"This is my guilty face"

Today I came home to find 4 escaped rabbits who broke out of two different cages. It was The Three Amigos (including guilty Mochi here) and Stitch (our youngest and most talented jailbreaker).

In this picture you can also see Mochi's tattoos, left over from his days on the rabbit show table with his previous owner.

Outside party

We let a record amount of bunnies have a run in the enclosure at one time today. Altogether, they totaled eight.
Here Magnus keeps watch over her precious fortress. She likes to have it all to herself.

The cat-mother is back

Cow, second mother to the bunnies, has returned after leaving the house for a few days. Bandit was very interested to explore her comfy resting mat.

Bottle Cap Hat

"This is my new bed"

Our kitty came home from her spay appointment with the vet. The first thing she wanted to do? Find a place to snooze that also had someone to snuggle nearby.

Goodbye nest box

The babies get comfy in their nest box for the last time. The box will be removed tomorrow and they will have to lay around the way the adult bunnies do-on the floor.

Philosophy in dirt

Hugs loves playing outside more than anything in the world. His philosophy: A dirty bunny is a happy bunny.

Yuck!

Apparently Leroy does not like the flavor of dead leaves.

Video bonus: Bunny Letter Opener

Perhaps you have seen the clip of the Envelope-Opening Rabbit on YouTube. Well, yesterday I was sitting with the babies and I noticed how ready they are to chew anything you give them. So here is a movie in which I am preparing them for the skill of letter opening. Right now it seems that they just gum the thing. Not a mark!

A warm day in winter

There was a 40% chance of snow for today, but it turned out to be sunny and warm. So I took a few bunnies outside to play in the pen. The cats cannot help themselves and they try to join in the fun, even if there is a fence in the way.

Crowding can be a hobby?

The Vanna Bunch have plenty of space, but they always seem to pile upon each other, especially around the water bottle. I think they like it and they do it on purpose.

"Yes, I do want fries with that."

Tumble leans out of her cage as if she had a drive thru order to place.

Bonus video: Bandit steals from sibling

The babies have their first taste of kale, which turns into a "Lady and the Tramp" eating moment, and then Bandit promptly steals the whole thing.

Different color eyes

One of the cool features about Ickus: he has one brown eye




And one blue eye.

The lady who introduced me to him at the rescue facility pointed this out to me first thing. She must have had at least 50 rabbits under her care at one time and she knew them all. I picked up the first rabbit that appealed to me and she told me his name, his age, and his disposition from memory. If you are looking to rescue, I still recommend Wild Rescue in Texas.

Panda Bottom

Bandit also has the nickname Panda Bottom, because of those black feet and tail.

"You're THE Peter Rabbit!?"

Hugs checks out my old Peter Rabbit stuffed animal. I think he is trying to talk him out of that tasty looking stuffed carrot.

Bad habits at 20 days

Our two babies are doing well and are learning fast. They have already figured out how to manipulate mom into providing snacktime throughout the day, whereas she used to feed just twice a day. The little spotty one, whom Dad has named "Bandit", is outgoing and likes to chew on his mother's apple twigs and her timothy block. He has also developed another behavior that I detest: wire biting.

A gift worth binkying for

Yesterday, the bunnies received a huge gift from their Human great grandparents. A giant dog enclosure. We came home to discover it sitting in our front yard. The bunnies are trying it out for the first time and they love it!

Video Bonus: The kits escape!

Vanna's nest box was built for easy access in and out, but I had to build up the entrance because the kits were sneaking out too early. Tonight our little spotty baby surprised me when he made the vertical jump all the way over the extended wall.

Rabbits or moles?

The little babies like their refreshed nest box very much. The moment I set them in there, they went tunneling through all the cotton.
Their eyes opened two days ago and that increased their cute factor by 300%.

Hugs' new favorite thing in the world

After the fun the bunnies had down on the farm today, I took Hugs back to the goat pen because I knew he would love it. Hugs' new hobby is chasing chickens.

First meeting with a goat

Today was nice and warm, so I took a few of the bunnies down to the goat pen and let them meet the animals. The goats like Ickus from a distance, but when he springs out from behind a hay bale and surprises them, they push him over.

The New Nest

Uncle JD and Grandpa Mochi have donated lots of shedding fur to Vanna's new nest. But I got tired of brushing after an hour (and so did the donors). Petsmart had a nesting material in the small animal section. It looks like a big wad of cotton and it filled in the empty spots.

There was even plenty left for Hugs to tear apart for amusement.

The Great Shed-Aid of 2010

It was a sad day in the bunny house. Vanna's great litter of hope and prosperity was reduced by one. We found one cold kit this afternoon when we went to check the nestbox. It was a very sad occasion. We gave time for Vanna to say Goodbye to the little body and then took it away.
After some mourning I decided to make a fresh nest box for the remaining two kits. We have been spending individual slicker brush sessions with the other rabbits for an hour and this is what fur we have collected:




A shallow box of tangled fur and some very fuzzy clothes. We'll collect some more donations tomorrow.

