Choxic Rabbitry|Blog

New Year, New Beginnings

2009-12-31T18:22:00.004-05:00

In just a few hours, a new year will be ushered in, and 2009 will come to a close. With the arrival of a new year, I am excited to announce the future of Choxic Rabbitry in 2010.

Tristar Rabbits is the new name of my rabbit program. Despite the makeover, the ideals and values of Choxic Rabbitry have not changed, as I plan to continue to aim for healthy, well tempered English Lops that compete well on the show table. However, as I plan on attending college in September, I will be phasing out of the rabbit show and breeding world this coming year. That said, I have a huge show schedule planned for 2010; I plan on attending the PaSARBA Convention, and am looking at exhibiting at Lop Nationals in Georgia, the Ohio State Convention, and, maybe, the 2010 ARBA National Convention in Minneapolis [big maybe!]. I am looking at possibly adding a full arch breed several years down the road, and I hope to continue along with my "heart" breed, the English Lop.

It is with a sense of excitement that I announce the end of Choxic Rabbitry. 2010 looks bright for Tristar Rabbits!

Tristar Rabbits
http://tristarrabbits.webs.com/

Tristar Rabbits Blog
http://tristarrabbits.blogspot.com/

Holy Update Batman!!!

2009-12-22T13:21:00.019-05:00

This update is super crazy overdue. Between school, college applications, and a broken laptop, website and blog updates really haven't been at the top of my to-do list. I'm planning a huge website make-over hopefully before January, depending on how soon I can get my laptop fixed. Until then, rare blog posts from the not-so-reliable home desktop computer will have to do.

Anyway, I suppose litter announcements should be made first. Tris kindled 7 kits on November 17, 2009, with two DOA. The remaining five, all torts, are driving me crazy with their typical baby energy.

Newborn kits.

Itchy two week old baby.

It's looking like there's two does and three bucks at this point; it'll be interesting to see if that changes within the next few weeks.

Samson, the only charlie. He's quite the character.

I swear these babies are trying their hardest to give me a heart attack. They all decided to have sticky, nasty poop for a few days- very dangerous in baby bunnies. They were put on straight hay and mama's milk for a while, and I'm slowly reintroducing lower protein pellets and rolled oats. Their poop has thankfully cleared up; I just wish they would clean themselves off!

Like mama like baby!

Om nom nom nom...

Sparta kindled a litter of 8 very small, very bruised babies on November 27, the day after Thanksgiving and three days before her due day. The premature babies were extremely undeveloped for a while, but thankfully, 6 of the 8 pulled through.

New borns.

Sad as it is to have lost the two smallest kits, with the litter having been born premature, I know that it could have been so much worse.

Charlie agouti with one of the ones that didn't make it. Notice the webbed feet and bruised toes.

Three days old, just starting to get some fur.

Chestnut at twelve days old.

Aside from her early delivery, Sparta is an excellent mother. She'd nurse her babies all day long if I'd let her, and she loves to cuddle with and groom her kits. The contrast between her great patience with her litter and Tris' general annoyance of her brood is humorous.

"I love my babies!"
(Don't mind the nasty tray; I was in the middle of cleaning.)

"Get off my head dammit."

Yes, three babies can drink from one water bottle!

It's too early for me to tell gender yet, but color wise, I've got a nice assortment: Solid chestnut agouti, broken (charlie) chestnut agouti, broken black, broken (charlie) tort, broken tort blue, and solid blue.

"Oh hai thar!"

The two litters love playing with and interacting with each other. It's so adorable watching the different sized babies all cuddle together.

Samson with his half siblings.

One of these things is not like the other...

The house bunnies are all doing well. Pep scared me half to death with a GI stasis episode last week; I was so worried she wouldn't pull through the night. Thankfully, with some encouragement from her boyfriend and a lot of force fed canned pumpkin/water puree, she was up early the next morning chomping down on hay, to my great relief.

A very annoyed, pumpkin-covered Pepper.

In other non-bunny news, we got a little over a foot of snow on Saturday! It rarely snows here, so I was extremely excited to see the whole neighborhood covered in the white stuff. Nova had the time of her life in the snow... for about 20 minutes, and then she decided that she really doesn't like icy, wet, cold stuff.

SNOW!!!

OMG SNOW!!!!111!1!

"I can go inside now?"

Nova has really come a long way in the few months she's been here. She's finally learning some manners, and she's learned to express her high energy in ways other than destroying the house.

"Greenies don't taste as good as the sofa cushions!"

While her initial background story of being shifted around to so many different homes is disheartening, I can at least better understand why so many people opted to rehome wild Miss Nova. She's my "sheechul" girl, but she's come a long way, and it can only go up from here.

The best thing about Nova? She loves baby bunnies!

While she's a crazy, hyperactive maniac 99% of the time, Nova adores the babies, and she loves to lay still and let them cuddle with her. She's definitely supervised whenever she is with them, however, although I mostly just have to worry about her over grooming the poor bunnies!

How Nova REALLY feels about the baby lops!

Before I sign off, ere's a few more pictures I took yesterday of the bunnies. Sorry, none of Beau, I was getting way to cold to sit out there any longer. I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas and a great New Year!

Domain Name Down

2009-10-20T20:36:00.016-04:00

Just as a general FYI, I didn't renew my domain name when it ran out, so http://choxicrabbitry.com/ is no longer accessible. My new site is http://choxicrabbitry.webs.com, though my old address, www.freewebs.com/choxicrabbitry still works. I'm not sure if I'll renew my domain name, keep the free address I'm using now, or start up a whole new website with a new rabbitry name. Choxic Rabbitry really doesn't make much sense, and it's getting a little boring. ;)

Annnnyway, geeez I've been slacking in the updates department. Between school, animal chores, school, unbearably slow internet, and did I mention school?, I really haven't been able to keep the blog or website updated as much as I want to. I seriously need to get up a new layout on the site, and the banner at the top of the blog has got to go. I'll have to find time to do that... eventually... maybe.

I've been doing some breeding this fall, and I'm hoping to have my first litter since 2008 in just a few days! Sparta was bred at the Delmarva show in September to one of Matt Hoffman's bucks, and I'm anxiously awaiting her to [hopefully!] kindle this Wednesday. I'm not 100% sure she took; I'm horrible at palpating, she has had some weight gain, but not enough to be sure she's pregnant, and her little attitude snaps really aren't all that abnormal. I'm still crossing my fingers, though!

Although I said I would never rebreed her due to her sudden abscess issue back in July, I did go ahead to breed Tristynn. I reevaluated the situation surrounding that medical issue, and determined it was not due to her being susceptible to abcessing; rather, it was a combination of: Developing a small abscess at her injury-caused tumor site [normal], having the abscess drained [broke the encapsule abscesses are normally enclosed in and allowed the infection to spread], and being kept on a very ineffective medication for a week while I was out of town [allowed to infection to spread without any antibiotic intervention for a whole week]. Tristynn healed up perfectly fine from her endevure, and she's had no issues since. Aside from that experience and her humidity-related allergies, she's a healthy rabbit with a lot to offer to the breed, most notably, her thickly furred feet. Tris is an awesome mother who throws better than herself, and I can't wait to see what she produces.

I bred her two Fridays ago to Hips, a buck who is also from Matt Hoffman and who is vacationing down here with me until the Lebanon, PA Convention in February. I'm so happy to have this handsome boy visiting me; he's a sweet rabbit with perfect litter box skills and fabulous type. In the event that Sparta ends up not kindling, he'll be bred to her in a last ditch effort to get some babies out of her. I'm crossing my fingers both my girls took!

Back to the topic of abscessing... It looks like Beau's feet abscesses have reoccured. Groooan. I love this rabbit, but he's driving me insane! Beau has been put back on the Bicillian, but this time, he will recieve a dosage every day for six weeks, instead of every other day until his feet clear up. I'm so glad I decided not to breed him again. While I was lucky in that every rabbit from his past litter ended up with their mother's thickly furred feet, I am NOT taking the chance again of having a bunny end up with his feet problem.

I've got one more update before I wrap this post up...

Meet Nova!

We weren't really planning on adopting a dog so soon after loosing Tess... Nova just happened. She came over a for a visit back in mid-September, and she never left.

Nova is a year old [give or take a few months] generic retriever/hound mix, though she is quite the head turner. ;) She is a typical puppy with tons of energy, and she's definitely a chewer, as evident by her destroyed toys and torn leash.

Nova was originally an SPCA dog who was shuffled around from home to home before ending up with us. I have to give a major thanks to her most recent foster home for taking such good care of my pup, and for entrusting her to us. Thank you!

Playing with pit bulls! I never realized how hard young dogs can play...

Hopefully, my next update will have news of baby loppies! Keep your fingers crossed!

I'm a sucker.

2009-09-11T22:59:00.009-04:00

Today, I walked in to the pet store to buy cat food, and I walked out with a bunny.

So maybe that's not entirely true. I may have known that the store was trying to rehome a drop-off, and I may have wanted to go "just to look"... and to buy cat food, too, of course.

Either way, I took one look at her and knew she was coming home with me.

Meet Vyncent Van Gogh, aka Vyncent, aka Vinny.

[I know, I know, the obsession with putting "y"s in the names!]

The employees there today didn't know much about her, but from what I've gathered, she was dropped-off at least a week ago by someone who was threatening to release if the store didn't take her. The poor girl was missexed by the pet store [what else is new?], and was named "George" before I took her.

Overall, she's in decent shape. While she's at a normal weight, she has a pulled nail in the back from having ridiculously long nails. She's got some sunburn yet to molt out, and of course, there's those ears. I'm not overly concerned with her ears; whatever happened to them happened a while ago, as they are healed over perfectly. They could easily have been chewed by her mother in the nestbox, so I'm trying not to jump to the conclusion that someone did this to her. Despite all that, she's healthy as far as I can see, and the pet store did a nice job of taking care of her while they fostered her.

The thing that really drew me to Vinny is that aside from her ears, she is nearly identical to Calvyn.

They have the exact same body type and shape, the same coloring, and most eerily of the all, the same unique, silky coats. They even have the same mellow, shy temperment. If Vin wasn't missing her ears, I would not be able to tell them apart. I'm convinced that the same jerk who abandoned Vinny also released Calvyn. To me, it just seems there are just way too many similarities between two mix breeds to call this a coincidence.

Either way, it really doesn't matter. I may be the biggest sucker in the world, but at least Calvyn and Vinny are safe in their forever homes. :)

While I definitely wasn't planning on adding any more rabbits, I'm glad Vinny has found her way here. After loosing Tess so recently, it just seems appropriate to take in an animal in need.

Someone's made themselves at home. ;)

I will be at the Charles Town show tomorrow briefly, but I will not be exhibiting.

Tess

2009-09-10T21:55:00.021-04:00

Yesterday, we made the decision to have Tess humanely euthanized. Her mobility was severally compromised, and that morning, she refused to eat. It was an extremely tough choice to make, but she told us it was time. While I desperately miss my girl, I'm glad that she's finally pain free at last.

As a puppy, the day she was adopted:

Six years old:

Last autumn:

This winter:

And this spring, not long after she was diagnosed:

Her 10th birthday in January:

Tess loved her doggy friends Buddy

and Mo.

She loved her toys,

her people,

and her bunnies:

Most of all, Tess loved being a spoiled rotten, misbehaved, good for nothing pet.

And I wouldn't have had it any other way.

RIP Tess
January 2, 1999-September 9, 2009

A Photoish Blog

2009-08-20T21:31:00.045-04:00

Just a random assortment of photos from this summer [plus me rambling]. :)

While at the camp in Pennsylvania, Beau shared the "nature center" building with a litter of kittens!

Poor Beau wanted so badly to snuggle with the kitties, but they weren't so sure of him. :P

There was also a stinky hedgehog,

and two very friendly, very molty donkeys.

My favorite place at the camp to hang out was, of course, the horse barn. :) I've never had the opportunity where I'm at to learn how to ride, or even be around horses at all, so it was a neat experience to be able to learn about these beautiful animals.

All these horses there are geldings, and several of them were auction rescues; it was neat hearing the hoses' background stories.

Jude, the majestic mustang.

Half-Pint, a pretty pony.

My favorite, King. Such a short little boy; he couldn't have been much taller than me! :)

The sun setting over the fields was just gorgeous.

A few days before July 4th, we watch fireworks being shot out over the Susquehanna River

And for the actual holiday, we parked right outside Hershey Park to watch their fireworks show.

What a way to spend the fourth!

Sometime towards the end of my visit, I took a trip with my aunt to visit a friend of hers that does a lot of work with animal fiber. I got a very cool tour of "fiber factory" as I'd call it, and was able to see how the massive amounts of pure fiber were converted to thread. Very cool.

She had some gorgeous [and huge!] Friesian horses that I loved.

Fuzzy feet!

Of course, I was most interested in the angora bunnies. :)

The chickens made good photo subjects, too.

