new bunnie mommy

[punkydolphine]

i am so happy that i rescued my bunnie from some friends of mine that had him cooped up in the cage all the time with only pellets to eat. i dont have a permanant name for him yet, and i have had him for a month or so. i have been thinking Tubthumper, du to the fact that he is always thumping about. i love my bunnie, but i am not sure how old he is, and i dont know of a reliable vet to take him to. i live in Killeen,TX  and it is the smallest town i have known. being new to bunnies, i have a few questions; now i have read quite a bit on here before i joined, and that answered a lot of them. but the ones i still have are….

1) how do you play with a bunnie?

2) how can i tell what kind of bunnie i have? no floppy ears, mostly white with black spotty ears and black “eyeliner”

3)why does he thump so much?

if you all can help me out i would be grateful. and eventually i will get pics up.

thank you.

[bunnytowne]

play cardboard boxes are usually the b est they love to hide  in and chew them put some holes so he can run in and out of it.   toilet paper rolls

thumping   means angry or warning of danger or pay attention to me.  in his case probably danger just have to wait and see on that one and  what kind of bunnie well there are some websites with bunny breeds maybe check one out on the net and make a guess. those black eyeliner buns are cute eh? a cleopatra bun hehee I don’t know waht those kinds are called could be just a dwarf or something with neat coloring.

[Sarita]

Thank you for rescuing that rabbit.

Are you closer to Austin or Waco? I know of a vet in Waco and there is a rabbit rescue in Austin I can recommend to you for vets.

[punkydolphine]

actually, i have already made a cardboard bunny box that he loves, and killeen is about 2 hours away from waco and 4 hours or so from austin, horrable location. its where the army base, ft. hood is.

[kralspace]

Hi punkydolphine,

I live in West, just north of Waco. Dr. Luanne Irving in Waco is pretty good with basic rabbit. She can neuter, clip teeth and take care of routine problems, but spaying or any difficult problem, she doesn’t hesitate recommending me take mine to City Vet in Dallas. Dr. Emerson in Waco is an exotic vet, but is getting on and calls in sick a lot with arthritis (I had all 5 visits scheduled with him cancelled and finally just went to Dallas)

Who do you recommend in Waco Sarita?

Yeah, Ft. Hood is huge, I fostered several cats for soldiers who deployed. It’s something to see a big ol tough guy reunite with his cat after a year and half.

[punkydolphine]

yeah the whole tough army guy melting down after missing his cat is the cutest thing in the world (other than my tubthumper doing constant binkies). thanks for the recommendation. as soon as “daddy” gets home from some training in LA. i might get him to take us to waco for the neutering. tubby needs it. it was great, when i first was offered to take him the friends thought he was a girl, i flipped him pver cause the lady was like”well she is fine, but there is this lump…i dont know what it is.” i promptly told them that she was a he….so obviouse. oh do you happen to have the number for the vet, i can call and see about a penciling in appt. thanks so much!

[Sarita]

Kathy, someone recommended Dr. Emerson in Waco – are you familiar with him? If not, I’ll get more info from Cristy – he’s on our vet list. I’ll find out for you too Punkydolphine.

[kralspace]

NTRS recommended Dr. Emerson to me when I got my first rabbit, and since his office is only one block away from my work I was estatic. However, I kept making appointments just for a checkup and then the spay and each time I showed up with Pringles I was told he was out sick. The staff is very nice and kept Pringles for me each time so I didn’t miss work (I commute almost 30 miles and couldn’t take her back home)

The 5th time this happened I finally asked what was wrong with him and they said since Dr. Emerson was getting older (I’m 55 so I’m trying to phrase this delicately) he had terrible arthritis in his hands, but never knew til he got up each morning if he would be able to work that day. They said they had another excellent surgeon on staff that really knew her bunnies, but had developed such severe allergies to them that she couldn’t even be in the same room with one, much less work on them. So off the record, the office lady said I might want to go ahead and go to Dallas to get Pringles spayed.

