Happy New Year! (and some bunny care and human care)

New Year's reminder from the humans:

Bunnies do NOT like fireworks.

It stresses them just like other sudden and/or loud noises.

If your bunny's neighborhood is firecracker noisy, keep the buns cool and quiet.
Close the windows and doors.

If needed to "cover" firecracker noise, play music - peaceful, easy listening (not loud).

Think elevator music. No hair bands or hare bands. Stay away from 1812 Overture.
Your TV service might even have a suitable channel in its lineup - you just never tune to those channels.

If you do not already have boxes for them to play on and in, get some plain cardboard boxes (not slick or a lot of ink/color; no staples, labels or tape). Cut at least two openings in each box big enough for your bunny to get in and out ... they can hide in them, to further mute the noise and feel a little safer.

Keep them company and reassure them that everything's okay. Pet them if they are the petting kind of bunnies. Have a couple of healthy treats handy (Bunya told me to say that).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi there. Bunya here.

First, Lucy & Ethel and I want to wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Please be careful in your celebrations.
If you drink, don't drive.
We don't have anything against moderate imbibing ... the humans don't know it but we always ferment a little carrot juice to celebrate, too. But we are staying home to celebrate. We hate cars.

Even if you don't drink, be careful driving, because not everyone is as smart as you.
Don't text while driving either. Just concentrate.

Also, be kind to each other next year. And beyond.
Be kind to all pets and animals, too. (But especially bunnies.)

Have fun & be safe!

Funny Bunny Monday Meme*day

The disapproval is strong with this one!

Funny Bunny Memes accumulated here.

Wishing you a very bunny Christmas!!!

One of my all-time favorite bunny pictures, my standard Christmas bun - and it's not even our bunny!

*Sigh*  Okay, Mom, I'll pose because it makes you so happy and,
after all, I am so darn cute.

This is Mr Cookie, one of the cutest bunnies ever and my way of wishing everyone a joyous, happy and safe holiday! Hope Santa Paws bring you what you want and what you need.

Funny Bunny Monday Meme*day (with a message)

Adopt - don't shop.

Whether you like bunnies, cats, dogs or other pets, please adopt them from a shelter. So many animals need a loving home to care for them and turn their lives around.

Please do not give pets as gifts. This can lead to more neglected, mistreated or ignored animals that will be in the shelters a few months after the gift occasion has past. (Example: Rabbit rescues will be flooded after Easter because of impulse purchases. The same thing happens with puppies at Christmas.)

If you are charitably inclined, please donate a portion of your generosity to an animal rescue. They are often struggling and no gift is too small. Donations add up and any amount is greatly appreciated.

You can donate to the House Rabbit Society (HRS) here.
You can donate to the Georgia chapter of HRS here or via their Facebook page here.

Funny Bunny Monday Meme*day ("the regularly scheduled one")

Flowchart found at Bipolar Bunny

Please adopt your bunnies.

Bunny care: Build your bunnies a warren

One way to fight bunny boredom is to construct things for your bunnies to chew on and play in; if you don't, they will find things themselves. Cardboard boxes are great hidey places for your buns. You can make them more interesting by grouping them.

Having bunnies has changed my Costco shopping habits. In addition to buying mass quantities of vinegar (for cleaning their litter boxes), it has changed the way I select boxes to pack up purchases. The best boxes are "plain" brown cardboard, with no waxy surfaces and as little ink as possible. Then you start prepping them...

Remove all the tape.
(Keep boxes closed by the classic flap fold in sequence,
with the last (#4) folding under the first flap.)

Note: The bunnies' interest may
be piqued before you are finished.

Continuing with box prep:
Remove all labels.
There were no staples in these,
but if there are, get rid of those, too.

After label removal.
(The little stragglers were removed, too.)

For really stubborn labels,
well - here's a window!
(Used the cut-out as a template for sizing other doors)

Bunya has not lost interest yet.

Cut out a door in the side of one box and another door in the side of another box.
Leave the flaps attached. Fold the door flap of one box
into the other box and vice versa.
This will provide a loose connection and
allow the bunnies to run from one box to another.

Even if a door is not use as a connector, leave the flap on.
It gives the bunnies something else to chew.

Attach a series of boxes.
(Could also do this in different arrangements, e.g., an "L" shape.)

Lucy inspects the finished product. Bunya is already inside
and he is chewing away - very loudly.

Miss Ethel always loves the high ground.

As noted above, the bunnies like to chew the door/window flaps.

So be on the lookout for good bunny boxes. Do not construct anything higher than a height from which they can safely jump to the floor. In the case of one large relatively flat box we had, we used a smaller box in the middle as a pillar/support for the top of the box so they wouldn't fall in between the top flaps if they walked on the top. Which they did (walk, not fall). The "inside" box also had doors and they would hop inside it to chew. So it was a bun in a box in a box.

Here's another post about Battling Bunny Boredom.

Rabbit Ramblings is 4 years old!

A few musings on our fourth anniversary ...

THANK YOU!

