Piccies

[Tami]

Hello Everybunny !

Thought I’d share some photos of some of my gang.  We went to a rabbit show in State College, PA last Sunday and there was a vendor there selling all kinds of stuff for rabbits.  We got a bunch of stuff from springy thingies to hold water bottles, to standing boards to keep them from getting sore hocks, to locking crocks, a grass hut, a miniature dustpan and brush, bottle brush and grooming table !

I just love that grooming table !!  It’s a lot less harder on the back because it’s just the right height and the buns don’t even try to jump off because it’s way too high, so they settle down more readily for grooming :o))

Ok, the first one is Mattie.  Remember her ?  We rescued her and had to have her shaved because she was blanket matted and had a major clogged up bum area.

Look how beautiful her coat has come out !  Pics 1, 2 and 3

Holland Lop Rambo posing for the camera.  Pics 4 and 5

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[Tami]

The first 3 pics are of Frosty, our REW English Angora.

The last 2 are of a baby Red English Angora that we rescued from a rabbit show we went to on June 1st.  He was shoved in an extremely small cage with no room to move, no food nor water.  Five of his siblings were there, too, in the same conditions, but we just couldn’t save them all *sniffle*  One of our “bunny friends” told us that sometime after we left to come home, someone bought the rest of them, so I am hoping and praying they went to a good home.

We named this little guy of 10 wks. (he was 9 wks. when we got him), Weasley, after the Weasley’s on the Harry Potter movies, because he has red hair, LOL !  He just looks like a Weasley *giggle*

He was pretty matted and ratty looking, as you can tell from the pic where he’s in the Xpen in the Fun Box, but he brushed out pretty nicely.  I ended up cutting some matts out instead of hurting him trying to brush them out.  I didn’t want him to associate me with being the “bad guy” when we’re still trying to get to know one another ;o)

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[Tami]

This is our Jersey Wooly, Chester, after I just got done grooming him on my new table.  He was pretty shabby looking when he came to us as a retired Grand Champion show bunny, only having his grayish “undercoating”  showing at the time.

This new coat of his has been coming in for the last month and a half and it’s turning out to be just beautiful !

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[Tami]

Our sweet little Holland Lop girl, Isabella, who is also Rambo’s sister :o))

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[Beka27]

they are all gorgeous! it’s great to see you around again. i bet that crew keeps you busy, huh?

i am intrigued by your grooming table. can you take a full picture of it? i might have to replicate it… i like how the top is sort of boxed in.

[Beka27]

oooh! Isabella reminds me of Edson!

[Tami]

Here’s our little Lionhead girl, Snowy.  She was given to us by a friend :o))

Forgot to mention she’s 3 mos. old.

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[Beka27]

wait Tami… how many buns do you guys have now? didn’t you have 4 before… what are you up to… 6?

[Lisa_43]

I have never seen a red English Angora, he is so adorable, I love the colouring.

[Tami]

Posted By Beka27 on 06/07/2008 8:26 PM
they are all gorgeous! it’s great to see you around again. i bet that crew keeps you busy, huh?

i am intrigued by your grooming table. can you take a full picture of it? i might have to replicate it… i like how the top is sort of boxed in.

 

 

Thank you and yes, Beka27, they sure do keep us busy !……but I wouldn’t have it any other way ;o)

I’ll take a picture of the stand tomorrow in the daylight and post it here in this thread.  It is boxed in and has a carpent remnant in it for traction.  The only problem with that is if somebun has an ‘accident’……..how to clean it, because I don’t think it’s removable.  The whole thing collapses for storage, too :o)

At any rate, I’ll get that out tomorrow !

[Tami]

Oh Beka, you don’t wanna know !  LOLOLOL !  We keep getting phone calls from people to take their rabbits and since there are no rabbit shelters/rescues around here, we can’t allow them to go to the “sale barn” where the man known as #80, is just waiting to buy up a bunch of rabbits, no matter what the age, to take them to labs and/or to be used for meat.

I have started to keep a log of time-outs (time out of the cage for exercise and play), cage cleanings, administering of medications/supplements & grooming.  We spend time with each of them every day and just love interacting with them.

We just adore our buns and were discussing this evening just how wonderful it is to be bunny slaves.  Taking these buns in was one of the best things we’ve ever done and if we had it to do over again……..you bet we would !

[kimberleyanddarren]

tami have you ever thought of creating your own kind of rescue? there must be some people in your area who would make good bunny parents and keep them indoors and stuff, you could try adopting out it might be nice, but then again you might just be unable to part with them like me hehe!
they are all gorgeous thanks for the pics really made me smile!

