Category: Rabbits

Hello friends. It’s me, Barbara Rabbit, here again. Catch up on my older posts here!

So, I’ve been thinking. I would like a rabbit pet. Not a pet rabbit – I’m a pet rabbit myself. I would like a pet for myself. I know I’m getting a baby human soon and that will be lovely. But I think there are lots of other animals out there that I would enjoy living with as well.

I’ve been trying to think over the advantages to each one and work out which would be best for me. Of course, I doubt my humans will let me have any kind of new animal. They can be so unreasonable at times. I mean, it would only be a bit of extra work for them.

They wouldn’t have to do any of the training. My brother Gingee has learnt to do animal training. He copies what the humans do and he’s taught Ned to keep away from the stairs by doing a little growl and then moving him. It’s very clever.

So honestly, all it would really be would be a bit more cleaning and perhaps some more food and maybe transporting them on a very occasional vet visit. Hardly anything at all, really.

Rabbit Pet Idea 1: A chick

They can fly, you know. I’d be able to train it to fetch me the treats that my parents insist on keeping on high shelves that I can’t reach.

I’ve tried to get Ned and Gingee to do some sort of obstacle course run onto the top of the chest of drawers where the fenugreek cookies live, but they just keep on looking at me as though I’m mad. I can’t imagine why. As young rabbits (they’re only two), I think they should be taking plenty of exercise to keep supple and not develop arthritis like I have. Yes, there’s a bit of risk, but boys are meant to enjoy that!

Also, chicks are really fluffy, so it would be a bit like having another rabbit around. We’d take turns to groom it. And I bet the beak would be useful at times – we could train it to attack if needed!

Rabbit Pet Idea 2: A monkey

Opposable thumbs. Enough said.

I’m only thinking of a small monkey. I wouldn’t want an ape or a gorilla or anything huge like that. But a tiny little monkey that I could train to open doors and food containers for me would be really useful. And I bet they’d be absolutely brilliant at grooming!

They’d probably also be quite good at giving cuddles if I needed them when my humans weren’t available. At times, I do really like cuddles.

However, I think a monkey might be rendered irrelevant by my upcoming human baby. She’ll be able to perform most of the monkey’s tasks, I think.

Rabbit Pet Idea 3: A small pony or miniature horse

I could sit on its back and be a lot faster than my brothers when it ran.

Did you know that rabbits and horses are actually fairly similar? Yes, I know we don’t look at all alike, but our digestive systems are pretty much the same, and we could share our hay.

I’ve even heard that if you can’t find a rabbit specialist vet, you should try and make sure your parents take you to an equine vet if you need some sort of specialist treatment, as they’re more likely to know what to do on you than a cat and dog vet.

Horses and ponies even binky like us bunnies do!

Also, as someone who once lived outside, I think I’d be doing a tiny little horse a really good deed by adopting one and letting it live inside with me. I did not like being outside, so I bet my future tiny horse doesn’t either. Maybe I’ll present it to my parents as a completely altruistic act…

Rabbit Pet Idea 4: A small goat

Yes, I have Ned and he’s pretty much like a little goat.

But think about it: goats are pretty similar to us rabbits. They’re determined and feisty and furry and I hear they have a great sense of humour.

And they’re really destructive and sometimes I’d like some help in trying to dig up the carpet or tear up all the newspaper in the world. A goat could be a really good asset to me there!

The horns do scare me a bit though.

Well, those are my ideas, anyway. Does anybun else have any good suggestions?

Until next time, my long-eared friends!

Barbara Rabbit here again! Check out my previous blogs if you haven’t already – I have some good things to say!

Today I want to talk about a really important topic: how to make sure your humans keep healthy.

As we rabbits know, managing our own health is hard enough. Lots of us have been bred to have very flat faces which can give us breathing or eye problems, we are very susceptible to GI stasis, sometimes washing can be tricky and that can lead to infection… The list goes on and on. Fortunately, there are lots of great rabbit vets out there who can help our humans take care of us.

However, did you know that our humans can also get ill? And, as they take such good care of us, it’s only right that we return the favour!

I try to do little checks on my humans fairly often to encourage them to keep healthy. Here are some of my top tips:

Sleep is important if you want to keep healthy

Personally, I like to sleep for at least 18 hours a day. I’m getting on in years a bit, and it’s important that I get my rest. I think that humans don’t sleep enough.

