I'm such a horrible person

Last night I played dead to the rabbits I laid on the floor near their tray (I often do this) but this time stayed completely still and didn't chat to them like normal.....

Lilly's response: stopped eating hay, stared, ran past my head to nudge my feet (I didn't respond), she jumped on the sofa next to me and stared twitching her nose, jumped down then nudged my head and jumped back into their tray not too bothered :roll:

Harvey's response: stopped eating hay, stared, ran over, nudged my head, ran to my feet, nudged my feet, ran up to the second floor of his hutch, stared at me, ran back down, nudged me, then repeated the up/down/nudge cycle four times before sitting by my head hyperventilating so much I could almost hear squeaking :shock: so I spoke to him and he looked surprised and casually walked over, hopped in the hay and munched happily! :lol:

I did this once before to Harvey and he freaked out then as well.... I'm actually so mean!!

I also put them on the windowsill to show them a new place to climb to, but they both looked terrified so I had to help them down :roll: of course later they both tried multiple times to get back up to this new exciting place, obviously not that scary a place then! :lol: so far they both put their front paws on it, back paws on the back of the sofa, side-by-side watching the traffic, I wish I'd got a picture!

I don't know why they like me when I'm so cruel :lol:

:lol: :lol: :lol: I actually burst out laughing reading that! Who says rabbits aren't protective hehe bad Mummy, you will be getting the cold shoulder today from them :lol: :lol: :lol:

:lol::lol::lol:

Well Lilly doesn't give two hoots about what happened yesterday, Harvey on the other hand is showing his annoyance at me by acting out. He's chewing all the furniture and all his toys, and has had a lovely hump of Lilly :roll: which is very strange, it's usually Lilly that does the humping!

He's also been demanding nose rubs and getting angry when I don't comply :lol:

Awww thats so cute. My house rabbits would be exactly the same. V would be bothered, Meg would be oblivious.

Awww thats adorable

I did this with my bunny and she scratched my feet and jumped ontop of me :lol::lol: and then started biting my clothes and pulling at them

thats a rather strange thing to do , why do you want to cause them distress and how is one of them hyperventilating to the point of squeaking adorable and cute??, them putting them up on a window cill to cause even more stress????they were happy eating their hay and relaxed and you do this ...they are not toys :wave:

cant say i would get enjoyment from this are you a young child?.....or are you just very bored?

jwr said:

thats a rather strange thing to do , why do you want to cause them distress and how is one of them hyperventilating to the point of squeaking adorable and cute??, them putting them up on a window cill to cause even more stress????they were happy eating their hay and relaxed and you do this ...they are not toys :wave:

cant say i would get enjoyment from this are you a young child?.....or are you just very bored?

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Erm well I didn't know that he'd panic badly from me playing dead, last time he just jumped on me and pulled my clothes, my rabbits are extremely well cared for and love me loads, and I love them loads. It was just an idea for a game to play to stimulate them, one if them was fascinated and stimulated, the other one panicked a bit and then got over it straight away and is a happy little boy.

The window sill is perfectly safe for them, it's next to a sofa they regularly climb on but haven't worked out they can access the windowsill from the back. I put them on one at a time, they were a little scared and climbed down, 5 minutes later they were both extremely excitedly exploring the back of the sofa and the windowsill and they're still doing it today! So in my mind that's great, they have a new thing to explore and play on and be excited about !

I regularly play games with the rabbits, these were just two examples that I tried yesterday, one which I was surprised by the results, the other which worked really well and excited them do I just wanted to share because I found it quite sweet that they are happy and inquisitive and that they are so intelligent and also able to show such care for a human!

And before you say it, no I don't play games with them because I think they are toys, I play with them because they are living creatures who enjoy my companionship, mental stimulation, attention and new adventures, they are such happy bunnies and are rarely fearful or scared.

*Funny*Bunny* said:

Erm well I didn't know that he'd panic badly from me playing dead, last time he just jumped on me and pulled my clothes, my rabbits are extremely well cared for and love me loads, and I love them loads. It was just an idea for a game to play to stimulate them, one if them was fascinated and stimulated, the other one panicked a bit and then got over it straight away and is a happy little boy.

The window sill is perfectly safe for them, it's next to a sofa they regularly climb on but haven't worked out they can access the windowsill from the back. I put them on one at a time, they were a little scared and climbed down, 5 minutes later they were both extremely excitedly exploring the back of the sofa and the windowsill and they're still doing it today! So in my mind that's great, they have a new thing to explore and play on and be excited about !

