Next-Door Neighbor’s New Bun!

[megan_ann]

I posted on here back in 2009 about my rabbit, Kizuna. He’s currently in the care of my friend who I was co-owning him with, so this post does not concern him.

It’s my next-door neighbor. She decided to get a bunny, and she found one on Craigslist that really needed a new home and took it in, and she said I can come over whenever I want and give it lovings!!!! <3

So I thought I would introduce the bunneh on here. My neighbor’s had bunnies before, so she knows how to care for them, and this one is two years old and the old owner claimed she is a Netherland Dwarf but she’s way too big to be a dwarf. She’s kind of fat too (I think the old owner gave her too many treats) but overall still too big to be a dwarf. Maybe half-dwarf though, as she has really small ears.

Anyway, here she is. She’s being quite calm considering she just got rehomed. My neighbor said she’ll let her have a few days to get used to everything and relax. She’s so cute and has such a big dewlap! She’s going to be named Noelle, apparently, because she’s going to keep my neighbor company over Christmas when everyone else goes home for the holidays.

[Beka27]

What a cute bun!

By the size of that dewlap, she’s got to be over a year old. I hope your neighbor is planning on having her spayed. Is she aware of the high risk of uterine cancer in female rabbits?

[Sarita]

She’s adorable.

[Stickerbunny]

She’s a cutie. She looks like a mixed breed, certainly not a nethie.

[megan_ann]

Posted By Beka27 on 11/28/2011 05:41 AM
By the size of that dewlap, she’s got to be over a year old. I hope your neighbor is planning on having her spayed. Is she aware of the high risk of uterine cancer in female rabbits?

Yep, the bun is two. My neighbbor still needs to contact the old owner to see if she is spayed or not, but she already told me that if she is not spayed already, she is not going to get her spayed. I disagree with her decision but it is not my rabbit, so I will let it be. Besides that, she seems to know what she is doing with rabbits, and plans to have her out to run around most of the time, so I’ll just have to hope that the rabbit has already been spayed. Anyway, she certainly is a cutie!

[Pandorachik]

CUTIE <3 Hey, what is a dewlap?? lol!!

[Monkeybun]

A dewlap is that “second chin” that forms under girl’s chin, basically an extra chunk of fat and fur. it’s used for when girl bunnies are making nests, and need to be able to get enough fur to line it.

[Sarita]

I don’t see the logic in not having her spayed if she’s not and your friend seems to know what she’s doing…you can always direct her to the forum and we can help her make a decision and try to convince her to get her spayed if she’s not.

[megan_ann]

Posted By Sarita on 11/29/2011 11:38 AM
I don’t see the logic in not having her spayed if she’s not and your friend seems to know what she’s doing…you can always direct her to the forum and we can help her make a decision and try to convince her to get her spayed if she’s not.

Now that I’m getting more information about her past experiences, I’m starting to understand. She grew up on a farm, and had rabbits on the farm when she was younger. But, it being a farm, they were exclusively outside rabbits that you could just go and pet. This is her first indoor rabbit, and I’ll probably end up helping her some, as she seems to want to treat Noelle a little like a dog or a cat (she’s raised tons of those), which, well, doesn’t work too well. Apparently she’s been getting her to socialize by reaching into her cage and picking her up and petting her lots and turning her on her stomach until she gets used to it. *sweatdrop* I really hope this is an easy-going rabbit. I told her the best thing is to leave the cage door open and let the rabbit come out on its own terms, but she said she’s too impatient for that. Ah well. It seems like a very calm rabbit, at least.

As for spaying, it’s mostly that she’s super frugal. She has money saved up for emergencies, but she doesn’t want to pay for things she considers unncessary. I definitely wouldn’t be able to convince her to get the bun spayed if it cost more than $100, which might be impossible to find here in Honolulu.

[Sarita]

I see your point. I imagine you are right about the costs of spay in Honolulu. Feel free to direct her here anyway if you want :~) It sounds like she can definitely use your help too.

[Bunnehs]

Hey anyways speaking of dewlaps, heres one..

 

Will all bunnies get dewlaps that big?!?! Lol thatd be weird..

[Beka27]

Bunnehs: I edited your post. The link you posted was incredibly long and was causing the post to “widen”, so it was necessary to scroll over to read comments that continued off the page. If you need to post a link and it’s really long, there is a site called “Tiny URL” (and others I’d imagine), where you can copy/paste your really long web address and it will change it into a shortened version. In this case, I just added your pic directly to the post so no one needs to copy/paste it anyways.

Violagirl: I also edited your post, I just made the pics a bit smaller. You can edit the photos by selecting edit, right-clicking on the picture in your post, and then adjusting the width. I set your pics to 600 width, so it makes them easier to look at and they will load a bit faster.

Bunnehs (again): Not all female buns get dewlaps. They start getting larger around 6-8 months, but the hormones cause it to enlarge. If the hormones are not an issue (i.e. the rabbit is spayed around 6-8 months), you may never see the dewlap enlarge. If a rabbit is spayed later in life when the dewlap is already present, it may shrink in size a bit, but it will always be visible. You’ll see a lot of female rabbits on BB (mine included) who don’t have a visible dewlap. This usually means they were spayed (either by the owner or by the rescue) in a timely manner.

[megan_ann]

Update!

Noelle seems to be doing good. The neighbor has two litterboxes for her that she just put around the room, but Noelle is a stubborn bun and is just avoiding them completely. She doesn’t seem to be making messes around the room, but doesn’t seem to want to get IN a litterbox. She really doesn’t eat much though, so I don’t think she’s going to the bathroom much either. She eats a little hay, and will eat carrots but not eagerly. I think her old owner fed her exclusively hay and carrots, not even any pellets, so she’s been iffy about pellets too, and the poor thing is probably sick of carrots. I gave her some Thai basil and she just devoured it, though. I think I’ll give her some more.

Anyway, I came over to help with the litterbox thing:

Mwahaha! I’m not sure how long my neighbor’ll have to keep those in there before Noelle will finally concede. She usually lets her run around the room when she’s home, but if she lets her run around, she’ll just avoid the cage because of the litterboxes. Silly bun. She’ll have to deal with a little confinement till she concedes that litterboxes are an acceptable thing to get in.

[Sarita]

That’s a pretty small cage – way too small. I think litter training would be better in a larger more appropriate cage or pen.

[BinkyBunny]

Well, if she is interested in litter training, you could mention that spaying helps with that department. Maybe that would be enough sway for her.

[FrankieFlash]

I know she’s not your bun, but the cage is too small (for her size!) and for any effective litterbox training. She does need space that isn’t litterbox because without the option to go to a litterbox she won’t learn that it is something she is suppose to go to go potty b/c she’s eating,drink, sleeping, and going to the bathroom in the same place. Does that make sense.

For example, my bun had no open corner in his cage but lots of space in between the corners (he spends his time in cage when I or another family member is not home). But he does have in one corner a hut that he can sleep in (or on ) or hide. In another corner is the litter box. The other corner is a sleeping box (he likes to sleep in small cardboard boxes (but this could also be a box for hiding or chewing) and the last corner was his food dish. After he started using the litterbox corner I was able to re-arrange the cage to allow more playing room.

My Bun won’t pee in a hut, a cardboard box (although that’d be easy to dispose and replace if he did), and he won’t pee on his food (hay is a different story). You could maybe help and suggest a re-arranging. I know potty training is frustrating with having to clean a big cage more if they’re still learning but the end effect is very rewarding.

[Author]

Messages