DogCatMom
Well-known member
Well, at last I have a rabbit! I adopted him yesterday, September 28 (Saturday), in Sacramento. He's either an American or Giant Chinchilla, gray with some white undercoat when I pet the coat backwards, and very sweet: he was eating hay from my hands very gently at the "adoption event" and later here at the house. I also offered him freshly picked parsley here at home and it was fun to watch him make it disappear--DH said it was like watching paper disappear into a shredder. 
He loves being brushed; hates having his nails clipped--I assisted with the nail clipping yesterday afternoon.
He was originally identified on the Sacramento Animal Shelter's website as "Flemish Giant," my #2 breed (after Angoras), so he caught my eye. When I found out he wasn't a Flemish, I thought, "Well, let's see what his personality is; the veggies are getting ahead of me and I need the bunny compost NOW." So...I may still be looking for an FG. I think, if I get both of them fairly close together, they'll be new to the same territory? He's also just been in one room of the house. If he and the hypothetical FG don't get along, well...they'll just have to have separate free time in the garden and separate living quarters. C'est la vie.
I'm not sure of Chinchilla's weight yet, which is why I'm not sure which variety of Chinchilla rabbit he may be, if he's a purebred at all. He despises being picked up, so my usual "approximating" method of weighing cats won't work: I stand on the scale and get A Number. I hold the animal and get A New Number. The difference, within a pound, is The Animal's Weight. If I need an exact weight, I drive the animal to the vet in a carrier and let the vet techs do it.
Right now, Rabbit is happy in an ex-pen wrapped around a table in my home office. The floor of the ex-pen is bed pads, the kind used for ill people who sweat through their bedclothes (nightgown, pajamas) or have other problems. I amassed quite a collection of these, what with my own surgeries and Dearly Beloved Dog's surgeries (two TPLOs and Wobbler's Syndrome) over the past few years. There's also a litter box with newspaper and hay in it. He seems to be using the box sometimes and the pads the rest of the time. There may be a favorite corner that the box should go into; I'll try it this afternoon, after I buy a shorter ex-pen that fits under the table.
No cage as of now; will hit people up on FreeCycle and see if I get lucky! But first, gotta get a weight on this guy. (And get DH to upload a photo.)
And think of a name. I'm hoping he'll give me clues....these are the clues I have so far:
Konyn, konynje = rabbit, rabbit-ling (Dutch)
Kanin, Kaninchen = rabbit, rabbit-ling (German)
Conejo, conejito = rabbit, little rabbit (Spanish)
Bunny, Rabbit, BunBun, BunRab, etc.
Gray, soft, sweet, gentle, chowhound, hay-fiend, veggie shredder, etc.
I need to see whether he'll accept a walking harness. I have arugula and chard plants that went to seed and now have TONS of new plants popping up everywhere. These are his "assignment." They'll take him a couple of weeks, by which time my fall veggies should be coming in. I'll walk him on my cat-leash and his harness (this style) and we'll hang out in the veggie box until he's eaten approx. a meal's worth of chard and/or arugula (same raised bed). Then back into the house for his well-earned nap!
He loves being brushed; hates having his nails clipped--I assisted with the nail clipping yesterday afternoon.
He was originally identified on the Sacramento Animal Shelter's website as "Flemish Giant," my #2 breed (after Angoras), so he caught my eye. When I found out he wasn't a Flemish, I thought, "Well, let's see what his personality is; the veggies are getting ahead of me and I need the bunny compost NOW." So...I may still be looking for an FG. I think, if I get both of them fairly close together, they'll be new to the same territory? He's also just been in one room of the house. If he and the hypothetical FG don't get along, well...they'll just have to have separate free time in the garden and separate living quarters. C'est la vie.
I'm not sure of Chinchilla's weight yet, which is why I'm not sure which variety of Chinchilla rabbit he may be, if he's a purebred at all. He despises being picked up, so my usual "approximating" method of weighing cats won't work: I stand on the scale and get A Number. I hold the animal and get A New Number. The difference, within a pound, is The Animal's Weight. If I need an exact weight, I drive the animal to the vet in a carrier and let the vet techs do it.
Right now, Rabbit is happy in an ex-pen wrapped around a table in my home office. The floor of the ex-pen is bed pads, the kind used for ill people who sweat through their bedclothes (nightgown, pajamas) or have other problems. I amassed quite a collection of these, what with my own surgeries and Dearly Beloved Dog's surgeries (two TPLOs and Wobbler's Syndrome) over the past few years. There's also a litter box with newspaper and hay in it. He seems to be using the box sometimes and the pads the rest of the time. There may be a favorite corner that the box should go into; I'll try it this afternoon, after I buy a shorter ex-pen that fits under the table.
No cage as of now; will hit people up on FreeCycle and see if I get lucky! But first, gotta get a weight on this guy. (And get DH to upload a photo.)
And think of a name. I'm hoping he'll give me clues....these are the clues I have so far:
Konyn, konynje = rabbit, rabbit-ling (Dutch)
Kanin, Kaninchen = rabbit, rabbit-ling (German)
Conejo, conejito = rabbit, little rabbit (Spanish)
Bunny, Rabbit, BunBun, BunRab, etc.
Gray, soft, sweet, gentle, chowhound, hay-fiend, veggie shredder, etc.
I need to see whether he'll accept a walking harness. I have arugula and chard plants that went to seed and now have TONS of new plants popping up everywhere. These are his "assignment." They'll take him a couple of weeks, by which time my fall veggies should be coming in. I'll walk him on my cat-leash and his harness (this style) and we'll hang out in the veggie box until he's eaten approx. a meal's worth of chard and/or arugula (same raised bed). Then back into the house for his well-earned nap!
