Home Made Bunny Toy

Bunnies love to play, and if you can keep them occupied with some great toys they really love it.  One great idea is to recycle what you already have, and I discovered that my bunnies love to play with a salt box.  Here's what I did.

I took a salt box like this and removed the metal spout carefully.  You don't want to leave this on; bunnies could get hurt.  Then, I made sure that every grain of remaining salt was poured out.  Salt is not good for bunnies.

Then I stuffed a few of myt rabbits' favorite treats inside.  A friend bought me these and they love them.  They only get them once in a while.

I placed the salt box toy inside of the box where the bunnies like to hang out during the day.  Almost immediately my Rosalie pushed it out with her nose and started rolling it around to try to get the treats out.  It was fun watching her!  Humphrey wanted no parts of it yet.

Here is a picture of Rosalie while she's shedding.  She won't let me brush her while she's trying to explore and do bunny things.  She makes me wait until she is tired.  When she looks like this I call her "Rosie Rufflebutt."

Bunny Thief!

I don't know which one did it, but somebunny stole the socks I left on the floor and hid them inside the bunny hideaway box.  Here are the two suspects in their Romeo & Juliette moment:

You can see the hideaway box on the lower right.  Yeah.  My socks are in there.  Bunnies are funny.

Two-Ended Bunny!

Doesn't it look like one rabbit with two heads on opposite ends?  Bunnies are funny.  And they are also easy to please--just give them something yummy to destroy.  This edible Oxbow Bungalow is definitely a favorite.  

Now, my buns love it for different reasons.  The dwarf, Humphrey, loves it to hide in and hang out.  Rosalie (the big white one) on the other hand got mad because she couldn't fit inside of it, so she decided to destroy it.  Over the course of several days, layer by layer, she chewed it apart.  Poor Humphrey could be seen still inside looking perplexed as to why she would do this to his new home.  

Anyone who shares their home with a bunny knows how they are endless sources of laughter.  They have such personality.  Rosalie is incredibly demanding of Humphrey's affection.  She will beeline across the room at warp speed toward him and stuff her face under his chin to demand "Groom me!"  Sometimes he will.  Sometimes he won't.  If he won't she gets offended and gives him a little nip.  Sometimes he will just let her lay under his chin like this:

Our Growing Family:-)

Monday, January 17, 2011

 

 

We took a day trip to meet some needy bunnies in hopes of finding Miss Rosalie a companion. It was like buny speed-dating LOL.

We went to meet a Flemish Giant mix, but it didn't work out. The rescue network we were working with helped us try about 17-20 buns to see if they were compatible, but Rosalie wasn't having any of that. She hated them all! Well, except for the tiniest bun of all--a Himalayan dwarf rabbit. We went to see the largest bunny and ended up rescuing the littlest one. It was love at first sight for them both. They snuggled up together and looked quite content. He really relaxed her, which was nice because the trip was long and stressful for Rosalie with all of her anxieties. He calmed her and they looked so cute together. How could I say no? She found a sweet little friend who is all white with grey/black ears, nose, and tail. He also has pink eyes.

We're looking forward to bonding them and welcoming this little guy named Humphrey into the family. He was rescued in the cruelty confiscation in Fairfax county. A horrible breeder moved and left about 40 bunnies for dead out in the extreme heat without food or water for a week. I wish people would stop breeding all animals while so many are in need of loving homes. Why create more of a problem? The problem will never go away as long as people are paying breeders/pet stores for what could be rescued. There are some truly awful people in the world, but all is good for Humphrey now. His mother and brother also got adopted yesterday.

Meet Rosalie

From 11/9/10

 

This is Rosalie. Jeff & I adopted her last Thursday from Luna's House. After losing our beloved Piggy (guinea pig) the house felt very lonely so we opened our hearts to this gorgeous purple-eyed gal. Since we are planning to rescue a lot of animals we want to specialize in animals with special needs and Rosalie has a lot of anxiety and needs to be socialized. I've worked with abused bunnies before, so I hope that she will learn that we love her and won't hurt her the way someone in her past did.

She was found as a stray and spent a long time at the humane society. I guess when her time was up there Luna's House rescued her and she stayed with a foster family for five months after that. They told me that she used to cry when people reached into her cage. That just breaks my heart:-( She's been spayed (all people should spay and neuter their pets!). I heard that she had a little lipo done with the spay as she used to be overweight.

She was adopted with Kayla her stuffed "security" bunny that she snuggles with and grooms all day. I think I got too close to Kayla when tidying the litter pan and Rosalie attacked my arm. She drew blood, but it surprised me more than anything. I only clean her cage when she is having her hop time around the house. She's perfectly litter trained:-) I'm going to work with her and help her to trust us. We love her already. It's going to take a lot of time and patience, but she's worth it. If she never comes around we will just accept and love her for who she is.

We've enjoyed her already and have learned that she loves to tear apart willow balls, toss toys around, and run laps around the couch while leaping and twisting. She really wants to be friends with Comet. He's so sweet with her and steps gently when she's around. He doesn't always want her to be hopping around him so he gently climbs onto the couch where she can't get to him. It's cute how careful of her he is. He was the same way with Piggy. He's such a sensitive dog. The first night Rosalie was with us he wouldn't come to bed with Jeff & I the way he usually does. He saw us to bed and then went back to the living room to sleep next to her cage. I think he could sense how anxious she was and wanted to comfort her. She seems to like him more than she likes us right now.

She's fearful of us. She tenses up when we pet her, but not as much when she's out of the cage. I haven't been able to pick her up yet. It upsets her and I don't want to stress her out with too much too soon. I have to work slowly on that. She fights sleep. I think she may be too scared to sleep. I hope that our love and care will bring her around so she will be happy with us.

In the meantime I will allow her to slowly get comfortable being around us and getting used to the new sounds and routines we have.