It's not rocket science

hai dere rabbit peoples its pierre. got a kwestion for those of you in the sf bay area. do you know good places to get hay from? we're trying to find a farm type dealie but all we can find is online stuff where de hay is cheap but da shipping is nots.

pet store hay is okay i guess. i like oxbow but mom sez its expensives. i don't unnerstand so i'll just chew on da couch for a while.

here's some pics of me from a while ago!

( cut what i dont get it )

An addendum to the Sweet Meadow Farm post: here's the address of the Sherbon MA zoning board if anyone wants to write a good ol'-fashioned angry letter:

Town of Sherborn Zoning Board
19 Washington St.
Sherborn, Ma 01770

I wonder if it might not be effective to print out and send the tons and tons of comments from the article website and from the Save Sweet Meadow Facebook page.

I'm the sort of person who agonizes over exactly the right words, so I haven't put my two cents in yet. Moe Moe, however, does not have this problem. When we were putting in our hay order last night he wrote this in the "comments/special instructions/gift sentiment" field of the online order form:

O HI SWEET MEDDO FARM

I LUB UR HAY!
PETSTOR HAY IS DRY N BORIN
I IGNOR IT
URS IS SOFT N GUD-SMELLIN
I EETS IT! LOTS OF IT

HERD ABOWT UR ZONIN BORD
DUNNO WUTS A ZONIN BORD BUT I SAY
IGNOR DEM
KEEP GROWIN BEST HAY EVAR

UR FAN,
MOE MOE (LOP BUN)

Got my e-invoice mailed to me this morning, confirming my order, shipping costs, etc. At the top, there was a brief response from Mr. Michaud, who owns the farm:

Moe Moe,

Thanks for your order and thanks for your note.
LOL

Al

My heart is full of warm fuzzies, thinking of this person who does such good things for rabbits and other ani-pals, who is going through a hard time lately -- waking up early in the morning, reading this silly babbling email from a Crazy Rabbit Lady (me), and taking the time to write back. ♥SMF♥

so i'm just chilling on the couch with my laptop, feeling crappy, and i get a scare! Princess Pumkin almost jumped out of her cage, but the weird thing is she jumped up onto the bars! and hung there like a monkey climbing a chain-link fence until my gasp scared her and she jumped down. But i swear, she'd have climbed out of her cage if i hadn't startled her! i didn't know bunnies could do that! have any of your bunnies done that?

sufficient time has passed that i'm not rewarding the climbing, i think, so i'm gonna take the hint and let her out, but holy smokes!

It's time to order more hay, so Moe Moe and I thought we'd put in a plug for Sweet Meadow Farm, which (as many of you know) is seriously embattled. The idea of this farm getting shut down because the neighbors feels it's too noisy and dusty just absolutely enrages me, as does the neighbor's opinion that because pets eat this food instead of people, it isn't "real" agriculture. Many of us know how mediocre most petstore hay is, and how detrimental this is to the health of our longeared friends. When I was feeding pet store hay, Moe Moe would only nibble halfheartedly at it. Now that I feed Sweet Meadow hay, he dives in, strews it everywhere, and gobbles it up! The difference in quality is obvious. I'm constantly having to top up the hayrack. This farm keeps Moe Moe's little guts going, which, since our brush with stasis a while back, is of utmost importance to me. If you go to the Save Sweet Meadow Facebook page, you'll see a million other testimonials like this one.

Bunlovers, is there something we can do?

about a year ago i was diagnosed with asthma.... guess what's my trigger? rabbits.

i was wondering if anyone has experience in this department... can't say i ever expected to become allergic to my rabbits of 4+years, although i wouldn't be surprised is my messy behaviors encouraged it *sigh* bean lives in my bedroom, and i'm not always on top of keeping things clean (ie: hay everywhere). i am on meds, and when i remember to take them things are good 0:-) parents have said for a while that they want to buy me a small HEPA filter for my room. unfortunately there is no other good place to keep bean in my house until i move... my room has taken years to be bunny-proofed, i'd hate to think all that head ache went to waste!

so, rabbit allergy sufferers and owners, how do you manage to survive with your buns, despite the itches, sneezing and wheezing? i have to clean her cage wearing a face mask, and i try to remember to wash my hands after playing with her. any other tips?

and so, here's the culprit!!!!

she's lucky i love her ;3

cross-posted.

