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WW: New Years Resolutions for Your Bunny

Tamsin

Administrator
Staff member
What plans do you have for the next year for your bunny? An accommodation makeover, foraging for greens, more toys, less treats or extra exercise?

Mine is definitely going to be more foraging, and armed with my 'Foraging for Rabbits' book I'm going to be trying out some new plants too so Scamp gets a wider diet. He's already enjoying crunchy willow leaves I dried at the end of last year.
 
It's summer here and my bunnies enclosure is a drought stricken wasteland.
They ring barked a few shrubs and the existing large trees are all competing for water and nutrients.
The grass is all completely gone.
I plan when it cools down a bit to revamp the area to make it more fun for them.
Planning more tunnels and hidey holes, some platforms to jump up onto attached to the fence,
some more Buddhist prayer flags for something bright with good energy, a digging spot with some camo net to shade it.
I've cleaned and restained the seat that I it on up there so thats a start.
But it is surprising how quickly things get a bit shabby & how quickly two buns can decimate what was quite a nice vegetated area!
It used to look lovely & now is very tired.
 
Well Hugh is moving house! His bedroom is going to have to become a nursery so he needs to be relocated. We're looking at getting him (and his eventual new friend when we find him one) a double story 6 foot hutch to put in the dining room (we're downsizing the dining room table which is currently huge and unnecessary for just our little family of soon to be 3). This will have an attached dog playpen to give them some extra indoor space to run around. I'm currently talking the hubby into bunny proofing the lounge so he/they can have supervised time in the evenings on the couch with us while we watch TV but we'll see how that goes.

We are also getting him an outdoor run so in the summer when it's nice they can be relocated to the garden. (also when my mother comes because she will be a nightmare about them being in the dining area, but she lives in the states so that shouldn't be too frequently). I've also got a square foot garden all ready for planting so I can grow some good fresh, calcium free or at least calcium light veg for him (and us!) to have year round. And he needs to start dating this year, but it's only been a few days since he lost his lovebun so we'll wait and see when we're ready to do that.
 
Mine was the complete bunny mansion and bunny number four. Both of which are now complete.
So the next resolution is more foraging.
 
Mmm... right... when the weather is warmer..

1) Spring clean the Buns shed.. currently cleaning small areas at a time and checking for damp, any signs of degrade.
2) Remove all clear weather-paneling from the sides of their run, and rewire it.
3) Remove Perspex panels from the windows in their shed, and replace with wired panels ( already made ).
4) Complete the fencing we have already started..to allow them permanent access to their second run ( on grass ).
5) Try to achieve these tasks with minimum disturbance to the Buns.

6) A lot more foraging this year.. I want to increase their forage on a daily basis throughout the year, and i'm starting to run low on dried supplies now, so need to get twice as much for next winter.
7) Revamp greenhouse for growing herbs / forage throughout the year.

( Tamsin..I want that 'Foraging for Rabbits' book you mentioned! )

7) More interactive,homemade toys

I am SO looking forwards to the warmer weather, longer days, so we can hang out together with alot more opportunity to do 'real bunny things'. :)
 
Poor Toffs needs to lose a bit of weight. Since putting her on a diet last year and Rex pigging all of her food which resulted in nearly losing her :( I have been a bit scared to lower her food amount again.
I've noticed that one of her hocks looks a little sore so she is going to have to lose a little bit of weight to sort that out.
 
Try and figure out what to do with Charley's welfare hutch/run ..! Do I get a playhouse, happy hutch, ryedale hutch.. Or modify the set up in some way that it actually supports itself. I have made myself ill over trying to think of a solution after having basically wasted £200, it would probably be easier if she wasn't so scared still. Which is another resolution, spend time building up Charley's confidence again :) Just need to fix the set up first!
 
1. Finish building the luxury bunny shed
2. Build as big a run as we can fit so they can have 24/7 access from their shed
3. Get them a bigger variety of toys.
3. Forage more

We've had the boys for almost a year now and we never wanted them to be in the hutch/run setup for this long so we're going all out to sort their shed out now! :)
 
2. Handle Bungee and Bo more
3. Spend more time with them and bond

That's a really good one, with Tamsin's handling guide Hugh and I are up to lifting the front paws and back paws off the ground (not at the same time but still). Course we've been set back a bit by him grieving but I'd like to keep working on this this year.
 
Try out a new enrichment idea every week. So far, we've tried:
hay stuffed in a box ( went down a treat!)
put an unusual object in their enclosure (brick - cue lots of chinning)
Hidden greens in the hay rack
 
Finding a way to fit a run on each of the sheds (one holds the quad one the two belgian hares) and ... building an outdoor set up for Mottle and Peaches to move out to when the weather warms up.

The space available for the runs is limited and in the case of the quad's shed there is a huge magnolia tree and a huge camilia just where the run needs to go ...

I want to be more creative with enrichment for them all and give more variety (thank goodness for the foraging book yey).
 
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I want/need to:
Replace my outdoor lighting since it's all dead and it's more difficult to get out there at night now.
Replace a lot of their tunnels and toys
Either get a new shed or sort out the current shed.
Paint the run
Sort of their herb patch
sort the garden out for free ranging again, it all falls apart going in to winter.
clip claws more often! (this is now actually in the diary every month)
 
Tall order - spay and vaccinate Pony, neuter and vaccibate Ted, then bond them! Then 're-do their spring living accommodations outside. Binx and Belle need there run refurbished too :)
 
That's a really good one, with Tamsin's handling guide Hugh and I are up to lifting the front paws and back paws off the ground (not at the same time but still).
Mmm, yes, I should continue the picking up training too!

Replace my outdoor lighting since it's all dead and it's more difficult to get out there at night now.
I should look at mine but the kitchen light was good enough so it'll wait 'til summer (again, just like every year!).
 
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