 This May 21 boy off Spice and Calypso has moved into his new home. A sweet youngster who captivated the eyes (and hearts) of three young ladies. He left in a cage, lots of excitement and a calm demeanour. :) 
0 Comments
 Driving home today after picking up some needed items a phone call. We've lost our bunny and our youngest is distraught, do you have any?
Four hours later when life permitted, Miss girlie here went to her new home. She's a calm gentle lass who has inherited her momma's intelligence and her dad's calmness. A sweet soft touch who should mature into a doe with a curious nature, a love of head pets on her own terms, and a good spirit. Speck and Band. May 21st youngster.  A Band and Speck kit from May 21st, this little girl is too smart for her own good. First to the cage door to greet me in the morning, and quickest to notice when I'm doing things. She's less bothered by heat then any others in her litter. I'm sure she'll shine in her new home.
 This little fellow's owner had a bunny from me a few years back who recently passed away. After saying good-bye to him, they discovered it was time for a new bunny. He's a May 21 boy from Speck and Band. Update from his people From his owner: "He’s been running around, jumping, and exploring since he got home. We named him (Super) Mario because of his little moustache. He’s definitely a spunky little guy, he was not shy or scared at all. Both him and Harris (the little guy before him) have been such sweet additions to our home. Thank you so much. "  Isn't his name fantastic? I love the name, suits him to a "T"  A lovely family came up today from either Brantford or Brampton, I always mix up the names. They were interested in this lovely girl from Spice.  She was honestly a little young to leave home, but only by four days, and the people were really PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, and she's a great healthy youngster and I used to sell kits younger. :) So off she went.
Born June 3 to Spice and Calypso, I hope they might turn their daughter's heart to showing in youth classes. Time will tell. :)
These two kiddos joined a home from a lady who purchased bunnnies earlier from me this year. Should be interesting to see how the bunnies all turn out wouldn't it be?
These two are off Speck and Band born May 21. So I saw an ad on kijiji about some meat rabbits looking for a new home. Called the guy. Appears the neighbour is making a stink about him having rabbits. Tell me he has 7 rabbits, give me a deal if I take them all. I show up... NINE!!! rabbits. Kept in dark cages, though with plenty of room to move around. He's had them a year with a couple of litters here and so there are two young ones. They all left with me... three pregnant does, three open, two bucks and a young doe. Most are New Zealand, a couple look like they have something else in them. One due next week, one due the week after, and one in three weeks. So those three will have kits while in quarantine. (maybe) One buck and two does went to a young man who has been wanting to get into rabbits and just having a tough time getting any. So he's getting a boost. The rest came home. Below the young buck and doe. I would have liked to keep them separate but I hadn't anticipated these two.  The "i'm due in a week" doe I dropped into Marilyn's old cage. This doe has a WHOLE WHACK of attitude so she won't be staying any longer than necessary. Part of that might be due to the rough handling they received from their previous owner. Moving them out we had rabbits screaming in fear. I wish he had just let me retrieve them so their first introduction to me wouldn't have been one of absolute terror.  Doe due beginning August is my "I don't know what to do with it cage". She has a small injury on her nose, not sure from where. She is actually (other than the nose thing) the prettiest of all the rabbits. Hopefully kits will result.  Doe due in two weeks is in the isolation cage. Hopefully I didn't mess them up but I'm pretty sure I have them straight. The doe that's going off for cat food (most likely) is in a ratty cage he gave me along for transport. She's ugly, has had a failed litter, and doesn't keep herself very clean. She's tucked away under the isolation cage. She's a bit of a wild child, again this might be handling issues. But the other stuff going on, she's not worth keeping. She did dive into the food as soon as I gave her some. I do wonder how much he fed them, there was no feed in any of the cages.  Next Day UpdateSo I ended up culling the buck, he had ear mites, which yes, I know is easily treatable, but he had this odd sound to his lungs as well. Upon death I discovered an odd lung.
The young doe I simply had no room for, and I didn't like having her in the dog kennel. So she joined the young male. She turned out to, at about 2.5 months old, to be about 1 week pregnant. I know accidents happen but she would have simply been too young to have littles. The doe in the small cage has been culled as well. She was a very fearful girl and I was told had two failed litters. Oddly enough, she only had one kidney. The pretty girl has shown the most resilience. She's cleaning up all her food and seems to be more curious about her new living situation than anything else. The grumpy girl continues to be wildly grumpy. I've given her a nestbox and she's doing some nesting behaviours so perhaps we'll get kits from her. She's not eating particularly well and is very frightened. The girlie in the isolation cage is afraid but not bounce around the cage afraid, I think with time she'll come around.
