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." An important story is worth repeating.
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. Our neighbors across the street are very happy to have it for their gardens.
**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 have to mention the wonderful folks at
Small Pet Select. Mama now buys all our timothy hay and pellets from them. We like the second cutting the best. Everything is fresh and tasty and delivered right to our door.
We need the hay for our digestive systems.
Like Sabrina kitty, 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. Also, some bunnies can't tolerate the greens. Like humans, everybunny is different.
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. Some of our bunny friends like a dried cranberry. However, we looooooooooove banana
chips! Love them!
We get one chip, not package, but one individual chip 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 penitentiary. 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 had to give me antibiotics. 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. However, since I have been on them for almost 3 years, my body is resistant to them. Mama's not sure what to do next. She gives me echinacea and dandelion leaves and uses a vaporizer to add moisture to the air in the dry winter. She also says "Thank you God" a lot for watching over me.
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 every 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 digestive
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 who 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 who 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,
seeing 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
