Life with rabbits

We've never had two at once before, except for a brief attempt to bond Noot with another sweet bun, and that's a long story that didn't end well. [Not Noot's fault, btw.]

So this has been an, um, interesting experience. We've found ourselves pulling out the rabbit handbook frequently to reassure ourselves that we're not taking care of four-legged mutants. And we're not. We just happen to have two very hormonal babies who shouldn't be spayed for another two months, but really need it now.

Squeeze, in particular, is queen of dominance. She tries to hump poor Boeing whenever she feels the need, and especially after I pet Boeing. That'll teach me, eh? If I pet them togther, I can sometimes avert the trauma. Mostly Boeing runs away whenever Squeeze gets behind her. So that means she runs away a lot.

Keep in mind that Squeeze is maybe 3 lbs, and Boeing is surely 5 by now. It's a ridiculous sight, and one that made me very anxious for our vet's affirmation that we really did have two girls. Which we do. And yes, Boeing occasionally attempts to mount Squeeze. Which is even sillier.

The furniture swapout has gone well so far, with the buns too interested in the change in surroundings to explore any black leather objects for more than a second. But still, they get less time out of the corral for now.

And then last night, after we'd gone to bed, I heard a rabbit screaming, which I haven't heard since the a few days before Noot died. Not something you ever want to hear, a rabbit screaming.

We both got up, ran to the cage and they were just sitting there, looking wide-eyed and freaked, but not injured. Because along with the attempted humping, there's circling which is just one step short of fighting. Sigh. So we made the outer corral into Boeing's cage last night, and left Squeeze in the cage proper. Both with their own food, water and litter. This is, as you can imagine, not how we planned our little rabbity family to work out. But we'll deal. We can put them to bed like this for another few months, if it will help, till the spay. They can still see and touch each other, but no panic will result.

We're putting a lot of faith in the power of the spay.

Postscript: This morning, they were cuddling. Hormones suck.

[And yes, pictures of the living space and my knitting zone to come. Maybe tonight, if there's no bloodshed.]