[Beka27]

K&D makes an excellent point. the rescue/sanctuary where i got Max on Friday is out of a woman’s home. she takes the buns in, has them altered and littertrained and socialized, and then she posts ads on petfinder for them. she has 4 buns that are hers, and some others that are too old or who have health problems that won’t get adopted. she is hooked up with a vet that gives her medications for free and alters them at a reduced cost. the adoption fee she charges covers the cost of surgery. she’s not in a hurry to adopt them out… but if it happens, it happens. there is a screening process and application the adopters have to go thru. i think that sometimes you can get too many, and you don’t always realize it’s too many until you’re in the hole, or they get sick and you have 3 or 4 vet bills to deal with. let’s say you had space for ten… once one got adopted, you could rescue another.

[babybunsmum]

tami your buns are all lovely!  obviously so well cared for & loved… how lucky they all are to have found you

[kimberleyanddarren]

yes like beka says the buns obviously need your help if you are having to rescue alot there are probably people in your area who would love to adopt, you could stay in contact with the bunnies once they are gone and then continue to make other buns happy and it would mean you could take in those buns which you had to leave behind and were sad about, just an idea but i know i would love to do it and probably will do when i get the space.

[Tami]

Here are some pics of our grooming table:

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[Beka27]

AND… it folds up?! i love that thing!

[Tami]

Posted By Beka27 on 06/08/2008 6:19 PM
AND… it folds up?! i love that thing!

Yep ! 

[kimberleyanddarren]

wow i want one! grooming two lionheads i find hard work! how the hell do u cope?! lol

[Tami]

I actually look forward to grooming the buns because it helps me “connect” with them, in a way. I’m constantly talking to them while I’m grooming and I’ll stop if they’re getting a little restless and I’ll lean over and pull them close to me and softly tell them what an excellent bun they’re being, how very proud & privileged I am that they have allowed me to be in their life and how much I adore them, all the while petting them gently. It’s almost like a bonding session to me :o))

I was telling my hubby about your suggestions of having our own little rabbit rescue/sanctuary. The first thing he said was, “I would never trust any of these dysfunctional rednecks around here with these precious creatures ! The people around here are just too cruel !”. I have lived here my whole life & I have to say in many ways he’s right (and he’s a transplant from Queens, NY, having lived here for about 12 or 13 yrs. now, compared to my soon-to-be 46 yrs. !).

We’ve been to a rabbit 4H meeting at our local fairgrounds (we were invited by a friend who said the guy-in-charge knows a lot about rabbits and that if we don’t feel like sitting and listening to him, we could always go around and look at the bunnies/rabbits because the kids always bring some with them and even try to sell some while at the meeting). Doug & I went that one time. Every one of those people picked the buns up by the scruff…..and honestly, for some reason……everytime I saw that, I got a pain in my heart and goosebumps all over my body, NO KIDDING ! This is how these people have been conditioned to pick these babies up and it literally breaks my heart to the point it’s hard to hold back tears ! In other words, these precious creatures are nothing but “livestock” to these people !

This area is just not condusive to treating buns as pets even though they “sell” them as pets when they don’t pass the test of being able to “Show”. Since we’re not involved in any type of Ag stuff & my husband works for the local Walmart Distribution Ctr…….among the most gun-toting, camouflage-wearing, hillbillies that you can imagine…….we are labeled “whack-jobs” because we have all our rabbits in the house and share our living space and lives with them. Most of these people around here would rather use them for target practice than take the time to actually see what it’s like to have a sweet innocent bunny teach them how to be a human being & have respect for all living things *sigh* They really have no clue what they’re missing !!

I’ve lived here my whole life, this is my hometown, but I’m so embarrassed of how the people have grown so uncompassionate over the years. There’s more instances of animal cruelty in the paper than ever before and it doesn’t matter how many “Letter to the Editors” one writes about it, it still continues.

Anyway, I’ve ranted on enough. Point being, we take the buns in because they are unwanted, even after exhausting all avenues of advertising to get rid of them……and as soon as we see them and they look at us, we are hooked by the heartstrings and could never let them out of our site or care. We know our limit and even though hubby says “The Inn is Full !”, even he will make room for one more if need be (gotta love this man *wink*).

So, all in all, whoever enters in to this bunny heaven (haven), will stay here until their time comes to cross over the Rainbow Bridge.

We actually prefer being around our buns more than people, LOL ! So we are pretty much always home with them except when we have to go visit my mom & sis, or go to the store for staples (mostly bun related, LMAO ! Everyone at our local Giant Eagle store thinks we’re vegetarians *giggle*). But that’s only like 5 mins. away, so we can always get home quickly to our babies if need be.

