Dead bunny flop!
I just got a call from John. He said he looked in on the bunnies and Cinnamon was doing the dead bunny flop. Her ears were up like Brinco's. I'm glad he finally got to see the cuteness!
The other night, I was giving out salads. Both the bunnies climbed up and stuck both their front legs into the salad bowl. They rooted around and yanked some veggies out, causing salad to fly everywhere. Now if I could only get John to be that enthusiastic about vegetables...
Bunny growl
I have so much to say about my rabbits. I seriously need to start writing this stuff down because I forget half the stuff.
Cinnamon is getting better about the petting. Most of the time when she's laying down, she'll let me pet her without running away. I do the full head pet, pulling her ears back along her back. She
loves having her cheeks petted. Brinco is still only letting me pet him while he's eating.
Today I heard my very first bunny growl. Cinnamon, you see, is a little devil. During salad time, if she finishes her current veggie before Brinco finishes his, she'll reach over and steal it out of his mouth. Usually he just lets her, but today, he tried to get it back, earning a growl from Cinnamon. Like she has any right to get upset with
him. I just gave Brinco a bigger piece of carrot to replace the one Cinnamon stole. And of course she stole
that one later, too.
Yesterday when I got home, Cinnamon was completely dead bunny flopped on the floor. I'd seen her and Brinco laying on their sides before, but not like this. She was sprawled out, eyes squeezed shut, one ear kind of sticking up. So cute! Unfortunately, she woke up before John could see.
This morning, the rabbits were so wild. Brinco loves the door stopper, and keeps pulling it back so that it will make noise. He was also running around the room, leaping high into the air and binkying. He chased Cinnamon around for a good long time, too. Then they sprawled out in the cage, tired. John is home sick today, so they get to be out of the cage all day.
I will get around to posting more pictures, I promise!
More pictures
John took a bunch of good bunny pictures last night. Here are a couple that he sent to me:
Cinnamon caught in the actBrinco looking cuteI accidentally discovered a new game with Cinnamon. If I bat the paper towel tube at her, she'll attack it. Unfortunately, I think she got a little ticked off, because she lunged at my hand. I'm not sure if that was playful or not. She didn't actually bite or growl.
This morning I went to let them out of the cage, and Cinnamon butted her nose against the doors insistently. Every time I took one of the clips off, she tried to get out. When the doors opened, she ran around the room like a spaz. The funny thing is, apart from during the night and while we're at work, the cage doors are open, and the bunnies would rather laze around in the cage.
John and the bunnies
John loves the rabbits. Not that I thought he'd hate them, but I didn't think he'd warm up to them quite so much. He's so cute with them, helping me feed them (of course the litterbox duties are ALL MINE). He got all excited that Cinnamon let him pet her without running away.
I can definitely see a marked difference in their behavior in just the last couple of days. They've never had a problem stretching out and being lazy in their cage, but they haven't done that out of their cage...until yesterday. They flopped out lazily on the carpet, even letting me pet them. They've started grooming each other even more.
I forgot to mention that Gandy met the rabbits on Saturday. We brought her into the room while they were locked in their cage. She actually seemed a little bit interested in them, once she noticed them. That's pretty unusual for her. Brinco looked a little bit aggressive, but Cinnamon didn't give a crap. We didn't keep her in the room long. We're not ever planning to have them running around together.
We noticed that Brinco pulled up the carpet in the corner. That one's my fault, as I wasn't watching him really closely when he went into that corner. John cleaned up the yarns that Brinco pulled out, and we put a weight on that spot. I'll probably cover it with one of their rugs, too.
Getting settled
The bunnies are still a little skittish around me -- I can't pet them unless they're eating or laying in their cage. I've gotten enough bunny fingers (a "foot flick" that is equivalent to getting flipped off) to set some sort of record. That doesn't stop them from climbing all over me when food is involved, though. Rotten little ingrates.
On Saturday, I thought Brinco was going to bite it. He's normally friendly and active, except during his sleepy time in the afternoon. And always ready to eat. But on Saturday morning, he wasn't interested in pellets, veggies, hay, or even craisins. He just sat listlessly in the cage or in the litterbox. Of course, as soon as I wrote to the HRS about whether or not I should take him to a vet, he woke up, groomed, and started in on the remaining pellets, veggies, and hay. The creep. I haven't seen him act all lethargic like that since. Bunnies can get GI stasis from even a few hours without eating something, so that's why I got nervous -- it's not like a dog or cat where you know they're not going to die just from not eating for a day.
Apart from that little scare, the bunnies have been in fine form. Cinnamon chewed a hole in the corner of the cardboard box big enough for her to fit through. She also enjoys eating cardboard. Well, it can't taste any worse than hay.
Cinnamon bit me in a craisin-induced frenzy today, so I called her "Shittamon." I'm the worst bunny owner EVER.
I still love those little brats.
Pictures!
Here are some pictures from Adoption Day at Petco (July 10, 2004):
CinnamonBrincoI have a bunch more pictures of them at our house, but they're on the other PC.
Bunnies' First Day
Cinnamon and Brinco arrived at 6:30PM on July 21st, 2004. Three members of the
MN House Rabbit Society brought them over along with a slew of adoption paperwork.
The first thing Cinnamon did was run out of the carrier and into her cage. She settled underneath the bottom shelf, which has since become her hideout. Brinco, on the other hand, needed a bit more persuading to come out of the carrier. Soon, he too was in the cage, exploring the shelves.
Neither of them were interested in petting, particularly after I trimmed their nails and cleaned their scent glands. I can't really blame them. Although I did try to bribe them with bananas and salad. Brinco seems to be a lot more forgiving and generally laid-back than that spoiled princess, Cinnamon. She can definitely hold a pouty grudge.
The first night introduced a few litterbox issues -- the piece of familiar carpet that we put in the cage was covered in bunny crap the next morning. However, the litterbox habits definitely improved throughout the day -- everything was immaculate. That is, until I changed the litter. Then, this morning, although I found Cinnamon sitting in the litterbox, there were bunny droppings in a pile on that carpet again. I cleaned them up, went to take a shower, and came back to find a new pile in the same spot. I took the hint, and moved a second litterbox into that position. I have a feeling that Brinco is the culprit. I may just have to get a bigger litterbox. Although Joanna did say that the first three days don't count as far as litter training goes. New place and all that. At least they're peeing in the litterbox. Bunny poop is not bad to clean at all.
So I'm currently trying to find out if they don't like the amount of litter I put in when I changed the box, or if they just want it in a different spot. That's what's so fun about animals -- you never know quite what the heck is going on in their brains.
I spent yesterday at home with the bunnies. Brinco spent much of the day sitting on the top shelf (the cage has three shelves), being lazy. Cinnamon stayed squashed under the bottom shelf, sometimes stretching out with her back feet pointing out behind her. She did run the length of the room a few times, leaping high into the air. Brinco, on the other hand, dead bunny flopped on the cage floor for a while.
As for personalities, as I mentioned, Cinnamon is the Queen Bee, complete with attitude and food-stealing. Brinco is more laid-back, but he's definitely whipped. He doesn't like to be petted yet, but he becomes very brave when food is involved, especially craisins. Cinnamon, on the other hand, prefers to take her food through the cage bars, sometimes refusing to take it from us.
It's going to be some work getting them to warm up to us, but I think we've made a good start. Stay tuned for more bunny stuff!
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