Hoppy Friday - Living with Easter Bunnies

Hoppy Friday! Well we know this is the big Easter weekend. We hope your day is sunny, warm and lots of fun.
 

The bunnies and I decided to repost our story, "Living with Easter Bunnies," from last year. We have lots of new friends here on the blog and thought everybunny might enjoy this story again. There are a few updates to this story which have been added.

From Easter 2013:

Hellooooooooooooooo there! Hoppy Friday to you! Hannah here.

Seeing as Easter is Sunday, Harrington and I wanted to give you a very special peeky into our world and what it means to live with Easter bunnies. Yes, both of us are Easter bunnies. We'll share more on that a little later. First, let's get started with some facts about living with bunnies.

Undeniably, we are adorable, soft, fuzzy, gentle, fragile and loving. You simply can't help yourself. You must fall in love with us. We're bunnies. It happens.

Second, we are very quiet. We don't make much noise at all. We will stomp our back feet if we are upset. You know, just like Thumper in Bambi. Pretty much, we sleep during the day. We are most active at dusk and dawn. This is when we jump and play and run around like little maniacs as Mama always says.

Like cats, we can be litter box trained. Pretty much we will go there on our own. Just add some Carefresh litter to the bottom and a little Timothy Hay on top. We'll hop right in!

 Please don't use that icky pine shaving stuff. It makes our kidneys stop and causes major allergy issues. It's like you sitting in a bucket of Lysol. Yuck. Plus, if you are a gardener, carefresh litter is made from recycled paper. You can empty our litter box into your compost pile for the perfect, natural, fertilizer.

**Doot Disclaimer: Please note that every effort is made to keep "doots" inside the litter box. However; occassionally through no fault of our own, these "doots" hop out of the box onto the floor. They are easily scooped up with dust pan and broom and returned to their proper place in the litter box.

Speaking of hay, it is the most important part of our diet. Timothy hay is what adult bunnies need. We have hay in our litter boxes as well as a big, full basket.

 We need the hay for our digestive systems. Mama get's our hay shipped in from California.

Like cats, we hate to be dirty and we don't need to be bathed. We groom ourselves and each other all day long.

Unlike cats, we can't cough up a hairball. Bunnies can't vomit. So, in order to get the hair out of our system, we must have the fiber in the hay so we can poop out the hair.

We also need fresh greens. Our favorite is the 5 lettuce blend. We get a giant salad plate of this every morning. Not all greens are good for us though. Spinach in large quantities can be toxic.

We also get 1/4 cup of Timothy based pellets. These are quite yummy and we wish Mama would let us have more, but we know we'll be fat little bunnies if we do.

Like most humans, bunnies have a sweet tooth. We will eat tons and tons of bad things if you let us. Mama doesn't eat junk food and she doesn't let us have it either. The above Fiesta mix is naughty.
Eating any kind of pellets with seeds, nuts and other items is the same as a human eating fast food every single day. Don't do it. Stick to simple Timothy hay based pellets. Be healthy!

We are allowed to have one snack per day. Baby carrots are a good snack. We could each have one half of one. However, we looooooooooove banana chips! Love them!

We get two chips, not packages, but two individual chips per day. All natural and healthy.
Outside of that, we have plenty of fresh water. We prefer to drink from a dish rather than a bottle.

Bunnies are natural chewers and diggers. Like children, we also get bored very easily and need things to change around. The boxes that our hay is shipped in can be turned into fun new condos.

We enjoy redecorating them and adding more windows and doors.

For a long time we were allowed to run free in the Bunnyville studio. That is until we started chewing everything that stood still.

I was particularly thrilled with the taste of baseboard moulding.

Harrington enjoyed the flavor of furniture.

Mama...well let's just say she had a major fit and decided we needed to go to the peniteniary. Now Mama isn't one to shove pets out in the yard and forget about them. She loves all God's creatures and believes if you're going to have anything in this world, you should take care of it properly. Plus, bunnies are very social animals and enjoy the company of each other and humans. Nobunny wants to be lonely.

