# House Rabbit



## anothersam (23 Mar 2020)

A rabbit. In our house. Completely unexpected until about 5 years ago, when after years of enjoying their company just outside,






_Aren’t you going to invite me in?_

we went from warily entertaining the idea to making it happen.






That’s right, he came from a garden centre. Somebody had a sense of humour.

He spent his first year part free range, meaning at night and whenever we weren’t around (we're usually around, and he takes a 9 to 5 siesta anyway), he went into a large pen I’d built in the home office; but he was otherwise at liberty to go pretty much wherever he fancied.






When we were confident he could be trusted, I dismantled the pen and that was that: he became a normal member of our small family, except for annual shots for myxomatosis and haemorrhagic horrors, his fondness for hay,






his habit of hopping onto windowsills






and presenting himself for grooming,






being weighed on a kitchen scale,






his use of a litter tray, and a few other items it isn't worth quibbling over.

Although I’d grown up with various small creatures and a medium large one (RIP Mandy ),






I’ve never loved an animal the way I love him. He is, in short,






To be continued


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## Mo1959 (23 Mar 2020)

anothersam said:


> A rabbit. In our house. Completely unexpected until about 5 years ago, when after years of enjoying their company just outside,
> 
> View attachment 509968
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He’s lovely. I had a rabbit as a child. Dutch something?? Black and white called Bimbo. Although he lived in an outdoor hutch, we brought him into the house at least in the evenings. Used to fall asleep draped across your chest when you were watching telly.


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## anothersam (23 Mar 2020)

Lucky you! Chompsky's evening meal is taken on one of our laps, but otherwise he's not a cuddler.





The funny thing is, we weren’t looking for that particular breed – I was more taken with the agouti colouring seen in the wild. He's a tri-coloured Dutch, the result of matchmaking between Harlequin and tortoiseshell forebears.


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## Bazzer (23 Mar 2020)

Child 2 has one ( a dwarf lop), pictures of which I have posted on here previously. He's a rescue, has a lovely personality. In the garden he is rarely far from me and enjoys lying on the sofa next to me being stroked. We would be happy to have him roaming in the house but efforts to make him house trained have failed. He is a bugger for wires and his use of a litter tray is "erratic". - We don't think he is the sharpest tool in the box.


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## Mrs M (23 Mar 2020)

anothersam said:


> Lucky you! Chompsky's evening meal is taken on one of our laps, but otherwise he's not a cuddler.
> 
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> View attachment 510031
> ...


Love Chompsky 
xxx


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## itboffin (23 Mar 2020)

We have two house rabbits one we bought and one is a rescue but sadly they don’t get on so whilst bunny 1 is free range bunny 2 lives in the conservatory with frequent visits for no. 1 they both have charmed lives but we did have to stop no. 1 from going upstairs because he was making one of the bedrooms into a warren with matching smells.

having house rabbits is great but damn they chew everything especially cables and skirting boards


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## itboffin (23 Mar 2020)




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## raleighnut (23 Mar 2020)




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## itboffin (23 Mar 2020)

I knew one day our Choice of pets wou pay off 
despite the trouble they cause house rabbits are very good family pets, rabbits were never meant to be in a tiny hutch in the garden that’s another thing the Romans gave us, rabbits are social animals and need constant company


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## Ridgeway (23 Mar 2020)

We (read Mrs Ridgeway) have a few here, i guess around 10 or more plus the 30+ Guinea Pigs that live in a tree (long story). The rabbits go out most days and have a run around and we usually alternate them although we have to keep the boys away from the girls.... although the boys never run off if there is a lady rabbit in a pen in the garden

We had Dalmatian Rex for many years but the last 2 we bought are Cinnamon's

@ the OP, how do you cope with electrical wires with a house rabbit ?


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## slowmotion (23 Mar 2020)

That's a mighty fine looking rabbit. Is he/she house trained or do you have an understanding nature?


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## anothersam (24 Mar 2020)

Mrs M said:


> Love Chompsky
> xxx










itboffin said:


> We have two house rabbits one we bought and one is a rescue but sadly they don’t get on



Yes, we’ve read that they can be very particular about their companions. Given what intensely social creatures they are, we considered bringing one of his brothers home with us too.





_Waiting patiently for a drink_

However, for a variety of reasons we really only wanted one rabbit, and felt that we could give him the company he needed, even if it was of the slightly inferior human variety (hopefully he thinks of us as big, slightly dumb bunnies). Observing his behaviour at the shop, we noticed that he tended to keep himself apart from the others, which marked him out as a good candidate for adoption. Fortunately he has shown no signs of distress, and has bonded with us ever closer over the years.

We involve him in many household chores and activities:





_Helping with laundry_





_Shredding documents_





_Choosing music_





_Planning menus_





_Even cleaning up after himself_



itboffin said:


> rabbits were never meant to be in a tiny hutch in the garden that’s another thing the Romans gave us, rabbits are social animals and need constant company



Academics believe the animal could have been kept as an exotic pet. Apparently they are still considered “exotic” by vets, despite being the third most popular pet in the UK. Thanks for showing us your lionhead. Here’s some entertainment for him:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNDZaPCSlVc&t=0m15s



Ridgeway said:


> We (read Mrs Ridgeway) have a few here, i guess around 10 or more plus the 30+ Guinea Pigs



Pictures please!



> how do you cope with electrical wires with a house rabbit ?



A lot of bunny proofing went on before we brought him home. This mostly consisted of strategic placement of wires behind barriers. Here, for example, you might be able to make out the glass shelves (bevelled and in great condition, found at the tip) propped up against the wall, protecting an outlet in use.






Another view showing a robust belt-and-braces approach, i.e., the completely unecessary rubber tubing I installed over the lead to the floor lamp before finding the glass. (I couldn’t be bothered to remove it.) The sharp eyed will note that he’s found the cable to the TV antenna. He doesn’t know that we don’t have a TV.






Skirting boards were mentioned. While he has a few favourite nibbling spots, he’s mostly left them alone.






I was quite worried about books, and so employed glass and fireplace screens.











The drapes in the bedroom, alas, have suffered grievously.










Leporidae being inveterate nibblers,






it helps to give them other things to focus on. This ‘digging box’, for example. Meant to hold blankets & such under the bed, we quickly divined it had a better use.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBM8DeQl4Vk

Thankfully he’s shown little interest in our good furniture, like this coffee table.








slowmotion said:


> That's a mighty fine looking rabbit. Is he/she house trained or do you have an understanding nature?



First, thank you. You’ve made him blush!






