Hello!!! Iām an animal shelter worker that works with small/exotic animals, I worked in vet med prior to my current job.
Patron Saint of Elwood and Sylvie ā¤ļø
My partner and I have 4 rabbits, but we also have a large crew of various species. Iāve kept exotics for most of my life and animals are my main interest and hobby!
You will likely see me mostly posting my rabbits but I also post about the Minotaur, Ancient Greece, and rabbits or other critters at our shelter.
If you tag my rabbits as ākinā/āmeā or random characters, I will probably block you lol. Nothing personal, I just always find it odd and would prefer not to see it in my notifications.
Miscellaneous fun facts below the cut!
Iām working on a novel and love writing, other hobbies and interests include cyanotype, wet specimens, jewelry making and goldsmithing, ball jointed dolls, baking, historical fashion, the Minotaur, Ancient Greece, insects and herpetology. I have an Ancient Greek replica lyre that I need to get better at, and write I a lot of poetry. I recently took up knitting and am beginning my metal smithing journey in the near future. I enjoy ethically acquired oddities and bone collecting.
Iām vegan- I respect peopleās choices to do what makes the most sense for them with their diet, but I will not interact with anything pro-animal consumption for my own sake.
I am pro-breed preservation and ethical breeding just as much as I am pro-rescue.
Animals:
Sylvie - Belgian hare š
Elwood- Velveteen lop š
Fion- Belgian hare
Marcus- Flemish giant mix
Baby- Green cheek conure
Falcor and Sweet Potato- Axolotls, 13 and 7 respectively
Mildred, Clarence, Clementine and Lilly- kitties
Gideon š, Caspian and Penelope- Partnerās rabbits, New Zealand mix, Californian, and French lop mix
Where can we find your bonding guide? Iāve got a difficult bonding case and Iām completely inexperienced š¬
Here is the link for anyone interested! To reiterate- this is the method my partner and I have used with success. Itās not 100% guaranteed to work, as rabbits will always decide when they want a relationship to work, but these are some good things to try to set everyone up for success. You are always welcome to reach out to me via messaging with any questions or concerns that youāre running into!!
The Rabbit Bonding Bible The most intensive guide to letting your rabbit have a friend! If you have rabbits, youāve probably heard about ār
I set them up together yesterday since theyāve both been wildly indifferent towards one another. Fion started grooming Marcus after 45 minutes and I left them to hang out for the evening.
Some mild scuffling ensued (just some humping and fur pulling, I only felt the need to separate them 1 time), but nothing serious, which is crazy and something Iām very unused to with rabbits lol. Even after the scuffling, they would lay down next to each other which is a really great sign that they like each other, theyāre just deciding whoās going to be boss. Fion is a lot more receptive to humping and pretty unbothered by it, but since Marcus has limited mobility, itās hard for him to do it, so Fion has a leg up on that one even though I donāt think he cares much about being dominant lol.
Theyāre currently set up in a pen in my bedroom on their āhoneymoonā while they settle their hierarchy, and will get free roam access to my bedroom once they seem fully comfortable with one another :) probably a few days, or until they stop waking me up in the morning humping each other lol.
Iāve gotten a lot more comfortable bonding rabbits over the years and becoming familiar with what different behaviors mean and should look like.
If anyone is ever interested, I have an extensive bonding guide that I wrote up for my work that gives a step-by-step process for bonding, especially for more complicated rabbits. Iāll be going through this process again when my lady rabbit arrives in July- I feel very lucky that these guys are so mellow, and it makes me feel more confident in having a trio!
how do you prevent your creatures from pooping everywhere??? mine are litter box trained enough to pee in the box and will poo in there while they eat their hay, but otherwise not so much. I have to vacuum their enclosure every couple days due to poo buildup (sometimes they even manage to get it in their water bowl, ick!!)
I like the idea of letting them free roam, but I worry they lack the manners. I was cuddling Nougat on my lap the other day when the bastard pooped on me. it's not difficult to clean but I wish he wouldn't so I could let him wander (then again, this is the same rabbit who used to piss and shit all over my bed because of his territorial nature, and still might if he could get in my bed)
Very good question!! In my experience, itās been very dependent on the bunny- Fion has had PERFECT litter manners, like 100% since he arrived. Elwood usually had small slip ups and always had bad pee manners. Some things that have helped me are:
ā¢spaying/neutering, of course
ā¢having a designated litter/mess corner
ā¢using a larger litter box than seems necessary in this corner
ā¢deep cleaning the space with an enzyme cleaner to remove scent/washing any blankets, rugs etc, but leaving the litter box a little dirty and putting poops into it, in the hopes of really highlighting where messes should go
ā¢slowly expanding their pen environment to room environment rather than all at once, because with a lot of new territory, theyāll be more inclined to scent mark
ā¢moving any poops back to the litter box and using vinegar to spray the area that they pooped to remove the scent
ā¢shrinking down their environment when bad little manners persist, to help solidify āthis is your territoryā
ā¢doing ALL feeding in the litter box- For a while, Fion would poop wherever he ate pellets, so I fed him his pellets in his box. I use the Rooly box with the enclosure, and I find having the large, flat surface of the litter box combined with an enclosed litter box has helped a lot. That one isnāt super doable without a lot of space, but increasing litter box size to accommodate, and making a bit more cozy does seem to help.