Back on the home front, Tessie had a nice July playing outdoors with her toys.

Her heat sensitivity issues are preventing her from staying outside for longer than a few minutes, so these days, she's enjoying loafing inside in the AC.

Showing off her new collar [and, unfortunately, her growing lymph nodes]:

Camera shy!

What a goof. ;)

Let's see, what else? I visited the Jersey Wooly babies when they were 6 1/2 [I think] weeks old.

Broken doe being adorable :)

Little otter girl I'd love to take home

Peanut!

I have no idea what to think about this guy anymore. He had all the symptoms of being a peanut, and even the vet the owners brought him to thought he was one, too. He's super tiny compared to his siblings, and his head does feel domed [to me at least]... But he's still kicking. He's completely adorable, whatever he is.

August 10th was Spot's first birthday. My baby's growing up!

Nope, that wasn't his cake haha. That was my birthday cake a friend and I had waaay too much decorating. Can you guess the inspiration? :P

Speaking of the brat himself, it's Spotters!

Spottie has been way too busy running around crazy, eating mattresses, teasing the cat, and just generally being himself to stay still long enough for me to snap a decent photo. ;)

The other house bunnies are doing good. It's taken a long time, but Clover has finally settled well into his new home. He loves to binky, and he adores his girlfriend. I find it amusing that despite Clover being a very dominant rabbit, Pepper is obviously the dominant one in the relationship. She eats first, she's not afraid to hump him, and she just generally bosses poor Clover around whenever she feels the need. Despite this, the two are such a cute match, and they get along quite well.

"Food plzzz?"

"Is it dinner time yet?"

Calvyn girl is also finally starting to settle in. While she is obviously uncomfortable in the garage, she loves to spend the nice parts of the day lounging in her 5 foot long hutch outside. She's no longer terrified to come exercise inside, although she prefers to stay away from the mini lops' cage. My younger brother has adopted Cal as his pet, which works out well because Calvyn has really taken to him. Her fur is obviously sunburnt, though I can't figure out how; her hutch is in the shade 100% of the time, and after the last two escapes, she is obviously no longer allowed to play outside in exercise pens.

Just because I haven't shared anything about him in a while... Here's Maraca, my brother's Holland Lop.

Maraca is a tiny little thing at just 2.5lbs; he has major ear control, and is in general just not a very good show bunny. He's a nice pet, though... when he's not spraying or humping everything that moves. My brother wants to eventually neuter him, although that will need to be held off until other vet bills are paid off.

Herbs! Of course, I am a huge proponent of feeding fresh herbs. I've written before about how they have improved coat condition in my bunnies, and it's well known that some herbs such as parsley can boost the immune system, making for healthy bunnies. On a different note, feeding fresh herbs give the diet variety, and the bunnies love them. :) Pictured I have a bunch of basil, some lemon basil, and maybe a bit of chocolate mint. Yummy.

And what would a blog post be without pictures of the English Lops? ;) Beau and Tristynn have healed well from their abscesses. Beau is completely well, while Tris still has a small amount of pus up closer to her thigh. Considering how bad off they were, I'm so glad they've done so well with their treatment.

I've had no issues with gut problems while using the bicillin; the only issue I've seen is that Tris had a small reaction to the drug under the skin. It cleared up within 24 hours, and she hasn't had a problem with it since.

Anyway. With the feet problems finally being under control, I let the buns all out to play one cool afternoon last week.

Miss Sparta!

Most of her pictures ended up like this:

Snuggling girls :)

So cute

Sparta definitely has some issues with being that close her mama's butt.

Tristyn is infatuated with Beau. Maybe she's just being broody, but she was very convinced she was going to fit through the exercise pen bars to visit with Beau. I hope to neuter him by the end of the year, and eventually bond him with Tris. Maybe I'll throw Sparta into the mix after she's retired and have a trio... They'd be so cute. <3>

What a dork. ;)

What's Beau got to think about all this?

The end!

Bath Time!

2009-08-17T01:38:00.010-04:00

Saturday was Doggie Torture Day... aka bath day. It was the first time I've washed Tess myself in years, since we usually send her to the groomers to get clean. With her not feeling well, that was definitely out of the question, so I broke out the kiddie pool and puppy shampoo and got to work.

Tess was really not excited about letting me snap some "before" pictures...

...and she was equally unimpressed with the whole "being wet" thing.

But she loved the bandanna she got at the end!

So, how's Tess been doing? To be honest, not so good. She's lost a lot of weight, and as the cancer spreads through her body, she's obviously feeling the effects. Breathing, especially at night, is difficult for her, and she hasn't been on a walk in months because she doesn't have the energy for it. She's content most days to spend all day sleeping in her crate, and her beloved games of fetch [aka, keep-away] in the backyard are things of the past. She's not the same dog she was three months ago, and I hate seeing her like this.

At the same time, there's many things about life Tess still loves, mainly food, her stuffed animals, and her people [in that order]. She still can get around fine by herself, and she's still eating and holding down food. So long as Tess is getting enjoyment out of life, I'm willing to put off the inevitable.

Quality of life is a funny thing. Of course I want Tess to stick around for as long as possible, but I also don't want her to have any sort of suffering. Would putting her down now be cutting her life short, or would it be an act of kindness? It's not a fun thing to think about. I believe, however, that when the time is right to let go, Tess and I will both know. Until then, the game plan is the same as it was three months ago when she was diagnosed: Keep her as happy and comfortable for as long as possible.

It's going to be a rough August.

Very Quick Update

2009-08-01T23:21:00.002-04:00

Updates this summer have been rare due to the excessive amount of time I've spent traveling last month. I've still got emails from mid-July to get back to, layout coding to finish, and a whole list of things not bunny related to do. I'll get on that tomorrow... :P

I wanted to update the blog quick tonight to announce that Tristynn and Beau are responding well to their bicillin treatment, and their abscesses are slowly but surely shrinking. Tris can once again put weight on her back foot, and the one abscess on Beaus' front foot is completely gone. They've still got a long way to go yet until they're 100% abscess free, but I'm thrilled that they've done so well on the bicillin with no GI problem side effects.

I've made many attempts to get Ms. Sparta bred, but she's very convinced she doesn't want babies right now. Her stubbornness is really starting to frustrate me; my goal is to have a live litter out of her by October, but I'm not sure if that will happen or not. Grr, typically English Lop.

Aside from that, the house bunnies are good, Smokey is the same as always, and Tess is hanging in there. Guess that's all.

Decision

2009-07-19T01:53:00.002-04:00

I did decide to go ahead and breed Sparta. I'm doubtful if she took, so I guess I'll have to wait and see.

My basic thought process though this huge dilemma was this: Sparta is a healthy rabbit, and at this time, there is nothing to suggest that that will change any time soon.That said, the English Lop breed needs healthier rabbits to be introduced into the gene pool. While her parents may have some health issues, Sparta is not her parents, and she has proven again and again that she has a much stronger immune system than either of them. The purpose of rabbit breeding is to improve the offspring through each generation: both in type and health. Sparta definitely qualifies as an "improvement" over her parents, and to use her to breed out the health issues her parents suffer from would be awesome.

As for Tristynn and Beau? Neither will ever be shown or bred again, that's for certain. Both lops will live out their lives as pet rabbits here with me; I don't think I could ever part with my two loppers. Once both bunnies are back on their feet [pun intended], I hope to eventually get Beau neutered and bond him with Tris. They would make such a cute couple. ;)

Once again, I will be traveling all next week and will be unreachable. Hopefully, I'll have an update on Tris' and Beau's abscessing when I come back.

Dilemma + PA Pics

2009-07-16T22:27:00.016-04:00

I've been pretty busy catching up on things since I've gotten back, and today was no exception. Following a massive cage cleaning session this morning, I got a visit from Luna and Snuffle's family. I'll have to post a picture of the cute present they gave me later. :) Sparta went on yet another date with Marie Owen's buck, Steve, and again, neither one seemed to be "in the mood". But now, I'm not so convinced it's a bad thing that Sparta refuses to take.

English Lops are prone to all sorts of health problems. Respiratory issues and ear infections seem to top the list, but in general, ELops are just not as healthy as other breeds. This unhealthiness is believed to have been caused by the mass inbreeding done in the breed's past- Thus, the sickly stock of today remind us to be extremely careful of our breeding practices.

My lops are no exception to the problems seen in most Englishes. Beau is prone to sock hocks, and the major root of his foot problem is that he is a dirty nasty boy who loves to sit in his urine. This has in turn caused a major issue with abscessing on his feet, and the usual "drain and keep clean and dry" method suggested by the vet is absolutely not cutting it anymore. Beau is now on bicillin, and I hope that will clear his feet issues up once and for all. Unfortunately, that's not the only problem he deals with. I've been experimenting with Beau's diet, trying to figure out what triggers the constant runny, sticky poo he makes, and it seems that he is sensitive to pelleted food. I am currently slowly removing pellets from his diet, in hope that his poop issue will clear up. After all, bunny butt baths are no fun for neither the human nor the rabbit! Finally, Beau also suffers from runny eyes during stressful or new situations.

Tristynn has seemingly always been a healthy girl, aside from her allergies. She does get a wet nose when it's humid out [which is basically 24/7 in Virginia :P], during seasonal temperature changes, and whenever she's exposed to too much dust. However, she's got another recent issue aside from the removal of a benign tumor she had last month. Tris has developed a huge abscess near her ankle/foot on the same leg as the now 3-toed foot. It has spread rapidly since I've noticed it, and like Beau, she is now also on bicillin. While her tumor could be attributed to injury, there is absolutely no reason for this abscess to form. And that's the scary part.

Enter Sparta. She, like her three pet sisters I keep in touch with, is a picture of health. She has no random abscessing, she is not prone to sore hocks, she only makes runny poo when stressed, and she doesn't even have the allergy issues many rabbits have. Even aside from that, quite unlike her parents, she is almost always in fantastic condition even with minimal conditioning, and she sheds very little compared to other rabbits. She's great on the show table, and she is exceedingly clever... For an English Lop, I mean. ;) She's my idea of a great English Lop- Showy, pretty, and best of all, healthy. I've never before doubted that to breed her would be to do a great service to the breed. Now, I'm not so sure.

With Tris' frighteningly sudden abscessing, and Beau's worsening foot condition, I have to ask the question: Are Sparta and her littermates just ticking time bombs? Are they at risk to someday too develop abscess or other health issues? It's a scary thought, but it needs to be addressed.

While Tristynn's abscess is new, her allergies aren't. Check out this photo from August 2007:

Notice the wet nose? She would have been 4 1/2 months old in the picture, and I would have had her for about 2 months. If it were a typical Virginia August that year, then it would have been very hot and humid the date this picture was taken. Her allergies were worse when she was younger, and I do think that they've improved a little bit.

While I have no picture to prove it, I distinctively remember Beau having a runny eye at the March 2008 Aylett show. That would have put him at 9 months, and he had been having trouble with his eye for at least a few weeks before then. I don't remember when the runny poo started, but I do recall asking a breeding at the June 2008 State College show advice for his poop problem. He didn't have that issue before he was bred a month before [Tristynn had her litter two days after the State College show], so he was a little less than a year when that started.

Photos from Sparta and her siblings' past, however, show nothing but clear eyes, noses, and butts. Is it possible that, despite their breed's and parents' unhealthiness, the surviving girls from the litter managed to inherit exceedingly good health?

However, "surviving girls" is the key phrase here.

There were originally seven kits in the litter: Seal, an opal doe, now lives in Pennsylvania, Sparta is here with me, Snuffles and Luna live here in Richmond with each other as pet cage mates, and Molly is also living as a spoiled pet in Richmond. At 5 weeks of age, an opal buck was stomped, and Rio, the last boy, came down with pastuerella at 10 weeks following his first trip outside of my home. He was euthanized soon afterwards after it was clear there was nothing to be done.

The vet and I both agreed that, for some reason, Rio had a weakened immune system, and that the stress from the trip caused the pastuerella. While he was sick, Rio came into contact with his sisters as we thought the pastuerella was not contagious in the state it was in. However, we later learned that he was contagious, and he was immediately put into strict quarantine. It is important to note that he did not have any respiratory issues with his illness, and that the abscess he developed did not open until after he was in quarantine. However, I believe that the fact that the five girls were placed in the same stressful situation as Rio, and that they were even exposed to him while he was sick and they never became ill themselves, speaks volumes about their immune system.

There were no early indications of illness in any of the kits from the litter, and they all seem to be going strong now. At 13 1/2 months, one would assume that any health problem that is going to arise would have shown up already. I doubt Sparta will develop very bad allergies later on, and I don't foresee any sore hocks or runny poo in her future. However, I can't guarantee that she won't follow her mother's foot steps and develop a nasty abscess at 2+ years of age, and I have no idea whether or not her offspring would inherit her immune system, or one mirroring her parents'.

I take what I do very seriously, and the one thing I've always held in highest regard, aside from temperament, is health. The English Lop is not a healthy breed, and it's up to the breeders of today to change that. Though right now Sparta is an extremely healthy rabbit with an impressive show record to boot, she has a questionable family history, and I'm not sure I want to take the risk of history repeating itself. At the end of the day, the bottom line is: Would breeding Sparta help or hurt the English Lop breed?

It's a tough dilemma, and I don't know how I'm going to handle it. I started this blog pretty sure I was not going to breed Sparta, but writing out the good and bad has really made me think. I'll figure it out eventually. ;)

Now that that wonderful ramble is out of the way, I have a few pictures from my trip to Pennsylvania I thought I'd post:

Beau checking out Cracker Barrel at a pit stop in Maryland:

I wasn't aware that a big bunny hanging out the window is parent speak for "Come let your random kid poke my rabbit through my car window!", but alright.

The mountains are so pretty in PA.

I spent many hours that first weekend watching my little cousin's t-ball games, haha.

My cousins have a dog named Pudge.

He's about a year younger than Tess.

He's a BIG chocolate lab mix.

But, they love him. [Me too!]

Ewww, look at that Pudge drool! :P

Back in Richmond

2009-07-11T19:14:00.005-04:00

I arrived home from Pennsylvania earlier this afternoon. The first order of business was to catch Calvyn AGAIN. The little brat had been hanging around the front yard eating treats from my brothers' hands all last week; she was rather surprised when I grabbed hold of her after offering her a papaya tablet. Cal is still fuming in the empty stacker in the garage, and I'm looking at different housing options for her in the future that will keep her both safe and happy.

I was ecstatic to see all the bunnies [and my puppy and kitty too, of course!]; the rabbits seemed mildly irritated by interruption of their afternoon nap, and Smokey Cat is, of course, having nothing to do with me [until supper time, that is :P]. I think Tess is the only one who missed me!

I have so many stories and pictures from these past two weeks, and I hope to do some website and blog updates soon. For now, I only have updates on what went on with the bunnies while I was away.

Tris' tumor biopsy came back, and the result was... benign! I am so pleased that my girl is fine and healthy, though she did give me a major scare! We believe that the tumor was injury caused, so there is no worrying about genetic issues.

Despite showing many signs of pregnancy, Sparta never did take, and I do not believe Tristynn is pregnant either. I want to try one last time to get Sparta bred in the near future, and then I need to reconsider what is to become of my rabbitry as I enter my final and most serious year of high school.

That's all for now; hopefully, I'll have some pictures to share on the blog soon!

Heading Out

2009-06-24T23:46:00.004-04:00

For the next two weeks, Beau and I will be living the country life out at my aunt's place in rural Pennsylvania. I'm not sure if Beau will approve of the trip, but I'm pretty excited.

I will be pretty much unreachable until I return mid-July. Hopefully, I'll be able to update then with some fun pictures, stories, and news of Sparta's (hopeful!) litter!

EDIT: While I'm thinking of it, Tris' biopsy results have been delayed; I hope to have more information this coming Monday. She's doing very well, although she is not pleased with being cooped up in her carrier all day. She has begun to put some weight on her foot, and she tries to make a break for it every time I open the carrier. Good to see my girl is back to her troublesome self. ;)

Waiting Game

2009-06-19T17:58:00.003-04:00

Tristynn was rushed to the vet early Wednesday morning after she very suddenly began limping the evening before during her outdoor play time. Her back right foot had swollen and she couldn't put any weight on it. While that didn't quite warrant any sort of emergency, the fact that it was so sudden scared me; she had been out playing just hours before with no problem whatsoever. I figured that at best, it was a strain, and at worst, an abscess.

Nope. Tumor on the toe.

Tris went into surgery Friday to completely remove the toe; we should hopefully have the biopsy results back this Wednesday. She made it through surgery fine, and the pain meds seem to be keeping her comfortable.

The vet and I talked for a bit Friday morning about options and what this means for Tris' future. I worry about many things: The possibility of this being something genetic, of it popping up later in Sparta or in one of her sisters. I worry about the possible kits Tris may be carrying, about how they may be affected by the anesthesia and drugs in Tris' body, and whether or not they'll survive. I worry too about Sparta's possible litter, and if this is something I need to consider when selling to show/breeding homes. But most of all, I worry about Tris herself: about her well being, her future health, about how she really doesn't need a litter stressing her out while she's sick, and whether or not this is something that's going to come back and affect her again years from now. Tris is a very special girl to me; she was my very first English Lop, bought more as a pet than anything. She and I share a close bond; she's my heart rabbit, and I don't want to loose her now while she's still so young.

Unfortunately, neither the vet nor I have any answers to my many questions just yet. When the biopsy results come back, the vet will be able to help me make decisions regarding taking care of Tristynn, and I'll be able to start making some tough choices about the future of my rabbits, my herd, and my hobby as a whole. Till then, it's a waiting game.

I'll be holding my breath until Wednesday.

Seriously? And babies.

2009-06-14T22:50:00.014-04:00

So, today, Calvyn learned how to escape from the puppy pen.

I'm going to murder that rabbit if I ever catch her again. Ugh.

Anyway. Concentrating on the good fun stuff now.

Remember Molly, the little runty girl from last year's litter I sold as a pet?

She's now living very spoiled in her pet home... who now has a few new additions. I wanted to share a few pics, since they're so cute.

First, the two younger show girls:

Truffles and [my favorite!] Dirty Socks!

Next, the proud mama:

....I can't spell her name. :P Nancimund? Nacemen? Whatever, she's cute, and such a sweetheart. ^.^

Annnd, the seven babies!

We're guessing these two are peanuts. See the domed head? You can't tell from the picture, but they're also very small compared to their siblings.

Yep, they're Jersey woolies! Pfft, dunno why anyone would choose fuzzy dwarfs over English Lops. ;)

It was so nice to play with these little guys today, especially since it's been a bit over a year now since my last litter was born. They are so much more active and vocal than my loppies were at that age; it'll be interesting to see how they differ from the Lops in their development.

Speaking of English Lop babies... I took Tris for a date with Steve today; cross your fingers she took! She's been out of breeding for so long that I'm skeptical whether or not she'll ever kindle for me again. It's too early to tell with Sparta, but a week in and there's been no significant weight gain or personality change. Guess I'll have to wait and see.

On a completely different note, I'm hoping to get a new layout up within the next week or two. "Hoping" being the key word here. I have no idea what the actual layout will be like; hand coding is becoming increasingly annoying. I've been playing around with photo editing programs; this is all that I've got so far:

I like it, except that it's pretty unreadable. Grrr. Oh well.

Edit: I got bored with the old layout. :)

An Exciting Weekend!

2009-06-08T23:55:00.008-04:00

I finished my SATs on Saturday just in time to race home, frantically pack the van, load up Sparta, make a quick impulse decision to bring Tris along as well, and head on my way to West Virginia. Unlike the last Charles Town show, when we drove through crazy storms and hurricane warning weather, the drive up was gorgeous and sunny. One of my favorite things about rabbit shows is the country side drives; I'm always fascinated by the rolling green fields and the like.

Charles Town was a lot of fun. Per usual, I showed in youth, as there are never any open English Lop exhibitors at that show. Tris got a 2/3, and Sparta ended up taking the breed! :) Other than the exciting placement, the rest of the night was pretty uneventful. I had fun playing with Whitney's gorgeous hare babies, and watching the 3 Rhinelanders being judged was pretty neat. After the English Lop judging, we left without sticking around for Best in Show to drive up to my aunt's place in Pennsylvania to spend the night.

We were on the road again early Sunday morning for the State College show. I couldn't believe the amount of Rhinelanders in the showroom! There had to be close to 20 of them. Many of them were just babies for sale, but still. It was so cool to see so many of such a rare breed in one place.

Baby Rhinelander love!

There were also a few Checkered Giants at the show; one of the bucks kept puddling for head rubs whenever I walked by. <3 I so want a Checkered.... sigh.

Tristynn was the first off the table in her class, but I wasn't really expecting anything from her this weekend. Sparta won her class of 3, with the judge commenting [and I quote] "I'm gonna steal this bitch." Hahaha. She got some amazing comments, and went BOS to Matt Hoffman's awesome broken buck. Matt and I actually bred the two later that day; I can't wait for babies out of them!

I didn't stay for the second show; instead, we drove to my grandparent's house over in Altoona to visit for a bit. I was able to hang out with my cousins whom I hadn't seen in a few years, so that was really nice. :) The bunnies enjoyed their time outside the carriers to loaf around on the porch.

I went on a walk with said cousins, and we snuck up on a wild bunny to snap some photos.

All in all, a very satisfying weekend, and a great close to the show season. :)

So, am I a senior now? :)

2009-06-05T20:23:00.006-04:00

School is over! Well, techincally. I still have two exams next week, but today was my last full day at school and boy am I relieved. It's been a pretty hectic year, and I'm so ready for break.

With summer's beginning comes the winding down of the show season until fall. Tomorrow I'll be leaving around 2pm to make it up to the Charles Town show, and that night I'll be driving directly to Pennsylvania to enter in the State College show in the morning. It's a bittersweet sort of show weekend. While I'm excited to show Sparta one last time before before breeding her, I can't help but to think about how this would have been Tamale's debut since his DQ in March. Either way, it's going to be one busy weekend; the fact that I have SAT testing tomorrow morning doesn't help much. Groan.

I'm off to clean up a carrier for Sparta, and to get packed for my overnight journey this weekend. Hope to see some friendly faces at the show tomorrow!

And, just for fun/for your viewing pleasure... Tristynn! Taken about a month ago. I love her kissy face. :)

What the Hail?

2009-06-03T21:48:00.012-04:00

Stupid Richmond weather... Today started out as a typical early summer day in Virginia: Blindingly sunny skies, 80+ degrees, and nasty 90% humidity. I spent much of the day outdoors with Tess and a friend at a nearby park, ignoring the darkening clouds forming waaaay off in the distance, and the ridiculous tornado warnings interrupting my favorite radio station.

Tess and her friend, Buddy, chilling at the park.

A few hours after our outing ended, thunder began to ripple overhead, the wind lured in the once distant ominous looking clouds, and the sky exploded with an onslaught of cold rain and smooth, glass-like hail.

The view from my front porch; everything was distorted by all the rain and hail coming down.

I've seen hail maybe a handful of times in my life, so it was a cool experience for me.

The collection of hail pellets by the porch.

More hail pieces, moved together from rain pouring out of the gutter.

One of my biggest concerns was how my herb plants would fair in the freak storm. During a brief lull when the hail quieted down for a few moments, I rushed to pull back all the porch plants and herbs closer to the house, in hope that they would be more protected. As for my small, newly planted parsley and cilantro plants, all I could do was cross my fingers they wouldn't be crushed under the falling ice.

Some of the potted plants covered in hail.

My pathetic mint plant.

The storm finally ended late this evening, leaving a depressing scene of a dark day fading into an even darker night.

New and improved view from the porch.

Cloud retreating overhead the willow tree.

And the good news is... My herbs survived!

The parsley! A little flattened, but still kicking. The cilantro was in the same condition.

Two hours without power plus an ample number of photo ops makes for one interesting evening. Let's not do it again.

Back in Black

2009-05-31T23:35:00.003-04:00

So, guess who showed up in my front yard today?

Calvyn, that's who.

I know, horrible picture, but she's so stressed out, I didn't want to try to get another better one.

I looked up from my gardening today to see her playing in the yard with Beau [and no, they didn't breed :P]. Beau kept trying to chin her, and she'd run off a few feet, then come back over to sniff noses. Finally, she laid down and let Beau chin her with his fat buck head, and I grabbed hold of her before she escaped from/got smothered by the chunkiness that is Beau's face.

I gave her a quick once-over before sticking her in a cage to destress some, and it looks like she'd done fairly well living off grass and whatnot in the wild. She's a little bony, and her fur is definitely not as soft and pretty as it was 3 weeks ago when she was living with me, but she's in much condition than she was when I first caught her in March.

I don't know what all is in store for Calvyn this go-round. I received zero interest when I tried to adopt her out last time, and she's obviously not happy living in the garage. I've been offered a nice outdoor hutch, so I'm considering maybe looking that over and seeing what can be done with it for her. 90% of the time, I advocate against outdoor hutches, but if I can eliminate the outdoor risks, I think that Calvyn would be happiest outside. There's a huge personality change with her when she's out playing in a puppy pen as opposed to exercising indoors, and don't want to compromise her happiness for safety. But, I'm getting way ahead of myself. I'll take a look at the hutch, evaluate the options, and go from there.

I'm glad she's back, though. I may not be fond of the little brat, but I'm relieved that she's safe and, more importantly, still alive after being out loose for so long.

Hot Tamale

2009-05-22T13:17:00.009-04:00

I lost Tamale very early this morning after he asphyxiated on a pellet. His death is such a huge shock; he was running around the garage and cuddling in my lap not even ten minutes before he asphyxiated.