Call him 99% house trained. He uses a litter tray – actually a gastronorm, sourced at a restaurant supply store. There is no smell, other than the pleasant fragrance of hay, which we also pile in his tray: call it his IN/OUT box.

That percentage goes down when spring fever hits, as it did last week. He’s been leaving a few small patches, usually near his tray. This will go on for a while, then taper off.



raleighnut said:


> red-or-black-enamel-cast-iron-stock-pot_6473.jpg







_Go get him, Chompsky_

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcxKIJTb3Hg


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## Mrs M (24 Mar 2020)

anothersam said:


> View attachment 510087
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Thanks for the great pics and videos.
He’s so cute!


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## anothersam (24 Mar 2020)

My pleasure, Mrs M





_Cute?!? I'm a fierce hunter!_


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## alicat (24 Mar 2020)

Loving the distraction! Thank you @anothersam.


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## Bazzer (24 Mar 2020)

"Child 2's" Charlie











He came with another rescue and they were supposed to have been bonded, but with hindsight we don't think they were. Many, many attempts to bond them and to get the other rabbit to bond with us failed. And when she started to attack my daughter, we had to move her to another family where she would be a single.


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## itboffin (24 Mar 2020)

Ours are litterbox trained the older one is pretty good the younger also uses a corner in his hutch, poor little devil used to be outside 24x7 with no food or water most of the time and no freedom to roam so it's understandable.

we learned the hard way about cables when a few years on my birthday of all days i came downstairs to find he'd been behind the TV and home entertainment systems and ruined several hundred pounds of high quality cabling and somehow managed to nibble all of the live power leads without injury to himself.


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## anothersam (25 Mar 2020)

Bazzer said:


> He came with another rescue and they were supposed to have been bonded, but with hindsight we don't think they were. Many, many attempts to bond them and to get the other rabbit to bond with us failed. And when she started to attack my daughter, we had to move her to another family where she would be a single.



Ouch! They say rabbits aren’t ideal pets for children, but I bet the last thing your daughter expected was to have to fend off such an adorable creature.





_[Paging David Attenborough] Stretch and yawn or prelude to a pounce?_








itboffin said:


> we learned the hard way about cables when a few years on my birthday of all days i came downstairs to find he'd been behind the TV and home entertainment systems and ruined several hundred pounds of high quality cabling and somehow managed to nibble all of the live power leads without injury to himself.



We haven’t had significant loses… a few dangling headphone cords and a charger have, however, been sacrificed to the cause.



alicat said:


> Loving the distraction!



_Mirror leaning against the wall 
Who's the most distracting of them all?_





_Not bovvered_

Even after all this time, we still experience the occasional shock of coming into a room and finding a rabbit there.










_You're out of printer paper_





_I was just leaving_

Even when he’s not in the room, there are clues all over the place; aside from the aforementioned bunny proofing, it’s a safe bet there’s evidence of his habbit of doing takeaway. I’m referring, as some of you will already know, to hay. Not to exaggerate, but it. Gets. Everywhere.






Not satisfied with the frequently replenished pile in his tray, he often feels the need to drag it out onto the carpeting, perhaps to satisfy his foraging instinct. My wife even used to find the odd strand in her handbag after she’d gone to work in the big city.






Hay satisfies both the need for fibre for the constantly moving conveyor belt of this herbivore's digestive system,





_Not to scale of appetite_

but to maintain the health of ever-growing teeth. Common advice is that you should offer them an amount equal to the size of their body every day. Our hungry fella says “You must be joking, mate!” He’s so picky that it’s safe to say we throw at least half of it away.





_A week’s supply_

Fortunately hay is cheap. We get ours from an animal feed store for £4.25/bale. (Later I shall be examining bunny economics.)

This brings me to Pet Anxiety Awareness month, which apparently March has been. In our case, we’re switching that around to pet owner anxiety month.

Though hay is the bulk of his diet, he also gets a morning and an evening serving of greens.





_I can recommend the basil today_






I’m sure you’re aware that it can now be difficult enough stocking your own provisions, let alone those of your small furry charges. We’re just as concerned about maintaining his diet as we are ours. [Snopes: more concerned.] So my wife, his personal chef, has been slowly decreasing his portion size to prepare his stomach for possible lean times.





_Ocado still not picking up?_

PS. Was a bit surprised nobody called me out on the Shania Twain upthread.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVvjKA22MYs


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## slowmotion (25 Mar 2020)

He's a very good looking bloke.


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## anothersam (25 Mar 2020)

slowmotion said:


> He's a very good looking bloke.


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## Turdus philomelos (25 Mar 2020)

A great thread for these unsettling times. 
Wild away a few moments as a subsequence looking at home schooled rabbits.
Does Chomsky have his own Twitter account?
Thanks.


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## alicat (25 Mar 2020)

^^^ what Turdus said. I'm loving the pics and thinking how much your rabbit's torso looks like that of a cat.


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## anothersam (25 Mar 2020)

alicat said:


> I'm loving the pics and thinking how much your rabbit's torso looks like that of a cat.








Kissing cousins. (I grabbed that calico from here.)



Turdus philomelos said:


> Does Chomsky have his own Twitter account?



*He does now*. Shall I sing it out to the world?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH1AuuyVknQ


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## The Crofted Crest (26 Mar 2020)

Today's poem of the day:






*Rabbit*



*francine j. harris*



_for Tarfia and Fita_

The rabbit has a funny set of tools. He jumps.
or kicks. muffled and punching up. In pose
the rabbit knows, each side of his face to whom.
he should belong. He hobbles and eyes. This
is the dumb bun allegiance. This bunny, even dry and fluff
is aware, be vicious. will bite down your finger stalk.
will nick you good in the cheery web of your palm.
Those claws are good for traction. and defense.
This bunny, forgive him. There is no ease. His lack
of neck is all the senses about a stillness.
stuck in a calm. until household numbers upend
his floor. until the family upsets the nest
and traipses off. Then stuck in a bunny panic.

We each stab at gratitude. In our nubbing, none
of us do well. We jump. We kangaroo. We soft seeming,
scatter and gnaw. Maybe the only way forward
is to sleep all day. one eye open. under the sink.
Like the rabbit, we could sit in our shoot.
Chew at the leaf of others’ dinner. Make
of each tile on the floor a good spot to piss. No,
it doesn’t get much better. And like the rabbit
we do not jump well from heights. We linger the dark
until it is safe to come out. To offer a nose.
a cheek for touch. the top of a crown. Nothing
makes us happier than another rabbit.


