Meet the rabbits!

[hrl20100]

I think i'll just make a thread for all the rabbits, as I never update Monty's thread and Shadow doesn't even have a thread, and Bella is new! So...

Shadow:
Shadow is a 4 year old, blue mini lop (though I really think he's got some Netherland Dwarf in him) who is such a sweet boy. I got him from my friend'd family who used to breed rabbits, and when they decided to stop breeding, they let me have him. In typical breeding situations, he was kept in a tiny hutch (not even 3ft long...) and was only let out for breeding. This was for the first 8 months of his life, and I think it has mentally affected him. He will run laps round the cage, which is a typical behaviour of rabbits that are kept in confined spaces. Its also common in intact males, which he is. Despite this, he is the most loving rabbit I have ever met (sometimes a bit too loving if you get what i'm saying!) I need to get him neutered so hopefully he can get a cute girlfriend to live with happily. He is now in a 6ft hutch which he loves, full of enrichment and he gets regular time in the run, which again, he loves! Cat tunnels are his favourite thing, along with walking around the garden in his little harness. Because of his incredibly high energy levels, he is very difficult to take photos of! So I can't guarantee that I will show you good quality photos, as not even dad's camera can keep up with him!




Monty
Most of you already know Monty's story, but I will quickly recap for those of you who don't know it or want a reminder. I found Monty by accident, I was just browsing gumtree when I see an advert literally describing my dream rabbit. 'Sooty fawn, Mini Lop, Buck' Instantly I had to check out the advert and messaged the owner asking if he was still available. After a few anxious days of waiting she finally replied and I went to view him. The lady was lovely and she seemed to really care about where he was going. She explained to me that she just didnt have the time for him anymore (she had a few more bunnies, but she wanted to keep those ones) But he was living outside in one of the worst hutches I have ever seen. It was November, so the weather was getting wet, cold and horrible, and he had no hay at all, no straw to keep him warm, just a thin layer of wood shavings in a tiny hutch that was literally falling apart. The roof was coming down and it looked awfully damp and cold in there. He needed cleaning out-badly and had an empty, green algae stained water bottle and a very small empty food bowl. He looked in good health, but was very bored, just sat at the front of the cage looking out at all the bright green grass outside. The lady who owned him had young children who she let handle him a lot, so he is nice to hold and loves all the attention! When I lived at dad's he was a house rabbit and lived in my room with me, but now FINALLY he has his nice big hutch outside. Its not 6ft long, its 5 and a half ft long, but its very well made so was worth the £180 I paid for it! He loves it so that's all that really matters to me! The plan is for him and Bella to get neutered in the middle of July (when Bella is old enough) and they will eventually live together.




Bella
I bought my boyfriend Bella as a 21st birthday present. Ever since I got Monty, he has been wanting a house rabbit. Now we always somehow end up in pet shops and we went into Jolleys one day and he fell in love with 2 of the rabbits that were there. We came back to see them again the next day, and one of them had gone. That left 5 rabbits, and 2 that he really liked. One was Bella and the other was a black rex buck. Later that day I went over to my dad's house to pick up the indoor cage-just in case it was needed! Sure enough, the next day, we ended up going back in again! 3 days in a row!! This time we were in there for 2 whole hours while he decided if he wanted to get one or not. It took him 2 whole hours to pick between the two, but in the end he chose Bella. In the petshop she seemed very shy. The first day we went in, we didnt notice her! Turns out she was hiding under a log bridge that was in the cage. Unlike the little rex, she wouldn't come over to see us and she was more interested in lying down in the hay. But she was beautiful and he fell in love with her. As soon as he asked to hold her, that was it, I bought her for him. And... she is not shy anymore! In fact, she's a hyper pain in the ass! Absolutely loves running around our little room, binkies like crazy! She loves going outside for a run around in the grass too, like shadow, she loves tunnels! She is also very food motivated. Whenever I shake the treat box she comes running over! She has come so far in such a short space of time, and I think he made the right choice in choosing her. She just loves everyone! (and loves to chew shoes and carpet!)
I think she's around 10 weeks old at the moment, and we got her on the 19th of May 2016.



And for those of you who may be thinking this, no she is not a replacement for Sooty (very old rabbit, 11 years old, who passed away not long ago). I could never replace an animal, it just so happens that my boyfriend fell in love with Bella, near the time of Sooty's passing away (not after)

[Thin Lizzy]

Oh heck! I shouldn't have clicked on this thread, cuteness overload! Such beauties. OMG! I'm besotted with Monty. Just look at him, that last pic he looks like he's smiling.
You don't need to explain yourself over Bella, each rabbit is different. I know how much you loved Sooty.

[spacebyte]

They're so cute! I love bunnies! My flat would be full of them if it wasn't.. a flat!
I had a black/blue mini lop and shadow looks a little different from him, so maybe he does have some Netherland in him - mines was a bit of a different shape, and kind of larger, though only ever had one ear lopped and looked a little ridiculous..
They all look so sweet! I'm glad you can take such good care of them, they're amazing pets And it's really lovely when they can live together as friends- I had a male and female rabbit and they just spent their days in the garden grooming one another and playing in the plants!

[hrl20100]

Originally Posted by Thin Lizzy

Oh heck! I shouldn't have clicked on this thread, cuteness overload! Such beauties. OMG! I'm besotted with Monty. Just look at him, that last pic he looks like he's smiling.
You don't need to explain yourself over Bella, each rabbit is different. I know how much you loved Sooty.

