Wednesday, April 25, 2012

The Girls and Me

If you've ever met me in person, you'll know I can't introduce myself properly unless I refer to myself as a Bunny Momma, and a very proud and happy one at that. If you've ever met a Bunny parent, you know we're a little odd when it comes to our 'exotic' rabbits, but we sure have tons of heart, and a bond that only a fellow Bunny parent can understand.

Since I haven't introduced them yet, here are my 'girls'.

This is Maylene, my gender confused, raised from a kit, Rabbit. This photo is from her very first Christmas with us. Tiny little thing huh?


This is her now, a beast at just over 10 pounds, and well over a foot and a half long. She's a mutt of sorts, as we adopted her from a meat rabbit breeder, so we have no idea what her breed is.


She's got some funny little habits, like drinking out of cups, rubbing her chin on everything to mark all of 'her' things, running the Bunny 500 around our bedroom, and slurping on her bottle of water right as we're trying to get to sleep...every...single....night.


But I love this girl...well....maybe I should explain that. She's not really a girl, but rather a boy whom we thought was a girl. By the time we figured it out, she already knew her name, and we were so used to calling her a 'her' that we never really changed it. I don't think she knows any better though.


She's a little over a year and a half old now, in the puberty portion of her expected 10 year lifetime. Does she act up like a normal teenager? You bet. But I still love this crazy black bunny, and all her silly antics. Besides, since we raised her, she has excellent harness and outdoor manners, and tolerates being picked up pretty well. And does she love a good snuggle on the bed with us? You betcha!


 This, is Claudia, our second adopted Bunny. She was saved from an Amish auction, from a man who was bidding on her to eat her. If you know me at all, you know I was NOT going to let that happen. This is her the first night at home with us.


She was timid, and so shy, and refused to come out of her cage at all. We put her in a smaller cage so she could feel more secure, and dang if she's refused to move anything bigger now. But both Rabbits spent a huge amount of time out and about each day, and running around, separately and in different parts of the house, of course.


This is Claudia now, much bigger than her sister, at just under 20 pounds. You may have noticed her mane of sorts, which is from her fathers side. She's a Lionhead, Flemish Giant cross, and one of the most moody girls I have seen in my life. Her coloring is called Agouti, which means each individual hair strand is banded with light and dark sections, and is tipped in black. Striking, you think?


Now, as I mentioned before she is MOODY. Imagine a 20 pound rabbit who's Bipolar, knows she can make you do what she wants, and throws her weight into her attitude fits...yep, that's her. She's the sweeter of the two, and will literally lay next to you for hours if you keep petting her head, and gently nudge you when you stop as a kind reminder that she's still there.But when she gets mad or upset at you, watch out. She will throw her food bowl, shred her phone book, scratch and bite her cage, and purposely empty her water bottle on herself to spite you...somehow.


We got her at a year old, so she's two right now, and a delight when she wants to be. I'm working on getting her harness trained, so she can spend more days outside in the fresh grass and sunshine. She's doing well so far, and has even found one bush that she has proclaimed to be 'hers', and has started building a den under.


Rabbits aren't a pet for everyone, and are much more work and time consuming than people think. But even though they don't conform to normal pet standards, they make wonderful companions once you know how to speak and understand their unique language and behaviors. As stated before, I adopted both my girls, and am a firm believer in adopting and rescuing all my pets, from dogs and cats, to horses, to bunnies and mice and rats. Please, don't buy a rabbit in a pet store, when lonely, older, and more well behaved, bunnies are alone and euthanized by the dozens daily. Save a life, adopt.

Would you be interested about hearing more about my bunnies and their antics from time to time? Let me know!
Love and Lightning Bugs,
Photobucket

12 comments:

Unknown said...

that is cute! give her friends, she'll be more happy
remind me about my hamsters

Shari Lynne @ www.faithfilledfoodformoms.com said...

Oh my toooo cute :) Bunny Momma! Thanks for sharing your cute little girls!!
Blessings!

Danielle S said...

Your rabbits are just too cute! Reminds me of my little Dutch rabbits that I had as a child. They were so cool and fun. Thanks for sharing.
Danielle

Honey + Lime said...

Cuteness! I love that you have them in harnesses. I had a guinea pig when I was younger and it had rabbit like tendencies, so sweet.

Amanda Tempel said...

I totally hear you! I'm a "Rat Mom" :). Your bunnies are adorable by the way!

Unknown said...

I had rats growing up, and I adored them! They're so smart and lovable!

Unknown said...

Thank you! I keep them in a harness for safety, as we have dogs that roam the neighborhood. In a harness, I can snatch them up in no time. I love Guinea Pigs, their sounds are too cute!

Unknown said...

Thank you! I've never had a dutch, but I thought about getting one one day.

Unknown said...

Thank you! I hope to share more in the future,if people want to know more about them.

LOVE MELISSA:) said...

They are too cute!! I love it! My daughter would go crazy:)

Unknown said...

So adorable! :) Love 'em! :)

Kimberly Storms said...

The harness just doesn't look comfy on a big fat bunny. Would a baby gate enclosure work to get them some outside time to play in the grass? They are big so you would fit in it too and they could hop all over you!