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## anothersam (27 Mar 2020)

_To offer a nose_






A poem is just what this thread needed, @The Crofted Crest. Puts me in mind of The Language of Lagomorphs:



> You’ll be pretty close to the truth if you think of rabbits as being from a society very different from your own, with different priorities, goals, important lessons, and gestures. Learning Rabbit is in some ways like human cultural studies, but of course the subject individuals have much longer ears.



I used their advice to become mates with the rabbit whose picture opens this thread, fake-grooming myself [sorry no pics] to gain his trust.





_You need a hare cut. Geddit?_

That was quite a few generations ago now. Currently in the world outside our window:

View: https://youtu.be/iAC8_Rp0a-g
Digging her own delivery room





_”Here are some I made earlier”_

What’s that, you say you’d like to see a doe at feeding time? Here you go:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxmYwOotqY4


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## anothersam (30 Mar 2020)

Following on from the video in the post above, here’s a short photo essay I call *Dead End*:

























_sometimes you have to pull yourself out of one_






The kits in the most recently dug burrow in our garden have yet to emerge into the big bad world. Rabbits in the wild have a brutally brief lifespan, a year or two on average.






Domestic bunnies can stretch that out to a decade or longer, if you’re lucky. We’ve got all our fingers crossed.






A note about video production: I’m more into still pictures than moving ones, and it shows. To make up for this I try to add value to the project by subtitling [zum Beispiel, as Google Translate tells me the Germans would say], or what I call enhanced talkies. Unfortunately YouTube keeps throwing up errors when I try to edit the video of the mum digging. To make up for that, we once again present the little star of this particular show:


View: https://youtu.be/l48HweKRVr8


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## Beebo (12 Apr 2020)

Here are our two rabbits, resting after a big day of delivering Easter eggs.

They live outside in a big run with a 4 storey hutch.


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## anothersam (12 Apr 2020)

Beebo said:


> Here are our two rabbits, resting after a big day of delivering Easter eggs.
> 
> They live outside in a big run with a 4 storey hutch.
> View attachment 514601


Four storeys !
I like their little shelter.
Did they deliver the eggs on spoonerisms?
More pics plz.


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## Beebo (12 Apr 2020)

anothersam said:


> Four storeys !
> I like their little shelter.
> Did they deliver the eggs on spoonerisms?
> More pics plz.


Here’s their set up.
the hutch is a rabbit sky tower, it’s over 5’6’’ tall. It’s so big my children can’t clean it because it’s too high and too deep. It’s permanently connected to a homemade run by a tunnel purchased from runaround.
They are rescue rabbits from an animal shelter in Essex. The brown one is male, the black one is female. The shelter ensured they were both given the snip, so no danger of multiplying. 








https://www.runaround.co.uk/


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## anothersam (12 Apr 2020)

Beebo said:


> https://www.runaround.co.uk/


That’s quite a system. It reminds me of Habitrail

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2yAgNlCgBA&t=0m46s
(try to watch that without thinking the hamster is figuring he's making a prison break)


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## Accy cyclist (12 Apr 2020)

anothersam said:


> View attachment 510087
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I'm liking your posts mainly because of the effort it must take to post all those wonderful pictures! I found a rabbit years ago when out cleaning windows. I took it home and kept it in my backyard/garden. I only once let him in my house. That was one Christmas Day. Sadly he chewed through the tree lights cable,then peed this white stuff all over the carpet. He stayed outside for the rest of his days after that!


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## anothersam (13 Apr 2020)

Accy cyclist said:


> I found a rabbit years ago when out cleaning windows.








_Could use a clean_





_Seriously, this stuff is awesome_





_Pity it doesn't let the vitamin D through_





_That was a great jump onto the sill – shame you were too slow_





_There's a lot of unripe hay out there_





_Yes, our legs are retractable_





_You relax your way, I'll relax mine_






3 shorts:


View: https://youtu.be/7_wRyY7EOBQ


View: https://youtu.be/vgPQ7ecA-lo


View: https://youtu.be/5pGrU_GSjHM




> I only once let him in my house. That was one Christmas Day. Sadly he chewed through the tree lights cable, then peed this white stuff all over the carpet.



Not your idea of a white Christmas! According to the standard reference work BinkyBunny:
"What does it mean when a bunny has white urine? Usually they excrete excess calcium in their urine so it can look cloudy. Also, when regular urine dries you can see a white residue which is normal. If the urine is whiter and thickish, then this is likely bladder sludge caused by too much calcium in their diet."


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## anothersam (15 Apr 2020)

Turdus philomelos said:


> A great thread for these unsettling times.
> Wild away a few moments as a subsequence looking at home schooled rabbits.



The only thing we’ve ever seriously wanted to teach him was litter box training, and to be fair, he taught himself that, with no special help from us. They say rabbits decide for themselves where they want to do their business, so you would be wise to locate the tray there: it was our good luck we all concurred early on.

The only time he seriously lost it was shortly before he got the snip, when he started carpet-bombing the place. Thankfully he never took to spraying the walls, as can happen.

Not including cecotropes, rabbits leave 200-300 droppings a day. They’re inoffensive, but that’s still quite a lot to deal with in the event a house rabbit doesn't get his sh*t together.

Anyway, puberty/raging hormones kicked in a little over a year after he’d taken up residence with us. This is quite a bit later than you’d normally have your boy relieved of his gonads. And those boys were BIG.





_Blissfully unaware of their fate_

So nervous were we about losing him whilst under sedation – bunnies are trickier than cats and dogs when it comes to anaesthesia – that we’d put it off until it became very clear we had no choice, what with the large area bombardment and the lovesickness he was clearly starting to suffer. It’s nice to be an object of affection, but blind lust wasn’t in anybody’s best interest. He came through the op fine.

You can train a rabbit to do certain things, or so YouTube tells us.

View: https://youtu.be/TpRQ8aidsOc

Other than wanting to see a bit of that into-the-travel-carrier action (skateboarding would also be fun), we’ve never felt the urge to test him.





_I beg to differ_

Oh right, almost forgot. We do have a game which involves putting nuggets or pieces of sweet pepper into a little puzzle box so he can have the mental stimulation of figuring out how to get to it.





_This is beneath both of us_


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## anothersam (19 Apr 2020)

A morning ritual which I believe he believes speeds up the arrival of his proper English breakfast:

View: https://youtu.be/vLpfWQfp4nY


View: https://youtu.be/rXuqWZyWoK0


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## AuroraSaab (19 Apr 2020)

This is our bunny, Smudge. We had two to begin with, one each for the kids and they had a big run and hutch in the garden. Sadly Misty passed on a couple of years ago. We couldn't bear Smudge being outside on his own so he lives in a pen in the hall now, with time spent in the lounge with us. He's a chewer so we can't let him free range. We do take him outside sometimes but last time I think he ate too much rich grass and made himself ill. He's nearly 12 so we have to be very careful with his health.


