Meet Ralphie and I.

[Ralphie]

Hello, I just wanted to introduce myself and my baby boy. We are new to this site and hope to meet a lot of great people with the same interest as well as helping, giving and receiving information. On June 3, 2013 was the day I became Ralphie's mama and he is my first ever bunny. It is so much fun, he has such a great personality. He is an American Fuzzy Lop that was to be estimated between 6 and 7 weeks when I got him at a local Farm and Feed. I instantly fell in love with him and knew he was coming home with me. He lives in my room in his two story hutch but gets to free roam my room all day but put away at night. He's got lots of toys because he is one spoiled boy, his favorites would have to be his stuffed bunny and a big soft ball with a bell inside of it. He's had some adventures – going up north, going to the boyfriend's house, and one time he even got to go to Gander Mountain. Up north I would bring him in a dog kennel but he was always able to roam in the room freely with his kennel door open. At the boyfriend's house that is another story, his family have dogs and little kids under 4 so I discovered a Pack N' Play works great since I felt that the dog kennel was a bit too small to be in when I was present for him to be let out. He loves to play outside and eat the grass (untreated and non toxic), we have a fence around my whole yard though as of yesterday he's getting more brave on where he is in the yard and was out playing in his tunnel and had an unexpected burst of energy. He ran as fast as I have ever seen him run, around my whole yard….not to mention the fact it almost scared me half to death. So I might have to get something to keep him in a area for him to still be outside but not scare me. During the day, the family cats (4) can go in and out of my room due to a baby gate at my door way to play with Ralphie, and his all time best friend is the youngest cat I had found in my boyfriend's woods at 4-5 weeks old, an orange tabby we named Simba. He'll lay up stairs in Ralphie's hutch with him, play hide and go seek, and will lie down next to him whenever he is outside of his hutchsometimes Ralphie will even share some of his water the cats. I make sure he always has water and refill it 2-3 times a day, adding his favorite – icecubes. 

 

Now a little about me, I'm a huge animal love infact I'm going to school to become a Vet Technician. I've grown up with cats all my life, as of now my family has four and when I was younger I had hamsters. I also used to have three bearded dragons but due to my mom doing day care in the house there was to be no reptiles in the house (which I didn't know). So I was forced by the day care licensor to get rid of them (that was a sad day for me). I rescued a baby fawn, bottle fed him and he was precious, I had brought him to a local petting farm and visit him periodically. In November 2012 my life had changed DRAMATICALLY. I had a total of three different surgeries within a sixth month period and a 6-8 week recovery time after each surgery, basically missed my whole senior year. I had Ulcerative Colitis and did  Remicade infusions for some time until it stopped working all together, in the result of that I had all four feet of my colon removed. Enough of me, how about some pictures?

The first day when I got Ralphie on June 3, 2013:

Ralphie's first vacation up north for the week of Fourth of July:

Ralphie and I:

Ralphie playing with his toys and hisi favorite blanket to dig in:

He got lucky this morning to get up on my bed – normally I have a fence around it. He tends to have accidents on my bed. I had read that others have had problems with it too because 1) The bed is comfortable and they want to claim it as theirs. and 2) The bed smells like you and they want their scent on it instead. Anyone else have this issue?:

This was Ralphie this morning when I turned on my bedroom light, he knew it was time to come out:

What he gets to do outside:

[Annabel93]

Welcome!

Ralphie looks so SO cute! Especially as a tiny baby. It sounds like you’re in a similar situation to me, I got my bunnies as babies in July and they’re the first i’ve ever had after growing up with dogs.

It looks like yours is super spoilt too! But yes, I have the same problem with the bunnies peeing/pooping on my bed. They loooove to come up there and I love having them up there, but for the most part I have a fence round my bed too. I’m getting them neutered next week so I’m hoping after that they’ll stop marking on it. Has yours been neutered? Apparently that’s meant to help with the problem.

[Ralphie]

Thank you!  

He almost didn't even look like a bunny when he was a baby, he was just a tiny fluff ball. I wish I would of known how great of an animal bunnies were earlier!  

Oh yes, he is beyond spoiled. Sometimes I think my boyfriend gets jealous on how much attention Ralphie gets and how much I spoil him. I love it! haha.

I agree with you. The bed is beyond more comfortable than the floor and I enjoy him being up there. When he is up on my bed he gets so excited, binkies a ton, digs in the blankets – which is super cute, and he loves to snuggle with me. But I don't want to keep washing my bedding every time he's up there! No, Ralphie is not neutered. I have been thinking about it on and off but it scares me to think about putting him under. I heard that as well as with age they sometimes just grow out of it. I thought I was the only one who was having trouble with this until I actually talked to you about it. 

[Annabel93]

Haha it’s exactly the same with mine. If I walk into my room when my boyfriend’s in there I always end up going to see them and giving them attention before paying him any xD

That’s exactly what mine do, which is why I love having them up there but I also don’t want them ruining my bedding. I don’t know if there’s any problems with not getting him neutered but everyone on this forum always seems to recommend it and they seem to know what they’re talking about!…For me it’s really just because I’d love not to have my bed fenced off without the risk of them peeing on it. But if you’re OK with just keeping him off it then it’s probably fine to wait and see if he grows out of it.

[Ralphie]

They're our babies, boys will never understand.

I will have to look into it more than I have now that you mention it because I agree, it is a great pain to always have a fence up and even if its off and he's out roaming I have to pay CLOSE attention to him and what he's doing if he's on my bed.

[Baxter n Boos Mom]

Welcome to BB. Ralphie is so adorable – and love his fur ball baby pics!

With respect to whether or not you need to get him neutered, it helps with training and maintaining good litter box habits, as well as extends his life. But if his liter bx habits are good- and you never plan on getting another bun – then maybe it’s not necessary.

I have 2 free roam buns – and once they hit puberty, I couldn’t wait to get them fixed, because they were peeing/pooing EVERYWHERE. Drove me nuts….

[Annabel93]

^Did fixing yours completely solve the litter problems?

[Ralphie]

Thank you

That makes since! He has good litter box habits as of now but he is still pretty young. So maybe when he hits puberty that will all change. Appreciate the advice! When is puberty known to take effect?

[Baxter n Boos Mom]

Well – not completely. But there was a HUGE improvement immediately following the procedure. I mean these boys were peeing/spraying/pooing all over their room and the couch in their room, and sometimes in the living room – it was a huge issue. Now I have no mistakes in the living room – a couple pee spots and territorial poo over the linoleum in their room (1/2 the room). I’m trying to work on their litter box habits now – but it’s hard to find the right formula with two rabbits,

For a few days in a row – they were perfect, no pee and only a few coco puffs, and the next day – it’s like they had a temper tantrum and pee/poo all over.

But even with their temper tantrums pee/poo- it’s markedly better than before. I have no regrets with getting them fixed.

[Author]

Messages