vibes for little Dave: UPDATE !! 13/12

[thumps_]

He's a tiny little black bunny with one white paw (I think!!). If Webbkath's around she might post up a piccy. When he gets here towards the end of next week I'll certainly be bombarding this site with pics. Foster, foster, foster..though Rog may just win this one!!

When he plucks up all his courage & makes that 1st. contact of trust - forget foster. The reward for love & patience given to these poor animals is unbelievable.

 

[weeble]

He's a tiny little black bunny with one white paw (I think!!). If Webbkath's around she might post up a piccy. When he gets here towards the end of next week I'll certainly be bombarding this site with pics. Foster, foster, foster..though Rog may just win this one!!

ha ha foster indeed we will see. I didnt take any pics when I had him but I have stolen this one from the rspca site

 

[capel]

When he plucks up all his courage & makes that 1st. contact of trust - forget foster. The reward for love & patience given to these poor animals is unbelievable.

Don't I just know it!! We've had 2 fosters just like this that came VERY close to staying, but I managed to be a bit hard-nosed about it, much to Rog's disappointment. I reckon I can do more good in the long run by fostering and finding good homes. HOWEVER..I just don't know..this "feels" different..and I've not even met him yet...:roll::roll:

 

[weeble]

Im sure he will be better now he is neutered but just to warn you it is going to be a LONG foster until he is ready to rehome

 

[capel]

:lol:Hmmmm...yes very long..after all, winter's coming and it's probably against the law to rehome before late Spring Isn't it??? :lol::lol:

 

[Rykat]

Sending lots of calming vibes for him, I'm sure that once he knows he safe he'll start coming out of himself.

It's heartbreaking to wonder WHAT could have caused it.

If you need me to bring him to you when he's ready it's not a problem

 

[bunny babe]

Sending lots of calming vibes for him, I'm sure that once he knows he safe he'll start coming out of himself.

It's heartbreaking to wonder WHAT could have caused it.

If you need me to bring him to you when he's ready it's not a problem

Already offered! He looks so gorgeous, think I may be a bit guilty of encouraging Hilda at our night out in Chester. :lol::lol::lol:

 

[happybun]

calming vibes for little dave! he certainly seems to have a fan club already. glad his day wasn't too awful. sniggle down little dave. start feeling better now.

 

[capel]

BOBBIE & SANDRA: Perhaps you could come together??:lol::lol: Coffee and cakes at the destination...lol

 

[bunny babe]

Now there is an offer I can't refuse.

 

[Rykat]

Ditto!

 

[bunny babe]

:lol::lol::lol: I went to visit the lovely "Dave" - I love his name - yesterday armed with some veg (and biscuits for the staff). He was in his little box behind all the hay. I moved the hay and he started whimpering, he has so pulled at my heart strings. I gave him a little stroke but did not want to stress him so took a picture for Hilda but it was not very good.

 

[capel]

He's here with us at last!

I picked little Dave up yesterday, and brought him here in his little box for security . We put the box into the Nero cage and left him till early evening to let him settle. He didn't move at all for hours! Rog picked him up and sat with him on his knee but he was so scared and kept making little whimpering noises that after a few mins he put him back . Meanwhile, I'd replaced the box with Nia's tray and put the wooden tunnel inside it as I felt it was better that we could get to him easily rather than reach inside the dark box for him. Again, he didn't move at all and the only way we knew he was there was that if we walked past the crate he'd make little whimpering noises. He didn't eat or drink, wee or poo at all during the time we had him (as far as we know, although I put a few pellets in the tunnel as well as hay), and we were quite worried when we went to bed, but we covered his end of the crate with a towel, left some pellets , a tiny bowl of cooked porage(he's very thin) and a bottle of water with a bowl of water underneath it and hoped for the best. When we came down this morning, he'd obviously had quite a party! Somehow he'd managed to pull the towel, which was over the top of the crate, through the bars and drag it into his tunnel. He'd scoffed the porage, scattered the pellets around, and nibbled through the ties holding the bottle ! Best of all, he'd left a huge pile of droppings and a river of wee in the far corner!! Here's a pic of the chaos in the crate this morning..

Here's one of him scrunched up in the little space he likes to call home..I was worried that it was too small so I repositioned the wooden tunnel so that it wasn't taking up room in the box, but he decided then to fit himself into the small space between the box and the cage with his head pressed tight into the corner, so I put the tunnel back in its original position, left the room, and when I got back he was back inside! The crate has a lid on and is covered with a towel at one end to give him peace, but obv I took it all off for the piccies!

 

[weeble]

Nice to know its not just me he is scared of and not just my pen he trashed - good luck with him

 

[bunny babe]

Sounds like he is settling in nicely then. :lol::lol::lol:

 

[giantbunnymummy]

Awww, little Dave in his little tunnel

 

[capel]

he poked his nose out at some point since my last post and took a mini shreddie we'd left near the tunnel

 

[thumps_]

Oh poor wee mite I can't begin to imagine the terrors he's known in the past.

He's not being naughty/trashing the place. It sounds as if he's learned that people mean pain & something very nasty happening to him, so he's desperate to make a secure place to hide.

I've had a cat this bad but not a bunny. It's a lot of patience, understanding his viewpoint, & taking it very slowly. I did allow my cat plenty of space to hide for several months, & only reduced the "hiding" boxes slowly. Step 1 was getting him comfortable living with me in 1 half of the room without me even looking at him. It took a long time, but he far surpassed what I thought was possible & was so affectionate eventually.

I'm just a wee bit concerned that Dave is at risk of sore hock issues if he cramps himself up like that for hours on end.
Massive good wishes. I have every confidence in you & Dave. Please keep us updated.

 

[capel]

We've discovered that he stops whimpering if we just stroke him very gently along his cheek to the base of his ear..any movement further up his ears sets off the whimpering again which makes me wonder if someone's been lifting him by his ears:shock: We had the lid off earlier and he escaped. It took several minutes to catch him as he's like quicksilver when he moves. Anyway, when we put him back he went straight into his tunnel, but astonished us a few minutes later when he dashed back out and periscoped at the side of the cage...it looked as though he was trying to get back out. So at least we know he's got some spirit there. In a few days I'm going to remove the red tray and just leave the wooden tunnel there so that the space he's hiding in gets a bit bigger. We know it's going to take a long time before he begins to feel safe so will be taking it all very quietly and gently. All suggestions are more than welcome!

 

[thumps_]

Oh you've done brilliantly!! Yes, stroking the side of his face is rabbit grooming & comforting behaviour. I don't think you'll need much advice!!

I've always been aware that severely traumatised animals may allow me to do something simply because it is so terrifying for them that they go into "shut down", & are unaware of their surroundings. This did NOT happen to Dave when you stroked his face, because he started to wimper when you touched his ears. [I honestly didn't know that rabbits wimpered from distress]

Yes I tend to agree with your theory about his ears.

I'm not surprised he won't let you stroke him on his back. Anything that was done to him where he was abused, will evoke those memories for a long time, even if it wasn't directly abusive. My bun remembers someone he dislikes & has only seen twice in 4 years!! But he only had 4 "big hang ups" when he came to me. [a doddle in comparison]

I have every confidence in you to help little Dave to overcome his fears with love, respect & gentleness, so he can lead a happy fulfilled life. He couldn't have found a better home.