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## anothersam (20 Apr 2020)

AuroraSaab said:


> This is our bunny, Smudge. We had two to begin with, one each for the kids and they had a big run and hutch in the garden. Sadly Misty passed on a couple of years ago. We couldn't bear Smudge being outside on his own so he lives in a pen in the hall now, with time spent in the lounge with us. He's a chewer so we can't let him free range. We do take him outside sometimes but last time I think he ate too much rich grass and made himself ill. He's nearly 12 so we have to be very careful with his health.
> View attachment 516197


Thank you so much for posting this! Smudge is adorable. 12 and counting is a grand age. Mazel tov.


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## matticus (20 Apr 2020)

anothersam said:


> Anyway, puberty/raging hormones kicked in a little over a year after he’d taken up residence with us. This is quite a bit later than you’d normally have your boy relieved of his gonads. And those boys were BIG.


Quick Poll: who clicked on that link? (no spoilers please!)


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## anothersam (21 Apr 2020)

Spoiler: click if you dare



It’s an abstract from the Journal of Mammalogy (some paragraph breaks would’ve been nice, people - even artificial ones). I wonder what _their_ parties are like.

View: https://youtu.be/xPlqLHcphyw


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## Arjimlad (21 Apr 2020)

Been pondering how we can let Ollie spend more time indoors with us. He's chiefly in his hutch or in a run on the lawn, and when we are in the garden we let him have free roaming as it is safely fenced in. 

Our last rabbit decided that the sofa made a great latrine, so that was an impediment to having him spend much time indoors. Also, we have laminate floors and they struggle to get any traction at all on them. This thread has inspired me to look out for a suitable litter tray though... 

He is a pedigree stud bunny so won't be facing any operations for a while. 

Good tip on screening off the cables.


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## matticus (21 Apr 2020)

anothersam said:


> Spoiler: click if you dare
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## anothersam (21 Apr 2020)

Arjimlad said:


> Been pondering how we can let Ollie spend more time indoors with us. He's chiefly in his hutch or in a run on the lawn, and when we are in the garden we let him have free roaming as it is safely fenced in.
> 
> Our last rabbit decided that the sofa made a great latrine, so that was an impediment to having him spend much time indoors. Also, we have laminate floors and they struggle to get any traction at all on them. This thread has inspired me to look out for a suitable litter tray though...
> 
> ...


Hi there Ollie, good to meet you.

Sometimes we think it would be nice to have easy clean laminate – picking hay out of carpeting is a chore – but yes, there’s that not-so-comic-bunny effect to consider.

We tried loads of trays; he tended to nibble the plastic ones. Finally settled on this. Steel is real.


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## matticus (21 Apr 2020)

I'm confused - watching _dogs _slide around on smooth floors is one of life's great pleasures.

Why is the bunny version not so fun? Does it distress them?


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## anothersam (21 Apr 2020)

I'm guessing they wouldn't enjoy it. As prey animals by instinct, they need to feel they can abscond pronto.


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## matticus (21 Apr 2020)

My scientific curiousity wants to know - post-lockdown, I shall invite some bunny-owners round. _Try anything once_ is my motto.


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## anothersam (21 Apr 2020)

matticus said:


> _Try anything once _is my motto.


Then you’ll want to check out this channel, of a very chilled out bunny. With over half a million subscribers, he surely makes more than I do.


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## Beebo (21 Apr 2020)

matticus said:


> I'm confused - watching _dogs _slide around on smooth floors is one of life's great pleasures.
> 
> Why is the bunny version not so fun? Does it distress them?


Rabbits have furry feet, not pads, so they slip more than dogs, and as said above, they need to know they can hide at a moments notice.


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## Arjimlad (22 Apr 2020)

anothersam said:


> Hi there Ollie, good to meet you.
> 
> Sometimes we think it would be nice to have easy clean laminate – picking hay out of carpeting is a chore – but yes, there’s that not-so-comic-bunny effect to consider.
> 
> We tried loads of trays; he tended to nibble the plastic ones. Finally settled on this. Steel is real.



How does your bunny get in & out of a deep tray like that, though ?


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## anothersam (23 Apr 2020)

Arjimlad said:


> How does your bunny get in & out of a deep tray like that, though ?



View: https://youtu.be/_j7e5fv5db0


View: https://youtu.be/4_vXZC3R4FM


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## anothersam (26 Apr 2020)

What sorcery is this? A spoon with my likeness upon the handle? Cheers @Randomnerd! (He does have form.) There was foreshadowing.






Don't worry, Chompsky won't get a chance to chomp on it, fond as he is of making things disappear.





_Never mind where's the spoon, where's the paw?_


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## anothersam (3 May 2020)

> Later I shall be examining bunny economics.



As promised:



(Please excuse the leap to another platform. It’s a work in progress, and will require updating.)


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## anothersam (8 May 2020)

Good news for rabbits! 


> MSD Animal Health has launched Nobivac(r) Myxo-RHD Plus, the first single shot vaccine against the three main infectious diseases in rabbits - Myxomatosis, Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease (RHD) classic and variant strains (RHDV-1 and 2).



Previously this has required two shots, at least two weeks apart. Vet visits are very stressful for rabbits, and in these times fewer trips are welcome for the humans involved.

The following video is completely unrelated to the foregoing.


View: https://youtu.be/NWd5s7kllH0


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## rogerzilla (8 May 2020)

I was given a rabbit for my 6th birthday.

I buried him when I was 18. He was allowed out for about an hour a day if the weather was dry, and delighted for many years in being chased by the dog, whom he could easily outwit and outrun (he would butt or jump over the dog to provoke him first). After one such mad session, at four times the usual lifespan of a domestic rabbit, he hopped back into his hutch as normal, panted a bit and keeled over stone dead.


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## anothersam (9 May 2020)

rogerzilla said:


> delighted for many years in being chased by the dog, whom he could easily outwit and outrun (he would butt or jump over the dog to provoke him first).


If that doesn't work, confound him with numbers.

View: https://youtu.be/jK6FzJUtLr8


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## vickster (30 Jun 2020)

@anothersam 
Any updates on Chompsky - a rabbit mad friend is desperate for more instalments!!


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## Chompsky (17 Jul 2020)

vickster said:


> Any updates on Chompsky - a rabbit mad friend is desperate for more instalments!!








Thanks to Uncle Sam, I've been on a spending spree. (I’m a dual citizen. Triple if you count Dutch.)