Thank you to all the fans of the Rabbit Ramblings Facebook page. It has become its own blog. While there's usually a link to any new posts here, it has many of its own cute bunny posts, alerts, news items and more. And as far as "reach", it seems to reach what took this blog four years (about 425,000 pageviews) -- around every couple of months or so.

Thanks to Bunya, Lucy & Ethel for making our lives so entertaining.
Thanks to our daughter who smuggled Bunya into our basement.
Thanks to our son who suggested I start a blog.
Thanks to our other son, who mocks me as totally nuts and whose laugh as he's seen something that amuses him on the blog is a joy to hear as he says:
         Just to be clear, Dad, I am laughing at you, not with you.
         [He means it and he is not alone.]
Thanks to my sisters who, before this blog, probably never realized how many Bunny Things cross their paths almost every day.
Thank you to all you bunny fans out there who are members, followers, subscribers and especially, the commenters.
Thanks to Dr. Mrs. Bunnymom, my partner in life, bunny crime and bunny care.

A few RR statistics:
Bunny Things: Over 400??? (especially counting links to posts with Bunny Things too numerous to list one by one on the page)
Posts: Over 1,100
Comments: Almost 2,000
Pageviews - all time: About 425,000
Countries we noticed making those pageviews: 120
Facebook "Likes": Over 7,800
Please "Like" Rabbit Ramblings on Facebook! Thank you! 

Wishes for the next New Year:

Healthy bunnies (or other rescued pets) for all of us
Greater capacity at HRS and all animal rescues - but not the need for it
Whirled peas - Tolerance among humankind, joint efforts to repair the world, good health and prosperity for all

We hope to see more of you next year!

Happy Chanukah!

To those who celebrate, Happy Chanukah!

Festival of Lights Bunny products by artist Penny Collins are available HERE

My favorite bunny breed: RESCUED

Sound on.
Grab some tissues...

Funny Bunny Monday Meme*day

'Nuff said.

Yet another bunny-human look-a-like

Another proposed doppelganger was voted up from the Rabbit Ramblings Facebook page. It has been added to the RR blog doppelganger page.

Jason from the Friday the 13th movies

Bunny care: Teeth

"I am bunny - hear me ROAR!"

You need to be on the alert as to when your bunny may not be feeling well. Part of this is knowing your bunny's personality, so you can tell when something is not quite right. Bunnies can get deathly ill very quickly. It's been posted before but is worth repeating: Bunnies are prey animals. They instinctively know that predators seek the weakest. Therefore, a sick bunny will expend all his energy trying to keep up the appearance of being a healthy rabbit. When they finally give in, they can go downhill rapidly. Here is a post with more about how to "Monitor your bunny's mood".

Some basic "healthy" signs include if they are:
1. Eating - remember that hay is the largest part of a bunny's diet, over 80%.
2. Drinking - a heavy crock type bowl that they can't tip over may encourage the bunny to drink more than a drip bottle. Plus, it's easier to keep the water fresh (fresh water at least daily). Here's a picture of this bowl.
3. Pooping and peeing normally, i.e., the usual round pellets (not runny or pinpoint small) and pee (e.g., you don't want to see white pee that may indicate the bunny is not getting enough to drink).

One reason a bunny may not be eating normally or eating slowly is pain in their teeth. Bunny teeth grow constantly and they have to wear them down by eating healthy and chewing your wood furniture and baseboards. There can be several misalignment problems with teeth; the cause might be congenital or it may be from an injury or infection.

When teeth do not line up correctly and are not treated, they may grow into the bunny's cheeks or gums. Even with the right diet and chew toys, it can happen. Some bunnies will need to have their teeth trimmed (or, in extreme cases, some may be removed). Checking your bunnies teeth should be part of a regular rabbit-savvy ("exotics") vet examination. Take your bunnies to the vet for at least an annual check-up and right away if you suspect any problem due to changes in their behavior or mood.

For more information, read this article from HRS: Oral Health in Rabbits

Funny Bunny Monday Meme*day

Bunya, Lucy & Ethel's (and slipper's) picture found it's way to icanhascheezburger's site a few years back. Then it was selected as one of the top memes for their Year of the Rabbit page. They have a meme-maker page (make up your own caption) with it here. Over 200 so far.

Ethel gets her CPE

A CPA in this state must get required hours of Continuing Professional Education (CPE). No problem... except that 16 of the 80 hours must be in "Auditing & Accounting". Which is a shame if you are not in public accounting and have to waste time and money for something totally unrelated to your work, instead of beneficial knowledge that you can use. [Excuse the vent.]

To maximize the utility of the wasted cost of the course, the materials have been re-purposed (after passing the exam). The bunnies also got some CPE, as illustrated here by Ethel.

This actually works out well. Since there are not really any white pages phone books anymore, this was an even thicker substitute. The subject matter was certainly dry. Luckily, she found the topic tastier than I did. There weren't even any personal injury attorney magnets to remove from the covers. And if the bunnies chew this, they are not chewing something else, like charger cords, electric wires, furniture and baseboards. And we're recycling.

And if she wants, Ethel can sit for the CPA exam next year.

Happy endings all 'round.

Funny Bunny Monday Meme*day

That's why I prefer to count bunnies.