Twin Rabbits

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Kieka

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I completely nerded out at the garden center recently. I found echinacea! It's not hard to grow or anything but I hadn't found an actual plant in the last 5 months. But there it was in all its glory, echinacea (coneflower).

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It's the same plant they recommend humans take as a supplement. Rabbits can be fed leaves and stems on a regular basis for much of the same benefits. General immune booster in small regular amount and antibacterial properties in larger doses. The babies are getting a leaf basically whenever I remember (so far three times). The leaves are a little spiny and course so not their favorite but they eat it. The alternative is mixing capsules in their water but I feel like fresh home grown leaves are best.

In direct bunny news, I refilled their alfafa and they loved it. Alfafa is actually a legume and only recommend for babies because it is "high" protein (above 2% for rabbits). But it tastes good so they like it. Frodo heard Gladys munching and jumped on her head to get to it.... children :rolleyes: Gladys got out of the box and went around to the side. But of course, Frodo decided that was the best bit of alfafa as soon as he noticed her again.
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Cleaning day!

Although when I first went in Gladys was napping, so I waited for her to wake up and clean her sleepy face off. And yes, she was sound asleep all tucked up except had one leg all stretched out.

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Once Gladys was awake, I raked up all the hay and got up as much poop as possible. Then laid down fresh hay. The twins love alfafa and Timothy but I am trying to introduce orchard and wheat. So the new stuff goes down first then a layer of Timothy on top.

It was a fresh box of Timothy (I order it from a local realtor and it comes in 10 pounds boxes that will last about a month. Frodo couldn't wait for me to put it down.

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Gladys played with a toilet paper roll while I was laying it out then chowed down and the full box of alfafa (her favorite, but they only get it for a little).

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Then a full Frodo took a nap on the other side of their area. To be fair, he also ate the kale plant I had put in an hour before so his tummy was rather full. You can just see some green stubs in the pot at the bottom of the photo.

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Norachan

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It's such a nice shelter, I really like the way you have areas of earth in between the paving stones. And you get Timothy too! I buy that as bedding for my outdoor cat shelters. It smells so good, I can always tell when one of the cats has been napping in it.
 
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Kieka

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The twins got a treat ball for most of their pellets on Monday. They figured it out and have taken pretty well to it. I'm going to continue putting some daily pellets in the ball and some in the bowl. Making them work for their food engages their minds and keeps them active.

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In other news, tomorrow is their first vet visit. Wish them luck and standby for name changes if we got genders wrong.
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neely

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Lots of luck at the twins' vet visit! I hope you don't have to change their names but if you do please be sure to let us know. :goodluck:
 
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So..... no name change!

Genders were right (still a small chance wrong but vet said they were right). Both babies are looking really good and healthy. Frodo is set for his neuter in two weeks, we have depending testicles! The vet wants to wait until Gladys is six months because it is safer when she is a little bigger. The vet did recommend separating them now just to be safe but chances are slim and my Mom is pushing not to separate until Frodos two week post neuter recovery period.

They both are old enough for the RHDV2 vaccine too. For those who didn't follow along with Peter, RHDV2 came to the America in early 2020. It is a highly contagious and highly fatal rabbit disease impacting both domestic and wild rabbits. It has 80% fatality rates with incredibly fast onset and no treatment. It can survived for crazy amount of time on surfaces (up to 100 days). It's transfered by flies, mosquitos, surfaces of shoes, basically anything because it is so "sticky". AND (if that wasn't enough) can survived extreme temperatures. In a little over a year it has spread across most of the United States and Mexico. Pure madness. The twins have been living in an insect netted catio to protect them from transmission but the vaccine will protect them even more.

The only bad news would be Gladys seems to be having a tougher time with the vaccine. She's been sleeping and not moving around much since getting home. Frodo seems a little less hungry but otherwise fine. When Peter got his vaccine he was a little under the weather for a day, so it isn't a bad sign. I just hate that she doesn't feel good. It's been three hours and she's still hanging out in the carrier. The carrier has hay and she just ate some lettuce so I'm not too worried but I hate that she doesn't feel good. Although, as I write this she finished her lettuce and has stretched out to sleep. Hopefully she is feeling better after a good night's rest, I'll leave the carrier since she is comfy.