First I bought a fresh supply of my favourite litter, which is made from recycled material. There have been suggestions that it would be easier to cut out the middleman and make it at home.






The bag also makes a good hideout.






It seems only fair to chip in for my board.

View: https://youtu.be/SGq2M5QbDOw

Got myself another of these. They always come in handy.






Then there’s “wear and tear”. This charger, for example, was getting old, as I discovered on a recent inspection. £30 for a replacement seems a bit steep, but surely James didn’t profiteer his way to being a billionaire.






Happy to share the wealth.






The rest of the money might go on a new and improved bunny-signal.


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## xzenonuk (16 Aug 2020)

aww so much cuteness, awesome thread 

my sister and i used to have tons of rabbits and guinea pigs growing up, i miss them but i don't miss the random warm wet feeling when one is sitting on my lap and decides to go peepee lol


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## anothersam (25 Oct 2020)

_What, no cake?_

Chompsky turned 5 earlier this month. For a birthday treat we gave him an extra serving of the minty nuggets he loves, hidden in the puzzle box he may or may not be so crazy about.


View: https://youtu.be/1-dFJK8Vqkw

I sometimes think of this little creature as my dæmon, though no, I haven’t read the books






or watched the series, so I don’t know how apt the reference is. It’s just that I see similarities between the two of us. We’re both quiet loners, even as we both still need some company. We both shed a fair amount (my last haircut was December 2019). We both lick plates. 

We both enjoy a project we can sink our teeth into.


View: https://youtu.be/5Bg_o5EjGZE

Oh, and we both like a good nap afterwards.


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## anothersam (1 Nov 2020)

We've topped up supplies to see him through the rest of the year. It's like shovelling coal into a little furnace.






Better exercise than pushing a pencil:

View: https://youtu.be/fIVAlV8YVF0

(Check out the number of views and the comments. Who knew a video about agricultural labour could be so popular.)


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## oreo_muncher (20 Nov 2020)

itboffin said:


> Ours are litterbox trained the older one is pretty good the younger also uses a corner in his hutch, poor little devil used to be outside 24x7 with no food or water most of the time and no freedom to roam so it's understandable.
> 
> we learned the hard way about cables when a few years on my birthday of all days i came downstairs to find he'd been behind the TV and home entertainment systems and ruined several hundred pounds of high quality cabling and somehow managed to nibble all of the live power leads without injury to himself.


My rabbit managed to eat the cable for the washing machine twice and had ate many chargers. But it still lived miraculously. But you can't be angry at them when they're so cute.


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## oreo_muncher (20 Nov 2020)

My pride and joy My moody precious princess toddler.


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## anothersam (20 Nov 2020)

oreo_muncher said:


> My pride and joy My moody precious princess toddler.



It’s a pleasure to meet you and yours.



> you can't be angry at them when they're so cute.



Quite impossible, I know. The closest we’ve ever come is exasperation, which dissipates immediately when addressing the culprit of manifold misdeeds.

This morning I set up a sting operation on some drapes:

View: https://youtu.be/Wm7dwmi202Q


View: https://youtu.be/UZ1XWSMvIK4

Early on, we realised we had a choice: you can have a house rabbit, or be house proud, but not both.

(On a side note, YouTube has ruined the subtitling for me. It's harder to get the words exactly where you want them now, and appearing for your preferred length of time – _AARGH!_ My heart's just not in it anymore.)


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## oreo_muncher (20 Nov 2020)

anothersam said:


> It’s a pleasure to meet you and yours.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Adorable My rabbit chewed the curtains, wallpaper, walls, carpets and has peed on the bed and couch a few times.


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## anothersam (20 Nov 2020)

All that's left to do is to sign the deeds over to her.


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## oreo_muncher (20 Nov 2020)

@anothersam does your rabbit also jump on the bed to wake up at night? Or does it ever pee on your bed or couch? Or am I the only person with this issue? I have been waken up in the past at night 6+ times by my rabbit jumping on the bed waking me up. It's relentless with begging for treat it will follow me everywhere even to the toilet, but then it has a dodgy belly if it has too many treats so I have to just watch it begging me all day..


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## anothersam (20 Nov 2020)

No, we keep the bedroom door closed. This is mostly to avoid stepping on him should we go walkabout in the middle of the night, but it would also be a disaster if he jumped and put a paw in my wife’s eyes, as she’s had glaucoma surgery and really doesn’t need a trabeculectomy à la Chompsky.

He’s never wet the couch or bed or us, but he does get what we’ve diagnosed as spring fever (though it’s more in the summer), when he starts getting careless and leaving patches outside the tray and sometimes further afield. 

Has she been spayed? If not, that can cause the behaviour you describe. I would add that we’re extremely careful about treats. For example, we don’t even give him carrot, except for the tops, as we don't want him to develop a sweet tooth. They get addicted and it can be ruinous for guts & teeth, or so we’ve read. (If only my parents had done the same with me <sigh>.)

View: https://youtu.be/K-vusR74mqw


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## oreo_muncher (20 Nov 2020)

anothersam said:


> No, we keep the bedroom door closed. This is mostly to avoid stepping on him should we go walkabout in the middle of the night, but it would also be a disaster if he jumped and put a paw in my wife’s eyes, as she’s had glaucoma surgery and really doesn’t need a trabeculectomy à la Chompsky.
> 
> He’s never wet the couch or bed or us, but he does get what we’ve diagnosed as spring fever (though it’s more in the summer), when he starts getting careless and leaving patches outside the tray and sometimes further afield.
> 
> ...



My rabbit is addicted to bananas- I only give her a very tiny bit- like the ending of the banana. She likes blueberries, strawberries, dill, raspberry, watermelon, apple, celery, peppers, carrots, cucumber, tomatoes, broccoli. But I give very tiny pieces of sugary treats. But she's so cute it's hard to say no. She loves following me to the kitchen and to the bathroom. She has not been spayed.


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## anothersam (20 Nov 2020)

We get followed around too, somewhat. I think when you have a single rabbit, they crave company, and you’re it. Often we’ll be chatting and he’ll come into the room honking, then settle down nearby, a silent part of the conversation. But he also spends a fair amount of time on his own, perhaps contemplating the mysteries of the universe.







Just before we got him castrated (which we put off for quite a while, nervous as hell), he went into hormonal overdrive and practically became a stalker. A seemingly incontinent stalker. If you get her spayed, it’s likely she’ll calm down a bit. By all accounts, it will also prolong her life considerably, as females are particularly prone to cancer otherwise.


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## anothersam (20 Nov 2020)

oreo_muncher said:


> It's relentless with begging for treat it will follow me everywhere even to the toilet, but then it has a dodgy belly if it has too many treats so I have to just watch it begging me all day..



I would suggest you have a hard look at her diet and introduce gradual changes. Personally, the only thing I would allow on your list is dill (though ours happens to disdain it) and a limited amount of peppers. Very small portions of fruit may be OK for treats, but fruit is completely unnecessary, and as you have discovered, difficult to ration once they get a taste for it.





_Brother can you spare a blueberry_

I think it’s better for them to come to the conclusion that a regular healthy diet is treat enough.

Hay, greens, and maybe some nuggets. That’s all they need.





_5 grams? You’re joking, right?_

There are lots of resources out there, and not all of them agree on every particular with each other (or with me). Here’s a good one: https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-care-advice/rabbit-diet/greens-veg-herbs/

The pickier you are on their behalf, the longer they’ll be around to bring you joy.


View: https://youtu.be/7Kf3CA1IZTU


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## anothersam (20 Nov 2020)

One more thing and then I'll shut up: this is your only chance to play god. When she comes begging, try putting this on your mental turntable. The refrain is spot on:

View: https://youtu.be/FQdxGpV5aV8


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## oreo_muncher (23 Nov 2020)

My precious baby turned 4 in June, do you think it's too late to neuter? As she got older, she's more grumpy and moody and less cuddly  She likes barking and charging more.


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## anothersam (23 Nov 2020)

That’s a tricky one. I don’t think she’s too old yet, but it depends on her overall health. Her risk of developing a fatal tumour is probably much higher than dying from the operation, but that’s a discussion to be had with a vet who’s very experienced with rabbits. Caveat emptor: I remember someone at a Pets At Home telling us to fast rabbits before surgery, which is exactly the opposite of what you’re supposed to do!

Check out this page for the sort of questions to ask.


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## oreo_muncher (23 Nov 2020)

anothersam said:


> That’s a tricky one. I don’t think she’s too old yet, but it depends on her overall health. Her risk of developing a fatal tumour is probably much higher than dying from the operation, but that’s a discussion to be had with a vet who’s very experienced with rabbits. Caveat emptor: I remember someone at a Pets At Home telling us to fast rabbits before surgery, which is exactly the opposite of what you’re supposed to do!
> 
> Check out this page for the sort of questions to ask.


Thank you. I'll try find a suitable vet to do it. Maybe this will stop her peeing on the bed all the time and that aggression that is coming out of nowhere recently. It's usually very loving and cute and cuddly but lately not as much.


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## Beebo (24 Nov 2020)

Our rabbits live outside all year. They eat far more in winter to keep warm. That’s when the pellets become useful. They almost fight each other for the food bowl. 
I suspect a house rabbit needs very little to eat when living with central heating.


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## anothersam (24 Nov 2020)

Good luck @oreo_muncher.



Beebo said:


> Our rabbits live outside all year. They eat far more in winter to keep warm. That’s when the pellets become useful. They almost fight each other for the food bowl. I suspect a house rabbit needs very little to eat when living with central heating.



We estimated his caloric intake at one point, and it was more than we expected for such a little fella. Here he is showing his usual enthusiasm for peppers. Spoiler: poetic licence has been taken with the title.

View: https://youtu.be/KLNDiLcexGY

I just scrolled back to have another look at your very impressive setup. Adjusted to human scale, it's bigger than many places we've lived.

Although there were always some who snuck inside,



_No bunnies were harmed in the making of this video_

house rabbits only really started to catch on in the 80s with the publication of Marinell Harriman's House Rabbit Handbook.


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## Notafettler (24 Nov 2020)

My dog shows no interest in domesticated chickens and ducks, even though ducks are on the top of her list for catching. She is discouraged from chasing anything with fur but she will still start a chase on rabbits. I have always wondered what she would do if she came accross a domesticated rabbit. 
Is it the fact that they ignore her the reason why she doesn't go for them. One day I hope I don't find out!


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## anothersam (25 Nov 2020)

Notafettler said:


> My dog shows no interest in domesticated chickens and ducks, even though ducks are on the top of her list for catching. She is discouraged from chasing anything with fur but she will still start a chase on rabbits. I have always wondered what she would do if she came accross a domesticated rabbit. Is it the fact that they ignore her the reason why she doesn't go for them. One day I hope I don't find out!




On the subject of fear, I came across this today from an article in Discover magazine:

“Using high-resolution MRI imaging, they scanned the brains of both wild and domestic rabbits to pinpoint differences that could explain their behavior. They found that in the eight pet rabbits they scanned, the amygdala, a part of the brain that processes fear, was 10 percent smaller than in their wild counterparts. At the same time, the medial prefrontal cortex — the area that controls responses to fear — was 11 percent bigger in pet rabbits. The scientists also discovered that the brains of domesticated rabbits have less white matter than their wild relatives, making them less able to process information — and dampening that primal instinct to flee.”

Chompsky still catches fright regularly, and if sufficiently rattled, hides behind the couch, his safe place. Doesn’t like big birds,

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwwXnh4ULZI&t=1m37s

low flying planes or helicopters (the military takes a short cut through our valley from time to time), the sound of the boiler kicking in, and probably the smell of foxes. Or the sight of either of us walking into a room carrying something which distorts the shape he’s used to.

When he’s really alarmed he’ll stomp his hind legs. The worst is when he lets out a rabbit’s version of a wail: it sounds a little like Chewbacca(!), but not so long-winded. He made that noise the first time he caught sight of a sheep just outside the window. Fortunately he’s used to them now.

View: https://youtu.be/qeuL5IGimCQ

I often feed him on my lap. More than once he’s gotten spooked by whatever, pivoted in a flash, and launched himself with a swift kick to my groin. Domesticated though he may be, he’s still wild at heart.


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## Notafettler (25 Nov 2020)

@anothersam 

View: https://youtu.be/qeuL5IGimCQ

I believe thats classed as sheep worrying!


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## matticus (25 Nov 2020)

Notafettler said:


> View: https://youtu.be/qeuL5IGimCQ


_... and you join us, here, at the Finals of this year's World's Dumbest Herbivore Species ..._


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## anothersam (25 Nov 2020)

Notafettler said:


> I believe thats classed as sheep worrying!


The farmers don’t seem too worried



matticus said:


> _... and you join us, here, at the Finals of this year's World's Dumbest Herbivore Species ..._


Sheep have impressive memory and recognition skills, and rabbits, well, rule.


View: https://youtu.be/BX1ljYx3g3k


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## Cycling_Samurai (2 Mar 2021)

That is very pleasant to read about. The misses and I got a Holland Lop over 5 years ago. We share our flat with him. He mostly stays on the balcony and behind the couch. He does lounge on the livingroom floor in the evenings and at night. He is definitely does not wonder around as much as your rabbit appears to.


