Family photo!

These are our five kits. It looks like we may have two chinchillas in the bunch. They all look so much like their parents.

They grow so fast

Vanna's baby is growing fast. He is a week old and already strong enough to leap out of your hands if you don't hold him just right. Kiwi's babies are equally spunky despite being a few days younger.

"That's enough vacuuming for the day"

JD stands between Mom and her favorite appliance - The Shark handheld vac. With two nesting moms, we are vacuuming dropped fur every day and I think JD wants a break.

Caught in the act!

During Run Around time, we caught Ickus on the futon watching Hannah Montana when we returned to the room.

Hugs meets his baby

Hugs' litter of two decreased to one a few days ago. Now the survivor is 6 days old and furry all over. Hugs was eager to check out his progeny.

Taking a break from the kids

Kiwi likes to perch atop her nest box. You can see that most of the fur she harvested for the nest came from her front legs. So she is looking a bit sloppy until it all grows back.

Hugs taking off

In his imagination, he is a rocketeer heading for the stratosphere.

"How's everybody doin' in there?"

Vanna is a confident mommy and she doesn't mind me reaching into her nest box. Kiwi, however, has to go inspect the box after I leave. "Okay, head check! One... two..."

"You don't smell like a marshmallow..."

Hugs examines Marshmallow the cat.

1 less bundle of joy

It became apparent after a few days that one of Vanna's kits was not eating. We tried a few different ways to feed him, but he was just too weak, especially when compared to his litter mate. All our efforts failed when he died this morning. We are so sad to lose him. Vanna is down to one kit, but we have hope for him and for Kiwi's four babies as well.

A litter of four!

Kiwi had some big babies today. You can already see their color: they are all agouti like their mom, with the light bellies. We are so proud of our little mommies!

Video Bonus: Kiwi Collects

Kiwi is just one or two days away from having a litter of her own. It will be the first litter for her and for Rumble. So far she shows promise as a mother. She has been hard at work all evening collecting paper shreds for her nest box. Notice how she uses any surface to continue shoving paper in her mouth rather than making two trips to the box.

Coolest cage neighbors ever!

Hugs glances into the nextdoor aquarium. I think he is fascinated by the plecostomus.

A litter of two!

Vanna had two little pink kits this morning. She is doing a good job guarding them from Dad, who can't help but try to sneak a peek in the nest now and then. They are Hugs' babies, but of course he does not get to share the sense of pride that we do over our first litter.

Rumble, you are not sunburnt

No Rumble, you do not need sunscreen. You're supposed to look like that, You're Siamese Sable.

Not quite a nest

We think Vanna is pregnant, but it is hard to tell. Today would be her kindling day. We have been so anxious for even a sign of delivery. Just in case she wanted extra nesting material, I shredded a shopper paper, placed it in a bowl, and gave it to her. About 10 minutes later I found her just like this.

No pictures, please!

Ickus spends some time with our neice.

New cage!

Vanna had a temporary home in one of those cheap $24 cages. There was not enough room for her nest box and also moving space. This morning she moved into her new Wabbitat, which she likes very much. Kiwi has one too, and we have been very pleased with these cages.

Plain priorities

Kiwi stands on her bowl full of pellets to get a bite of romaine. Behind her you can see the gestation calendar. If all goes well, we will have two litters within the month. They will be so special!

Video bonus

When Ickus crawled into a box and we turned it over, he started ducking in and out, while stealing a chew at the same time.

Doesn't need a tux

It's a clip-on, but of course it's not clipped on.

Serious Romaine Time

I posed under Vanna during vegetable time to snap pictures of her funny eating face.

Where's your legs?

Vanna has mastered many forms of the flop. Here she impersonates a caterpillar. She also manages to get her food without removing her booty from flop position.

Rumble Bran

After waiting over a month for Mom and Dad to finish the warehouse-size cereal, Rumby finally gets his own personal cave.

Time to go in?

Hugs has proved to be a bad boy when it comes to socializing with the others. He cannot share floor time so he has to exercise alone. He only gets to run around outside in the mornings, when it's still cool. In this picture, he's already done with the heat and wants to go back inside.

Fur Collection

Since the Three Amigos are in full shed now, Dad has been grooming them for three days in a row. He bagged what he collected from the slicker brush, just in case the girls need some fur donations when they nest later.

Customized nest box

At what point are your friends truly convinced that you are too into rabbits? Maybe when you build a nest box and then paint your bunny's portrait on the side?

Nesting box inspector

We palpated our two girls, Kiwi and Vanna, another time today. This time we felt something inside, so we may just have two litters on the way! Local stores sell one nesting box for $25 each! So mom just went to Lowes and purchased the building materials for two boxes at $18. JD, in the middle of a big sudden shed, is inspecting the project for quality. You can see that even after heavy grooming, he has developed a big ugly fur saddle.

The Huddle Buddies

We started to refer to JD, Ickus, and Mochi as "The Three Amigos". I think the reason is obvious.

Happy Bunniversary!

Blog #100!

Destruction and dirty looks

We suspect Kiwi might have a litter coming. If so, she is on day 11, but we cannot feel anything developing inside. Her attitude has been a little different lately, however. She shredded her cage liner and she sulks in the corner more often.

Video bonus!

Kiwi finally took interest in pinecones and I caught her playing with one (while someone plays with a guitar in the background).

Surprise!

Vanna chomped down some parsley and put on a surprised face for this one moment.

Staying focused

Hugs is on a mission to dig. The kittens are unable to distract him.

Where'd Hugs go?

Vanna takes a break from paper towel roll destruction to glance over at her neighbor, Hugs (who was camera shy and hopped out of frame).

Molting out

Rumble's color is starting to show through all his black. He is going on 5 months now and gets better looking every week. Dad has been spending time with him to cut back on the shyness.