unhappy

Chip had his nails cut today and will not come out for a picture. Plus I also brushed him out and cleaned out his private area. He is VERY VERY mad at me.
He was Sooooo mad he ran to his CAGE!!! and sat under the shelf peering out at me with bulging eyes...that's mad.. REALLY REALLY MAD !! He never ever goes in his cage...never ever, ever, never-since he was brought home and decided as a young bunny that HE was meant to be
free range -thats is how mad he is.
Oh, I  also trimmed his lower teeth too.... really really mad...
I even offered him oatmeal flakes in a wee dish and he snubbed me.  Auughh!!! I am in really hot water.... with  a Mini Rex  you have to ask for forgiveness the books' say.  Tell him "I am sorry" - Ask  him to forgive you.  "Please your highness  I beg you" and when I have suffered enough of his wrath perhaps he will look kindly upon me and  forgive me?? until then ..  My husband comes in their door from work and he can see the delima and ..well we have been down this road before.
So what does the `Hero  husband' do?Well, rush to get Fresh Cilantro -some chips- some oatmeal flakes his real favorites!!  Chip was still in his corner but heard the clink in the dish for parsley. Chocolate Chip knows the specific `clink' for each dish.
The applesauce dish is different that the pineapple dish or fresh apple and the parsley dish is different is different than the chip dish as is the oatmeal dish. And we `clink' them so He knows wherever he is.. he can `hear' what is being served. Silly? He will come running IF he is in the mood. So it left him to think while we cleaned up.
Yes. 10 minutes later vacuuming and wiping the floor a Blur of fur ~ZOOmed ~~~ by and yes Chip was very happy  .....   but still not with me.   Maybe tomorrow?
{{{bunny hugs}}}

I am very fast~~ZOOM~~

Chocolate Chip out...have a `hoppy' day

exhausted

"I am very tired of having my personal and private areas `exposed".... poor Chip
In the spirit of sharing bunny care I have always kept bunny journals with art work and medical notes, even prices of almost everything.  Quite cute looking back, this was
all before computers-so it is in book form, complete with color drawings that looks like each bunny and each little dog we had at the time.  
 Each medical delima is spelled out and how it is cared for....what to do..what to watch for...medications...foods, food to avoid when sick.
Well...that was years of care and love with my mini dutch bunnies and the many vets that helped-even 1 university. 
That is why I share Chips  photos photos and stories.
Maybe some one else with a bunny will see something and get an idea for their bunny that will  help them or read a story from someones blog... That is really how we learn the littlest bit of info one person has may help another bunny person... I have lived in the midwest-the east coast-the south
and the Vets have been very kind for the `most' part and willing to work me and Learn..but alot of good that does.Not a single one knew  about bunnies  in any area I lived-rural, city, no matter.. I came in having more info than trained Vets.
1 had a brother who HAD a bunny and he my Vet went to his brother for help and we had a good relationship via this...and the Vet was learning alot he said-I has 3 bunnies and had a litter of which we kept 2 gave away the others the family & 4H.  Point Is Blogging is a really good way to share ideas - foods-medicines-creative living with bunnies-loving bunnies-
I have come a LONG way on my own if I has a computer & access to this back then WOW!! I had no bunny magazines-no blogs-no Vets-no bunny community- I had raised bunnies when I was a kid rural backyard in the '60s. no info.  This time I went to the bookstores & library for my children so they ad whatever was avail-and they knew everything that was out there on caring-maintence-medical etc on bunnies/rabbits. I do all the nails-teeth-ears-bottom-fur  issues myself same for or dogs.