Having read for several months about how delicate the spaying is for buns, I’m glad I did go to City Vet in Dallas. Dr. Effie was wonderful, it was only $140 (this included pain meds) compared to the $430 Dr. Emerson was charging and since she does so many rabbits, I was really confident with her.

I took the day off, got Pringles there by 8am, then napped in the car and read until she was ready to leave that afternoon. Both Dr. Effie and her staff spent a lot of time with me, encouraged me to sit in recovery with her and went over the instructions several times. Then she called a few days later to make sure we were doing ok.

Dr. Luanne Irving in Waco runs a 24 hour clinic/boarding/grooming operation in Waco and is very handy for minor things and checkups. They know all their animals by sight and the staff is very nice. She neutered my male rabbit and he did great, she also called personally to check up on him. She does his monthly teeth clipping and only charges me $12, where the other 2 vets who will clip teeth charged me $50 and $55 each time. I’m quite happy with her, and feel confident that she would be quick to consult Dr. Effie or send me on if there is a problem she’s not familiar with.

Texas Animal Medical Center
(254) 753-0901
4900 Steinbeck Bend Dr, Waco, TX 76708

Hope this helps, Kathy

[Sarita]

I agree about Dr. Effie – she’s great – I’ve been using her for a long time now. I do like too that she is affordable as well.

I’ll pass on the info on Dr. Emerson and Dr. Irving to the NTRS board too.

Thanks for the info Kathy!

[wendyzski]

The others have given you great vet info so I’ll stick to your other questions.

Sounds like your bun may be a mix with some English Spot and/ot Hotot in there.  I love Hotots with their little “eyeliner”.  I call then gothbunnies.

Look in the Links section for :The Language of Lagomorphs: – it’s a great site about rabbit body language and can help you figure out what your bun is trying to tell you and maybe help you “talk” back.

Thumping is usually a way to warn other rabbits, and can mean “I heard/smelled something that scared me”.  But I also know indoor rabbits who thump to say “You’re not paying attention to me” or “I’m mad at you”.

My rabbit has an ear infection and I have to give her eardrops twice a day which she HATES!!!  Once I let her go, she runs off and hides and thumps at me.  I think she’s saying “HArrumph!  How DARE you!”

[Sage Cat]

Hi PunkyDolphine,

I am also a first time bunny owner. I have had my 2 for just over a month now – they are great, but there is so much to learn.

My buns thump for all kinds of reasons; mostly it’s I’m anoying them or they want attention.

Sounds like your bunny looks like my Kay. My girl is a Hotot Mix. The “mix” means she is white with gray ears & gray eyeliner instead of black ears & eyeliner.

My buns really like boxes. Kay likes tossing around slinkys and toilet paper rolle filled with hay – makes a huge mess, but very entertaning to watch. Winston can spend all day digging in his hay box – no matter how much it makes him sneeze!

Here is a photo of Kay – pretending to be a Meatloaf with ears!

1328465543971.jpg

[punkydolphine]

thanx everyone for the great advice and names of vets. i really appreciate it. now all i have to do is wait for daddy to get home. oh and a second look at tubthumpers color proved that it is grey, just on the dark side. and the thumping he does i think means “pay attention to me” cause it mostly happens when he is running around and doing all his binkies.it could also be from the carpet that is in the apt. the previouse renters had a dog that ruined the carpet. since i moved in i cleaned it the best i could but it still smells. that is also probably contributing to the territotial marking that tubby is doing. again thanks so much.

[skunklionshow]

I was thinking a hotot mix too!  My bunnies sometimes play w/ the cat’s toys during play time (i.e. the lattic balls and jingle rattles).  I also love the wicker items that binky has, paperbag w/ yummies, and well a rag rug.  The therapy bunnies LOVED their tunnels.  We purchased the cardboard construction tunnels…they were big enough to run threw.  We would also pack them w/ paper for the diggers.  I think one of the big tunnels was only $12.99 and made of thick cardboard.  My bunnies enjoy just having their “hip hop” time.  That’s really their big playtime, just running around, threw the hallway, up/down the stairs.

