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Scarlette and Fiona !!!

For all those that have been following the exploits of these 2 little tykes in the "rabbits in need" section

They have well and truely settled into their new life with me having left Donna of the ARC at the weekend

I knew they were very timid and shy of two-legged company, and knew I had an uphill struggle to win them round

I wanted to have them as house rabbits to give them more exposuree to human company, but in the end found it better to keep them in the garage to settle in following their car journey. The garage is double length so they have more space to exercise unmolested by feline "friends"

Little did I realise how quickly they would adjust.

In the first few days in the garage, as soon as I entered they would hide, either in their cage, or in their favorite place under some wooden boards

If I sat still for 10 mins, they would relax and resume their usual bunny things, racing around the garage in figures of 8, sniffing everything, and standing on their hind legs, but still avoiding contact with me

Yesterday things took a major turn for the better. I brought home some carrots

They now associate the rustling of a plastic bag with carrots !!!!

This morning when I paid them a visit before work,they both rushed me, and were nuzzling me to find their daily carrot ration, quite content to eat out of my hands

A big turn around, I look forward to going home tonight to see how they behave

I wonder how such small creatures pack away so much carrot ?
 
That's brilliant! It sounds like they're really settling in. Are you going to keep them as outside bunnies then, or bring them in the house later?
 
Well, you have made more progress with them in less than one week than I made in the four months they were here! They did come from man owner so maybe that's the secret.
Keep it up!
 
it depends how quickly I can litter train them, I think one of them is ok, but the other is a bit messy

I think they would be happier outside with all that space, the only reason I wanted them inside was so they could get friendlier, but that doesn't look like being a problem, so I'll give them their freedom, I've got too many wires running thru the house anyway...don't want any electro-bunnnies
 
HAHAHAHA something new

fifi doesn't like sharing food, she picks it up in her teeth and runs off with it, being chased by scatty

fifi stops for a second, drops the carrot, takes a bite, picks up, and runs off again before scatty can grab it

but scatty has learnt that jumping on fifi's back scares her enough to drop the carrot, then she can repeat the same tactic

it is so funny watching these two run around for 10 mins at a time like this

scatty also has the tactic of hiding the carrot under her front paws, but fifi, being bigger, just tips her over

this is better than TV !
 
Awww cute :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Im so happy for all 3 of you............buns & bunny dad

Piccies PLEASE :D :D
 
One hop forward, three hops back...

This evening I tried to pick them up for the first time since I let them loose in the garage

Lots of squirming from scatty, but finally managed to get her on my lap. 5 minutes of stroking didn't really calm her down. Although she sat still, she was clearly still anxious, so I quietly put her on the floor. She gave one loud unhappy thump and hopped a few feet away from me. Started preening herself, but eventually relaxed and sprawled out on the floor to watch what was going to unfold next

Now it was fifi's turn. Again lots of squirming, but again I managed to get her onto my lap. But instead of sitting still, she was intent on biting, and grinding her teeth at me, to show her dis-satisfaction. She managed to bite thru my new jacket before I realised what she was upto. Throughout this, I don't think for one second she was scared, she just doesn't like being handled

Finally she stopped chewing me, and when she was still, I gently put her back on the floor, and backed away. It took her a few seconds to realise that I was no longer holding her, and she calmly hopped away to join scatty.

I was a bit disappointed with fifi,. Biting is a naughty habit, esp. as she wasn't frightened. Hopefully she will realise it doesn't help and soon stops it...before I run out of jackets

I'll check on them again tonight to see if they are holding a grudge...but I will come armed with a carrot !
 
That surprises me a lot. We have plenty of biters here, but Fiona wasn't one of them. Do you think it was an aggressive or attention seeking type of bite? Hope she stops, whatever it was.
 
Perhaps Donna the problem is that you need to change the place you buy your carrots from. :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Not understanding bunny-psychology, I don't know what fiona really wanted, I can only assume she was asking for "let me go two-legs"

I don't think she was being aggressive as such, she had the chance to give me a couple of really painful bites on the hand, but she didn't put any pressure behind them, unlike when she was chewing thru my jacket

This morning she was initially warey of me, but both her and scatty soon swent back to their usual games. They have this habit of creeping up behind me, and putting their paws on my leg whilst I am refilling their food bowl, so I Have to be real careful of where they are when I stand up and step back

Hopefully pictures next week, either when I find my own digicam or when the girls from work cover over to see the buns

I could try taking a short movie clip of them playing, and upload it somewhere, if someone knows a good place on the internet that will host movie files, and if there is a demand ?
 
I think there'd be a huge demand to see your lovely bunnies and their antics! Unfortunately I haven't got a clue how you'd go about doing it.
It sounds like they're settling in fine. Squidgy attempts (he's got no front teeth so it's pretty futile! :lol: ) to nip me when I groom him. I think it is just a way of saying, "Ok leave me alone now"
Looking forward to piccies.
 
I think I will let them run around in the garage, they seem quite at home in there, exploring all the nooks and crannies

I am fortunate enough to have a double length garage, as well as driveway parking for 2 cars and a 31ft motorhome (thats another story), so there is no danger of them feeling cramped nor being squished when I park my car

I did try to lure them out into the back lawn yesterday morning, through the side door of the garage, they looked out, but didn't venturing any further, so I think the garage is their favorite place for the time being

They do seem a bit cleaner now as well, as I just did a quite sweep of their pad this evening and they seem to be using their "indoor" cage as the "little-girls" room

But, a question to Donna...do they drink water ? I've had them a week now, and they seem to have drunk very little, certainly less than 500ml of water between them. I have a 500ml bottle in their cage, and only once did I pour away half the water and replenish with fresh. I also put a bowl of fresh water on the floor for them this evening, just incase they didn't like the bottle. Scatty had a couple of quick slurps (most unlady-like), but apart from that, nothing, they don't seem to be thirsty !!! Is this normal ?

I found my camera this evening, so hopefully I will have photographic evidence this week that these two are no longer feral (but not quite tame just yet)
 
Yes, they would drink an average amount of water. Maybe you are giving them more fresh than I did so they don't need as much.
I worry that water bottles don't always work and often give them a quick squeeze to make sure water is coming out.
Be interesting to see if they prefer the bowl.
 
doesn't seem anything wrong with the bottle

waterbowl is relatively untouched too

they just don't seem to be drinking much at all

I'll keep an eye them anyway
 
oh, almost forgot, gave them their daily two-legs familiarisation session tonight, after I put scatty down, she didn't quite hop away as quickly as usual, in fact she came back, and *almost* let me stroke her

fifi is more approachable too, still doesn't like being handled, but happy to run around my legs whilst I am cleaning up after them
 
I wouldn't worry about handling etc, i have had charlie 3 months now, and still he is sooooooooo scared of humans, stroking and picking up!! :)
 
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