It has been a few months since I last wrote.
It is now time to warap it up and end this blog.
It is now time to warap it up and end this blog.
The three baby bucks went to PJ's Petstore in the Pickering Town Centre (at 11 weeks) as we did not have the space, equipment or time to allow each rabbit to have their needs met appropriately, until they found adoptive homes.
For those who do not know, males can sexually mature as early as 12 weeks, so they had to be kept completly seperate from our two females (the mom and sister). In addition, they were starting to get aggressive with each other on occasion (competing for territory) which would only increase as they got older.
If we kept them much longer, we would have had to have a seperate cage for each of the males plus one (or more) for the adults and baby doe. Each baby buck would have had to have seperate "free" time as would the adults and baby doe.
We were concerned with how our youngest son was going to handle the absence of the babies, but thought we would see how he reacted first and go from there. 
Despite the fact that the cage where the three bucks were was gone and I had completely redone the enclosure for the other three (Cuddles, Sugar and baby), it took him THREE days to notice.
Here is the transcript of that conversation.
son - "hey, where are the bunnies?"
me - "behind you in their cage" (I was making dinner and a little distracted)son - "no, the other ones. The baby ones"
me - "they went to their new house"son - "oh"
yep, that was it! until the next day.
son - " I miss the babies" (insert very whiny, tearful, and completely overly dramatic 3 yr old voice here)
me - " Puhl..easeYou did not even notice for three days.
son - "i want a snack" So, that was easy enough, and we thought we were back on easy street.
Nope!
About two weeks later, miss Cuddles started pulling fur, gathering papers, fabric, scraps, whatever she could find. She also dug through the tarp we had as a floor for the enclosure and shredded it and the proceeded to dig a hole about the size of a saucer plate in the carpet underneath. Once I stopped freaking out (no no, no, not another pregnancy?), I gave her a shoe box and put all her nesting materials into it. This settled her down a bit, and she stopped going so crazy collecting fluff. 1. It may take only 2 weeks for the male to heal, post neuturing surgery, it can take up to two months for the hormones to settle and become infertile. A female can still get pregnant up to 2 months later! Yikes, really freaking out now.
2. An unspayed female can have false pregnancies frequently. She does not know the difference and will react as if she is truly pregnant. An episode can be brought on by:a) being around another female rabbit or human (zone in hormones)
b) stimuli to the nether regions (even minor such as grooming or petting)
c) completely random - oh joy!
(we will be getting her spayed as soon as we can afford it - not cheap though)
Much to our relief, it turned out to be a false pregnancy. Good news, yes, but how often is she going to go through this? How often can we handle her going through this? Neither our sanity, nor our belongings can handle the shred everything in sight, slightly crazed, fals preggo personality.
As the enclosure flooring did not work out the way I had hoped, and it was very difficult to clean, I had to once again, redo their enclosure.
1. hoping they would get the idea and use the litter pan, and
2. if they did make a mess, it could be mopped and swept easily.
It was a great thought, and yes, it was easier to clean; however, Sugar and baby kept making messes on the tile. I also had to add a "roof" to the enclosure (baby is a very good jumper and she got out a few times), which then made it very difficult to get the litter pans out and cleaned.
So, yes, you guessed it. I had to tear down and rebuild again! Every time I think "this is the last edition. This time I have perfected it", I end up eating my words.
During this same time, I ended up bringing out the original cages again and separating the bunnies. The adult shared the large cage and the baby had the small one to herself. Cuddles and the baby seemed to be having some difficulty in gettign along together. It seems that unspayed females can also compete fr territory, even when related. They did not fight like the males, but they would chase each other in circles within the enclosure. This was not playful chasing full of fun and exercise. This was intense, and energetic, and usually ended with one bunny cowering or hiding.
The baby was also determined NOT to be affectionate with any of us, and hissed and clawed at the kids. We made the decision to try and find her a new home without another rabbit or small children (my 3 yr olds noise and activity obviously upset her). My oldest (she was supposed to be his) still had not named her and even he finally announced that she owuld be better off somewhere else. She is a good bunny but was not doing well with the competition and noise in our house.
The females seemed to be getting along better. there was still some chasing, but not as intense. Instead of cowering, it usually ended with them all just laying down or eating together. In the weeks to follow, the bunnies were getting better with sharing the enclosure, and as long as I cleaned the cage thoroughly, at least once a week (there are three litter boxes and they cover the entire floor of the cage), they are all better with keeping the messes inside.
In the last two weeks, the baby has become more affectionate. She still does not like to be picked up and often shies away if you approach her; however, she has started to approach us. She will nuzzle your foot or ankle, and jump up on the couch for a minute or two of petting. No where near the affectionate nature of her mother, but it is an improvement.
Last week, my son finally named her. Out of the blue, he decided that she should no longer be called baby, and he has started to allow her in his room when he is there.
I took the adoption ads down. It looks like Sophie (previously known as baby) is going to stay after all.
Oh, and Cuddles is shredding paper and collecting fluff again. Oh well, at least this time, I'm not going to panic. It makes me so very glad that I have sons. I'm having enough trouble dealing with the bunnies hormones, I do not think I could handle a teenage daughter's hormones.
Well, that's it for me. The bunnies are no longer babies and one can only ramble on for so long. Thank you for sharing this journey with me.
I hope that you have enjoyed the stories an dpictures, and perhaps even learned a thing or two.
Until our next adventure, take care, and keep smiling :)
The Barmy Bunny Broad