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## Drago (4 Mar 2021)

Chompski is a good name, albeit with commie overtones. If I owned a wabbit id call it Rampant.


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## Cycling_Samurai (4 Mar 2021)

Drago said:


> Chompski is a good name, albeit with commie overtones. If I owned a wabbit id call it Rampant.


I would've thought Rocky 😉


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## Rocky (4 Mar 2021)

Cycling_Samurai said:


> I would've thought Rocky 😉


Looks nothing like me........


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## Cycling_Samurai (4 Mar 2021)

Rocky said:


> Looks nothing like me........


Rocky Balboa (Rocky IV)


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## AuroraSaab (10 Jul 2021)

Just catching up on this thread and saw that someone mentioned litter trays. If you buy them at Pets at Home they are about £7. But if you go to Wilkinsons you can get seed trays that are actually heavier and often bigger for £3 - the Black Premium Gravel Tray. The sides aren't very high so no so good if you have a rabbit that likes to wee up walls (unneutered ones do sometimes), but they aren't on most litter trays anyway. We have a few of these and they are pretty much unchewable and I think our bunny finds them better to sit in because they are slightly textured as opposed to shiny plastic.

https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-black-premium-gravel-tray-52cm/p/0099388


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## Poacher (6 Jan 2023)

AuroraSaab said:


> Just catching up on this thread and saw that someone mentioned litter trays. If you buy them at Pets at Home they are about £7. But if you go to Wilkinsons you can get seed trays that are actually heavier and often bigger for £3 - the Black Premium Gravel Tray. The sides aren't very high so no so good if you have a rabbit that likes to wee up walls (unneutered ones do sometimes), but they aren't on most litter trays anyway. We have a few of these and they are pretty much unchewable and I think our bunny finds them better to sit in because they are slightly textured as opposed to shiny plastic.
> 
> https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-black-premium-gravel-tray-52cm/p/0099388



Another thumbs up for Wilko gravel trays, but note they are now £4!


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## skudupnorth (Saturday at 18:25)

Just seen this thread for the first time. We are the proud owners of two rabbits which live mostly inside with us. They live slouching in front of the telly or behind the sofa where it seems warm. 
We never really planned on getting them but our rabbits at work gave birth and one of our pair was the runt of the group and did not look like it would survive. She had an eye infection and the other rabbits had nibbled her ear tips plus she was half the size of the others. So she came home with her brother ( we still hadn’t been able to gender them at this point) 
Thankfully she came through and along with her brother ( now neutered) have become part of the family in a big way. If it wasn’t for the ears, we could easily compare them to cats in the way they act and show their affection
They do like to hang out in the garage when I’m working on my bikes


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## AuroraSaab (Saturday at 18:50)

Gorgeous bunnies. I hope they give you many years of fun.


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## skudupnorth (Saturday at 18:56)

AuroraSaab said:


> Gorgeous bunnies. I hope they give you many years of fun.



They are truly interesting characters, we love coming home to them


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## AuroraSaab (Saturday at 19:08)

Nice to catch up on this thread and see some bunny pics. We thought we were going to lose our bun early last year. He developed a very bad eye ulcer which initially didn't response to antibiotics. Kept on with the eyes drops for weeks though and eventually it started getting better. Eye is permanently damaged but he lives inside so he can manage. He's nearly 14 now I think - had him so long I lose track - sleeps a lot but still has a good quality of life hopefully. Loves his kale, rooting for treats in his hay box, and a nose rub.


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## SpokeyDokey (Saturday at 19:16)

Girlfriend way back in the dim and distant past had a huge thing that lived in her flat.

A Dutch something or other - heavy thing and very clean. Cute but not my cup of tea tbh.


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## Milzy (Saturday at 20:12)

It will enjoy such a great quality of life in a house. Do they use a kitty litter tray though or just randomly on the carpet?


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## AuroraSaab (Saturday at 21:29)

Initially inside he used his litter tray practically perfectly. He has a big rug in the hall with all his bits and pieces on and he would leave the occasional little nugget on the rug, never wee, but 99% of the time just went in his tray. He's had a couple of bouts of stasis (gut motility problems) in the last 18 months though and since those he just poops everywhere on his big rug. We have some small washable doormats and he likes to wee on those fortunately. You just have to sweep the poo up, change the mats and pressure wash the mucky one outside. We have a carpet washer we use on the big rug as necessary. It's all a pain to be honest but he seems happy enough and we love him so we're happy to put up with the hassle.

Not all rabbits will cooperate with a litter tray but he was used to the ones in the hutch outside so was already in the habit. I think being inside has extended his life. Nice and warm, can't be scared by foxes, always checking on him so we pick up on illnesses immediately. Do feel bad that he doesn't have the run of the garden anymore but I think he's happier indoors in his old age. People regularly say to me, 'How is that rabbit still alive?!' lol.

When he was at the vet with his eye ulcer they were surprised anyone was willing to spend £200 on treatment for a 13 year old rabbit, never mind ask about a £1k operation for him. The average life span of a domestic rabbit is 2 or 3 years, I think. They are often neglected and when they get ill owners don't want to spend the money. Loads in rescues at the moment, bought as lockdown pets then the kids lost interest.


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## Bazzer (Sunday at 18:50)

Daughter 2 had a rescue that died about 3 years ago. He used to follow me around the garden like a dog. A bugger for nibbling wires though and useless using his litter tray.
She now has another one. Also a rescue, but this time left at the vets where she has a placement. She nursed him back to health and he is quite a character. A genuine house rabbit.


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## winjim (Sunday at 19:21)

Milzy said:


> It will enjoy such a great quality of life in a house. Do they use a kitty litter tray though or just randomly on the carpet?



Acquaintance of mine had a house rabbit. Named Shatner, for obvious reasons.


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## Beebo (Sunday at 19:48)

Ours are 100% outdoor rabbits with permanent access to their large run and multi storey hutch. 
They are now both 7 years old. 
The older they get the worse they are at using their litter tray and seem to wee almost anywhere. 
When you see them interacting with one another and the companionship it provides, you realise how cruel it is to have a single rabbit in a small hutch. 
White one is female and brown one is male. Ours are both rescue rabbits, they were both neutered before we could take them home, there is no need to buy them from a pet shop.


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## AuroraSaab (Monday at 13:22)

Lovely bunnies, Beebo. Yes, they need a friend or at the bare minimum a lot of interaction. I have a feeling some rescues only rehome pairs now. When you see them flopped out side by side in the sunshine or grooming and snuggling you realise what social little things they are. Brought ours inside as we couldn't bare him being outside on his own over winter when the other one passed away.