I regularly play games with the rabbits, these were just two examples that I tried yesterday, one which I was surprised by the results, the other which worked really well and excited them do I just wanted to share because I found it quite sweet that they are happy and inquisitive and that they are so intelligent and also able to show such care for a human!

And before you say it, no I don't play games with them because I think they are toys, I play with them because they are living creatures who enjoy my companionship, mental stimulation, attention and new adventures, they are such happy bunnies and are rarely fearful or scared.

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Well in your first post you said you always did this and last time Harvey freaked out???

its not a stimulating game you already know they will panick as you have done it before you clearly enjoy playing silly mind games and enjoy the stress it causes them thats not very nice .....have a word with yourself

jwr said:

Well in your first post you said you always did this and last time Harvey freaked out???

its not a stimulating game you already know they will panick as you have done it before you clearly enjoy playing silly mind games and enjoy the stress it causes them thats not very nice .....have a word with yourself

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He did freak out yes, in the way I just said, he nudged me and pulled at me to get me to get up and play, not in the ahh I'm terrified, more in the erm mummy I'm confused, come play.

Silly mind games? They're intelligent animals who do like mental stimulation, I regularly get a new piece of furniture or object of mine or even a plastic bag and place it in the middle of the room. This makes them really confused, gets them really intrigued and then gets them very excited as they explore, move, climb on and play with the new object. That is in the same way a "mind game" as what I was intending me laying on the floor and ignoring them to be, and I class that as mental and physical stimulation that they get enjoyment out of.

I do not "enjoy the stress", as I said in my first post, when I noticed he was breathing fast and getting stressed I immediately "woke up" so he'd know everything was absolutely fine, which he did, and he was happy to get kisses from me and was instantly chilled out and hopped over into his tray to munch, I did not see him stressed and linger for him to stress further, I saw him confused and doing his excited running back and forth from me, then saw he was actually stressed and then stopped! And I acknowledge that it's sweet that he cares about me to stress when I don't play like usual!

I shall be having no words with myself, I look after my rabbits well, I keep them stimulated with games and toys and kisses and strokes and everything they need and I know I am a good owner. I think you need to be having words with yourself about how it is not right to jump on people to accuse them of mistreating animals after wrongly reading between the lines of one single post!

in your second post you said the next harvey was misbehaving suggesting it had affected him....

i have no doubt you look after your rabbits but i also spend my time making sure they have no stress and certainly not inflicting it on them on purpose to get a response.

i don't need to prove to myself that will be upset if i die!

mental torture is not play.

jwr said:

in your second post you said the next harvey was misbehaving suggesting it had affected him....

i have no doubt you look after your rabbits but i also spend my time making sure they have no stress and certainly not inflicting it on them on purpose to get a response.

i don't need to prove to myself that will be upset if i die!

mental torture is not play.

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I don't really believe it affected him :roll: it was just a joke that he got annoyed with me yesterday and now he's doing naughty things as if he's paying me back, he's not actually doing that :roll: in fact his "naughty behaviour" is just over-excited, playful behaviour, so actually he's just a very happy boy today!

I would not call what I did mental tortue, that's taking it a bit far! I played with them, one of them got a bit scared, I realised and we made up and he hopped off happily! Not exactly torture is it?!?!

*Funny*Bunny* said:

I don't really believe it affected him :roll: it was just a joke that he got annoyed with me yesterday and now he's doing naughty things as if he's paying me back, he's not actually doing that :roll: in fact his "naughty behaviour" is just over-excited, playful behaviour, so actually he's just a very happy boy today!

I would not call what I did mental tortue, that's taking it a bit far! I played with them, one of them got a bit scared, I realised and we made up and he hopped off happily!

Not exactly torture is it?!?!

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rabbits do not do naughty things to pay you back , they live for the moment.

your rabbits sound lovely :thumb:

Jwr, rabbits are intelligent beings who like to play yes... however they are nowhere near intelligent enough to be 'mentally tortured' by their owner lying still. Do some reading about non-primate mammal brains before you make sweeping statements about hurting animals through cruel mind games. :roll: Obviously animals including rabbits can be harmed through lack of stimulation, lack of companionship, limiting natural species behaviour etc. but what you wrote would suggest that sleeping in the same room as a rabbit is evil because they might get distressed and think you've died which obviously isn't the case! The rabbits were probably just getting worked up over the fact they weren't getting attention!