HUGE nest made, so much fur pulled over the last five days that I put some in the extra fur bin. Six kits snuggled in a cozy hole. Watch Me Grow
Nice made nest with just enough hair for comfort and warmth. Seven kits all snuggled in. Small babies. Watch Me GrowThe other day I received this message "Since I got Lyra home, she has had at least one or two sneezing fits a day. She has no discharge and is eating drinking well. Could it be the hay? I’ve never heard a rabbit sneeze quite like that, but it’s not all the time, only once or twice a day like I said. Any ideas or suggestions? Her cage is fairly sparse for litter training so she just has hay, wood pellets for litter in her litter box, a wood hide and a lava block to chew. Plus pellets and water."  My short response to her was "Rabbits sneeze sometimes. If you see no snot, or wet front paws it's probably just a sneeze." I was reassured to hear that she saw no snot, and no wet front paws. A sneeze is sometimes just a sneeze. But what about those times when a sneeze is NOT just a sneeze and is indicative of a bigger problem? Causes of SneezingWhat can cause a rabbit to sneeze? 1. Dust and other irritants 2. Allergies. 3. Illness Dust and other irritantsYou get dust in your nose, you sneeze. Bunnies are no different. Irritants can be things like smoke, perfumes, air fresheners, and various dust particles. Eliminate the irritant, relieve the sneezing. The bedding used, or the chemicals you use to clean, could be irritants as well. I knew a girl who had a lovely bunny who one day started biting her and it was so surprising. After lots of questions we tracked it down to she changed her perfume and it was negatively affecting her bunny. She got rid of the perfume and the bunny reverted to his normal sweet self. Not sneezing...but an example of how something we don't know about can cause a problem with your bunny.  AllergiesPeople will often say "my bunny is allergic to hay." I have a really hard time believing this one. I tend to believe rather that the hay is dusty and the dust from the hay is the issue, not the hay itself. Hay can be dusty and some rabbits are highly susceptible to dust particles. Even if you don't see it, doesn't mean the dust isn't there. But, given the anecdotal evidence I do think that rabbits can have seasonal allergies when there is most dust and pollen in the air, or a dry summer with farmers working their fields. Some rabbits can really struggle with the dust and other irritants that are in the air. I firmly believe that rabbits who really struggle with allergies or a sensitivity to dust particles should NOT be used for breeding. There are so many rabbits out there that don't struggle, why would you perpetuate the health issue? BESIDES a rabbit who is struggling with dust and/or allergies, would be more susceptible to the third reason.... illness. Illness Respiratory infections carry a much greater cause for concern. Frequently they are associated with discharge from the nose and watery eyes. You'll also see dirty front paws from the bunny wiping their noses.
Respiratory illnesses can be very dangerous to bunnies. It can make them so ill they can't eat, drink or breathe properly. They tend to be highly contagious, therefore putting any of your other rabbits at risk. Diseases that cause snot in rabbits generally one of: 1. Bordatella. Treat it! Rabbits usually recover. 2. Pasteurella. This one is hard. Here is Dutch Rabbit's approach. 3. Pneumonia. Often buns die from pneumonia very quickly. It can literally have them on death's door overnight. Less common: 1. Allergies. 2. Tooth issues. Drainage from the eye goes into nasal cavity. 3. Nasal Tumour. 4. Foreign body. Hay, or some particle stuck. 5. Trauma, such as a head attack by a predator. My approach to excess sneezing or snot-laden rabbits can be found in this blog post. Always keep and use your best rabbits. If you just have one, do your best to keep them healthy, but let them go if it's time for them to go. |
AuthorI have been breeding rabbits for a quite a few years. I thoroughly enjoy them as animals and think they make great pets. I also like to take some of them to rabbit shows to see how they measure up to the standards. 
For the BEST rabbit forum I've ever found. Go to Rabbittalk.com. Good for the pet rabbit owner as well as the breeder for meat or show.
Categories
All
Click me to learn more about Rabbits and Guinea pigs
Archives
July 2020
|
RSS Feed
