Friday, February 28, 2014

Bunny stamp gift

When I was little and my father had to travel on business, he would try to bring back a little tchotchke for me. Well, it seems that Dr. Mrs. Bunnymom is carrying on the tradition. She recently had a business trip to NM and walking down the street, happened into a little store where she found a bunny stamp for me to add to my collection (now totaling just 3). 



There is another bunny thing she brought back, not a mere knickknack, but I don't have a picture of that yet. Soon. In the meantime, this is added to Bunny Things page with the hundreds of other bunny and bunny-like things observed.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

10 Reasons Rescued Rabbits Rule (PetFinder)



The post below was originally published on the Petfinder blog

By Mary Lempert, founder and manager of The Rabbit Advocate

February is Adopt-A-Rescued Rabbit Month, and, in honor of it, these are my top 10 reasons rescued rabbits make great pets:
  1. Rabbits are the perfect pets for those who may not have time for daily walks, but still seek the social quality of a dog-like companion. And, like cats, rabbits can be litter box trained very easily. Best of both worlds!
  2. Many people who are allergic to dogs and cats are not allergic to rabbits.
  3. Rabbits are uniquely talented comedians. Binkies (little hop-spins and kicks they do when they’re happy), bunny flops (flopping over and playing dead) and bunny 500s (think the Indy 500, but with bunnies) are just some of the quirky and amusing habits of the house bunny.
  4. Rabbit schedules match up with people schedules. Our furry friends are crepuscular, meaning they are most active at dawn and dusk, which corresponds well with the times most of us are starting our day or getting home from work and ready for some couch snuggling or binky watching.
  5. Rabbits help you get healthy. As herbivores, rabbits mesh well with vegetarian and vegan lifestyles. Generally speaking, though, having a pet who encourages you to stock your fridge with fruits and vegetables is good for everybody — vegetarians and meat-eaters alike.
  6. Rabbits make great pets for city dwellers. They happily stay in large cages or puppy pens during the day when you’re gone and love to come out to romp around in rabbit-proofed rooms when you’re home.
  7. Rabbits have long lifespans compared to other small animals. They can live 10-12 years if provided with a proper diet and care.
  8. Rabbits are heroic. In the wild, rabbits communicate with each other about perceived dangers by thumping their back legs; astute house bunnies will provide you with a similar security system. Who needs a German Shepherd when you can have a fierce guard bunny? (Clearly I’m joking on this one, but there are many stories of rabbits alerting their people to danger. In 2008, an Australian pet rabbit alerted his people to a house fire in the middle of the night and undoubtedly saved their lives. The lesson — never underestimate a bunny!) (Read our blog post: Hero bunny saves his family.) [Their link seems broken but check out the RR Bunny Heroes page here.]
  9. Rabbits are great listeners (just look at those ears!). They also make excellent snugglers with their extra-soft fur and loving nature. What more could you ask for from a friend?
  10. Rabbits need homes too. Perhaps one of the best reasons to adopt a bunny is that there are so many waiting for forever homes. In fact, after dogs and cats, rabbits are the third most abundant adoptable pet, with more than 5,500 listed for adoption on Petfinder. Search Petfinder to find some bunnies at a shelter or rescue group near you!

Mary Lempert is the founder and manager of The Rabbit Advocate. She has served as a rabbit behavior and rehabilitation consultant for the House Rabbit Society, House Rabbit Network and the MSPCA in Massachusetts and, most recently, for the Almost Home Humane Society in Lafayette, IN. She lives in West Lafayette, IN, with her rabbits Graysie and Willoughby and any number of foster bunnies.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Bunny stamp kit from Mama Elephant

These are bunny stamps from Mama Elephant. Of course, they have other stamp kits - an incredible number, actually, with many different themes - but this is a bunny blog.


This particular kit ($15) contains 20 stamps (16 images and 4 sentiments). The stamps are not wood but clear, so you can stamp the rabbit and then add whatever "adornments" you want. They also have a wide selection of ink colors.

I went to order the bunnies but they were sold out! However, you can enter your email address so that you are notified when they are back in stock. They were on the Today Show this morning and if you enter the code TODAYSHOW, you get 10% off your entire purchase!

Oh, and here's their Facebook page.

P.S. If people want to buy kids a bunny for Easter - this is the bunny they should get to play with, not a live one!

Friday, February 21, 2014

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Bunny Care: Battling Bunny Boredom

A recent message to the RR Facebook page about a pooky bunny generated the idea for this topic. There may be several reasons for a pooky (unhappy) bunny, including:
Illness (Here's a post about monitoring your bunny's mood as a hint to illness)
Improper diet (Here's a post that about diet and treats)
Too small cage or pen
Insufficient exercise time
Insufficient socialization
and
Bunny Boredom

Bored bunnies can be destructive bunnies (bunny proof their area). Some different types of toys that your bunny may find entertaining...

Here are some big, crawl-inside type toys. Both are all natural and completely chewable. We have had these toys or ones like them before. Eventually, they will chew them into almost nothing - you throw away the scraps and get a new one.