I tell ya……when I get up in the morning and come down my steps into the wonderful world of buns & parrots, I feel like we have created our own little heaven on earth for ourselves and you just can’t describe that to anybody. No one can know the bliss unless you’ve experienced it for yourself :o)

[Beka27]

Awwww! i can understand how you feel. it was just a thought. i live in Ohio, and while i’m in the city, just 30 minutes south (or east or west) is farm country… so i understand completely. it’s unfortunate… but hopefully within the next generation, animals will come to be viewed differently.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Your bunnies are very beautiful! I sure couldn’t handle brushing all those long haired buns! I find it enough work brushing my mini-lop who has medium length fur and my plushy little mini-rex.

I don’t mind the grooming, I just hate how my bunnies act like I’m totally torturing them during their grooming. They make me feel so guilty.

[mzmette]

Oh your pictures are so cute. I just love E. Angoras and Holland Lops.  Thanks for sharing your pictures.

[kimberleyanddarren]

dont worry – i enjoy being around my buns and dogs more than i enjoy being around people, mainly because alot of people annoy me nowadays from around here, everyone is so ignorant and so cruel that i just cant be bothered with them, i cant have a conversation with someone who is ranting and raving about this kid making noise or that cat peeing on their lawn and all this stuff, annoys me whereas all i get from my animals is love and attention and nothing but desire to please me and because they act like that it makes it all the more enjoyable to give back to them

[MarkBun]

Posted By tami1962 on 06/09/2008 4:45 AM

We’ve been to a rabbit 4H meeting at our local fairgrounds …

4H teaches animal husbandry – basically the breeding, rearing and caring for livestock.  Not pets.  Otherwise why wouldn’t they be doing the same thing with cats and dogs?  And, as livestock, buns aren’t aquitted the same status as our cats and dogs so there is no ‘gentleness’ to their handling.  So you will see cramped quarters, improper handling as far as we are concerned and so on.

On a side note, the only way maryann feels comfortable being picked up IS by the scruff of the neck.  I always scoop her bottom before I lift her but any fingers under her and she jumps and squirms like crazy.  I have seen professional bunny wranglers drop her because they wouldn’t do as I suggested and scruff her.  I finally convinced Dr. Harvey to do it and now I’m not worry about her taking a header into the tiled floor.

Dono gets scooped though – even if he digs at my chest when I do it.

 

[Tami]

Posted By markusdark on 06/09/2008 12:05 PM

 

4H teaches animal husbandry – basically the breeding, rearing and caring for livestock.  Not pets.  Otherwise why wouldn’t they be doing the same thing with cats and dogs?  And, as livestock, buns aren’t aquitted the same status as our cats and dogs so there is no ‘gentleness’ to their handling.  So you will see cramped quarters, improper handling as far as we are concerned and so on.

On a side note, the only way maryann feels comfortable being picked up IS by the scruff of the neck.  I always scoop her bottom before I lift her but any fingers under her and she jumps and squirms like crazy.  I have seen professional bunny wranglers drop her because they wouldn’t do as I suggested and scruff her.  I finally convinced Dr. Harvey to do it and now I’m not worry about her taking a header into the tiled floor.

Dono gets scooped though – even if he digs at my chest when I do it.

 

Doesn’t that hurt when they’re grabbed by the scruff ?  Maybe tearing muscle, skin or ligaments under their skin ?  Obviously Maryann doesn’t mind it, but I know I’ve seen other buns struggling when being picked up this way and I think, “My gawd, that must hurt the poor thing”.  I guess some animals are more tolerant than others.  Also, I would think the heavier buns would be more difficult to pick up this way and it would hurt them worse than the littler ones *cringe*

I’m so glad you don’t have to pick Dono up that way.  Yep, that digging………doesn’t feel too good but I guess that’s how they display their displeasure   Love those buns :o))

 

[Liza]

I am in LOOOOOVE with your Rambo!!! He looks sooo very similar to my very first rat, my darling Dante. Wow, he is so handsome!!! May I come over and bunnynap him? Oh wow, I’m in love!

Whenever we tell people how many rats we have here, they think we are crazy and they think we are breeders. There are cages in almost every single room of our tiny house. The cages are gigantic ferret cages. I love showing them off because I believe that contributes to the education of people. Once they see that you shouldn’t lock animals away in tiny petstore cages, once they see how happily our animals move around that they come outside of their cages despite all the room they have… I just love doing that. Educating a “redneck” part of town… outch, that can be a lot of work! The small animal rescue I volunteer at is a lady that started just like you. She runs the rescue from her house but she now has so many animals that she can’t do it by herself anymore. She gives up so much of her time for the animals, it is truly wonderful to have such a dedicated and loving person in my life! All our animals are from her place or from the county animal shelter.
As long as you can be fair to each rabbit and you are able to care for them financially and emotionally, I believe you are doing a wonderful thing! All those lovely souls you have rescued… There is a special place in heaven for people like you. You bring them back to life and I am sure they are forever grateful!

[Author]

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