Newbie: meet Bender and Lily :o)

[jam224]

I wasn’t really sure where was the best place to post an intro, hope this is OK.   I’m new (to the board, not to bunnies, *grin*) and figured that people would want to know a little about our rabbits. :o)

My name is Jennifer and my husband and I rescued 2 rabbits a year and a half ago (rescued = yup, they’re speutered!).  We got Bender (blue Mini Rex) in January of 2006 and we got Lily (broken black Mini Rex) in February of 2006.  They were guessed to be around 2 years old at the time, so now they’re 3.  Here’s the full version of my avatar (taken sometime last month):

I’ve been a very active member of another online rabbit forum for over a year, which is where I’ve learned a great deal about rabbits (plus we have a small library of rabbit care books, lol), but that forum has been pretty quiet for the past couple of months.  Besides, I can’t resist meeting new bunny people! :o)

[cookie627]

hi and welcome!!!!!!!!!!!
really cute buns!!!!!!!!

[BinkyBunny]

Welcome Jam 224! Wow, your bunnies are gorgeous. You can just see that beautiful soft Rex fur! Since you’ve had these gorgeous fuzzy faces in your life what challenges did come across and what did you do so far to solve them?

Anything else that may be still baffling?

Also, tell us what your bunnies’ personalities are like?.

[osprey]

Welcome to BinkyBunny!  it looks like you have two beautiful soft rexes there.  Lots of soft fur to snuggle with.

[MooBunnay]

Hello & Welcome & YAY FOR RESCUE BUNNIES!!!

They are such a nice matching couple They must be soooo soft. Do you know their story of how they ended up needing to be rescued? Did you always intend to get two? I started with one, but it wasn’t too much later that I had a little friend for her. THEN I kept one of my foster boys, and NOW I’m getting a girl for him! Watch out, even those speutered buns start to multiply

[jam224]

Thank you, everyone! :o)  Yes, we fell in love with Bender’s cute looks and soft fur when we saw him at the shelter.  He stole our hearts and we couldn’t leave him there!

Since you’ve had these gorgeous fuzzy faces in your life what challenges did come across and what did you do so far to solve them?
Oh, a bunch!  DH and I feel like they keep us on our toes, but things have been great for a long time now!  Let’s see… we have a litter grate for the litter digger (Bender), no fabric in the cage for the blanket chewer (Lily), modified carpet for the carpet chewer (Miss Lily again), dripless water bottle for the wet chin drinker (Bender), and a homemade urine guard for the overshooting urinator (Bender again).  Yup, it’s been fun trying to stay ahead of these two!

Anything else that may be still baffling?
Hmm, I can’t think of anything at the moment.  Although, I’ve been wondering again lately, how can you tell how old a bunny is without knowing his/her birthdate/origin?  (I wondered this a year and a half ago when we first got the buns, did a little research online, and basically came up with, no, there really isn’t a way to tell how old a rabbit is, you can only guesstimate.)

Also, tell us what your bunnies’ personalities are like?
They’re alike in some ways, different in a lot more ways, lol.  They both *love* attention and will melt on the floor under your pets.  Bender is definitely more mellow and laidback.  I’ve never seen him chin anything, ever.  Sounds don’t really spook him.  Lily is the curious, adventurous one.  She loves to chin everything.  Twice (for good measure, of course!).  Lily is the one who constantly thinks she’s going to be eaten: the sound of the water heater kicking on will get her full attention.

Bender is hesitant to try anything new (food-wise): he’ll sniff at it, look at it, and maybe take it out your hand.  Best bet is to leave it in the food dish and he’ll warm up to it.  Once he’s used to something, he usually ends up loving it.  Lily, however, will eat ANYTHING, lol.  They both love their papaya tabs immensely!  They’re both fans of romaine and parsley.  They both go crazy for a small slice of fresh banana!

Bender has also gotten the flopping thing down, although he doesn’t stay flopped for very long: I don’t think he was the flopping type before we got him.  Lily, however, is the QUEEN of flopping!  It’s extremely entertaining: she gets her whole body into it!  Bender was a bear to pick up when we first adopted him.  He did NOT like it at all: I had to wear gloves to protect myself from his nails.  He’s gotten SO MUCH better about being picked up, it’s amazing to think how far he’s come.  Lily has always been very easy going about being picked up.  Lily is definitely more generous with bunny kisses, but Bender has his moments and I cherish them.

And just because I love to embarrass Miss Lily Marie (she was particularly bad one afternoon and ended up with a middle name before the day was over, lol), here’s a pic of one of her flops!  (Love that white belly!)

