? oh SH…!!@ Well, there I had my answer ☹

The strange thing is: they’re so cute towards each other, but it’s mixed with bouts of crazy chases. None of them seems to give up yet, but Molly is definitely the chaser.

[Author]

Messages