[punkydolphine]

ok nother question; has anyone witnessed thier bunnie sleeping and making all sorts of grunts, coos, and for lack of better word,”sighs”? tubby does this whenever it seems like he is sleeping. i think it is the cutest, but sometimes it sounds like he is having nightmares.that tends to freak me out, lol.  also, he keeps emitting this oder thats not real bad but i dont like it. i think its his anal scent glands going crazy or something. am i right?? thanks for all the help.

[RabbitPam]

Yes, bunnies can have very active dreams in their sleep – my bunny used to look like he was having a 3 course meal; chewing, rippling tummy. If Tubby is eating good food normally (no teeth problems) and peeing and pooping, he’s probably just dreaming about a girlfriend.

Not an expert on the odor, but my guess is that he’s ready for neutering, and it’s puberty. Rabbits actually can get gas, so make sure his diet is OK.

[Deleted User]

I have a question spawning from all these threads…what exactly does “thumping” mean? I’ve only had my bunny for about 3 weeks, and I’m not sure what this means….i know what binkying is-she has that one down!

[punkydolphine]

thumping is when your bunny litterally thumps its foot on the ground, it does this by double flicking his foot when he jumps….or so it looks like. you will know when he or she thumps it is very pronounced, though it took me a little while o figure out where the noise was coming from lol

[Deleted User]

would it be a good or bad thing if she’s never done this? haha, i honestly don’t think i’ve seen her thump!

[punkydolphine]

i am new to this too, but i think it is a good thing that she hasnt done the thump yet. everyone is telling me that the thump means that they are angry, senseing danger, are annoyed or just want some attention. there is a cool link that helps you understand bunny-talk. in the links section look for The Language of Lagomorphs, you will get good insight and have a great laugh while reading it. i know i cracked up.

 

 

and success!!!!!tubby stopped peeing and pooing on the carpet. he moved it to the cardboard box that i made for a litter pan. i think it took the pee-soaked papertowel and a piece of pee-phone-book in the box and me laying on the floor with him. !!YAY!!!!

[punkydolphine]

WOO HOO!!!!! thanks for all the help in the vet area everyone! i called some vets around here and found one that can do the snipysnip thing to my boy for- you might need a chair- $60. yep that includes knock-out drugs, pain meds, surgery, stitches, everything. YAY!!! and to think i havent had the twirly-pees yet. all i need to do now is wait for daddy to get home and we can drop him off in the morning m-f, i think i might even beable to walk there, but i still have to get directions. gonna mapquest that now.

edit to add….. nope cant walk but the bus does go there so i can take him that way if need be. glad i got the small carrier that my friend had. i know its too small for long distance travel, but i think it would be ok for a bus ride to the vet and back.

is it spoiling my baby if i bring his veggies into the living room to eat? he will eat them anywhere though.

[babybunsmum]

congrats on your litter training success!  and its great you have found a vet too

i think you’re right… bunny is/was probably marking over top of the previous tenant’s dog scent.  maybe now that he has marked around enough he is satisfied that the place is all his.  also, it seems to me that when my bunnies are marking territory with pee or poops, that their scent glands are stronger than normal.  i think if you’re smelling that odor (sorta skunky i think) it’s probably because he’s still marking his area OR it could be that his anal glands need to be cleaned.  have you read through the ‘monthly maintenance’ page on this webite under bunny info?  it shows how to do this.

[punkydolphine]

oh yeah i did do the monthly maitenance thing, he is just a stinky one. 

[babybunsmum]

lol.  so is my baby bun.   woooooph.  very stinky.  hopefully it gets better after the ole’ snip snip.

[MooBunnay]

“twirly pees” hahahahaha – that made me laugh you’re lucky that hasn’t happened yet! Is the vet you called familiar with rabbits? We were just discussing on another forum how sometimes the receptionists at the vet will get confused and tell you to not feed your rabbit before the surgery, but that is wrong – before the surgery you want to make sure your bunny gets lots to eat because that will give him the energy to get through the surgery, and also through his recovery time.

