I’ve moved recently and my house is in disarray. Right now, my two bunnies, Juju and Ginger are in the basement in a very large, closed off pen. I’m also fostering another bunny, Bunji and she’s in a NIC condo that Joey and I had built.
At this point, I’m wrestling with what to do in the long-term with the bunnies’ living arrangement. In the past, all the bunnies resided in the kitchen. I could see them every time I went in there for a drink or just passing by on my way to the bathroom. Now, I have to make deliberate trips to the basement to see them.
I know I miss them and I would want to see them all the time. However, I don’t know if I want to have them come upstairs, possibly live in the sunroom and basically lose a whole room to them. On the flip side, I don’t know if they’re happier being with humans or having some distance away from us. I wish I could ask them what they prefer, instead, my heart breaks a little every night when I go downstairs to feed them vegetables and I have to walk back upstairs, leaving them in the basement.
I suppose I imagine it to be a dungeon (even though it’s huge, well ventilated and well-lit). Joey on the other hand says it’s a step up for them because in the wild, they would be hunted and afraid for their lives all the time. With us, in the basement, they’re safe and well fed. I guess it all comes down to whether living means simply survival or something more. That’s a question we all have to wrestle with – bunnies or humans.
Here she is, our new foster bunny. I picked Bunji up from Suzanne’s house in Wilmington in order to free up some cage space in Suzanne’s house for bunnies that are ready to be adopted.
Bunji is not yet ready to be adopted because she’s too young and also because she hasn’t been spayed yet.
Bunji arrived at HRN on June 28th after being rescued from the wild in Attleboro. She was a stray and approximately 4 months old right now.
This is the first baby bunny I’ve had and fostered so I’m quite nervous about her development. She’s very lean, long and muscular right now because she hasn’t put on her full weight yet. She should be a good 7-lbs when she’s fully grown.
For now, she’s resting comfortably on the 2nd floor apartment of Ginger and Juju’s condo. She settled in very quickly – laying down, eating hay and pooping. Bunji seems to have very good litter box habits already (more than I can say for Ginger). She’s also got a ferocious appetite apparently when I saw her devour an entire bowl of veggies in less than 1/2 a hour.
We’re going to be keeping Bunji around for 2 months when she’ll be ready to be spayed. Then Bunji will be ready for adoption and will go on the HRN site.
There’s this great game over at Kongregate called Bunni: How we first met. It’s so cute (and addictive)!
Last weekend, Bao Bao was adopted from our home. I was away in New York and didn’t get a chance to say goodbye and it made me really sad.
When Bao Bao first came to us, she was not well because she was in statis from being in the cold for 2 days. After getting her back to a healthy state and showing her the right foods to eat and a comfy condo to sleep in – we developed a bond. She started to trust me while I have always loved her.
Nevertheless, she had to be adopted out to a more permenant home. She needed a mate and she needed more time to run around. It was heartbreaking for me but I’ve learned that to do the right thing, sometimes involves heartbreak.
Today, I got a chance to go visit her in her new home. She’s (hopefully) going to be bonded with a 3-yr old black dutch named Piglet.
When Joey and I first adopted Ginger, we broke the first rule of bunny bonding – we never introduce our existing bunny, JuJu, to Ginger before we adopted Ginger. The danger in not having them meet first is that the two bunnies might not get along and they might be unbondable together. Luckily for us, Juju and Ginger bonded (although not easily).
Yesterday, our foster bun Bao Bao had her first date. A gentleman caller named Brownie came to visit. The parents supervised of course but it went extremely well.
Here are some picture.
Bao Bao was very curious about Brownie. In the first 5 minutes of the date, she actually went over and groomed his ears. That’s an excellent sign!
Then we smooched them together.
Bao Bao and Brownie both groomed themselves while on the date. This was also an excellent sign that they can be bonded with each other because it shows that they’re comfortable with each other enough to let their guard down and wash.
Ginger wanted to be special too…so she got a hat.