As you can see, just by arranging them to take a picture, the bunnies got interested in them. Everyone had to come over to chin it, chew it or run through it. We have a couple of others not as new as these that the bunnies also chew; one is in the shape of an A-frame and the other is a little stick house.


Lucy - chin, chew and through


























    By the way, touching on the socialization issue, playing with your bunny - every day - is one was to make them happy. Bunnies are very social little animals, which is why a bonded pair can be great. Just by my showing interest in their toys, they had to come over and engage.

They live in a 7'x7' pen but free range a much larger area when a human is home. Another way to combat bunny boredom is to have some toys, boxes, tubes and habitats inside their living quarters and others in their free-range area. Every once in a while, switch some of those things, so their environment evolves a little and gives them something different to explore. Of course, they may have core favorites (in our case, their elevated bed from The Blissful Bunny) that are always in their pen for them.

Here are a selection of their different wooden chew toys. Many of them have little bells. A baby's teething key ring (hard plastic) is another toy a bunny may like. Many of these toys were purchased from the GHRS Hop Shop, so your bunnies get toys and you help support the rescue of other bunnies. (And here's a link to The Blissful Bunny's Etsy store).


(This post is about the bunnies' Einstein toy.)

The bunnies will roll these or pick them up, rear up like Silver (from The Lone Ranger) and toss them around. One of these is simply the ring to a mason jar; they love it.
 
The old stand-by, a paper towel tube (the "ABC" one is on the left, Already Been Chewed). Save the cardboard from toilet paper rolls, too. (Here's a post about stuffing the TP tube with hay.)

Give your bunny things to entertain and to play with. Engage your bunny. Rabbits are crepuscular, primarily active during twilight (dawn and dusk), so be sure they have time to play and run around every morning and evening (in total, at least 3-4 hours every day during these times).

P.S. Kat, in the comments, reminded me of another tool to battle boredom, a digging box. A post about our first one is here. Their funhouse also has a digging room (see Ethel in it here).

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Bunny swarm!

On a small Japanese island (Okunoshima) somewhere in the Pacific...

[The original video that was embedded here was taken down, so here's another. If this one fails, then go to YouTube and enter this in the search engine: Stampeding rabbits chase after woman. The result should be several videos, at least some of which should work.]



Interesting that semi-wild bunnies also come to the sound of a human crinkling a treat bag. Must be ingrained in their DNA from caveman days.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Rescue of abandoned rabbits by H.A.R.E.

How many times do we have to say it people:

PLEASE do NOT release a domestic rabbit outside into the "wild" Domestic pet rabbits do not have the coping skills of wild rabbits to find water or food, avoid predators and parasites, or otherwise survive in the wild. This is not re-homing or being kind to your rabbit - it is animal cruelty.


And here's another case, from HARE (one of the RR bunny resource sites):
... eleven of the mangiest, sickest, saddest bunnies I think I've ever seen.
They were dumped in a bushy area behind a parking mall in Hialeah.

As requested by HARE (Houserabbit Adoption, Rescue and Education):
Could you please ... somehow notify your compassionate bunny folk about these bunnies? Not only are we in desperate need of donation $$ for their medication and spay/neuters, but we also need to find them loving forever homes! The best way is to spread the word among good bunny people.

So here's the HARE Facebook page.
Here's the HARE donation page.

Here's a later picture of one of the rescued buns:
Klaus takes a breather after chasing Baxter and Pearl.

There is a page with pictures of the bunnies' progress. The picture above came from near the bottom of that page, i.e., more of an "after" picture than "before". WARNING: Many of these pictures are brutal.
Link is here.

Bunny Survey

This is a survey about having a bunny as a pet, including the circumstances and care of your bunny, your opinions about bunnies as pets and how you feel about your bunny. It is anonymous and there is a separate chance to enter a drawing at the end.



Saturday, February 15, 2014

Bunny's nose is a bunny!

This is Toffe and, to me, Toffe's nose is a bunny silhouette!


Toffe's picture has been added to the Bunny Things page.
And for good measure, it has been submitted to Rabbits Everywhere on Bunspace.
[Thank you, Liv, for posting Toffe's picture on the Rabbit Rambling's Facebook page.]

Friday, February 14, 2014

Monday, February 10, 2014

Bunny Monday Meme*Day (Clueless)


He knows exactly what he's doing:
Being cute.
Providing tech support.
Looking for wires to chew.
Getting in the way so he gets bribed by the human with treats.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Bunny bingo

Bunny bingo - if a bunny poops on your number, you get that number.


Probably has better odds than the lottery.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Bunny proofing - good luck

(Found this wonderful picture on the internet - not our bunnies)
Sure, you "bunny proofed" your home.
Experts know: there is no such thing - bunnies are smart and curious so they will always find a way to make mischief.
But you should still try your best, to protect your stuff and, most importantly, to provide them with a safe environment.

Links to a few of our "fails":
Bunny proof your books
More bunstruction ... the "new" carpet
When bunnies chew carpet
Bunny mischief?

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Couple of bunny cartoons



This guy is hysterical - check out his cartoons (these two just happened to be about bunnies). On his site, you can buy original art, prints, merchandise, greeting cards...

Monday, February 3, 2014