It’s not always easy to make sure that they get lots of sleep, but there are definitely ways to encourage them.

For example, my mummy is having a human baby. Pregnant rabbits should sleep a lot. So when I first realised what was going on, I made a real effort to lie on the bed with her to encourage her to sleep. I’d pretend to sleep next to her (okay, okay, sometimes I was actually sleeping!) and she’d usually drop off as well.

As a bonus, human beds are usually ridiculously comfortable – have you ever tried one? You might need to get them to lift you up there if you’re less mobile, but oh, the flopping possibilities – look how comfortable I am!

But time your sleep right!

You need a good balance of sleep time and play time, and humans don’t always understand where the boundaries lie.

This morning, I noticed my daddy was sleeping when he really should have been awake. That’s okay – it’s my responsibility to make sure he gets up. I went to peer at him first, and then made some loud noises to ensure that he was definitely awake by the time I was done. I didn’t want him to miss out! After all, it was food time.

My brother Ned sometimes takes a more extreme view on this and will hurl himself into the side of his cage or a wall to make a loud noise. His way looks more painful and I don’t think I want to try it. Thumping works just fine for me, thanks.

Make them problem solve

Humans are quite clever, like us. That’s why I think it’s really important to challenge them sometimes.

Everybun knows the usual tests we put in place for our humans: can I crawl under the bed, is this wire tasty, can I break free of the cage, etc.? But they’re getting wise to those, so we need to think up some new ones!

I’ll share a fun one I tried a few months ago. My brother Gingee had a cat tree that he used to climb up. We were running round the room and I decided I’d try something new. I tried to squeeze between two parts of it and wedged myself in there. My daddy had to get out his tools and unscrew it completely to set me free! What a great problem-solving opportunity!

Don’t neglect their mental health!

Remember, stroking a furry friend is very important for humans. It can keep their blood pressure down and make them feel less stressed and depressed.

You are that furry friend. (Or, if you don’t like being touched, your sibling or mate can be encouraged to do their duty. You work hard enough!)

I don’t mean you have to give them free access to you at all times, obviously. I just mean that you need to keep an eye on them, and sometimes know that it’s particularly urgent that they give you a head rub. Those are the times you need to pester them. If they don’t do it of their own accord, nudge at them with your head, put your face in front of theirs, or maybe nibble at them a little bit. Even if it takes a slightly painful nip, you’re doing this for their health. It’s very important!

Are you already doing any of these? If you’re not, I hope you start soon! Remember, your humans are depending on you to remind them to keep healthy!

Until next time, my furry friends.

Hello, I’m Barbara the rabbit. I’m taking over this blog today, with some words of advice for my fellow rabbits. I want to talk about how to make sure your human is taking proper care of you.

Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?

How to get adopted properly as a rabbit

I have two humans, and I came to live with them in December. I worked hard on making this happen – I’d been living at my adoption centre for nine months, but hadn’t found anyone to take me home.

Firstly, I wanted to meet them before I made my decision. It’s a big commitment, taking on new humans and new brothers, and I wanted to be sure it was the right thing to do. Take your time in deciding!

My new mum came to visit me two or three times, firstly. I mostly ignored her. Test them! Make sure they’re really interested in you. She passed the test and I got interested too.

Next, they brought my new brothers in to visit and bond. This is always a bit daunting – I’d been living on my own for a while and I wasn’t sure about meeting new bunnies. Particularly young ones – I’m a more mature lady, myself, and these were young lads of not even two years old! I decided that the smaller one would be the most helpful, as he was less likely to attack. The moment they put him in with me, I snuggled up to him. He was a bit alarmed, but all of the humans were very impressed. Get a small, non-threatening ally who can help your cause. Ned is literally half my size, so I felt very safe in using him here.

One more test before I committed to this adoption: test their knowledge of health problems! I decided to have an upset stomach the day before moving in. It meant that my homecoming was delayed by two days, but it also ensured I got a vet visit immediately upon getting home. I wanted to check out my new vet for myself – and I was quite pleased.

How to set up your room, rabbit-style

Now, I know somebunnies are very happy living outside, but I’m an indoor kind of girl, myself. In my first home, I lived outside, and that just wasn’t for me. I explained this very clearly to the people at the adoption centre, so my new parents knew that I was going to be a house rabbit right from the start. This wasn’t a problem for them as my two brothers had been living inside already.

