blame the guinea pigs

Did you know that it's Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month? It is.

I am part of a rabbit food buying program with the Pittsburgh House Rabbit Club, and I get periodic emails from the Club. Late last week I received an email asking people to consider fostering a rabbit for a bit because of overcrowding at the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society. They have lots of rabbits, and that's somewhat okay, but they had suddenly had an influx of guinea pigs, which compete for space in their cages.

Being that I did not want any rabbits to be euthanized and that I have thought about fostering a few times before, I went ahead and made another cage from extra parts from Joelle's abode, and on Tuesday I picked up this thing:

a little camera shy

This rabbit is about half the size of Joelle (Jo is 8 pounds, this one is 4) and has way, way, way less hair. It's name is (or, perhaps, was - see below) Bella Beatrice, I picked this bunny to come home with me for a few weeks because she was reported to bite and be very territorial in the cage. Well, not like I've never been snorted and charged at by Joelle... Joelle is not a big fan of people messing with her while she's in her house. She does have a bit of an attitude problem. So, I figured I could deal with Bella B just fine.

As I was filling out the paperwork to take Bella back home, it became apparent that this rabbit was in fact not a female but a male and that he had been living in a home with a dog. Not that dogs and rabbits can't get along, but it certainly takes some work, particularly if the dog was bred for hunting, as this dog had been. I figured I could understand why "Bella" was so upset with people coming into his place when they all called him a cute girl and all he wanted to do was prove his manliness and get even with the blood-thirsty dog! Poor boy.

So, now there's a male sleeping in my bedroom...

so calm, so cool. perhaps "iceman" would be a good name...?

So far he has been pretty good - much more friendly than Joelle (it took her a few months before she would willingly approach me -- this guy jumps right over. Not a big fan of being cuddled just yet, but he certainly has interest in people.), appears to be litter trained although his previous owners said he wasn't, and not a destructive chewer for the most part (although I worked hard to make sure there was nothing obviously edible within reach of his running area in the bedroom). He has not been overly protective of his "house," either - and he certainly understands that it's his house, because he runs in there really fast if I try to pick him up. I've been able to move his "furniture" and get everything out for cleaning and refilling with food and litter as appropriate without any complaints.

Joelle, on the other hand, is going a little crazy with the facts that a) she is not allowed to go in my bedroom, which is her favorite place ever because there is so much trouble to get into there and b) she knows there's something - even somebody - in that bedroom who is smelling foreign and getting talked to in Ruth's rabbit voice and taking away from her Joelle-and-Ruth time. I can't let these two together because of Joelle's chronic Pasturella issue - that spreads fairly easily from bunny to bunny, and I would NOT want to be responsible for giving it to another rabbit!! Poor Joelle - she's a bit frustrated. She's also not too happy that the day before Boy Bunny arrived I had to chop out some blobs of fur around her face that I had ignored for too long and had turned into gigantic mats with much hay mixed in. :-( She spends a fair amount of her free time sulking now...

"grrrrrrr..." also, like that tape job on the wall, keeping the lamp cord safe from sharp bunny teeth...?

Okay, truly she's doing just fine, and I've been making sure to give her lots of attention and explain to her that we have to be nice to the little boy who has no mommy, and that means staying away from him. I don't think she quite understands this, but I have caught her looking out the sliding glass door quite often.

looking for another rabbit to come into the apartment, perhaps?

Anyhow - aren't they cute? Don't YOU want a rabbit? Especially since it's Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month??? If you do, please consider going to your local animal shelter and learning more about their rabbits and what they're looking for in an adopter!

And, if you happen to live in Pittsburgh, think about taking on Whatever His Name Is - The Animal Formerly Known As Bella Beatrice. Tafkabb? That might work! If you have any better name suggestions, please pass them along!

i'm looking for my name...have you seen it?