I had a great day, I didnt want to leave! I was there for hours
Alice was lovely, she even picked me up from the station and made me lunch! It was great to be able to talk about rabbits with someone who also loves them, most of my friends think I'm crazy but we talked about everything, and she gave me some great advice.
I met all the bunnies, there were so many but Alice knows them all individually. There are so many different types of bunnies there! I also met Vicki-Vet's rexes who are boarding there, who are beautiful and Alice has some lovely rexes and belgian hares of her own too, I never realised how dainty they are!
We've been emailing each other for a couple of months now, about whether to bond Barney, when and with whom and she's helped me out a lot with my rather complex situation.
When I was there we discussed my options and had a look at all the possiblities, and settled on a short-list of three. A mum (Arabella) and 2 of her baby girls, all brave enough to withstand the long journey home, all litter trained and all having been exposed to pasturella already although not showing signs (I didnt want to infect an uninfected bunny with Barney's snuffles). Although Arabella herself was an absolute delight and I adore her name, we decided that it would be better to choose one of the babies, as Barney would be less likely to see her as a threat and it should be an easier bond. So after much sitting in the run and watching them, I decided on the more independant and confident of the sisters, and here she is, as yet unnamed:
She is a very fluffy girly, although you cant see much of it in the photos, and in good light ranges from brown to grey to black. She is settling in well, although very nervous after her long journey. She was so wary of me and hid or crouched ready every time I walked past. So I thought perhaps the sight of another rabbit might help as she is used to seeing them all day in the rescue, so I brought Barney down and let him run around, with her still in the cage. He wasnt bothered at all, although he did chin a couple of things, and ignored her, even grooming me, but she perked right up and followed his movements in the cage, obviously very interested. So I let him get closer and they sniffed each other through the bars! Although I kept my hands around him so I could pull him away at the smallest sign of danger. Then she started to be very interested in him, so I thought perhaps it would be best to end it there, to avoid getting either one too excited/stressed. Today she has gone from hiding every time I go past, to now lying in her cage with me here (I'm sitting here now) and taking pellets that I'm handfeeding, so it obviously worked and she seems so much more relaxed, even though he was only down here less than 5 minutes.
I'm going to be bonding them, but to reduce stress for Barney (dont want any snuffles flare ups) am going to take it slowly, as the vet was not happy about the stress it would cause. Alice and I have decided on a course of action for this, I will make a thread later today in the bonding section.
So yeah, meet my pretty little princess
Alice was lovely, she even picked me up from the station and made me lunch! It was great to be able to talk about rabbits with someone who also loves them, most of my friends think I'm crazy but we talked about everything, and she gave me some great advice.
I met all the bunnies, there were so many but Alice knows them all individually. There are so many different types of bunnies there! I also met Vicki-Vet's rexes who are boarding there, who are beautiful and Alice has some lovely rexes and belgian hares of her own too, I never realised how dainty they are!
We've been emailing each other for a couple of months now, about whether to bond Barney, when and with whom and she's helped me out a lot with my rather complex situation.
When I was there we discussed my options and had a look at all the possiblities, and settled on a short-list of three. A mum (Arabella) and 2 of her baby girls, all brave enough to withstand the long journey home, all litter trained and all having been exposed to pasturella already although not showing signs (I didnt want to infect an uninfected bunny with Barney's snuffles). Although Arabella herself was an absolute delight and I adore her name, we decided that it would be better to choose one of the babies, as Barney would be less likely to see her as a threat and it should be an easier bond. So after much sitting in the run and watching them, I decided on the more independant and confident of the sisters, and here she is, as yet unnamed:
She is a very fluffy girly, although you cant see much of it in the photos, and in good light ranges from brown to grey to black. She is settling in well, although very nervous after her long journey. She was so wary of me and hid or crouched ready every time I walked past. So I thought perhaps the sight of another rabbit might help as she is used to seeing them all day in the rescue, so I brought Barney down and let him run around, with her still in the cage. He wasnt bothered at all, although he did chin a couple of things, and ignored her, even grooming me, but she perked right up and followed his movements in the cage, obviously very interested. So I let him get closer and they sniffed each other through the bars! Although I kept my hands around him so I could pull him away at the smallest sign of danger. Then she started to be very interested in him, so I thought perhaps it would be best to end it there, to avoid getting either one too excited/stressed. Today she has gone from hiding every time I go past, to now lying in her cage with me here (I'm sitting here now) and taking pellets that I'm handfeeding, so it obviously worked and she seems so much more relaxed, even though he was only down here less than 5 minutes.
I'm going to be bonding them, but to reduce stress for Barney (dont want any snuffles flare ups) am going to take it slowly, as the vet was not happy about the stress it would cause. Alice and I have decided on a course of action for this, I will make a thread later today in the bonding section.
So yeah, meet my pretty little princess
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