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## Beebo (Monday at 14:26)

AuroraSaab said:


> Lovely bunnies, Beebo. Yes, they need a friend or at the bare minimum a lot of interaction. I have a feeling some rescues only rehome pairs now. When you see them flopped out side by side in the sunshine or grooming and snuggling you realise what social little things they are. Brought ours inside as we couldn't bare him being outside on his own over winter when the other one passed away.


Maybe we will have to do that when one dies. 
Our rescue centre would only rehome in pairs and needed to see their accommodation too.


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## Bazzer (Monday at 17:36)

Beebo said:


> Maybe we will have to do that when one dies.
> Our rescue centre would only rehome in pairs and needed to see their accommodation too.


That happened with my daughter's first rabbit, but the pair were completely incompatible and they hadn't been paired properly before we acquired them. We eventually had to rehome the aggressive one, as it was unfair on the other rabbit. And Charlie who remained, was much happier being the centre of all my daughter's attention.
Daughter 2's current rabbit pretty much has the run of her flat and he seems intuitive if she is feeling physically or mentally crap. But his more adventurous nature sometimes gets him into bother. She came home from work one time, to find him sitting on her desk unable to get down. He has also jumped into her (empty) bath and found himself unable to get out.


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## AuroraSaab (Monday at 18:57)

Yes, rabbits are fussy and won't always bond with others. You can't just chuck them together like guinea pigs. Once puberty kicks in they will often start fighting or even if they just have a falling out they can be very vicious to each other, scarily so. I had to rebond ours a couple of times when young, which was laborious and exhausting. Once they were a few years old though they were pretty happy together. 

They can jump surprisingly high or will even bounce off walls in order to get over fences or obstacles. Ours had a spell of jumping on to the sofa til he got bored of it. They are also very quiet. One minute they are on the other side of the room and when you blink they are next to your face, like Weeping Angels. Such clever, inquisitive little things.


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## KnittyNorah (Monday at 19:58)

This thread reminds me so much of dearly-loved Sandy.

As a child, in the 1950s, I had the obligatory 'rabbit in a hutch' - Sandy was my birthday present as an 8 or 9 year old. It was 1973 or 74 when my mum told me that she'd found Sandy, still warm, curled up dead in the sleeping section of his hutch. 

As a pet rabbit 'back in the day' he was, of course kept alone and had no vaccinations or anything like that. He did, however, get lots of interaction with my mum as our cat favoured my dad and me, and the dog specifically my dad - and I was pony-mad. By the time I left home at 17, he had had the run of half of the garden and the scullery for a good few years and very rarely soiled in the scullery, although mum said she'd often found his hard droppings on the door mat. His hutch was opened in the morning and he was shut in, for his own protection, last thing at night. Apparently he never used to have to be put back in his hutch once he'd become accustomed to his semi-freedom, he hopped in of his own accord in the evening. I think my mum's habit of giving him a bit of a treat once he was in his hutch might have had a lot to do with that!

As he got older his sight started to deteriorate and his eyes went cloudy - cataracts I presume - but it really didn't hinder him in any way as long as everything - his food bowls and so on - remained in the same place. 

Eventually he started having problems with his teeth. His molars were fine - he always had lots of hay to chew on - but his incisors were overgrowing and making it difficult for him to eat; mum thought it looked as if bits were chipped off or sharp, so she took him to the vets where they laughed at her. Well, I don't know that they actually _laughed _- more likely said Sorry, there's nothing we can do - as I think he must have been around nine or ten when she took him and already considered very old for a rabbit at a time when small animal medicine was really still in its infancy in many ways. 

So dear mum - who had a lifelong severe phobia of dentists in general - bravely went to the dentist in the village, and asked him to help. Mr Hoogi was an absolute pet and did so, gently grinding down Sandy's teeth a little bit at a time over several days while mum held Sandy. Neither of them really knew what they were doing, but as he would have starved to death without help, and the vets couldn't/wouldn't help, it seemed a reasonable thing to do. All went well and Mr Hoogi gave my mum some sort of manual file thing, which she used to smooth off any edges and for general maintenance. Sandy used to get hay ad lib - I had horses, and my uncle was a local farrier, so there was always plenty of that available - vegetable scraps and corn from the horse's and chicken's feed, and as he got older, mum would give him the scrapings of the porridge pan every morning in winter - Scottish porridge, made with just oats and water - as it was warm and mum felt it was 'good for him'

Maybe it _was_ good for him - or maybe he was just lucky - as he lived what I like to think was, at least for the time, a happy, healthy life until he was well into his teens, in the days when pet rabbits had virtually no veterinary care available and myxomatosis was widespread. 

Many years later, I looked after a house rabbit while a friend was away for a few months. Mr Bunbury was HILARIOUS, bossy and somewhat territorial - and insisted on making his presence felt if he wanted attention. He was spotlessly clean in the house, apart from the occasional rabbitcurrant - except that the first night I had him, he peed ON me just the once. His point made, and his litter boxes located where he liked them, he never did it again.

Happy memories!


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## AuroraSaab (Tuesday at 10:19)

What a lovely, lovely story, Norah. Sounds like Sandy had a perfect life to be honest.


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## byegad (Tuesday at 13:27)

A friend of mine in my school days had one. Sadly one day it decided to chew on a cable. A blown fuse and one very dead rabbit ensued.


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## KnittyNorah (Tuesday at 15:03)

AuroraSaab said:


> What a lovely, lovely story, Norah. Sounds like Sandy had a perfect life to be honest.



Sandy was a dear love. Nothing special to look at - just a gold/fawn-coloured bunny from a pet shop - but the nicest character. I would've loved to have taken him out and about on a harness, as I did with Mr Bunbury many years later - in fact I have vague memories of trying to make him one out of ribbon or tape, and my parents forbidding it, pointing out that dogs often roamed loose in the village streets (common back in the 1950s) and even if Sandy didn't 'catch something' from all their mess, they would probably want to attack him ...


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## Mrs M (Tuesday at 18:36)

AuroraSaab said:


> Nice to catch up on this thread and see some bunny pics. We thought we were going to lose our bun early last year. He developed a very bad eye ulcer which initially didn't response to antibiotics. Kept on with the eyes drops for weeks though and eventually it started getting better. Eye is permanently damaged but he lives inside so he can manage. He's nearly 14 now I think - had him so long I lose track - sleeps a lot but still has a good quality of life hopefully. Loves his kale, rooting for treats in his hay box, and a nose rub.



14! 🥰


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