My little Grumpy (text heavy and images)

Grumpy is my recently adopted bunny that I got from an old couple just outside of town. My mom and I were listening to the radio and she heard the woman advertising a "floppy eared rabbit" free to a good home. After the puppy eyes were given to my mom she caved and I got the number to call the woman and told her I'd take the bunny. She said she'd give me the cage and all so I said that would be great and we'd be over after we pick up another bag of bedding and some more hay chewies.
We got to the house and it started to snow even more than it already had and the temperature was in the negatives. The woman came around and started questioning me and my mom if we would be good owners or not and I assured her I would take good care and give the bunny a loving home. I explained to her how I clean the cages everday, let them out for play time, and give them plenty of healthy foods and chew toys. They've got everything they need, I even brush their fur gently and play games with them.
she looked at me as if I were crazy. "You must really love rabbits..." she commented.
On the phone she had explained that the bunny was her grandson's and that he didn't want it anymore so she was stuck with it. well she later told me that it was her son's and that they moved and left her with it. I'm not sure which story is true, but that's not an issue anymore.
Her husband brought around the cage with the bunny in it and my heart SANK. A gorgeous lop inside such a tiny cage. She told me that her "son" hadn't cleaned the cage ever, and that they grew tired of it and never played with it anymore. He was stuck inside this rusting wire cage that was so small for almost a year. they kept him outside by chickens so he had bald spots and of course snow inside the cage. his ears had ice on them and sores in many places. he was real skiddish but still a beautiful bunny.
The man brought him over to the car and tried to put him in the trunk! My mom said "No no no!!" and we put him safely in the backseat. she handed me this iced over empty water bottle and a half a bag of food and that was it. He had no water for who know how long.
I took him home and opened his cage in hopes to get him to go to bigger housing accomodations but he was violent and tried to bite and scratch. We eventualy got him out of that small cage and with a little love and some fresh food and water he quickly grew out of the "Grumpy" stage and he is now a loving happy bunny. His bald spots are growing back and the sores are going away, and he's becoming less shy.

:wave: Hi that is a sad story, I am glad he is safe now and in the hands of someone who will do the right things for him, just out of interest how big is his new cage? He is a big bunster so I really wouldn't think of housing him in anything less than 6ft in length. Please please don't make him walk on a wire bottomed cage either it really isn't very nice and can actually be really uncomfortable I would think. I can't see from your picture whether his new cage has wire on the bottom or not but, it should have ply wood as a base. He really needs one end of his enclosure to be ideally covered aswell so he can hide when he wants and obviously plenty of hay and fresh greens will be great for him, his teeth may well be suffering already if he wasn't fed a good diet in terms of hay.

Have a look on housing for some idea's - good luck with him, it will take a lot of patience and time but, I think it will be worth it, he is one lucky bunny by the sounds of it

Well done for picking him up. I'm sure he'll be happier with you.

The cage is the size of a child's swimming pool (we built around that) and it doesn't have a wire bottom to it. He's not too big, but he's let out to roam around the room a lot =]
Still looking into housing options for him and my other bunnies as well.

thanks for replying

aw well done for rescuing him, he looks lovely.

Poor mite.Thank heavens hes safe and happy now....
Bet hes pleased too.What a smasher.xxx