Itās pretty typical for them to poop on their people LOL, thatās a territory behavior. āYou donāt smell like me, and youāre mine- Here, Iāll fix that!ā Itās the same reason theyāll go on our bed.
All of that said, they might not ever be 100% perfect, but there are lots of little ways to get them closer to 100%, and I find that they do improve over time once theyāve been in a space for a while and are able to designate their litter area- Once a full space smells a little more like them (from chinning, walking around etc) theyāll be less inclined to scent mark. Iām hoping Marcusās manners improve (heās about 85% when peeing, and maybe 60% with pooping), but I wonāt know for sure until heās been in the space for a while.
Iām also not sure if your bunnies are bonded- If theyāre not, but live nearby one another, this can lead to over-compensating with scent marking to really say āI LIVE HERE!!!ā as a dominance display.
Okay anyway ā¦.. working on bonding Marcus and Fion currently :) Theyāre both very unbothered and havenāt been very reactive to having another rabbit in the space, which I was hopeful for! Marcus is so mellow, and Fion is just a wuss lol. I doubled up on the wire fence because Fion can stick his weird narrow head soooo far in which makes me crazy nervous lol so Iāll be swapping that for a different fence, but hopefully can do some 1 on 1 bonding soon (as soon as Marcus learns better litter habits)
This is literally the only thing I ask people not to do on my blog lol. This is extremely weird and unnecessary to reblog under a picture of someoneās pet. Donāt do this, donāt tag my animals as kin, donāt tag them as random characters. It is genuinely very very strange LOL
Missing Elwood dearly tonight. And always, but especially tonight.
This is a picture of him the first few times he went outside with me, when we lived in upstate New York. He never moved fast enough to warrant needing a harness on him, but he tolerated one well anyways. He liked exploring, and then stopping to eat dandelions and trying to eat rocks.
I mainly handle my grief as if itās a very large bomb that will explode at any wrong movement- That is to say, I avoid it entirely. Which doesnāt change the fact that thereās a very large bomb about to explode, but you learn to think about it less, because what else is there to do?
I hate that I think about him less because itās the only way I can keep from crying. Two mornings ago, when it was still far too early but the animals had all woken up and I stumbled out of bed half asleep to turn the light on, there was a lump in the middle of the floor. A perfectly shaped, multicolored lump. And in the dim morning and in my half-conscious mind, it made perfect sense that it was Elwood, sitting comfortably and in the way as he always did. And then I remembered- Oh, of course it isnāt Elwood.
It still just feels wrong that heās gone. It feels like it isnāt possible. Any moment in my room, subconsciously, I am imagining his sleeping body on the rug, or under my bed where he liked to lay on the cool floor. But then I get up, and thereās no Elwood.
I had a dream, too, that he and Gideon both poked their little heads up from the garden, sprinkled with soil and leapt out under a full moon, chasing one another in the yard.
I miss him very dearly. I miss the way his fur feels, I miss kissing his head and sticking my face into the crook of his neck and breathing in his warmth and softness. I miss his clumsy, lumbering footsteps and the sound of him scratching his ears.
Fion has made the mourning easier- itās hard to be quite as upset when thereās a bronze ball of energy bouncing around your room every morning, doe eyed and clever. But I do still miss my good friend.
My current favorite shelter rabbit, Marcus. I have an enormous soft spot for big, sickly rabbits. He came in on Sunday in very poor shape- his whole hind end was matted with dead fur, pee, and poop, he had live fleas with balding and flaking on his shoulders, overgrown nails that were twisting his toes, gunky ears, and severe muscle wasting in his hind legs from being kept in a cage in the basement, assumedly small enough that he wasnāt able to stretch his legs, leading to muscle loss. He is older (about 5.5y), so some of his mobility issues might be age related, but based on everything else, we can assume neglect.
He received 2 butt baths right after arriving and extensive trimming/combing/grooming. Despite everything, he is still extremely calm, kind and sweet. Itās always heartbreaking to me to see how kind animals remain despite the neglect or abuse theyāve received in their lives.
Marcus was made available for adoption today, and Iām hopeful the perfect home for a mildly disabled rabbit will come along. Heās so sweet and mellow, and would be such a great free roam rabbit where he can stretch his legs and regain some strength. Until then, he spends his days in my office while Iām at work so he can move around to his heartās content, and I enjoy his company!