Tamale came to live with me in November, and he was WILD. Impossible to hold or pick-up, shied away from being touched, and always stressed out. Over time, he truly lived up to his pedigree name, "Sweet Stuff"; he loved giving kisses and couldn't get enough head rubs. He dispelled every prejudice and fear I had of the breed, and gave me a new love and respect of the Rhinelander rabbit.

Tamale was a gorgeous rabbit who embodied my idea of a perfect Rhinelander: beautiful type with a feisty, yet endearing attitude. I regret that he was never able to pass on his genes; we need more Rhinelanders like Tamale.

Here's a few pictures of my pretty boy:

Digging holes through the backyard at 3-ish months.

First posed attempt, the day after Christmas:

Playing in his favorite toy- an empty litter bag:

Happy Easter!

Playing outside a few weeks ago:

Tamale binky:

Last photo ever taken of him... His gorgeous tail.

Tamale's been gone less than a day, and already I'm in Rhinelander withdrawal. I miss those ridiculous antics of his that never failed to make me laugh, and his high-stung attitude that contrasted so greatly with my chilled-out English Lops. I know I can never replace him, and I doubt I'll ever find a rabbit with as much character as he had, but I'm pretty sure Hot Tamale got me addicted to those Calico rabbits.

RIP sweet boy.

The Good, the Bad, and the Downright Awful

2009-05-13T23:40:00.004-04:00

The Good:

I did manage to find a ride up to the Gaithersburg show [thanks Jennifer and Rhiannon!], and Sparta took BOS in both shows for two legs.

After the breed judging in Show B, the judge helped me go over my rabbit and pointed out some of her minor faults I never paid much attention to, but had ended up costing her winning the breed. The advice he gave me was thorough and extremely helpful, and I'm glad to have been able to learn more about my breed.

It looks like I will be making it to the Leesport, PA show this weekend; I'm excited to show in both the double show and the speciality. After that, I need to reevalutate my show schedule for the rest of the season, but at the moment, I plan to make it to the Charles Town, WV show on June 6.

I also was able to pick up a ton of herb plants [parsley, cilantro, lilac and catnip!] from a local high school's gardening class last week. :)

The Bad:

I have no idea when I'll be able to rebreed Tris. :(

End of the year testing starts Friday for me. Ugh.

Calvyn escaped from her puppy pen yesterday and squeezed out of the fence before I could catch her. She's been hanging around the yard, but she won't let me get near her. >.<

The Ugly:

Tess has advanced lymphoma. Chemotherapy is not going to do her any good at this point, so we're starting her on injectible steroids. She's still acting and feeling fine, so we're just going to take things one step at a time in keeping her healthy and happy for as long as possible.

The whole thing is a complete shock, and I can only take comfort in the fact that we were able to catch it before she starts to get sick.

Don't know quite what to say about that. Definitely not a fun thing to deal with right now. =/

Flying Rabbits, Runny Noses

2009-05-01T12:25:00.039-04:00

First, the serious stuff.

Thursday evening, Tristynn and Tamale went in to the vets for a nasal swab/culture after all five of the garage bunnies [Tris, Tamale, Beau, Sparta, Calvyn] started showing wet noses. None of them were sneezing or blowing anything, and all of the snot was clear, not yellow or green. I am very sure that this is all allergy related; I know I'm suffering greatly from the pollen, and the rabbits have an even more delicate respiratory system than me. However, because of the Pasteurella issue with Rio, I will not take any chances that my rabbits are carrying any respiratory diseases. Hopefully, the results will be back in sometime next week, and if everything looks normal, I will get on with rebreeding Tris. I will keep the blog updated with results.

And now, the less serious part of the blog. :)

First off, pelleted pine litter is a stupid idea. I can't stop sneezing and my garage smells like a wood shop. Lovely.

Secondly, Scented Yesterday's News?! Are you kidding me?! Even worse than wood stove pellets. Perfumed newspaper, yum. They really should label those bags more clearly. *grumble*

Thirdly, no babies this month. :(

Now that all that is out of the way...

The bunnies are loving this weather! Well, maybe they're not exactly sharing my zest for 80 degree temperatures with humidity, but they are enjoying their afternoon romps around the yard. I've been playing with the camera settings, trying to capture those happy bunny binkies and jumps, and I'm pretty much stuck. I can get a picture where everything is clear except for the blurring of the moving rabbit, or I can capture the movement with no blur, but everything is very grainy. I really don't know jack about photography, so I figure it's just a matter of moving the different settings up and down until I get something that works. ^_^

Anyway, here's some of my favorite pictures from the past few days. None of them have been cropped, lightened/darkened, or edited yet in any way, so please excuse the quality.

First up, we have Miss Sparta!

She began with a few leaps,

bounds,

and skips.

But she soon began racing out of the camera shots,

diving in tight turns

bounding across the yard,

and binkying!

A few more single-pawed jumps,

and skids,

and she was ready for a grass break. :)

Tristynn's turn!

Tris was slightly more air-born than Sparta.

Sometimes she went so fast,

She had to skid to a stop.

She was a good girl for the camera,

letting me get some nice shots of her.

Like this one. :)

By the end of the afternoon, she was so pooped, she started panting like a dog. ;)

[see her tongue sticking out? :D]

Of course, I had to get some shots of the handsome Tamale boy. :)

He started off begging to be let out of the pen,

sticking his tongue out in protest when I didn't comply,

[another tongue picture!]

and getting up close and personal with the camera.

I enlarged the pen, and he began to binky again,

and again,

and again.

He crawled,

he jumped,

he ran.

And ran.

And ran.

And ran.

And ran some more.

But hey, he's a Rhinelander. What else is there to do? ;)

Finally, my Beau Monster.

Beau is usually content with just chilling out.

Not this time!

He ran!

He stretched!

He charged!

He gave a demonstration on why unneutered bucks are visually less appealing than neutered bucks!

And then he did the BIGGEST BINKY EVER, and at the end, slipped and skidded onto the ground on his butt. Of course, my camera was off, and he was too embarrassed to attempt anything like that again. ;)

What? an update?! With pictures.

2009-04-25T21:05:00.022-04:00

So, here's a quick review of everything that's happened recently bunny-wise:

The weekend following the Aylett show, a bunch of the bunnies [Sparta, Spot, Tamale, Calvyn, Clover, Pepper] and I all went to a Brownie Girlscout meeting thing to talk about basic bunny care and to let the kids play with the rabbits. Since it was only a few weeks until Easter, mostly I stressed the importance of researching rabbis before buying them, and the benefits of adopting/buying from a reputable breeder as opposed to buying from a pet store. Tamale had fun prancing around being pretty in the puppy pen, Calvyn thouroughly enjoyed being cute for everyone, and Clover got pissed off and kicked some girl in the face. Since she wasn't bleeding or crying or anything like that, I figure the whole thing was a basic success.

[Seriously, I'm exaggerating. But Clover bunny probably won't be going to another volunteer event anytime soon. ;)]

The next day, Sparta and I rode up with Owen Yates to the West Friendship show. The English Lops were finished by 9:30am, but since I had ridden up with a judge, I had to stick around until 4:00pm for Owen to finished judging. Go figure. Sparta took a BOSV for a leg, so that made it worth it. ;)

I spent my Spring Break helping bunny-sit the three pet girls that I sold back in August, and it was so great to see "my" girls all grown up in their pet homes! I did evaluate all three buns, and it seems the chopped-off hips/flat hind quarters are evident in all of them. Of course, it doesn't make a difference for Molly, Luna, or Snuffles, but that is something I need to consider when making breeding decisions in the future.

The day before Easter, the RichmondRBA took a trip to the Lewis Winger Botanical Gardens to let the kids come and pet on the bunnies. Sparta was in a wild mood that day, and poor Calvyn and Spot spent the majority of their time shivering because it was so much more colder than we had expected it to be! It was fun letting the kids gawk at the English Loppy ears and answering the many questions the parents threw at us. We stressed the importance of spaying/neutering house rabbits, and how important it is to rabbit-proof the house. Very few people knew that rabbits could actually live inside, let alone be litter-boxed trained, so that it was nice to educate them. ;)

Anyway, those are the going-ons of the past month.

Gaithersburg looks like a no-go, but I'm trying to look at Pennsylvania shows- "trying" being the key word here. Why does no one in PA put up their catalogs on the ARBA site?! LOL. There's a Lop Speciality May 16, so I may have to make it to that show.

Tris would be due on Tuesday, granted she's pregnant. Last time she had a litter, she was crazy hormonal the entire gestation period, and she gained a ton of weight in the last two weeks. She's actually lost weight this past month, and she's still a sweetheart. I'm sticking the nestbox in tomorrow anyway, but I'm not counting on babies this month.

And now, time for Photo Overload!

Today was bunny cage cleaning day, and I let everybunny out for some play time. I snapped a ton of pictures, and even managed to max out my memory card [I went through 4GB in less than 8 months, eek!], but here's some of my favorites.

First, the lovely girl bunnies came out to play.

Tris being a cutie:

Calvyn being a cutie:

Sparta being a GROUCH:

She spent most of the time protesting the heat by loafing. :P

Meanwhile, Beau honked at the does from his pen:

You can see his teeth! :)

After the girls went in, Beau romped around the yard and decided that Sparta's method of loafing was definitely a good idea:

Tamale has frustrated me so badly, he gets an update all to himself.

Tamale is a butt-head. He was DQed at the Aylett show for broken teeth, and since then, I've been trying to minimize the chances of that ever happening again. He's been getting more exercise/play time, and he's got a variety of toys in his cage. Oatmeal container, shoe box, grass mat, baby keys, dried vegetable gourd thing, pine cones, store-bought bunny toy rattle... All of them shoved to the side. I gave him a hanging mobile with colorful wooden chews on it, so that whenever he gets the urge to sit up and chew on the wire top, he can chew on those instead. It kind of worked.. Except now instead of chewing on the wire, he's biting his teeth against the metal bell on the mobile. Ugh. I don't think his teeth will be growing back in anything soon, but I'll keep trying!

Frustrating as he is, Tamale was nice enough to provide me with good photo-ops.

"What's that over there?"

"No seriously, what is that?"

"Oh, it's just Beau. I'll chin him. ^_^"

"Imma getchu!"

My most favorite bunny photo ever. Blogspot will probably screw it up, but I think if you click on it, you can see the reflection of the pen bars in his eyes. :) [Note: clicked-on version of photo will be enormous.]

Spotastic then came out to play:

Followed by the mini loppies:

After they went in and cooled off, Clover began cleansing himself of that "outdoors stench". Look at his those ears flopping around!

And then, he went into a binky fit and started binkying all over the vent. Right after my camera memory maxed out, he somehow managed to flip the vent out of its "hole" and into the air; it scared him so bad he ran back into the cage with Pepper. :P Here's a short clip of his silliness:

And that's the end of the today's adventures with the bunnies!

I made a Southern States run today to grab some hay and potting soil [herbs, I will get you planted], and I picked up a bag of wood stove pellets and peat moss [note: peat moss is HEAVY!]. I had mild allergies to wood stove pellets in the past, and I am allergic to wood shavings, so this will be interesting. The soy-based pellets I use for litters boxes work great, but the place I buy them at is an hour out, and it's a huge pain trying to buy enough in bulk to last until the next trip there. I've been using Yesterday's News, and I'm not impressed. Neither are the bunnies; Sparta keeps dumping her litter box out all over the floor. >_< I'm interested to see how the wood stove pellets work out, since I haven't use them in years.

I've heard great things about peat moss being used in the pans, so I'm trying it out. Right now, all I'm using in the bottom pans is a bunch of recycled architect papers, so it'll be nice if I could use something that can be tossed in the compost pile, instead of thrown away. [Yep, Choxic Rabbitry is going' green! :P] I'm also hoping the peat moss will help with odor control. I'll keep things updated on that adventure.

Aaaand, that's all. Oh, just a quick note- The photos aren't actually blurry; Blogger/Blogspot just makes resizing a pain. If you click on them, they'll be clear, but ginormous. However, if you have the newest edition of Firefox [which is awesome, by the way], you can easily zoom out and view them perfectly. ;) [Seriously, Firefox should pay me for advertising. >.>]

Quick Update

2009-04-23T20:53:00.003-04:00

It's been nearly a month since I've updated, so just a quick blog post while I've got some free time.

I'm about 99% sure Tris isn't pregnant, so I'm hoping to re-breed her sometime in the near future. If I get her bred next week [I'm planning on it], that will place the babies' birth date around June 1st, and would make them ready for their new homes sometime in August. Still not sure when Sparta is going to be bred.

Tamale's teeth are slowly but surely growing back in, and I'm crossing my fingers they'll be ready for the Gaitherburg show on the 9th, assuming I make it up there. Although he is around 8-9 months old, Tamale is still a small boy at only 6 1/2lbs. Let's hope he gets a major growth spurt soon.

Sparta took BOSV for another leg at the West Friendship show, and I'm very proud of her for that. I really want to make it up to Gaithersburg in two weeks, and the Hare Raisers Youth 4-H show on May 23rd looks like it could be fun. English Lops aren't sanctioned, but how cool would it be to bring Tamale along? I am planning on hopefully attending the Charles Town, WV show in June, and that would probably wrap up my show schedule until the fall, unless I go to the 4-H farm show thing in July again...

House rabbits are all good. Spot is keeping busy wreaking havoc upon my bedroom, and Calvyn is still free-loading. Clover has certainly adjusted well to living with Pepper, and the two of them [mainly Clover] have managed to shred the linoleum flooring in their cage levels. Sigh, bunnies.

I know emails are going unanswered, and I know the website needs updating [I need a new layout...], but I'm just swamped right now. School will be over soon, and then hopefully I can have some free-time to properly update things.

Edit: Just because she's cute, who remembers this face?

It's Molly! The little runt from Tris' last litter now living spoiled in her new home.

Change of Plans

2009-03-30T17:28:00.003-04:00

Ok, so I chickened out about the Pastuerella thing from the last litter and bred Tris to Steve instead of Beau. That, and I didn't want a whole litter of agoutis again haha. Stevers was pretty tired from the show and wasn't too up to breeding, so I'll have to see if she took. I'll be playing around with Punnet squares and genotypes and all sorts of fun stuff later to see what colors could possibly show up in this litter.

The show was ok; I was the only lop person there [I put Marie's bunnies up on the table for her since she couldn't stay], so that was a bummer. There were originally just enough Rhinelander people entered to get a leg [!!!!!], but only one other person showed up. And then, of course, Tamale was DQed because he broke his teeth on the carrier that morning. >_< Grrrr. They broke fairly even, so I'm hoping they'll grow back in time for him to hit up at least one other show this season. I may still take him along to the other shows just to get people interested, not sure yet. I'm just so bummed out about it.

The lops did ok. In Show A, Tris took BOS, with Stevie winning BOB. Show B, Sparta won BOB for her 6th leg, and Steve was BOS.

So, there's the show report. I'm not sure if I'll be at the West Friendship show next Saturday, but I do hope to make it to Gaithersburg on the 9th.

Is It Spring Yet?

2009-03-26T17:32:00.011-04:00

The buns and I are definitely ready for spring already- Although last week was sunny and somewhat warm, it's been rainy, cloudy, cold, and just gross this week. Hopefully it will warm up soon; I want to get my herb garden started!

Nothing going on with Tamale and the Loppers; the Aylett show is on Saturday and I can't wait to get them up on the show table. Beau will be shown for the first time since November, and although he's very much out of condition, it will be fun to get comments of him next to Sparta now that Miss Spart is all grown up. I'll be breeding Tris directly after the show, so of course I'm excited for babies. I really hope she'll take; I know it can be difficult getting does pregnant that have not been kept in breeding condition.

In other news... Peper and Clover have moved in together! It's been tough bonding those two, but seeing them grooming each other and cuddling in their cage together makes it all worth it. Just for fun, here's a video of them chilling out yesterday; notice Clover's fascination with Smokey cat:

Ignore the TV noises in the background. ;)

And while I'm on the subject of pet bunnies... Meet Calvyn:

Cal showed up hanging out in front of the garage almost 3 weeks ago. She had been living off of the food we placed out for her for nearly a week before I was able to catch her. She's a bony girl [no surprise there] with the most gorgeous, silky fur. While Calvyn is understandably skittish and does not care for being picked up, she loves snuggling, and is just in general a sweet little girl. I've had no luck in finding her previous owners, and while I'm not 100% sure how things will play out for her, for now, she's chilling out here.

Some more pictures of the cutie:

And some shots from last week:

Tris, being lovely as usual:

Tamale giving me a halfhearted pose:

"Ok, enough of this."

Pep says, "I can be an arched breed, too!"

"I disapprove of the outdoors."

And one last shot of the mini lop lovers:

Snow! And a General Update of Sorts

2009-03-02T22:24:00.000-05:00

Snow? In Virginia?! What is this world coming to?! ;)

Last night, we got about a foot of snow here in Richmond [I know, crazy!], and with today off from school, I decided to take advantage of the rare scenery. Tess and I started out on a hike early this morning to try and get some photography shots before the neighborhood kids trampled all the snow around. There is a random small creek about a half mile or less from my house that is usually used as a dumping area, but I thought maybe it'd be pretty with all the snow. ;) Here's some of the shots I got:

The backyard:

What stop sign?

Tess' best impression of a Pointer:

"I hate you."

The trail we left:

Pretty trees :)

Looks like it's bowing:

And here I was thinking the creek would be frozen....

Tessie looking very regal:

And again:

Tree over the water:

And of course, I had to get some shots of the Tessinator exploring the snowy backyard.

"Get it off of me!"

My favorite <3>

"What is this stuff?!"

And what better thing to do with the snow than to eat it?

Silly dog. ;)

Anyway... Southern fascination with snow aside, I've got individual updates for each rabbit.

Nothing to report much with Tris. I'm thinking that aside from the smaller Aylett shows, her show career is pretty much ending. She's a lovely pet and an awesome mama, but, as proved by her performance at the Lebanon show, she's just not competitive enough to stack up against the tougher rabbits. She's still my sweetheart girl, and I can't wait to get babies out of her again this spring.

Beau has been fighting sore hocks for a while now, and his feet are finally making great improvements. I've struggled with the question of whether or not I should breed him again; I certainly don't want to be breeding rabbits with a tendency for sore feet. However, it seems that most of his problem stems from his hygiene issues, not anything genetic. Beau is, in a word, gross. He absolutely cannot have a litter box because he dumps it, pees in it, and then sits in his urine. He sprays himself, he mashes up his cecotrophs onto his resting board before eating them, and he doesn't groom himself often. I had a big piece of laminate in his cage for his feet to rest on, but it was always covered in urine and feces, no matter how often I cleaned it. About two weeks ago, I took it out, gave him a resting board, and his feet look much better. Hopefully, things will be cleared up in time for him to make his 2009 debut at the Aylett show on March 28.

Nothing going on with Sparta. After her placings at the Lebanon show, I can't wait to get her back on the show table. I'm eagerly awaiting her registration papers so that I can go ahead and Grand her. Part of me wants her to grow up already so that I can have little babies Spartas, but at the same time, I'm enjoying her silly baby antics:

^Silly girl played so hard that day, she couldn't even be bothered to get up to eat some grass.

Mr. Tamale is looking a little chunky these days, despite the very small amount of food he eats. Honestly, this rabbit needs no conditioning. I'm limiting his food a little more, and giving him some extra exercise time:

^What better ways to recycle empty bags of litter than to give them to a bunny to play with? ;)

Although I know he won't have any competition, I'm bringing Tamale along to every show I go to this Spring. Hopefully, he'll catch some eyes and spark some interest in the breed. :)

House bunnies!

Spot is, well, Spot.

^easily amused + easily bored = Spot

And, just because I'm pleased with the way it came out, here's a picture of him:

Pepper and Clover have made some nice progress with their bonding. Clover is such an easily stressed bunny, and he reacts aggressively when scared. Although it's taken a long time, he's finally to the point that, when tired, he's content to lay down next to Pepper.

They both decided to chill out under a coffee yesterday after some rough Bunny 500's up and down the hallway- Their neutral space. Although I wouldn't call it cuddling, I'm happy to see that Clover is at least content to tolerate Pep for the most part.

Here's a quick video of the two from tonight:

They've still got a long way to go, but it's progress.

All the commotion surrounding Pepper and Clover's bonding adventures has really made me miss my Noel. It's really sunken in lately that she's gone, what with having to rebond Pep and whatnot. It just feels so weird not to include an update about her in this post...

Maraca, my brother's Holland Lop buck, is making his final show appearance at the March Aylett show, and then my brother wants to get him neutered. Thank goodness. :P

I know that I still have a lot of website updates to do, and since I have tomorrow off from school as well because of the snow, I hope to get those done. I actually spent a majority of today redoing my Sales Policies; I just need to get the coding done and stick them on the site.

Really, all I have left to do is to figure out my show schedule and post it... The Aylett show is definite, and if I could make it up there, I'd love to go to the Hamburg show. Anything after that is iffy.

Sorry for the freaky long post! Kudos to anyone who actually reads all this nonsense. :P

Rio Revisited

2009-02-27T22:43:00.001-05:00

For those who haven't been keeping up with the blog, Rio was a young buck out of Tris' and Beau's litter back in June who ended up having to be euthanized after a awful fight with Pastuerella. The "Rio Episode" was my first real glimpse into how heartbreaking the rabbit raising world can be, and it was an emotionally and financially draining situation to deal with. Rio was one of those special, one-of-a-kind rabbits that everyone, including the wonderful vet staff who cared for him, couldn't help but to fall in love with. Loosing him was just as hard, if not more so, than the recent loss of my house rabbit, Noel.

I've struggled a lot with the moral questions surrounding Rio's death. Is this a genetic problem? Should I re-bred either of his parents? Should any rabbit from the litter be bred? Should I even be breeding English Lops at all if they're simply just not a hardy breed? What in the world caused this whole problem?

After a talk with Tris' and Beau's breeder, I think I've made the decision to go ahead and do a repeat breeding of the pair. We both agreed that Rio was most likely just a fluke, and if anything, this breeding could finally answer my questions about whether or not the Pastuerella was genetic. The outcome of this litter will determine my future breeding plans as well- If another Pastuerella case pops up, both Tris and Beau will be retired, and will most likely be spayed and neutered and live with me as pets. Sparta then may or may not be bred; if she is, it would be to a rabbit from a completely different line.

So, without further ado, the 2009 breeding plans for Choxic Rabbitry are as follows:

Tris x Beau
March 28, 2009 [directly after the Aylett show]

Sparta x Steve Owens
Late June-early July, 2009

I'm very excited about my upcoming litters. The show buns from the original Tris x Beau mating were fantastic, and I can't wait to see what she throws this time. I want to give Sparta a bit more time to mature mentally, and of course, I want to see how she does on the show table this spring before breeding her.

With that out of the way, I've got a ton of website updates to make, so I best get on that. ;)

Bunny Love

2009-02-14T23:56:00.007-05:00

Love is in the air this Valentine's Day; at least, it is for the rabbits. Beau has been busy "violating" all his toys, Tris has been rather broody lately, and Pepper has begun dating again.

Yep, the surprise I adopted on Wednesday was a boyfriend for Pepper!

Clover is a year old, neutered, tort mini lop boy who I spotted on a Craigslist ad. He's quite the cutie, and has such a bratty attitude haha.

While I initially tried to bond Pep with Spot after Noel passed, there were some housing issues. Spot and I are very closely bonded; while it was difficult getting used to sharing my bedroom with a bunny [talk about loud at night, ugh], I've really become close with the little guy, and vice versa. Maybe I'm being selfish, but I don't think it would be fair to move Spottie out of my room. It's really not an option to move Pep up here; her constant shedding wouldn't be very helpful with my allergies.

Things just sort of seemed to fall into place with Clover. The cage he's in right now is a big 3' by 2' cage I picked up a whim at the Lebanon show cheap. He was already neutered by his previous owners, so it was nice not having to worry about getting a new bunny fixed. Like Pepper, he's a mini lop, and despite being a little big, size-wise he's perfect for her.

Clover is still pretty stressed from being moved to his new home, and is in general not very happy with anyone. He absolutely LOVES the cat, though; poor Smokey is bombarded by a snuggling bunny every time he goes near Clover. Clove is rather overweight; I'm switching him onto the Oxbow feed I give the rest of the house bunnies in hope that he'll loose the 1 1/2-2lbs he needs to shed.

I'm really hoping this works out for Pepper and Clover. I'm sure Pep misses having a buddy to cuddle up with, and I'm betting Clover wouldn't mind having a girlfriend. =]

Here's a few more pictures of the the newbie:

Playing outside

Exploring his new cage [notice the hand-made NIC top? haha]

Please tell me I'm not the only one who sees a heart in their butts. ;)

Lebanon Recap and Future Plans

2009-02-09T21:12:00.007-05:00

The Lebanon show was tons of fun this year! We arrived at about 6PM Friday night, and I was able to compete in the youth Judging Contest- Talk about embarrassing. All the rabbits looked the same! And who knew cavies had extra toes to check for? I have no idea how judges do it, but it did put their job in perspective for me. I was much too embarrassed by my judging cluelessness to participate in the Breed ID competition, and after retreating back to my aunt's house for the night, I was in the show room bright and early Saturday morning.

Unfortunately, my breeds did NOT start bright and early; after a longlonglong wait, the Rhinelanders went up, and Tamale, of course, won his class of 1. He got some nice comments, but nothing unexpected. Poor Trissy was one of the first off the show table in the specialty, and in youth, she took 4/5. Oh well. Sparta, however, was my little show stopper that day. Having only turned senior three days before, and weighing in at a light 10.05lbs, Sparta won her class of 14 in the specialty and took BOSV. She recieved some awesome comments from the judge before I flew her down to youth, where the judge there was not happy about having to wait for the specialty to finish. There, she placed BOS, and won herself a nice, shiny trophy. Yay Sparta!

Also on Saturday, I had the pleasure of meeting up with Esja and her family- Esja is the proud owner of Molly, the spoiled little runt from Tris' and Beau's litter born back in June. It was fun getting to tour Esja, Melissa, and Grace around the huge show; introducing people to an English Angora in show coat is always such a treat lol.

When I wasn't running between show rooms, chatting with Whitney, or pointing out breeds to Esja, I spent the majority of my time in the wool room, drooling over Angoras with my friend Kat from Carytown Wooly Rabbits. Gahhh, I want an English Angora. =[ One day...

Sunday wasn't near as exciting. Tamale's placement was the same, but both Tris and Spart were in the bottom half of their class in youth. During the specialty, Sparta was one of the first off the table; Tris, however, managed to place 5th in her class. I did get to show my cousins and aunt around the show rooms on Sunday, which was fun.

I've got to give a quick kudos to Whitney and her Rhinelander, Fajita. Fajita stormed the show that weekend, taking BOB on Saturday and BOS on Sunday. Congrats!

I received a lot of interest in my English Lops, mainly from youth. I'm excited to see so many younger exhibitors looking into the big Lops- We need more ELop youth! Because of the increased interest in my stock, and because it seems I've finally decided on what kinds of cages I want, how many, and around when I should be getting them, I'm looking at the possibility of a double litter. Marie Owens, Tris' and Beau's breeder, has offered to let me use her gorgeous buck, Steve, to breed with Sparta. If I do breed Tris, I may decide to breed her back to Beau; I really liked the litter I got last time, but the decision is still up in the air.

The comments I received about Sparta and the plans I'm making about my new cage set-ups have fueled my excitement and optimism for my future breeding plans. I'm feeling very positive about this year's show and breeding season, and I can't wait to hit the show table and fill up the nestboxes.

With that, I end this blog with a quick announcement- I adopted a new surprise today; he's furry, chunky, and incredibly adorable. Once he's gotten a little more settled, I'll share pictures. ;)

Bunny Cops

2009-01-30T14:10:00.005-05:00

The crime scene:

The suspects:

Sparta AKA "300"

And

"Miss Tris"

The final evidence:

Punishment for Sparta: A rub down with a baby wipe and a stern talking-to.

Case closed.

Ignore the lame nicknames and the complete goofiness. ;) After the long, icy spell we had recently, the buns are once again enjoying lounging about the sunny backyard... And playing in the mud, of course. Let's hope that washes out before the PA Convention... And that Miss Sparta doesn't give Tamale any ideas. I'm sure that white bunnies and mud puddles do not mix.

With midterms now over and Monday off from school, I've finally got some time to breathe before getting ready for the Lebanon show that's coming up. I have a lot of things I'd like to get accomplished over this long weekend, the main one being getting a new layout up. With Noel having passed, I feel it's appropriate to start fresh with the website... That and that fact that the holidays are long over. I took some new pictures today of all three lops, and I have some nice photos of Tamale I want to use. I'm hoping I can get the layout done before Lebanon; however, considering that I have no plan for a design and I am the slowest coder ever, that may be a challenge.

I'm extremely excited and a little bit nervous about the PA Convention. I plan on going up early Friday evening to compete in the mock judging and breed identification contests, and I hope to do showmanship as well. I've been far too busy with school and midterm exams to even begin studying for the competitions, so I don't expect to do very well, but I'm sure it will be a fun experience regardless.

My bunny lineup for this show includes Tris, Sparta, and Tamale. Beau will be staying home this round; he already has enough legs for his GC, and I'm not planning on breeding him anytime in the near future, so it seems a little pointless to spend the entry fees on him. That, and he's incredibly out of condition, and I don't think any amount of supplements or grooming will do him much good at the moment. I debated on leaving Tris home, but she's put on a lot of weight and has grown in a gorgeous coat since her molt; can't let that nice conditioning effort go to waste. ;) I'm excited to show Sparta, but she's a very young, very small senior. I'm not sure how competitive she'll be, but it will be nice to get some comments on how she is next to the other seniors. Tamale will be shown as a junior for the last time, and I can't wait to see how he does. He's gotten some great comments in the last few shows, and it'll be interesting to watch how well he competes when there's actually other rabbits in his class lol. The only thing I'm worried about with him is that he's recently become a stuborn annoying buck who is much more interested in sniffing the table than running on it... Grrr...

RIP Noel

2009-01-24T14:13:00.006-05:00

Rest in peace little girl.

Seeing Spots

2009-01-12T13:13:00.010-05:00

Despite the lack of updates, 2009 is already starting to prove to be a busy year for the buns at Choxic Rabbitry.

Tamale has been getting extra time on the ghetto running board in preparation for the show season starting up in February:

It's not fancy, but hey! It works! It also doubles as a grooming "table" for the lops.

Tess celebrated her 10th birthday on January 2nd! I meant to post a blog about it, but I never got around to doing so.

Here's the birthday girl tearing up the yard with her present [Tess does not understand the concept of "slowing down"].

Not bad for a dog who had surgery for hip dysplasia in both knees!

With the freak spell of gorgeous weather, the buns have been spending a ton of time outside in the fenced backyard:

There's Beau, in all his molty glory.

The house bunny girls got a homemade, 3-story condo built for them for Christmas [thanks Whitney for the cubes!]:

Noel has got her weight down enough that I finally feel safe about getting her and Pep spayed. The cost, however, is not something I can afford at this moment when I need to get new cages for the Lops; hopefully, I can get them done before the summer.

And as for that English Spot I picked up on a whim at Convention?

I'd say he's doing alright. ;)

For those who don't know the story, I fell in love with most of the arched breeds while at Convention, specifically English Spots, Checkered Giants, and Rhinelanders [and who couldn't love the Belgians after watching that gorgeous doe go BIS?]. Tamale came home with Whitney and I on a co-ownership type deal, and Spot was bought because I really wanted to try out showing an English Spot.

Not too longer after Convention, I found an extra head marking that wasn't there when I bought him [darn that sneaky baby fur!], which would DQ Spottie from all shows. I tried selling him as a pet at two different shows, but after no interest, I decided that if I'm going to be stuck with him, I might as well make the most of it.

Spot was neutered last Friday and he now lives in his own condo in my room. He's completely litter box trained [as a side note, I've noticed that both Tamale and Spot are fastidious about using their litter boxes... maybe it's an arched breed thing? =P], he's fairly good about not digging up/chewing the carpet, and he's just in general the perfect house pet. He's extremely curious of both me and Smokey, my cat who spends a lot of time sleeping in my room, and he loves to hop up on my bed and receive head rubs. I can't imagine why I ever wanted to sell him- What can I say? I'm attached to the little brat!

I've really come to like the Spots. Their personality, looks, and attitude is so shockingly different from the English Lops, and I love how each breed balances each other out. While I really enjoy Tamale, and I do think that Rhinelanders are one of the prettiest breeds out there, Spots easily come as my number one favorite arched breed. Spots are definitely going on the ever-growing list of "breeds-I-would-like-raise-someday", and until I'm sure I'm ready to take on another breed, I'll have to resist picking up anymore.

Just because he's insanely cute and rather photogenic, here's some Spottie pics:

Spot's cage [thanks again to Whitney for the cubes!]:

Chilling on his pillow:

"What's that over there?"

Semi-pose:

Cleaning his face, aw.

"O, hai. Just sleeping under the bed, thnx."

That's all! Hope everyone had a great New Year's!

Now that's what I call a well litter trained rabbit!

2008-12-30T22:06:00.004-05:00

As I was working on building a cage for the house bunnies in the garage last night, Sparta was running frantically around her cage, biting at the door and trying her hardest to get my attention. Sparta's quiet, shy personality is gone. She's a gorgeous bun with tons of attitude, and she wants the world to know it. She'll do anything to be the center of attention, and she loves finding ways to get into trouble. It's hard finding enough toys and exercise time to keep her active mind and body occupied these days.

I put up small pen with my exercise pen, cramming her into what little space I was not taking up with my work. Needless to say, she was not satisfied with that, and she raced around the small arena several times, snorting her disgust at me. Suddenly, I heard a large crash, and saw Sparta had leaped from the ground back into her cage [which was above another whole stacker], jumped into her litter box, and promptly lifted up her tail to use it. You can bet I high-tailed it over there [after about 30 second of me standing in place with my jaw dropped] and closed up the cage before she decided to jump back down.

Here's some pics that show how high she jumped:

The white pen is where she was kept, and the second stacker is where Sparta jumped up to [you can see her chilling in the litter box].

This just shows the distance from the cage to the floor. A whole yard!

I've always been pretty interested in rabbit hopping; I guess that stems from my love of dog agility. I've been wanting to start a rabbit agility club for a long while now, but I have no idea of how to go about it, and there's been very little interest. It seems as though I have a fairly good line-up of bunny jumpers, though. Obviously, Sparta has proved to me that she can jump just as well as any smaller, more agile rabbit can, Spot loves to jump up on my bed while I'm lounging up there, and if Tamale wasn't so stubborn, I'm sure he would excel at it, too. In fact, after I put Sparta back last night and let him have a turn to run around, he jumped up, latched his toes onto her cage, and hung there for a few seconds until I got him down. Ugh, is he trying to break his toes? ;P

Here's a cute video of a bunny doing agility. It think it's so cool how he listens to her, and of course, the bunny equipment is too cute. :]

One day.... ;)

Christmassy

2008-12-25T17:45:00.003-05:00

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas. Unfortunately, my printer was not cooperating last week, and I never got my Christmas cards printed out to be mailed grrr... Hopefully, I'll get that done tomorrow. Better late then never, eh?

The buns are all having fun with their gifts: Treats and mats made out of organic, all-natural maize, apple pieces, extra rolled oats, and the best possible gift for bunnies- paper bags stuffed with hay! They all also got to run around in the backyard today for a long while; only in Virginia is it warm enough on Christmas to sit outside in a t-shirt and let the bunnies play in the sunshine!

Tessie enjoying her Christmas present:

Not a very good picture, but Tris was being a Himalayan:

Sparta being a... Holland Lop?

And Tamale just being a butthead and not posing. Oh, rabbit.

Full Arched Breeds

2008-11-30T22:45:00.007-05:00

Apologies for the complete lack of updates. No, I haven't died or been kidnapped, but I have been working on a spiffy new layout that should hopefully be up by the end of the week. It's just about completed; I just need to add new pictures and such.

I brought two bunnies back from Convention: A little English Spot, and a Rhinelander buck that Whitney and I bought together and co-own. He's been staying with me for a while as Whitney makes room for a possible litter of floofy angoras. =]

Spottie will hopefully be sold at the Aylett show; he's a complete sweetie, but unfortunately, he has a DQ marking on his head, and can't be shown. I was really hoping to pick up another Spot in the near future, but as it looks like there's no nearby Spot breeders nearby anywhere, so I'm turning my focus toward the young Rhinelander, Tamale.

So, why the sudden interest in full arched breeds? I've always been a fan of the less-than-intelligent looking bunnies. English Lops, Frenchies, Flemies, Giant Chins... You know, the ones that always look like they're really tired or incredibly high. I'm a big-breed person. Big, smoochy, droopy, cuddly bunnies... Give me those any day over spazzy, 2lb runts.

But there's something about the arched breeds that I find so enchanting. I've always been a fan of Whitney's Belgians [although the whole "no wire flooring" is a huge turn-off], the Rhinelanders are gorgeous, English Spots are so enchanting, and the Checkered Giants are just to die for. I will admit, Britannias are probably my least favorite breed, and Tans aren't exactly my cup of tea either.

Both Spot and Tamale are incredibly smart, curious, and very, very feisty- The exact opposite of my Lops. OK, I'll admit it- The English Lops aren't exact the smartest animals out there. But, they don't get into the wires, they're not constantly looking for corners or holes in the walls to go climbing into, and they generally don't care to chew up things in the house. The Lops are content to lie in a big puddle on the couch and have someone pet them; so long as they're the center of attention, they're happy. Which, to me, makes them the ideal house rabbit.

Not so for Spottie and Tamale. Spot is curious about people; he always hops right up to his cage door when anyone walks by, but he's not exactly a people-rabbit. He's happy to do his own thing... which usually involves getting into things. Namely holes in the wall. He's smart and absolutely gorgeous; it's breathtaking to watch him race across the yard like a gazelle:

Yes, that's Beau in the last shot. Between him being incredibly laid-back, and Spottie being so young, they get along just fine in the backyard in the wide open space.