I loved this post! Mainly because of how Foxie reacts whenever I am sunbathing in the garden and having a nap. He will climb all over me, nudge me, chew my clothes. Yesterday he climbed onto my chest and attached himself to my nose :shock: I have a rabbit teeth shaped scar on the very end now!!! :evil: When my auntie first got her dog I stayed at her house and every time I fell asleep he'd panic and start whining and licking at me like he thought I was dead :lol:

I love animals and their quirky little behaviours Wish you had got the photo of them sat on the windowsill :lol: Foxie loves the windowsill! And the back of the sofa and my shoulder! He basically enjoys being King of the Castle :roll:

Jaffacake said:

Jwr, rabbits are intelligent beings who like to play yes... however they are nowhere near intelligent enough to be 'mentally tortured' by their owner lying still. Do some reading about non-primate mammal brains before you make sweeping statements about hurting animals through cruel mind games. :roll: Obviously animals including rabbits can be harmed through lack of stimulation, lack of companionship, limiting natural species behaviour etc. but what you wrote would suggest that sleeping in the same room as a rabbit is evil because they might get distressed and think you've died which obviously isn't the case! The rabbits were probably just getting worked up over the fact they weren't getting attention!

I loved this post! Mainly because of how Foxie reacts whenever I am sunbathing in the garden and having a nap. He will climb all over me, nudge me, chew my clothes. Yesterday he climbed onto my chest and attached himself to my nose :shock: I have a rabbit teeth shaped scar on the very end now!!! :evil: When my auntie first got her dog I stayed at her house and every time I fell asleep he'd panic and start whining and licking at me like he thought I was dead :lol:

I love animals and their quirky little behaviours Wish you had got the photo of them sat on the windowsill :lol: Foxie loves the windowsill! And the back of the sofa and my shoulder! He basically enjoys being King of the Castle :roll:

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the first post said i quote 'before sitting by my head hyperventilating so much I could almost hear squeaking' thats not torturing him into thinking something is wrong.

read the original post properly before you give me advice...

jwr said:

the first post said i quote 'before sitting by my head hyperventilating so much I could almost hear squeaking' thats not torturing him into thinking something is wrong.

read the original post properly before you give me advice...

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Well Foxie grunts and snorts at me when I'm not giving him attention, and Bella 'whimpers' and breathes faster. That doesn't mean either of them are being tortured, it means that's how they communicate...
Obviously the OPs original post was written that way to make the story more embellished. It doesn't mean the rabbits were completely distraught. Would you say me going to sleep and upsetting the puppy was torture? :roll:

Jaffacake said:

Well Foxie grunts and snorts at me when I'm not giving him attention, and Bella 'whimpers' and breathes faster. That doesn't mean either of them are being tortured, it means that's how they communicate...
Obviously the OPs original post was written that way to make the story more embellished. It doesn't mean the rabbits were completely distraught. Would you say me going to sleep and upsetting the puppy was torture? :roll:

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you can twist and turn it all you like, and if the OP over exaggerated then silly her because she made herself look bad.

and if she didn't exaggerate ...well then everything i have said before..

and as for the puppy example that is completely different it was not purposely forced on him to stress him out...rubbish example

and for all of you who think it's funny or do it themselves......its not funny its not adorable its sad to see a vulnerable creature confused and panicked even for a few seconds.

to finish i have no doubt what so ever that the OP loves her rabbits and looks after them incredibly well, on this occasion she made an error of judgement and im sure she will not be playing that game again.

many thanks

and I thought I was weird for playing hide and seek with the dog and binkying with the rabbits :lol: mine couldn't care less if I lay on the floor, I doubt pretending to be dead would make any difference :roll: Dotty sticks her wet nose right in my ear if I do it though :mrgreen:

For the record, rabbits are the best sulkers in the whole animal world, I get punished for giving medication, cleaning anal glands, going on holiday even if I'm the only one who has gone and nothing else has changed and long car trips. I get them turning their backs to me, throwing things at me, stomping their feet and occasionally they bite :roll: none of those are normal day to day things for my two to do and a few days later they're fine.

My goodness, it was a little game with a story to go with it, hardly animal cruelty.

FunnyBunny after reading your post I did the same, very disappointed to report no bunny could care less, after a little sniff they both just looked rather annoyed that I was in the room not offering food :roll::lol:

Janey said:

My goodness, it was a little game with a story to go with it, hardly animal cruelty.

FunnyBunny after reading your post I did the same, very disappointed to report no bunny could care less, after a little sniff they both just looked rather annoyed that I was in the room not offering food :roll::lol:

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:lol::lol::lol::lol:
It's nice to know we're loved! :lol: