House Rabbit

[Accy cyclist]

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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.

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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:

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Helping with laundry

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Shredding documents

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Choosing music

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Planning menus

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Even cleaning up after himself



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



Pictures please!



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.

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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.

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

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

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

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Leporidae being inveterate nibblers,

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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.

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

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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.



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Go get him, Chompsky

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

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!

 

[anothersam]

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."

 

[anothersam]

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

 

[anothersam]

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

 

[AuroraSaab]

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.

 

[anothersam]

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

 

[matticus]

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!)

 

[anothersam]

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

 

[Arjimlad]

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.

 

[matticus]

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

Fine song choice sir -

but I'm definitely not clicking on the other thing ...​

 

[anothersam]

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. View attachment 516779

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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.

 

[matticus]

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?

 

[anothersam]

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

 

[matticus]

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

 

[anothersam]

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.