That being said, she got us a playpen system. However; since we are also her employee's, we told her we wanted a large corner office in Bunnyville. Mama also believes in taking good care of her employees. She got us three playpens and a really nice rug so we wouldn't slip around. The rug is made from sisal, so it is ok if we chew it. Jute rugs are also good. Bunnies tend to eat regular carpets and those fibers won't pass through our digestive tracks. This causes blockage, which then causes death.

We come out daily to run around and play, but she's always keeping an eye on us so we don't chew things up. 

Hannah, that's not a good hiding spot. I'm pretty sure Mama can still see you.

Unlike dogs and cats, we don't have to have yearly shots and checkups.   This is a good thing as regular vets cannot treat us. We are considered "exotic" pets. Mama drives 2 1/2 hours one way if we need a doctor. We have also been spayed and neutured by these special vets. It keeps us healthy and keeps lots of bunnies from appearing. ;) These special vets are very expensive. Mama has had lots of bunnies over the years. Her cheapest vet bill was $450. Her most expensive was $3,500.

**Note** Our bunny friend, Wendy, of  The Crafters Apprentice, in the UK informed us that bunnies in her country need shots 3 times per year to prevent various diseases that affect bunnies there. Please check with the vets in your country to see what is required. You can also hop over and visit Wendy for further information.

Also, I now have an incurable disease called Pasteurella. It's like I have a chronic sinus infection. Mama has to give me antibiotics every week for two weeks. Then I get a three week break and we start again. I hate it and Mama is sad giving it to me. It's also very expensive. It costs Mama almost $200.00 for each round of antibiotics.
 
Bunnies teeth grow like fingernails. Yep, they grow! Most of the time we wear the teeth down with chewing on hay and eating. But sometimes, they have to be shaved down by a bunny savy vet. Our cousin, Mickey has to have this done almost evey month.

Glad we don't have to go to the vet. Getting our toenails trimmed by Mama is bad enough.

Unlike our "Wild Hare" friends, domestic bunnies can live up to 10 years. Some of our bunny friends have lived beyond that. Domestic bunnies like us cannot survive in the wild. We don't know what to do and our disgestive systems are different. Likewise, while it might be possible, it is very rare for a wild bunny to survive as a house bunny.  If a bunny becomes very scared, it can give itself a heart attack.

So, there you have some basic facts about what it's like to live with Easter bunnies. Oh yes, now onto the Easter bunny part.

Harrington and I were both purchased from a pet store as Easter presents for children. While we were loved and got lots of attention when we were babies, for some reason, as we got older the children no longer wanted us and the parents were too tired from everything else in their lives to take care of us.

Maybe it was because I got to be a big bunny and I shed. (Mama say's I'm her official dust bunny.)

Maybe it was because Harrington has a wonky ear.

Luckily, we were given to a lady that runs a rabbit rescue. If we would have been turned loose into the wild, we would have died. Again, we are domestic bunnies and we don't know how to camp.

What's even more lucky for us is Mama. All the bunnies she has had came from rescues. She never knows what she's going to get or how long we will be around or what kind of health issue we may have. All she knows is she let's her heart guide her. Mama has loved bunnies since she was six years old. Mama has friends all over the country that rescue bunnies and work in rabbit rescues. One of her most wonderful friends is our Auntie Christina. Auntie Christina is really an angel in disguise.

Mama doesn't care that we are messy and have parties and throw hay and paper all over the place, or that she has to vacuum three times a week to get our fur up from the floor.

All she says every single day is that she is truly blessed to have us. We bring her joy, we bring her love, we bring her inspiration. We are precious little creatures that hopped into her life. The best part of her day is seeing our faces in the morning, watching us dance around for treats,

 see us flop on the floor in crazy positions and watching us sleep.

So, now that you know some facts about what it's like to live with Easter bunnies, we would like you to consider this.

When choosing the bunny for your basket this year, if you decide to make it a real bunny instead of a chocolate or toy bunny, would you please consider visiting a rescue and adopting a bunny from Easters past? There are lots and lots of us out there just waiting for you to find us and love us and share your life with us.

In return, we will melt your heart.

Thank you and we love you. Happy Easter.

xx,
Harrington and Hannah, the Easter Bunnies