Well, something happened on the 14th December at about 10:30pm that I would never have guessed.

My brother-in-law was organising to pay for and collect a rabbit hutch from a lady on the weekend – he was planning on using the hutch as a Guinea Pig run. The lady messaged him and said:

I ended up chatting with the lady at about 11:30pm and found out that his name was Froggy and he was about 6 months old. He had not been neutered (which is a bit of a pain but I can deal with it). I explained to her that he will have a new bunny family, because I already have 3. I sent her photos of Lunar, Maple, and Buttons and she was relieved that Froggy was going to a loving home and he will have company. We chatted a bit more and she informed me that he loved a warm bath – what does that mean? You’re not supposed to wash a rabbit, they do it themselves.

Now I have to get more plastic – because of him spraying, put him in isolation for a week to check for yuck-bugs, and do all the preliminary checks. And as my Mum said before I got Lunar and Maple, “start all over again”. I also have to organise a neuter right on Christmas. Hopefully the vet will be able to do it without too much delay. The sooner I can get it done, the less time wasted.

I went to the vet/pet shop to get more food for Lunar, Maple and Buttons, and also go to the vet station and ask how much a neuter would be and when they could fit the new bunny in. The vet nurse at the counter was really sweet, and found a time slot for new bunny to be neutered the following day. I was surprised at how fast it was all happening.

I decided that even though it was a bit expensive, it was worth it for two reasons:

1. They deal with rabbits all the time
2. I doubt I’d be able to get him in so soon elsewhere

The vet nurse said that they provide all the medications, after care for the bunny and that’s why it was so expensive. It was going to be between $400 and $500. Then again, that seems to be the going rate lately. I needed to get him done ASAP, so he can be bonded with Buttons sooner rather than later. That means he won’t start spraying! They also made an appointment for the Monday for the after-operation check-up.

I picked him up at midday. Let me say, it was more of a rescue than anything. I’m glad I said yes to him. Even though the people were nice, they were not remorseful at all to see him go. The father, a tall rough-looking fisherman, said to me that he will not miss the rabbit at all. The girl, who clearly just finished Year 12, picked him up from inside the house (I’m guessing her bedroom) and carried him out with one hand around his ribs and the other holding his butt so his back legs were splayed out and toes pointing in all directions. She shoved him into the carry box and I asked her whether she was sad to see him go, she said “No, not really.”

That made me think, are they those type of people, or is he a menace?

I popped him in the car and couldn’t help think about what his life might have been like previously.

New-Bun

So, after his castration, new-bun settled in really well. He was super friendly and cuddly. Now, I have to find a name for him. My niece thought of Dusty, because he is a grey colour. My sister and I were joking and came up with Sir Lancelot because he has a crown of hair between his ears. The vet nurse came up with Theodore. Again, like with naming Lunar and Maple, I’m not sold on any of those names.

I contacted the girl who owned him and asked if she knew when his birthday was, she replied with 7th June. Which is my birthday, too.

Quick! To the Vet

In the morning after his operation, New-bun’s back end was very wet, he had been licking his wound and seemed very uncomfortable. My sister helped me give him his medication, which was a single drop of antibiotic and a drop of painkiller/anti-inflammatory. I had queried the vet nurse about how much a “drop” was, and it was a literal drop. Anyway, New-bun was wet and yuck, so I called the vet and got an appointment for 2:40pm. I rushed him in and the vet checked him over and told me he was really good and that some bunnies have a lot of saliva and it really wets to wound. Apparently, Holland and Mini lops have a lot of saliva, more than other bunny breed. He was fine. Phew. The vet didn’t charge me for that appointment, they classed it as the after-operation visit.

The following day, which of course was a Sunday when the vet was closed, he stopped pooping. Well, he had only pooped a little bit since I got him due to stress, but stopping pooping altogether for 24+ hours is a problem. So, luckily I had kept the appointment for Monday morning, and I had to race him to the vet again. I explained that he wasn’t pooping, but he was eating and peeing. The vet gave him an injection to stop GI status and I had to make a new appointment for the Tuesday morning at 9:40am in case he needs to go in for an operation. He looked sad and sorry for himself for about 2 hours. I decided to give him some Critical Care (10ml) just to keep his gut going. He still wasn’t pooping. Then it happened…

At about 4pm he pooped and pooped!

At about 5pm, I fed him some more Critical Care (10ml). He ate it without any problems.

Mind you, between the times I didn’t feed him he was eating a little bit of hay. I decided to give him the 30ml of Critical Care to make sure he had something in his tummy.

In the morning, he had pooped a lot. I cancelled the vet appointment.

He’s Gonna Eat Me!

New-bun had some interesting personality traits that I’ve heard about but never actually experienced. All of these behaviours amount to one thing, happiness.

When I put my hand in his pen he comes up to sniff my fingers, he then spins around it honking, which is sometimes a mating behaviour, but I doubt it with him. He then takes small bouncy leaps around his cage, then comes back, flicking is ears from side to side, then repeat.

This could mean one of two things:

1. he wants to mate with my hand – but he wouldn’t go away, do binkies, and come back if that was the case. He would honk at my hand everywhere it went.
2. he is playing a game that he made up because he is happy.

I suspect it’s the latter, but I have to wait the month or so after his neuter to see if this behaviour continues. If it does, it’s a personality trait, if it doesn’t he wanted to mate my hand.

It’s a waiting game…

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Naming New-Bun

When I was driving home with new-bun I asked him what he would like to be named. I heard the name Chester. I immediately thought that is not a name I’d pick for a bunny. I mean, look at the names I’ve given my current three.

Over the next couple of weeks we tested out names for new-bun:

• Nigel
• Ian
• Grover
• Terrance
• Johnathan
• Peter

I don’t usually go for super obvious human-esque names, but he seemed to want one.

Because lops have a crown of longer hair between the ears, she wanted to go with something royal, like “sir” something. I thought that was a good idea, so we came up with names like:

• Lancelot
• Gallihad
• Artimus
• Arimus
• Athos
• Porthos
• Dartagnan

But they didn’t suit him. He is soft and fluffy. His hair feels like silk. What can we name him?

It came full circle, when we all came up with Chester. I hadn’t told my sister about him wanting to be called Chester in the car on the way home. I only told her that once she came up with the name.

His name is: Sir Shnookums “Chester”field.