The only time I wish my big ol' flemish giant were a little bitty dwarf is when it's time to trim his nails. It takes two people to do the job and the "bunny wrangler" has to wear leather work gloves to keep Bugsy from drawing blood. We cut his nails yesterday and he actually bit through the towel he was wrapped in and locked down on my gloved hand so hard that he left a huge swollen welt on my palm. Luckily, when we were finished I gave him a papaya tablet and all was forgiven. He's such a loon!

Anyone else have a sweet bunny that turns into a serial killer when grooming time arrives?

**Edited for blatant homophone error**

Cross posted from my personal LJ, with a few edits....

We have a Netherland Dwarf called Earl Grey. We also have a bonded pair named Usagi (female) and Coney (male). Earl can tolerate Coney but Earl and Usagi fight viciously. We've tried over the past six months to get them used to each other, with some glacial progress, but we have finally hit a wall.

There is a rabbit shelter in Maryland called Bunny Magic that has too many rabbits they need to find good homes for, and in fact that's how we met Earl, Coney, and Usagi. So we called them up and asked if they could help Earl find a friend. He's a challenge; while he loves being held by humans, he seems to have a bad attitude towards other rabbits. But he also seems a little lonely. This afternoon we met up with Bunny Magic at a Petco in Annapolis. They brought several rabbits that we pre-screened according to their photos and some info about their size. Earl is only 2 lbs so we were looking for a rabbit no bigger than 5 lbs.

He had encounters with five females. Of the five, two he could tolerate and the others he picked fights with. Basically the strategy was to slide them together side by side and pet them both, and see how long they could last. Fortunately our favorite one (Tinkerbell, a "hotot" who looks like she's got heavy goth eyeliner) was the one he clicked with the most. Not to say that there wasn't some nipping but she seemed to be quite firm with him that it wasn't cool. She's so pretty and she's soft like Usagi. She seemed to like being held and pet by us, so she clicked with us too. Another one, Brownie, clung to me desperately, so I was sad that it didn't work out. They didn't fight but when he nipped her she was too timid in her response.

( the dating game - four photos )

Another couple was there in search of a companion. Their Dutch rabbit was one of nine bunnies that the Maryland House Rabbit Society rescued from Louisiana after Katrina. He became part of a bonded pair but then she passed away. They had more luck with the candidates and by the time we left they had found at least three potential mates for him.

So we managed to put Tinkerbell and Earl into the same carrier (though T was a bit annoyed at first but I managed to convince her to put up with his invasion) and then trundled on to Bowie, where he was enrolled in Bonding Boot Camp. A volunteer named Elaine keeps foster rabbits and also helps with bonding so that there can be adoptions. She was concerned about the nipping but we reassured her that Earl was being much friendlier than usual. He was cheek to cheek with Tinkerbell! He seems sort of smitten with her but she seemed to be still deciding. The photo below is kind of dark because in her living room there was not much overhead light and of course I didn't want to use the flash.





We had dinner and then headed home, feeling so sad that we had to leave Earl there for an indefinite period. In fact I think Usagi and Coney are a bit concerned that he didn't return with us. We might pick them up at the end of the weekend, or in a week or two, or it might fall through and we have to go pick up Earl by himself. But they are such a darn cute couple. I told Earl, he has to behave himself and not screw it up!

Everyone please send us good bunny matchmaking mojo please!! If we bring the two of them home together they will still be on probation. We'll keep the bonded pairs in 2 separate cages and 2 separate pens (though side by side, due to our room layout). We're going to rename her Jasmine.

Today is Kahlua's first day with a litter pan. The boy and I went out and picked one up with some bunny litter, and hooked it all up to his cage, also while rearranging the cage to make it look better. =] 
Any helpful tips I might need to know?


Oh and get got a new plushy bed =]  

One of my rabbits is over 12 years old. She had some eye infection that's just cleared up.