Now Tamale... To put it lightly, he needs some work. Watching the Rhinelander judging at Convention, I'm not surprised in the least that Tamale is the way he is. He's fiercely independent, absolutely does not care for people, and is hardly attention or food driven at all. He's absolutely beautiful, though, and quite a cutie... Even if he does like to dig holes all through the backyard.

So, if their attitudes are less than desirable, what's so incredibly appealing about these rabbits? Besides their inquisitiveness, curiosity, lovely markings, and *gasp* vertical ears, I absolutely love the way they move. Sounds silly, but have you ever watched an English Lop run?

Even when they do get the energy to run a few paces, honestly, it looks completely ridiculous. Comical, and funny to watch, but ridiculous. The full arched breeds, however, could run circles around my lops:

Look at Beau chinning poor Spot. =]

I think what I love about the arched breeds, and about my Lops, really, is that they're so unique. Holland Lops, mini lops, Netherlands... Yeah, ok, they're cute. But that's all they've got going for them. Sorry, that's my honest opinion. ;] But, a rabbit with foot long ears? A bunny that looks like a dalmatian? A rabbit that looks like it could be a gorgeous wild hare? Pfft, give me those over some cliche rabbit any day.

Major downside to the Rhinelanders and Spots? They're marked breeds! I think I'd be bored to death with Belgians all being the same color [good luck with telling a herd of bunnies apart!], but all the culls from a marked breed litter.... ugh. X.o There's got to be a middle ground in the full arched breeds... Something that doesn't involve tans or petites. ;]

Maybe it's not such a bad idea sticking with my Lops. =]

Don't let that sweet face fool you. Evil incarnate, I'm telling you. ;]

And the winner is....

2008-10-29T08:08:00.013-04:00

And the winner of the 2008 ARBA Convention is....

THE BELGIAN HARE!

[sorry for the horrible quality; my hands were shaking so hard]

What an awesome win for the breed. Congrats to the owner of this lovely animal; I know hare breeders everywhere must be feeling so proud.

Now all we need is an English Lop to win BIS. ;)

A quick update on my guys- Everyone far exceeded my expectations on the show table, with the lops all placing either 2nd or 3rd in their classes, which surprises me to say the least. Because there were so many scratches, I'm not sure of what the class size were, but I know Sparta's class had 4, and I think the rest of them had between 7-9? Anyway, I'm so proud of my loppies, especially Tris; the only bad comment she got was about her coat being unfinished! Very surprising, considering Tris doesn't quite have the ears needed for tough competition.

Also, I picked up a little cutie yesterday. I love my lops dearly, I think the breed is fantastic and I can't imagine being in any other breed.... But I've bought an English Spot to start showing, and to see if maybe that's a path I want to go down someday, somewhere far, far into the future.

Meet Spot/Jack; I haven't decided a name yet [and yes there is a story behind the names ;)]:

He's still a baby yet, and he's too young to evaluate, but his markings look nice, and he's super cute. If he doesn't work out as a show bunny, he's going to be my little mascot for the lops.

I'll end this with a few pictures from the BIS judging. I'm sorry for the quality, but keep in mind that we were seated far from the judging:

Group Judging:

Judging the French Lop and Mary Crawford's gorgeous English Lop:

Checkered Giant, and I think the Silver fox? being judged.

Bunny says: Rhinelanders aren't a posed breed!

Coming Live from Convention

2008-10-27T20:24:00.009-04:00

If I had to describe Convention in one word, it would be: exhausting. Running from youth English Lops, down to open Belgian Hares, to open English Lops, and back down to youth loppies... several times a day... it gets tiring. Not to mention there's not really any place to sit besides the food area, which is far away from the excitement of the show room.

I gotta be honest, Convention is not as glamorous as people make it out to be. Don't get me wrong; seeing all the rare breeds, meeting bunches of new people... It's tons of fun, and I'm definitely glad I came, but I can't wait until Whitney and I's breeds get judged, and the stress level goes way down.

Steve, Marie Owen's awesome English Lop buck I brought to show for her, was on the table first thing this morning, and he placed 4/30+ bucks. Yay Steve! Tomorrow the youth ELops and Belgian Hares should finally get judged; while I'm very excited for the judging, I'm also in a way dreading tomorrow. Looking at all the Lops, it's very likely the juniors will come in dead last, and Tris may be DQed for being underweight. The two young girls are nice, but just like their parents, they're maturing very slowly, and they just don't have the competetive body type they need. They're both in horrible molts; we're talking blad spots and clumps of butt hair flying all over the place. Tris has always been a small doe, and she's never had much of an appetite. When I weighed her the day before we left for Kentucky, she was exactly ten pounds [min. senior doe weight]. I've been giving her plenty of herbs and conditioner these past few days, but she's not been interested in her pellets. I haven't had the chance to weigh her, but I won't be surprised if she doesn't make weight. It's a shame; other than that, she's in pretty nice condition! Beau, I just don't know about. He's a nice buck, he really is, but he's not an awesome buck. Not to mention he's lacking in flesh condition... I don't expect him to win anything, but I'd be pretty please if he placed in his class.

So, expectations for tomorrow are pretty low. I knew before I came that none of my rabbits are "Convention" quality bunnies [expect perhaps Beau, if he were in condition], so it's not a huge bummer. I came mainly for the experience, and that's what I'm getting out of this.

Here's some pics of less seen breeds/varietes:

Belgian Hare:

A Velveteen lop awaits presentation:

Blanc de Hotot:

A Blue American:

A cute vienna marked Jersey Wooly:

Herbs

2008-10-05T16:54:00.007-04:00

I usually get my herbs from a family friend who has an herb garden. I much prefer this to buying anything in stores because I know that no fertilizers or pesticides have been used, and I just generally feel more comfortable feeding my bunnies something I know is safe and healthy. With the weather changing, it's been getting harder to find fresh, quality herbs, so I took a trip yesterday to a Lavender Fields, where they sell, among other things, fresh grown herbs. I happily shared that the plants were for my rabbits, and bought two basil plants, two parsleys, and one marjoram to try to grow indoors for the winter. Even though the herbs may not thrive indoors, I was advised that they would at least not die out, and it might be worth it to use clippings of them throughout the winter.

The man who sold me the herbs then gave me a surprise- 1 pot of curled parsley, and 14 pots of sweet basil! Since they were already starting to die out for the year, he let me have them so long as I promised to bring back the pots they were in haha. I've planted the parsley in hope that it will come back next spring, but the buns are going to have to finish up the basil over the next week or two. I might try planting one to see if it will come back next year, though. Hm.

I've posted before about how great herbs are for the bunnies, and my opinion still stands. Before, I used to feed broccoli, Romaine lettuce, carrots, and apples for fresh food for the buns, and I had problems with all of those. None of the rabbits seem to enjoy broccoli [don't blame them :P], carrots and apples are too high in sugar for my liking, and it's hard to find quality, affordable Romaine that isn't mixed with iceburg or that lasts for more than a few days in the bag. While they still get these foods as treats, they are no longer a stable part of their diet. Parsley, oregano, basil, mint... That's what the rabbits get, and that's what they thrive on.

I've noticed a huge improvement in the bunnies since feeding herbs, mainly in their coats. Both the Lops and my house bunnies have soft, shiny fur, and Tris and Beau no longer get remarks about having an "open coat" on the judging table. Luna and Snuffles [formerally "Blaize"], the two sisters I sold together as house bunnies a month ago, get herbs in their new home, and last time I visited, their coats were nice, too.

I'm hoping to start my own herb garden next spring; just a small one to keep the rabbit fed. How cool would it be to have a green house and be able to sell herbs throughout the year to bunny owners? There's something to think about in the future. ;)

Just a random note: I'm typing this from my laptop on the front porch, and the two juniors girls are having fun tearing around the porch at my feet. The rabbits are certainly enjoying the cooler weather. :)

Mites! and Convention/other updates

2008-09-21T22:41:00.003-04:00

Looks the bunnies picked up some mites from the Charles Town show... I'm a little frustrated that I didn't notice the mites beforehand, but I've never actually dealt with mites before. I guess it's off to the vet tomorrow to get some treatment for the poor buns.

I finally got registered for Convention today... better late than never. I'll be taking all four of my loppies: Beau, Tris, Sparta and Seal. I'm so excited about Convention; I can hardly wait. :D

Nothing much else to post on... Bunnies are all good, and the babies are growing like weeds. I guess I'll end this post with a picture of Miss Seal; silly girl is such a ham for the camera.

Rio<3

2008-09-09T22:08:00.005-04:00

RIO
June 3, 2008- September 8, 2008

You were so brave through it all.

Rio spent the majority of Sunday afternoon running around the yard, digging in the grass, and eating clovers one last time before falling asleep, exhausted, on the front porch.

You were so special baby boy.

You touched so many people in your short life.

I'll never forget you, Ri.

Charles Town Show!

2008-09-07T21:25:00.004-04:00

The rabbits did excellent at the Charles Town show yesterday! I have never done better at any show before. If memory serves correct, in Show A, Beau got Best Opposite Variety, Seal got BOV and Best Opposite of Breed, Sparta won her class of 3 [and I *think* that she went on to win Best Opposite Variety Broken], and Tris got 2/4 in her class. The rabbit that took the breed was a gorgeous broken opal buck, and he definitely deserved that win.

Beau won Best of Breed in Show B [as well as BOV], with Tris taking Best Opposite, and Seal taking Best Opposite Variety. Although Sparta got 3/3 in her class, I am just as pleased with her as the rest of my rabbits. The two juniors in her class were much older and already had nice bodies coming along. The judge pointed out that although Sparta's ears were much nicer than the juniors' [and really most of the older rabbits, too, including Tris'], the bodies are worth more than the ears in the breed, and that he could not place her above the other juniors. I was actually extremely excited to hear that; judges who place ELs based soley on their ears do not rate highly in my book! He did say that Sparta does have a lot of potential, which was awesome to hear.

I'm so proud of my rabbits [especially the juniors!] for doing so well, and for behaving nicely on the show table. However, since I was showing in youth [no open exhibitors this time...], I'm anxious to get to some more shows and see how the two juniors do in some tougher competition. I'm hoping to get to the Lebanon show in October, as there's a Lop Speciality and some of the top breeders should be there.

I really enjoy the Charles Town Shows; they're always smoothly run and I get to see most of my bunny friends there. This was a great way to begin the show season, and I couldn't be more pleased.

Rio, school, preparing for show, new layout

2008-09-04T18:02:00.002-04:00

Rio's been feeling just fine since his surgery a few weeks ago, but unfortunately, his abscess was not encapsulated, and the vet now thinks that the Pasteurella is in his bloodstream, making him contagious to other rabbits. He's penned up in a large carrier in a spare bedroom, and I'm taking many precautions to prevent the disease from spreading to my other buns. As much as I would love to keep Rio as a pet, I'm not willing to put my other rabbits' health at risk. I'm hoping to find him a nice home ASAP, as I'm sure he's awfully lonely being cooped up in that carrier most of the day. He's absolutely the sweetest, playful little rabbit, and he's of extremely nice type [of course he will never be shown], and it's pretty furstration to watch him go through this.

School started on Tuesday. *insert groan here* I've got a lot on my plate this year as far as classes go, including a veterinarian science class; that should be interesting. I'm hoping my school schedule doesn't cut into my "rabbit time", although my blogs and website updates may be limited.

This Saturday will be my first show since the 4-H show back in July, and I'm very excited. Seal and Sparta will be shown as juniors, Beau is being shown in hope that there will be enough rabbits this time to get a leg [best of breed last time, but there was only one other rabbit!], and Tris is finally being shown since her litter back in June. Tris has really filled out nice after having her babies, although she definitely needs to start eating more, as her flesh condition isn't too good. I've been feeding a lot of extra herbs lately, as I've noticed that the rabbits' coats really improve with herbs in their diet. Tomorrow I'll be packing for the show and getting those two juniors tattooed. =]

Another layout is in the works! This one is autumn themed, and I'm please with how it's turning out. I've got most of the coding done; I just need to make a few changes and get it up on the website. Hopefully, it'll be up by tomorrow evening.

That's all for today; I'm off to get some studying/coding done.

Rio's Vet Trips

2008-08-22T23:48:00.002-04:00

Rio went back to see our rabbit savvy vet on Wednesday and earlier today. I can't say that the news is good, but it's not bad either. The test results from the abscess came back today; the abscess is being caused by Pasteurella, and thankfully, because it's not causing any respiratory problems, it's not contagious to my other buns. He's still on Baytril, and will continue to be on it for the next two weeks at least.

Rio goes back in Monday afternoon to get the abscess surgically removed. Once he's all healed up, he's probably going to end up staying here as a pet; everyone's really fallen in love with his sweet personality. =]

frustration.

2008-08-19T23:32:00.002-04:00

Rio's got a nasty fever [was 106.9 yesterday, but thankfully it's now down to 104.1], what looks like conjunctivitis in his right eye, and a large abscess around his throat/chest area. He saw our regular dog/cat vet yesterday, and he goes back to see the rabbit savvy vet tomorrow. The vet thinks he has Pasteurella [he started Rio on Baytril], but right now I'm more concerned about his abscess. I know that abscesses are hard to treat in rabbits, and they are usually reoccurring.