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Not the best image but here is Frodo, stretched out between the food and water right now. He was out of the carrier in two seconds flat.
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neely

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So..... no name change! Genders were right (still a small chance wrong but vet said they were right). Both babies are looking really good and healthy.
Glad the genders were right and the twins can keep their respective names. 🐰 Even better, they got a clean bill of health. :thumbsup:
 
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Today the twins visited me at work. My boss has been asking me to bring them in for her to cuddle and see. They did really good with the whole experience but were glad to be back home.

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I feel like I haven't seen the twins all week, so I spent some time with them this evening. I have been coming out to fill water, clean litter box, top off food, and generally straighten up so they aren't neglected. They also did get a new litter box. It's technically a dog litter box so it is big with low sides with one side even lower. Who knew, dog litter boxes. Here is Frodo in it (startled by neighbors kids being loud), since rabbits eat when they poop we put a layer of absorbing bedding and a layer of hay. Still some poop outside the box but they are getting much better.

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I think they purposefully pushed their tunnel against a box (set up like a tent). Frodo was tugging the tunnel into place when I was there.... Maybe. Or maybe it's just happenstance but they were enjoying the happenstance. I accidentally dropped hay on the tunnel, so that wasn't them.

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My going out there triggered a bout of activity and activity with rabbits usually entails eating. And we all know what full tummies leads to.... sleeping.

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So good night from the twins and may your dreams be hoppy.
 
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Kieka

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Cleaning day! All the hay gotten taken out and new hay put down. I also decided to double the litter boxes.

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You can see that the daisy from last week is mostly gone. It wasn't a big hit. I also gave them some lettuce plants which I expect to last maybe an hour... or two.

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They also got the raised dog bed, which actually went in originally last night. It was a pretty big hit.

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And a Christmas house a little early because the Halloween one collapsed.

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Looking at this chain of images
.... They may be just a smidgen spoiled.

Frodos neuter surgery is on Tuesday! Wish him luck and a speedy recovery.
 
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Kieka

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Frodos surgery went well and he is on the road to recovery. He is currently in the smaller cage indoors so we can make sure he is eating and limit his movement. He has been doing 15 minutes of moving and eating then 15 minutes of passed out since getting home. Which is all very healthy and normal. He will go outside in a few days although the vet wants us to limit his movement for two weeks so he might stay inside for two weeks. He has pain medication and antibiotics for a week but, just like with cats, neuters are very low risk and not invasive.

Gladys is out in the hutch so that we can move Frodo to the patio area in a few days. She is not happy with the change but they have to be separated for two to four weeks while he heals to prevent any problems (along with letting any sperm die off so we don't end up with babies, low risk but she's now at the low end of possible at 3 months old to get pregnant and not worth the risk). We decided her in the hutch was the better option since we can keep a better eye on him in the patio.
 
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Here is the grumpy boy this morning getting his medications and me checking his surgery site. He didn't like the meds and wasn't happy about any of the experience. But it's only 7 days and he gets cilantro and lettuce so hopefully he forgives me.

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That’s a very unhappy looking boy! Poor Frodo.
 
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Kieka

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Frodo definitely thinks he is getting the short end of the stick with this whole thing.

Personally, my wallet is the one really hurting. It was $480 for the procedure. Granted there are some lower cost options out there but his vet does full monitoring during surgery and supervised recovery with IV saline for hydration after surgery. He also got internal dissolving stitches so no follow up to remove stitches. I am really not looking forward to Gladys spay in a few months because that bill will be higher.
 
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Wow, that's a lot for a neuter surgery. Does it cost that much to neuter cats in your area?
The low cost clinic around here is $45 or $55 for cats depending on which of the two clinics used.

The scary thing with Frodo is they had a $250 "bundle discount" on the bill. Still don't know what that was but I'll take a discount.
 
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Kieka

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Frodo is on strict crate rest for the next two weeks (and very much not happy about it). His vet was very specific about no running, jumping or large movement for 14 days. Gladys on the other hand got to explore the yard and hutch since her vaccine for RHDV2 is now fully effective. She is absolutely loving it with a lot of bunny binky happening (when they jump and twist in air). Frodo will get to join in once he is all healed up.

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We've decided the buns will live split between the patio area and fully outdoor area. Just so that in inclimate weather or when someone won't be home by dark they are still comfortable and safe. Also, Peter was an old and injured bunny when he joined our family. He rarely dug and was pretty sedate. These two are destructive bunny tornados partially because they are young but also because they don't have pre-existing conditions. Splitting their time will help keep them engaged and spread out the damage.
 
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