But for a couple weeks there are times where I'll go check on her and she's on her side, and she'll try to get up but she just kind of flails her legs. I have to right her up and then she's fine, she'll immediately go eat or drink some water depending on how long she's been like that. I took her to her regular vet (who is NOT an exotics specialist) who couldn't do anything about it, threw the word "cancer" around several times and sent me on my way. She did mention seizures and ear infection(s) but dismissed them quickly and often.

Snow White tilts her head quite a bit when just standing, by the way. I can't get the idea of ear infection out of the way because I know those can mess up one's equilibrium, but why can't she get back up on her own? Help, all the nearest exotics specialists' offices has been closed since like Wednesday!

( A new pic of her just 'cause.. )

I have traveled with my bun and forgot his hay.
Since it is new years eve, things will be closed tonight and then tomorrow.
Will this be bad for him?
Is there anything I can give him in place of hay?

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Hi everyone,
I just made a new discovery. Miss Mary Bunny had a gassy tummy this morning. Now the place where i buy my critical care has a kit you can buy for gassy tummies/stasis. One of the things in the kit is a vibrator for the buns tummy. So i took my back massage thing/pad whatever and place a towel on it and laid Mary on it. I turned it on law and It worked like a charm. Mary wasn't that thrilled about it at first and so i was rubbing her head and back, but no sooner than laying on it for about 10 minutes did i get some "odors" coming from her butt area. She ate a piece of papaya at the end of her session and then took a short nap. When i went to check on her 1-2 hours later she was eating happily out of her food dish.

I'm not sure if this is a new discovery or not, but it worked pretty well. ^w^

xposted at rabbitowners

these two hope that all bunnies get extra fuds in 2010.

We gave bunny a bow tie to wear with his Tux. He's really fancy for new years! He's so excited.

( Sir Fancy Rabbit. )

Hi everyone, I have a three month old bunny that is eating well, pooping well (although a bit small in fecal pellet size) but as recent as the last two days, have developed a wet chin. Checked his teeth and they are fine... no apparent signs of malocclusion. I'm stumped.

Anyone's buns had a case of wet chin that went away on its own? Planning to take him to the vet as well but I thought I might throw this out here for some opinions.

I managed to find a feed store in my city here that sells cheaper than the big chain stores. They had a 50 lb bag of alfalfa-based pellets for $15 (which is how much I generally spend on the 5 lb bag of timothy pellets). But as is drilled into rabbit owner heads, alfalfa is more fattening and therefore not as good for adult buns as timothy hay is. This particular pellet is about 16% protein (supplemented by soy products and healthy minerals/vitamins, or so the employee told me).

A) My buns are only a little over six months old right now- are they still okay to be on alfalfa products?

B) If I were to scale back on how *much* they get of the pellets and give them more timothy hay and greens instead (as well as cut down on fruit treats), would it be fine to keep them on the alfalfa pellets long term?

I also found a furbuster at the same store for $30, so I may pick that up unless it's significantly cheaper online. :) Unfortunately no good unprocessed hay and no good toys, so that search continues.

makes my white bunnies look yellow!

I took the rabbits out in the snow. Bruiser loved it and was quickly digging in the snow to find the grass underneath.


( Pictures )

I took in a new bunny about a month ago from some friends that got tired of her. I took her to the vet for an initial check the day after i got her and she was given the ok then. She's been fully seperated from my other three buns from day one and I was about to pull her out of QT 2 days ago for introductions when she had a sneezing fit and had a very runny nose. Needless to say i got her to the vet first thing today and she was diagnosed with snuffles. She's on a 3 week course of antibiotics and my boyfriend and I are hoping for the best.

Internet research on the subject is horrifying. I'm sitting here in tears hoping I don't lose my bunny. Please reassure me with your happy snuffles stories...but also real deal "bad" information...I want to be armed with knowledge from real rabbit owners as opposed to the constant doom and gloom of google.

And don't worry about my other 3 rabbits. I've followed strict quarrantine procedures with hand washing and clothes changing between contact. Sylar (the snuffles bun) is upstairs from the rest of the herd and as an added bonus, they're on two seperate ventilation systems because of this.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

it's beginning to look like a bun-nay christmas!
Sorry, I'm lazy at uploading photos
ps, huge photo dump :]
now with subtitles!


Icky: Wut? wut do u whant? and were 're me presaaaants?
( . )