That’s her PBF: Post Breakfast Flop! :o)  There’s nothing like a nap after a good meal!

Thanks, BinkyBunny, for all the questions!!

[jam224]

Ooo, more questions! 😀

Do you know their story of how they ended up needing to be rescued?
Not Bender’s, unfortunately.  He was a surrender at the local humane society and I think he was there for a month before we met and adopted him.  I know more about Lily’s story because of our (my hubby’s and mine) involvement with a local rabbit rescue.

Lily was placed on Petfinder (which is how we found both of our bunnies) by a person (let’s call her Sherry) who was moving and had to re-home her (because where she was going, she couldn’t have pets).  I got into contact with Sherry by e-mail and she gave me the impression that she already found someone to adopt her.  So, DH and I went to a local rabbit rescue and looked at their bunnies.  We came home, contemplating who we should adopt, when Sherry contacted me, essentially saying that she didn’t approve of the person who wanted to adopt Lily and that if we were still interested, we could adopt her.

Apparently, Sherry had to move out of state pretty quickly, because we never met her in person.  She dropped Lily off with a rabbit breeder and that’s where we picked her up and brought her home.  We felt great that we were able to rescue her, but we met some really great, very helpful people at the local rabbit rescue, and volunteered to help out a couple of times.

One day, I went online to check out their website and browsed their list of bunnies they adopted out.  Lo and behold, there was a bunny that looked EXACTLY like Lily!  I got into contact with the adoption director and sure enough, they were one in the same!  She went on to tell me that Sherry had been a very active volunteer when the shelter first began and when they found Lily as a baby "running around the streets of Detroit," as it was described to me, Sherry volunteered to foster her.  The "fostering" lasted 2 years.

The adoption director was quite relieved to hear that we had rescued Lily.  Sherry, apparently, had fallen out of grace with the shelter.  She was given money (cash, at the time, that the adoption director has since regretted and has learned from the experience) to have Lily spayed and Sherry never got her her surgery.  Because of that, the adoption director helped us get a discounted shelter rate for her spay (although I tacked on a bit extra as a thank you).

I’ve tried to be cordial to Sherry, even sending her happy Easter photos of Lily last year (we adopted her in February, so it was our first Easter with the buns) because I assumed she wanted to know how Lily was doing.  I haven’t heard from her since. :-/

Did you always intend to get two?
Initially, no.  We adopted Bender because we were interested in getting a pet for companionship.  But shortly thereafter, we realized we had a lot of love for 1 bunny, that we certainly had enough to go around for 2!  I know that rabbits are social creatures and I believe that another rabbit provides a different kind of companionship that a human can’t fulfill.

Oh, I know it!  A case of GGMB!  Gotta’ Get More Buns! 😀

[osprey]

Yay for rescuers!  Wait until you start fostering.  We started out with one bunny, then got him a friend, then fostered two and one never left, so we have a trio of our own buns.  We are now fostering a litter of 5 babies.  Can’t have enough buns!

 

[Gravehearted]

ooo your bunnies are so precious! wow the Sherry tale is quite a story, i’m so glad you were able to rescue her!

[Scarlet_Rose]

They are very beautiful and happy bunnies! How lucky they are to have you!

[BinkyBunny]

I am so glad that they are now with you! And what an adorable picture of the PBF!! CUTE!

[Spacehopper]

..and what crackin’ names!!!

[BinkyBunny]

Spacehopper, you funny UK gal you! So what’s “crackin” mean? I’m guessing funny, like I’m cracking up? I love having people from all over the world here. I learn new slang to use against my husband!

[Spacehopper]

More brilliant, fab, ace, top, fantastic, excellent, lovely .

 

 

[BinkyBunny]

OH!!! (scratching head), I would’ve never guessed that.  So if I look at myself in the mirror and say "I’m crackin!" would that make sense?  It may not be true, but I’d like to say it anyway.   However, if my husband heard me say "crackin" about myself, he’d think I meant something was wrong mentally…like I was saying I’m cracking like an egg.     

[MooBunnay]

Hmm I think its all in the way you say it really – I think if you said “I’m crackin” and then did a rabbit-type shimmy, the meaning would then translate (or perhaps, “I’m cracKIN” with a binky thrown in?)

I think we need to start a Binky Bunny glossary…so far we’ve got PBF (post breakfast flop – good one!) but not to be confused with PB (poopy butt)…and…speuter (spayed and neutered)….I think theres some more…

[Scarlet_Rose]

How about bunny burrito?

[(dig)x(me)x(now)]

Is the name Bender a futurama reference by any chance? If my bun was a girl, it was going to be named Leela…

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