Thankyou!
You can see why I just HAD to have monty then, i see! He is my dream rabbit, i just had to have him!
I explained about Bella (even though she isn't mine) because i know that some people do think and wonder if certain animals are replacements for others. I could never replace an animal. Only provide the same love I could give the other animals!

Originally Posted by spacebyte

They're so cute! I love bunnies! My flat would be full of them if it wasn't.. a flat!
I had a black/blue mini lop and shadow looks a little different from him, so maybe he does have some Netherland in him - mines was a bit of a different shape, and kind of larger, though only ever had one ear lopped and looked a little ridiculous..
They all look so sweet! I'm glad you can take such good care of them, they're amazing pets And it's really lovely when they can live together as friends- I had a male and female rabbit and they just spent their days in the garden grooming one another and playing in the plants!

Yeah shadow should look like monty, regarding his shape and size. Its common for some lops ears not to lop, but shadows are certainly a lot shorter than they should be if he was a purebred mini lop. He is the same size as a netherland dwarf and has similar ear size. His face should be a lot squarer and more squished if he was a purebred. Whatever he is, i love him so much!

The family I got shadow from actually have a female netherland dwarf (probably a cross as she's from petsathome) and they don't want her anymore as she is very hormonal and is a biter. I will happily take her on. I would love to get her spayed and settled in a nice spacious hutch, and hopefully she'll go to live with Shadow eventually. But time will tell, they say i am welcome to her when I have the money to get her spayed.

[hrl20100]

I'm doing something that I will probably end up regretting as I have so many animals already... But I am in the process of rescuing another rabbit...

I was on facebook the other day and came across an advert. Someone was selling both of their rabbits and the only photo she attached was one of them sitting in their hutch. But it was from a distance so you could clearly see the whole hutch and not much of the rabbits at all. Instantly I was drawn to the advert...

It just reminded me of Monty's situation all over again! Two rabbits, one on each level of the hutch. Just sitting there looking bored and miserable. The hutch looked handmade and can't have been any larger than 3ft long and they looked so cramped and miserable.

There were lots of comments on the post saying how she could contact a rescue. One lady actually asked if they had homes yet. So I messaged her asking if she wanted to save one and I save the other (as I have no space for two more rabbits, only the one) and we decided to work together to get the rabbits out of the horrible situation.

She went out there today and collected them both, along with another one that wasn't advertised! Turns out that one was also in a terrible hutch as well. I have been told that all the rabbits are in need of a good brushing off as one in particular is rather matted. However, they are all in good hands at the moment! I will be collecting one of them during the week and I will update you all on how it goes.

After knowing how monty was in his situation, I just couldn't not try and help out these bunnies! He was in a tiny hutch and then as soon as he was put in his new large cage with lots of enrichment, he was like a completely different animal! I hope I can do the same this time around too!

[freyashamsters]

Lovely that you rescued a new bunny! Doesn't sound like they were in a good situation at all before and it really was amazing of you both to save them

[hrl20100]

The lady who collected them has given me a little update:
They are eating well but they are pretty underweight. She asked the old owner if she had any food so we could slowly change the food over rather than doing it suddenly. Turns out she'd actually ran out of food for them so they had none.

I just can't wait to pick up my boy so we can start getting him up to weight and happy and healthy!

[Thin Lizzy]

You are a wonderful person, a heart of gold! I'm so looking forward to hearing about him once he's settled in and he'll be glowing health wise very soon.

[hrl20100]

Originally Posted by Thin Lizzy

You are a wonderful person, a heart of gold! I'm so looking forward to hearing about him once he's settled in and he'll be glowing health wise very soon.

Thankyou Lizzy!!
I can't wait to get him home and all settled in! We are picking him up tomorrow at 1pm. So excited! I hope i'll be able to see the other two rabbits saved from the same situation too.

[hrl20100]

So I went and picked up the rabbit today... He was totally not what I was expecting at all! When i got there the lady who i was working with to get the bunnies out of the situation told me that all the rabbits were huge! Not the mini lops or dwarf lops that she expected to collect! (We assumed thats what they would be as they are most common lopped breeds around here)

Then I saw them. All 3 of them were massive! I had on my hand a giant rabbit-known as the french lop! The lady i picked him up from was lovely, so kind and clearly rabbit mad, just like me! We had been talking for a few days before i went to pick him up just talking about rabbits. Its nice to know someone as rabbit mad as me!

She told me that he was the one that was in the best condition out of the three. He needs a bit of weight putting on, and a good brush but thats about it. She explained that the even bigger black and white rabbit (who happens to be my one's son) was absolutely covered in matts when she collected him. It was all over his tummy and under his chin so it made him look as if he had a dewlap! Poor thing. Seeing him now thoygh, you honestly couldn't tell! She had done such a good job with him!

Anyway, so we have him home now and while we were setting up the hutch we let him out in the run for a bit. He loved it! Nibbling the grass and hopping around happily :')

Now my hutches are very large (6ft x 2ft x 2ft) and when we put him in it, he made it look tiny!! I think a hutch upgrade is in order asap! We are swapping him and monty over so he is in a slightly smaller hutch (5.5ft) but its 3ft high and 2.5ft deep so he has a little more space. Plus the gap to get into the bedroom section is a lot larger too!

Photos will be coming, but i can't use the internet on my laptop atm as wifi is off! Hopefully it will be back on soon and then i can upload all the lovely photos i have of him!

I have decided to name him Bailey