[punkydolphine]

the vets office said that it did exotics and the receptionist didnt tell me anything yet. but i will be sure to feed him lots before he goes in. i just dont have the money to do it till daddy gets hom on friday. so next week will probably be when i get the info for the surgery. i asked them if they were good with rabbits and they said yeah, that it should be only 60 bucks unless there is a problem with something, like a teste didnt drop or something to that effect. will update everyone come monday next week.

[punkydolphine]

ok, daddy is home, but we have to wait till his next paycheck, the 15th, to take tubby to the vet. thats fine, but i am going crazy. i have an issue with tubby pooing and peeing on the floor right here in front of the couch. what can i do to get him to stop. i have cleaned the carpet with ivory soap, i have tried vinegar water, i have even put a litter box over the spot, and he still goes around it. i need some help cause i hate to lock him up in his cage. it’s too small for him to do anything but throw a fit.

[Beka27]

sometimes it’s hard to really get a good handle on training until after surgery. i’d suggest restricitng his space with an xpen if possible until he’s using his box more readily. but like i said you may just need to be patient.

[punkydolphine]

you know i am not entirely sure what an x-pen is, or how much they are. i have even changed where his cage is and he likes it there, right by the door. my only problem is the pooing and speeing, and the fact that i am in a smallish apartment. if i do get him an x-pen its still gonna have to wait till the 15 or so, we are kinda broke

[babybunsmum]

i would try working with him on this one… when he’s out & about try laying down plastic (dollar store shower curtain) covered by a towel or mat or blanket that he can pee on but which can be thrown in the wash after.  in other words… find a way to accomodate his potty habits temporarily so that it doen’t continue to ruin your carpet.  even without the plastic underneath, a towel or banket can be used to soak up any puddles and then tossed into the laundry once he’s back in his cage.  (i use 2’x2′ pieces of fleece i got for cheap from a fabric store.) 

once you have a set-up that’s less stressful to keep clean then you can continue with litter training attempts.  things like if he leaves a puddle next to the litter, soak it up with a paper towel & put it in the litter so he smells it there as well as any poops.  then change the blanket / mat / towel to a fresh one.  i have a dust pan & brush to sweep up poops & dump into the litter ‘as we go’.  also if you’re sitting on the couch & notice your bun is about to pee or has started, you can quickly put them in the litter box.  i’ve heard this helps too.

(sorry if i’m repeating already given advice… i realize now i didn’t read through the earlier posts before i replied)

[punkydolphine]

oh thats ok, thanks for the advice, but i am not that worried about the carpet. its supposed to be replace with hardwood flooring at some point. the maintenance man is backlogged on the apt. complexes he fixes and i am kinda on the bottom of the list. right now i am thinking that we just have to move anyway, there are some things that need to be fixed around here that would take 5 minutes anr he hasnt done it yet. case in point, he has stuff sitting on my porch, that makes me look like i am a junky person, and it has been sitting there for at least 4 months now.the only reason the poo and pee is bothering me is that i end up walking on it. eeeewwww. thats it.

[babybunsmum]

lol.  i can relate to that.  i have peeled off many a pee-soaked sock so as to not leave pee-pee footprints while i go get soemthing to clean up the mess.   my dog usually takes care of the poops before i can step on them.  very gross but rather handy.

[punkydolphine]

lol yeah thats what dogs are great for. the electric-less vacuume. i would like to get a  dog but i would have to move to an actual house first. and i think tubby thinks i am playing a game when i sweep up the poops. he comes over and sniffs the broom, then kinda moves in my way so i end up bumping him with it. then he sits in the dust pan so i have to move him again with the broom. the whole time he is shaking his head making his ears wave back and forth. it so cute.

[RascalnBinks]

Congrats on the new bunny! I just wanted to say that bunny Kay looks exactly like my girl! Cept my girl has some black on her ears. I guess hotot mixes are popular now. I had an english spot before,but the black circles around the eyes are alot bigger,plus they usually have spots/marks down their backs. So im gonna go with just a good ol hotot mix. Definetly not a dwarf though! My girl is 10lbs. Really big dwarf haha. Thats great you found a local vet to take care of him,but please do ask lots of questions before taking him in. They will wanna do a check up first,sometimes blood work. I think that depends on if they are older than like 2 years old. Something like that. For example, ask the vet how many bunnies do you see in a week/month? Do you fast before surgery? (as someone mentioned already,answer is no) If your bunny was a girl you ask Do you give pain meds? But hes a boy so they usually heal faster and without pain. I cant think of anything else right now. But good luck with it and your new bunny. He sounds adorable!