Make it very clear you don’t want to be outside. The moment we left the adoption centre and I knew we were outside, I started thumping and didn’t stop until we’d got into the car. When we got home, the window was open. I thumped my disapproval of the birds outside until the window was shut. Result!

Humans will have an idea of how the room will look. Their design skills aren’t very good. I prefer to think of them as a guideline – take your room as a blank canvas! I think my carpet looks much better with hay on it (easy snack!), and the occasional pee stain adds character. Feel free to make changes to the carpet as necessary. After all, you’re the one who’s closer to it!

Move your furniture around as much as you like. Particularly at night. Humans like hearing noise in the night and may even come to play with you! But, seriously, if they’d put the litter box in the left corner of my room rather than the right to begin with, I’d not have needed to do it!

How to bond with rabbit siblings

I hadn’t had too much experience with other rabbits before meeting my brothers, so I was a bit nervous. The adoption centre had tried to bond me with some other boys, but it hadn’t gone well. But I’m here to tell you that it can work out!

I’m lucky because my two new brothers are both smaller than I am. This means that I have an advantage – so, if possible, select very little siblings. You can overpower them more easily.

Don’t let them get complacent. When Ned and I still lived in separate rooms, I learnt how to open his door. He’d come running out, expecting human fuss, and I could ambush him. I never hurt him, but he learnt very quickly that I wasn’t someone to be trifled with! Even months later when we were getting on much better, I’d still occasionally nip his tail to make him drop whatever food he was holding and then eat it myself. Needs must, you know!

However, that doesn’t mean you always have to be cruel. With Gingee, I took a different tactic. Learn their psychology. Gingee wanted to protect me, so I’d sit unmoving on the floor during our bonding sessions. He loved this and really thought he was in charge!

Now we all live in the same room and I have them well trained. Ned knows that he needs to guard me as I sleep, and Gingee knows that he’s in charge of investigating anything that happens on those scary stairs. They both know that the largest share of the apple is always mine. They’re pretty good boys, all in all.

How to get the humans to bend to your will

So here’s the hardest bit. Humans are big. They can pick you up. They can take you the vet. Sometimes they might not give you as many treats as you’d like. It’s hard to train them but it’s so worthwhile. Yes, it can be tricky – no one likes seeing their human upset or frustrated, but you mustn’t back down.

Here are my top five tips:

• The silent treatment. This is surprisingly effective. I know the weekly routine. There are five days where we are left alone between 7am-6pm and get to play in the evenings, and there are two days where we get human interaction throughout the day. What I don’t like is when the humans try and intrude on the sacred Five Days of Rabbit. So if they do, I sit with my back to them, or flop dramatically on the floor and fall asleep immediately. They quickly work out that I don’t feel like interacting – sometimes this works amazingly well and they’ll even take one or both of my brothers out of the room to play so I’m not disturbed!
• Make them feel guilty. This is easy for me. I have arthritis in one of my front paws, although it rarely bothers me. I can run just as fast as my brothers, despite being much older. But if someone is trying to coerce me into something I don’t want to do, I can hold up my front paw and hop forlornly on the other three. They quickly come around, and you might even get some yummy Loxicom! (The trick to this is putting your “bad” paw down again very quickly so you don’t end up with a vet visit!)
• Responding to words. I don’t mean commands. Learn which sounds they use to represent your favourite treats, for example. Mine say “apple” and “food”. If I hear one of these sounds, I go up to the human, nuzzle them and give them about 30 seconds to produce the “apple” or the “food”. If they don’t, thump angrily. The treats will appear, trust me. Ideally, you’ll also get praise for how clever you are!
• Remind them that you make the rules. My humans say “Barbara, are you going in for a bit?” when they want me to have some cage time. Fine, I’m happy to go in there sometimes, but they need to know that they don’t get to boss me around too much. I like to do a lap of the cage before I go in. That way they know that I understand them and that I’m clever, but they also know that I make the decision about when I’m going in for a bit.
• Physical punishment. I try and keep this as a last resort, but sometimes it does need to be done. Occasionally my mum hands out the food too slowly, or she sits in my way when I need to take the quickest route towards the bookcase, for example. A small nip usually does the trick. Purr and nuzzle immediately afterwards to show that you still love them, you just needed them do what you asked.

I hope this has helped, and that you can use this advice to create a happy rabbit-human bond in your home. Remember, you’re in charge!

Until next time, my furry friends!