Thats how I began bunny blogs, when I was getting a Mini Rex I looked for others to see what info I could find out on this `new' creature.
I've had bunnies since I was a small child, so did all my cousins.
(I have a large family, my grandma and grandpa both came from families of 12 - 13 children and when they married all their siblings and children moved to property my great grandpa bought-500 acre farm and were within a mile or 2 of each other) So I grew up knowing all my cousins and 2nd cousins and saw them all the time ..we all went to the same Catholic school that the family help build.  No one heard of this bunny -  Mini Rex aka the Velveteen Rabbit.
What I found out was that this bunny was/is pretty new to the American Market. Makes sense, or we would have know something. We all had bunnies for pets NOT for shows or anything like that.  Chocolate Chip happens to have
a pedigree - we giggled at that...we got him from a kind of a rescue that had some newborns with no mother-we had the pick of the liter but I was torn...she had already lost 2...how many more would she lose...what to do??? my husband would not let me take them all??? as I was turning to leave she said did I want to take a look at a 6 mo old?  what??
They were keeping him for breeding -but he was not old enough yet-but if I wanted a Mini Rex he is full pedigree.    (like I cared about that) 1 thing she said he hates his ears touched-he freaks out ....and his ears are a bit  large for show judging...???  like 1/4  or something odd...The poor bun was climbing the wall of his wee cage like a crazed bun when she took him out he climbed on top of her head--
he seemed a bit Looney -hahha.  I took him and he was a bit squirrly - but he had a tiny cage with nothing in it cages on all sides up down -sided-by-by-side and across the way soooo many cages with bunnies- I could not count(small the cages I read books bigger-Not typical cages) in fact I was almost not able to breathe after a while the atmosphere was so bad??). SHe began to go down in price on the bun. I was just concerned about what kind of treatment-sooo many rabbits there??  OMG....I had gotten all my bunnies as wee ones...  Could I handle an odd squirrly possibly looney and a  possibly mistreated Mini rex male??? I already knew I would take him.... even tho I wanted the wee one. Aauughh. She agreed to keep a baby rather than breed him and we got him for the price of the baby-I had prepaid for a baby before I got there......thats how I got the pick of the liter. So off we went. A stop a Dunkin Donut to Celebrate! Oops..Guess what he did?? he ate thru the travel carrier..it was an airline carrier..he ate a hole in it...Quite the man..he had pellets and timothy, we were in there just a few minutes for coffee and carry out. Then to the pet store for the required new supplies, then home to set it up. We were not thinking we were coming home with a bunny that day rather choosing a baby.  We had the big cage all set up with toys and blankies so there was an area prepared.  So We were ok, But ..it turned out he was NOT happy in a cage of any size. This cage was one we had for our twin bunnies. But typically you would use for a medium size dog, we fashioned it with a 2nd story shelf that they  loved to hop up onto lined with fleece-hanging colored blocks and bells  all remade for this new family member. The point is from where he came this is 5star!!  He was funny.. He was feeling ~~~free~~~ he spent the 1st night jumping out...as we gave him an extended little area attached to the cage with his `potty' & play area outside of the cage ... that's where he jumped up and over. So I cut a big box in half and stuck his little head out of that and jumped. Then we put phone books on it and he tried again...he was quite the guy....anything to get out...he found a favorite spot and kept jumping until he found a spot without a book  I even put bells on the books so I could hear them when he would make a break...auughh...I would wake and find books off our bookshelves-here and there???? how odd I would think? I never had a bunny do that so I never put it together until I actually saw Chocolate Chip stand up at a bookshelf taking a book off-making piles, eating his favorites. Silly bunny!
After breaking out and eating his way out....we decided to just leave a little access opening and `bunny proof' the house- cords-rooms closed off etc..and ~~poof~~ the newly named : Chocolate Chip  would be free range
no more cage living.
This is the blog I really enjoyed-great photos of bunny living-toys-bunny troubles and favorite blogs
  http://littleredbunny.blogspot.com/ Flynn  a mini rex

what a bunny
{{{bunngHugs)))

This is Chocolate Chip in his outdoor potty `world' chinning His area.
 The top photo is clear, he in `ready' mode for tinkle
 and the middle photo is where he likes to back up for beaners...such a good boy.

 These were before  snow, he really likes the snow now he hides tinkle in the snow.

cute chip & jol Buddies /sudden deathh of cousins wife

I am getting over the flu so as I drag pictures out of the camera you can see Chip when he 1st decided to
check put the deck and decided to follow Jollimon the dog out. Cute as he creeps out further on the deck.
The top photo is his bush he likes to take branches off of. Chip has that side of the deck. Jolli is supposed to go down in the yard. We flush the deck with hot bleach water after Chip is done and his `buisness' goes into the bushes and under the decking. Husband has a hi pressure  washer thing for what gets stuck because the hoses are disconnected with the freezing temp... (I am lo tech) so I am using a big plastic handle tub from the laundry rooms after each time Chip is out....(I do not think he likes the wet deck...but the sun has been drying it and had been melting the ice so..)  he has a towel when he comes in to absorb his feet...I rather he not be in wet and clean... oh well, I mean I don't want a toilet on the deck?


well, must go my cousin just sent me a message her brothers wife suddenly died ,we did not expect it, she had a tumor but we thought they could do something and she had much more time, she is very young .He is a long distance truck driver with no insurance to cover the 4 mo of medical ICU and now funeral. She went into a coma all very suddenly. Family will  try help work it out but he is worried he will lose his truck. I just went thru this with my dad's sudden death....the surge of pain, emotions, sudden finances to figure out funeral expenses in the thousands...that my husband and I had to deal with, pay for...we were reeling..besides siting in ER as your precious daddy dies and your stroke his hand and talk to him and sit at his side as you instruct the staff to get a priest to have the last rites done and you have your 9 yr old say his good by to Poppy and clasp his hand his `proper hand shake' that the gentleman always greeted him with and said goodbye with.
You sat as the Damn heart monitor kept track of what was going on....when he was taken off the Dr said he did not know how long it would take????  BUT  it was quite a bit longer than anyone thought...
I kissed his face and stroked it and told him how much I loved him and what a great daddy he was...and that I was not ready to lose him....he smiled.... He left with a smile. His heart beat slower and slower.
But Lord I have sat with dying beloveds- for hours knowing they were dying, I have lost my baby son.... so many family members, beloved bunnies X more than I will count,beloved beagle dog, oh I have lost I always said that just knowing them was enough--but as I get older it just gets sadder... but sometimes the pain is oh so deep and painful you wonder how your mind can get past it. I mean these were such wonderful people.   What I do know is that I am thankful
I was raised in a family where they raised all with a sturdy
foundation of religion. My G. grandparents & all the growing
children helped to build the Catholic church. Financially & physically. My favorite Great Uncle was the first person to attend- the school he walked every day something like 8miles (maybe more)and from then on every child attended
this Catholic school & church. They were married, confirmed
had their first communion's all at this church by a big beautiful Lake in a charming small village. I has a short
round, cheerful nun who was the principal, nuns for all my
teachers. The discipline!!!!  Every day we walked across to church. I LOVED IT. The aura inside that beautiful church...
the stained glass windows every single window~real stained glass...I loved it..my family knew the priests many came over to my grandparents for dinner. To me it was as good as the Pope. I always thought I would become a nun so Ialways be in that beloved environment. The Point is that My Dad's family thankfully gave me the foundation Spiritually to live my life...or at least it was a foundation to pull me back on track when I got lost. It stays with you forever.