"I'm no handyman!"

One of our smoke alarms started to beep in unwanted intervals. We couldn't even open the thing to access the battery. We threw it to Kiwi to see if she could do any better.

The cat: a second mother

Cow is a good roommate to the bunnies. She is also handy to keep around because she can call us to the bunny room but Vanna can't.

Growing infants

Vanna's little trio is progressing well. They haven't opened their eyes yet but they move around quite well. One of them surprised us yesterday by springing out of the cage while we had the door open for feeding. But in the same instant our mama cat crawled into the tight spot behind the cage and gently carried him back to us. She has been living in the rabbit room for a week now and she has taken on the role of guardian.

"Why can't I use the remote?"

JD doesn't seem to enjoy the all-day marathon of Mythbusters.

Revenge on the cat

Hugs doesn't enjoy the outside exercise pen as much as he used to. The kittens have grown up and taken it over. Here he stalks one of the cats while it is distracted.

First autumn

Kiwi's babies are just as big as she is now. We took one of the clones outside to play in the leaves.

The rabbit invented her own treat-toy!

Vanna stuffed her toy in the food bowl and when I pulled it out, it was full of pellets. Somehow she has managed to eat all the food out of the ball since then.

They grow up so fast

Our new litter of babies is getting so furry! It seems that they were at the 'peach fuzz' stage for one day.

"Decaf?!"

Tumble and Magnus are eating out of an old mug instead of a foodbowl currently. They probably wish there was some nice bunny hot cocoa in it though.

Life of the party

JD went to a get-together with us today and everyone wanted to hold him and give him carrots. He was a very good boy and he made lots of new friends.

Girls night in

Now that we have separated some of Kiwi's litter, there remain just three in the family cage. With fewer kids at home, it seems more peaceful in there.

Finally friends

Magnus and Tumble have been roommates for a few days now, but I wouldn't say they have bonded. It is more like calm toleration.
Maybe Magnus is having withdrawals after being separated from her mother and subsequently replaced by three babies. Take comfort in your new friend, Magnus.

Genes in action

Bandit as an infant

He later grew to look like this.

Vanna's litter contains two standard hotots, with the white body and the black eyeband, just like the parents. However the third kit (Bandit) is completely mismarked for a hotot. One may wonder, "Where do all those spots come from if the parents are all white?"It is because hotots are a unique expression of the English spot pattern and Dutch pattern. When the gene combination is just right, the baby has a bleached body and color is left in the eyebands only.
For this third little kit, you can see he has a Dutch head and English spots on the body. Nonetheless, he is just as welcome to the family.

Standard dwarf hotot

Dutch

English Spot

A litter of three

Vanna just had a litter, right on time at 30 days -- to the HOUR. Once again she birthed them while I was in the shower so I missed most of the action.
One of our cats was in the rabbit room at the time and she wouldn't stop meowing. Turns out she was calling for me, "Come see!"
Vanna is such a good mommy. She has had many litters by now (this is her second litter under our ownership) and she doesn't mind me getting close. In fact we built the nest together. I gathered her scattered fur tufts and used the slicker brush to collect some fur donations from Grandpa Mochi.
It is a magical experience for anyone who can welcome some more into their bunny family. We are proud of you, Vanna.

No babies yet

Vanna has been laying down for about 24 hours now. She started collecting paper for her nest, but she is not pulling fur yet. She keeps stealing bites from the food bowl. These are all clues that the time is coming but still far off for us anticipating grandparents.

New roommate

The Kiwi Clones have reached maturity now and we separated the boy from the girls. Magnus also had to move out of her mom's cage to make room for a new litter. We un-boxed a new pad today and we're seeing if Magnus would like a roommate. They have stayed as far apart as possible all afternoon.

Moving-in day

Vanna's nesting box has been placed. I lined it with some newspaper and returned shortly to find that she did not appreciate that gesture.

The rotund countdown

Vanna is due to have bunny babies on Tuesday. We noticed today when we turned her over that she has developed a little roundness in her belly. We knew she was pregnant much earlier, however, because you can feel developing kits long before you can see a bulging belly.

Still not a cat person

Our cat still wants to snuggle the bunnies, but they have not warmed up to the idea.

"What a deception."

"This cabbage isn't real and there is no food in the bowl."

Supplement time!

When you have a pregnant rabbit, it is recommended that you add some calcium to their diet a few days before kindling. Vanna likes lime-flavored tablets the best out of the four flavors in the bottle.

The next Oolong?

Today I set Vanna's kitty ball toy on her head and discovered that she has a natural talent for balancing it on her head. I think it is her eyebrow ridges that hold onto the ball and she can move about without dropping it. I was a big fan of Oolong, the balancing bunny, so this was a nice treat to see her balancing so well.