[punkydolphine]

thank you for the pointers. i really was kinda wondering what kind of questions i needed to ask. i will write them down and give them a call. like i said earlier, i do have to wait for a few days.

[ScooterandAnnette]

punkydolphine:  Our Bailey will sometimes make these sounds when he sleeps.  He will even snore.  It sounds like a faint regular wheezing noise.  Your bunny may very well be dreaming about hunting down giant wild carrots, or something. 

[bunnytowne]

the bus ride. here animals aren’t allowed. what I do it cover the carrier with a blankie I have a basket thing on wheels for groceries so I put the carrier in there and cover it. they never asked or noticed cuz buns are quiet

[punkydolphine]

LOL, giant wild carrots. I can believe that, or some fiesty parsley or lettuce . As far as the bus ride, that would be if Jamie (daddy) can’t get us to the vet in the morning. He is Army so he has P.T. in the morning and has to come home to change into his uniform. he has about an hour to do this. Luckily his Seargent is cool and he won’t get into much trouble if he is a couple minutes late. I am going to call the vet today and get more info from them. I think i will also call the bus system and ask them what they think about a short trip for a bun.

[punkydolphine]

up- date; i know i have not been on in a little while, but thats because i have been kicked out of my boyfriends apt. i have good luck in finding places to live though. i am now staying in copperas cove, which is next to killeen. i am staying at a friends apt. it is two bedrooms so its really cool. Tubthumper is doing great, but the whole vet think has been postponed for a bit. but i will get him in as soon as i can.as of now though, tubby has free roam of the kitchen, which i think he likes, but i know he wants into the living room. eventually he will get what he wants.

[Beka27]

oh my. sorry to hear about your turn of bad luck. i hope everything goes well for you.

[punkydolphine]

ok so my bad luck hasnt gotten over with yet. last monday, 4/28 i was in a motercycle crash.i was passenger on the bike and my roommate was driver. we were going a bit too fast for this curve, and hit some gravel. would have been ok if there wasnt a barbed wire fence in the way. well he got a broken arm that needed a plate, and i suffered a broken wrist, smashed hand, broken ribs, and lacerated liver and grade 4 lacerated spleen.  spleen had to be wrapped, and wrist and hand have plates and pins. otherwise i am very sore, and trying to stay drugged.

 

i got an e-mail from someone in temple, sorry i cant remember anything at the moment, but the vet that i have been talking about is across the street from a park on rancier. its eastlake vet clinic  3518 e rancier ave  254-690-4000    good luck, i havent had the chance to get there yet.

[BinkyBunny]

OYE! Punkydolphine. How are you doing today?

[punkydolphine]

i am doing ok, hurting, no pain pills, but ok. at the moment i cant figure out if i am burning up or freezing to death. wrist is very sore and fingers hurt pretty good, they are stiff. ribs are really sore too, but i will live.  just wish i had some pain pills.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

omg that’s terrible!! Thank goodness your OK (relatively speaking)….In Canada, you can get tylenol 2’s over the counter (just ask for them from the pharmacist-no prescription needed) they are less potent then tylenol 3’s but you don’t need a prescrip…so maybe that would help you out a bit??? They still have codein in them and tylenol of corse.

[punkydolphine]

if i could get them they would help. but i am all the way down here in tx. i just have to wait for my roommate/boyfriend to get me from his moms house. then i get vicoden.

otherwise i have a question. is it ok that my bunny is eating bird seed?

[Floppy]

Bunnies should not be eating bird seeds!
They really should only eat whats listed on the diet sheet (greens, pellets…) on one of the new
threads asking about Lilacs, Osprey also provided an awesome link if you want
to check that out. Sorry about your accident! >>>>Healing Vibes<<<<

[Author]

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