heres how we do it

 This is Chocolate Chip coming in and going out onto the deck on our back yard.

 So adorable~having fun in the snow every day silly bunny! The deck is really snow

with about 3inches of ice over it,  the dog is freaked and he won't go out in fact he watches 

Chip from the door...it's very funny..well not to my heating bill as the door sits open..oh well

we have to work on this?

It is just a freaky snow/ice storm so we must enjoy it!! and endure it. Depends on your point of view.

fun in the snow

Chocolate Chip Loves the Snow!!!  Living in the South, snow is not something that he often gets to have but what fun! We are from the Midwest so we are used to cold and snow and lots of snow.  I was surprised to see how easily he took to the cold and the snow. He kept lining up at the back door and doing his new  special`pose' for going out side ~~even in the subzero temps ~ Chippy was not deterred...quite the brave house bunny. He would go out for his `potty'  taking his sweet time, come back in then be ready to go back out 15-20 minutes later. Even our dog, who is a seasoned midwestern guy zipped in. 
 Explorer bun....

 

this is our Chippy's little area of` ` turmoil '  boxes,books and blocks..... quite frankly

it is this little area of his in the house that makes me crazy~~~what to do~what to do??

Every day he has a mess and if I try to make order Chip looks at me like I have committed the crime of the century- when I move 1 thing and he spends the rests of the day showing me where HIS things Should be!.... SO, AS Much as I THINK he would like his things tidy clean and in order...(and, well

we DO need to clean AND  clean I will, even if Chip will stomp,thump,and get mad  I am a house cleaner

who has a free range `crazy' mini Rex house bunny so  hahaha so we need to dust and vacuum daily.... I accept your timothy all over the fireplace Chippy...love you

vitamin C a treat

Chocolate Chip goes Crazy for a Vitamin C . He thinks they are the biggest treat, This day he stood 

on his wee chair and was snooping thru his treat dishes on the side table and he was able to get this  one specific item off!  

He was also able to beat it about until-- surprise!! to both of us- the cap came flying off

and rolling out tons of tablets all over the floor to Chocolate Chip's delight!!!  Oh and to much to my dismay!!    What a day. (try to scoop all of them away from a crazed bunny who thinks these are a favorite treat -auughhhhhh)

a bunny and his private area

  

 
This is Chocolate Chip in his `private potty' area as you can see he has a box of timothy and a nice bunny  litter box  -- he was easily trained for that blue box potty box and went tinkle in the hay box he used both with in the 1st 2 days. BUT..,.somewhere along the way he decided that he rather sit where you see him...backing up into this corner to tinkle-  it all rather tidy, as we had wax paper down and paper towels there to catch pellets, hay - spills... ( like he figured it out already? rather than jump into the box just back up? hmmm? ) it has been like this for a few months. I can't complain because now
Guess what he does?       He began following the dog outside! YES and now he sits at the door and has a `pose'  ~yes `POSE' ~ A SPECIFIC `pose' is what this crazy bunny will  do indicate that he wants to go `potty'  out on the  outside deck.  He has a  special spot kinda under table then he moves over to eat a branch from a bush and  leave a big pile of his `chocolate chips' ....I have never had a bunny train himself to go outside before.  Chip is just Too funny !!
~~ This is the life of a Free Range Bunny in our House... a little give a take  : >)

Oh this is about the only time he gets near the cage, if you look close-you can see this is cardboard around a big cage that was our attempt to give him some privacy..... and he has  fleece blankets  a fleece lined shelf, colored toys hanging from the top, pellets are all he come here for. He gets fresh food from the kitchen.  Right outside this little house area we have special dishes lined up on the kitchen floor for applesauce, pineapple, some apple/celery. He used to come in and do a bunny flop and rest in the there but now has SO  many other places in the house to hide that this has no purpose. There is a little blue kennel cab in the living room also, I keep it there for him for safety if he needs a place to go, we put papaya tablets in there, every so often so he goes in checks it out, it is by his favorite living room sleeping spot.
have a nice day