Because I have no idea how or why he got sick, everything was bleached down today. Rio has been separated from the rest of the buns [he was not happy about leaving his sisters], and I'm concerned because he was being housed with Nyx. She, along with the rest of the rabbits, doesn't seem to be showing any sign of illness, but I'm keeping a close eye on them.

I'm at a total loss of what to do. Because of his illness, Rio can't be sold as a show/breeder rabbit, but I morally cannot sell a rabbit as a pet that I know has a medical history. If this was a one-time thing, then it wouldn't be a problem; unfortunately, abscesses are reoccurring, and that's going to cause trouble in the future. Rio's a real special little guy, and I just have no idea what I'm going to do with him.

Because of Rio's illness, I'm calling off all September shows for now. If he's showing some major improvement within the next few weeks, and if none of my other rabbits have any signs of anything, then I'll probably try to make it to either the Charles Town, WV show or the Buck County, PA show on September 6th.

sigh....

the happenings

2008-08-17T15:57:00.003-04:00

I haven't updated things in a while- mainly because there hasn't been too much to update until recently. Here's a quick recap of the going-ons with the bunnies:

Molly went to her new pet home yesterday. I was a little hesitant to sell her a pet, as she'd really started to look nice these past few weeks, but I'm unsure whether or not she'll make senior weight later on, seeing as she was the runt of the litter for quite some time. I'm very happy about her new home; her owners have been doing a lot of research into rabbit-keeping, and I'm sure she's got a healthy, spoiled life ahead of her.

Both Luna and Blaize are going as pets now. I had high hopes for Blaize, but she has a knot in her tail, and seems to be a little rough over the ribs- Not pigeon breast, but something the judges would pick up on. She's also rather pinched in the back. I'm looking into sending them to go as a pair [spayed when they get older, of course], but of not, then they'll have to go to separate pet homes.

Rio's looking very nice, but unfortunately, he got a piece of hay stuck in his eye yesterday. I'm treating it right now with Terramycin eye ointment until I can reach my rabbit-savy vet on Monday. He can definitely see out of his eye, but it's very cloudy. Hopefully, his eye will clear up enough for him to eventually be shown; if not, I may sell him as a pet, or as a breeding buck.

Seal and Nyx are both looking great type-wise, although Seal is, right now, the pick of the litter. I'm having lots of trouble choosing between the two to keep; Seal is the better show rabbit, but Nyx has been my favorite from the beginning. Plus, I'm a sucker for brokens.

I'm debating on going to the Charles Town, WV show on Sept 6 like I originally planned, or the show in Bucks County, PA on the same day. Charles Town is closer, but there's a lop specialty in PA, so I'm not sure there will be any competition in WV.

I definitely need to update the website. Between driver's ed and summer school work, I haven't had much time or energy lately to get everything done. Hopefully I'll get everything updated next week... hopefully...

updated cages

2008-07-31T23:26:00.002-04:00

Here's some pictures of the updated "rabbitry" with the new cages:

The bunnies are happily binkying and lounging around their new homes, and Tris seems relieved to finally have the cage all to herself. All the babies are doing extremely well with their litter box training, which is nice. =]

naming the babies.

2008-07-05T14:32:00.006-04:00

Names are important. Without them, rabbits are simply another ear number with no personality or anything to make them stand out- At least, that's my take on the idea. Yesterday, I got sick of referring to the babies as "opal doe" and "agouti doe number 2" and "broken opal doe", and decided to give them all names. All names are temporary/tentative; pet home rabbits can be renamed, reserved rabbits can be renamed, and whichever one I end up keeping will be renamed. This is just to give them a little personality for the next six weeks. And now, presenting:

Opal doe, aka Seal:

For the first 4 1/2 weeks of her life, everyone called this girl "Fatty", and for a good reason. She reminds me of a fat, blubbery seal- thus, her name. Seal is always into everything; she's currently teaching her siblings how to jump on and off of the nest box [nest box is leaving today!].

Agouti doe number 1, aka Blaize:

Blaize is named for a brave young girl I met in North Carolina last summer. She's got a mix of a personality- She's inquisitive and curious about her surroundings, but she does enjoy cuddling.

Broken opal doe, aka Nyx:

This petite little rabbit is named after the Greek goddess of night. Nyx loves snuggling, and she particularly enjoys burrowing in her mother's fur. Don't let her fool you; once she's set loose, Nyx loves running around crazily, sometimes even running into walls!

Agouti doe number 2, aka Luna:

When the babies were born, I joked about calling this girl the highly cliché name "Lopsy". When it came time to naming, I knew she needed to continue to sport an L-name, and Luna just seemed to fit. Luna is more of a background character; other than her repeated attempts at escaping from her cage, there's not much to tell about this rabbit. I'm looking forward to see how her personality develops.

Broken agouti buck, aka Rio:

There's no story behind this guy's name, other than I had the song "Rio" by Goldfinger stuck in my head yesterday. Rio loves to romp and play with his siblings [he seems to be close to Nyx], and his zest for life is contagious. He's the only buck in the litter since his brother died a week ago, and how he deals with all those sisters I'll never know.

And finally, last but not least, agouti doe number 3, aka Molly:

It's so hard transitioning from calling her Runty! Molly is the runt of the litter, and my favorite out of the bunch. She is an absolute sweetie; she loves to lay in your hands and groom your fingers. Molly is going to make an excellent pet.

big fat update

2008-06-21T23:13:00.002-04:00

I got back early Sunday morning from the Charles Town, WV show. Kathleen of Carrytown Rabbitry rode up with me and my mom, and it was great fun being able to hold her adorable Jersey Woolies. I usually always show in Open, as there's never enough competetion in the youth category for English Lops; however, there were a lot of Lops in youth, and only one showed up in Open! That's life for ya. Beau did end up going Best of Breed, but since it was only 1/2, I wasn't too estatic about the win. He had nice table manners for once, so I was proud of him for that. :)

While at the show, I purchased a RabbiTatt from Whitney Post of Suburban Bunnies [thanks Whitney!], and an electronic scale from Pointer Hill Pet Products. I'm excited that I'll be able to weight and tattoo the babies without having to reply on other breeders' supplies. =]

Early Tuesday morning, I had some minor surgery done on my leg to remove a nasty scar. I'm feeling much better, but the surgery did put me behind on updating the website and some other things I was hoping to get done. Now that my leg is no longer bothering me, I have a lot of plans for next week. Let's see if I actually get any of them done.

The babies are doing great! They're fat as can be, they have their fluffy baby fur, and they've mastered hopping and grooming themselves. Poor Tristynn is sick of the babies chasing after her; I've caught her hiding from them in the next box a few times. According to Marie Owens, Tris' and Beau's breeder, there are two bucks and five does; however, knowing baby rabbits, that can change at any time ;)

That's all for tonight. I hope everyone is enjoying this ncie weather after that heat spell!

what a day....

2008-06-07T18:06:00.005-04:00

Got into my first car crash today. A guy ran a stop sign on a main road, and my brother ran into him. Nobody was hurt, we're all okay, but boy was it an experience. Thankfully our car was an old "starter" car, because it was completely totaled in the crash [and to think we just filled it up with gas, too!]. I feel bad for the other guy, though; his car is definitely going to need some serious work done on it, and it's not even a year old. It's a good thing my brother and I were wearing seat belts; we found out today that the old car didn't have air bags!

Other than that, things have been pretty quiet around here. Our AC hasn't been working so great, and with it being 95+ degrees 40+% humidity, I've spent most of the day lying around trying to keep cool. I feel awful for the rabbits out in the garage; they have a fan and frozen water bottles to keep cool, but I still can't wait until we get an AC unit installed out there. Tris' babies keep crawling out from the fluff in the back of the nest; I think they get overheated back there.

Speaking of the kits, they're all doing great. Every single one of them is fat, healthy, and growling like a weed! I can already see the white coming in on the brokens, and all the rest of them have their baby fuzz already. I've been taking daily photos of them; it's so fun to watch them grow! It's amazing how much they change just on a day-to-day basis. Tris is being an excellent mama; they're all being fed, and she even lets me give extra feedings to the smaller kits. As much as I am enjoying them being babies now, I can't wait until they start opening their eyes in a week.

The babies are HERE!

2008-06-04T19:10:00.009-04:00

Tris was due on June 2, and since that whole night she had seemed just restless and distraught, my older brother offered to stay up and check on her every hour so that I could get some sleep for school in the morning. Ironically, she didn't kindle until the next morning- There's Tris for you. My younger brother woke me up at 7:00 to let me know that she was pulling fur. I got down in time to take some pictures and a quick video [I never realized how ridiculously cute they are running around the cage with their mouths full of fur]; she got the nest building part down, but she only seemed interested in stuffing her litter box full of fur! Once I took that away, though, she immediately stuffed the nest box and proceeded to have her kits- Right in front of me! I thought it was cool I was able to see the entire kindling process.

There are seven babies- two brokens and five solids. All were born live, and they are all doing just fine. There is one dark runt that I will be keeping my eye on- I'm making sure he/she gets extra feedings, but he/she is still smaller compared to its siblings. Cross your fingers for that little one!

I'm so proud of Tris for being such an excellent first mom. She knew to pull fur, have the babies in the next box, and she's even stimulating and feeding them. She's doing just fine; a little frazzled from everyone messing with her and the babies, but other than that, she's doing great. She's actually cuddled up on my lap as I type this!

Babies are doing good, too. I was worried this morning; they looked a little skinny, and one of the brokens kept crying, but this afternoon they are so fat and sleepy! I'll be overjoyed if they all continue to do this great.

A pic of the babies when they were less than an hour old:

And a picture from today:

It's amazing how much they've changed in just 24 hours!

And finally, a cute short movie I shot of them today. Listen; you can hear the broken squeak toward the end:

Sorry for the horrible picture and video quality; I'm working towards a new camera. =P

State College, PA Show!

2008-06-03T08:19:00.007-04:00

I got back from State College late Sunday night, but I haven't had time to post about it till now. Between getting ready for school to end, being exhausted from the show, and Tris kindling [will post more about that in the next blog!], I've been pretty busy!

The drive up was nice; very long and hot, but once we got into Pennsylvania it cooled down. Beau was a good traveler, he slept most of the time, but he kept dumping out his food and water. Silly bunny.

We stopped in Harrisburg on the way up to visit my grandparents and great-grandma. They were all rather surprised at Beau's size and his huge ears, and I don't blame them! While in Harrisburg, we saw a huge rainbow that actually appeared in the newspaper the next day.

The show was fun, and Beau did better than last show- He got either 6 or 7 out of 13, and a 5 or 6 out of 11. I didn't get my comment cards, so I'll have to wait for the show report to be sent to be sure. I talked to some breeders about getting Beau into better condition [he's pretty bony, and he gets marked off on that], and it looks like I'm going to be feeding a lot more oats and maybe trying some new foods.

On the way home, we saw five more rainbows, and we actually stopped on the side of the highway to take pictures! I heard that the people back in Richmond saw the rainbows, too.

Here's a picture of a cute wild bunny I got very close to in my grandma's backyard:

Tris and I in the news? And other happenings.

2008-05-24T20:03:00.002-04:00

Time to start up the blog again!

First things first- All four rabbits [house bunnies included] were cleaned out today. Although litter boxes and sometimes the entire cages are cleaned out several times throughout the week, I do make a habit of completely cleaning the cages and the areas they are in once a week, usually on the weekends. For the house rabbits, this include scrubbing out the linoleum their cage is on and letting their wire cage top air out after being disinfected. The lops get their cages wiped down with a damp washcloth to remove dust, and I sweep all throughout the garage, making sure to get back in those hard-to-reach places to get up all the dust and dirt. After cleaning today, all rabbits were given some fresh-picked clovers and romaine lettuce, and they are all happily resting now. =]

As I was printing out show catalogs earlier today to get ready for the next two shows [bah, I missed the mail-in entry date for the State College show ><], I stumbled across the Pennsylvania State Rabbit Breeders Association site, which on the front page had a link to a cover of the Lebanon News Daily Life, featuring the Lebanon show back in February. Out of curiosity, I clicked the link, and amazingly, Tris and I are on it! Check it out here [Warning: takes a long time to load!] If you scroll down to the picture of the English Lops being judged, you can see me in a black choker watching the judging, and Tris is right below me in the coop [she's the darkest of the brokens]. Funny; I don't remember that picture being taken!

And speaking of Tris- The silly brat has been extremely moody lately [never thought my clingy girl would ever not want to be picked up!], and she has put on between 1/2-1 pound in the last two weeks. I'm hoping this is a sign that she's truly pregnant this time. If not, then I'll be re-rebreeding her, I suppose. Cross your fingers for babies- She's due in 9 days!