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The Carrot Chronicle is brought to you by the North West Rabbit Welfare Project, who kindy let it feature on Rabbit Rehome. If you have any queries regarding the newsletter, appeals or rabbits in it please contact them directly not Rabbit Rehome.
Issue # 5, June 2003. Dear Friends, It’s another bumper issue of CC and I am sure you are all going to love all the bunny piccies. We rely on your contributions to CC, so if you have come across anything bunny related or would like to give us an update on your ex-sanctuary bunny then please get in touch! If you would like to contact us or subscribe to our emailing list either call the sanctuary on 0161 973 5318 or email carrot.chronicle@btopenworld.com. I hope you are all enjoying the warmer weather but please watch out for the flies and sticky bunny bums. Best wishes to humans and furries alike, Susie xxx. We have had another fab month with rehoming, once again in part due to the publicity generated by www.rabbitrehome.org.uk. If you haven’t taken a look at it yet – what are you waiting for? So who has gone where? No soon as Muffin had come back in he had a reserve on him. He has gone to live as free-range housebunny with a lovely lady bun. Thank goodness he wasn’t in the Bunny Barn for long. Hermione came back in after a considerable attempt to bond her with former residents
Humphrey and Toffee (now named ChuChu). It just was not happening, but Louise and Casso
had also fallen for Jezabell and decided to adopt her and take her home! Early signs are
that the bonding is a little more productive, but the humans are so in love with Jezabell,
she keeps lickying them! Louise says: Rufus, you may remember, didn’t take to life in the Bunny Barn so after just one week he went back to stay with his foster mum Karen. Thankfully he stole the heart of Karen’s sister-in-law who had a female house bun. The two are now living in blissful happiness. He is doing really well in his new home and is really settling in. Astro and Midnight, our two ‘naughty’ girls, moved into their palatial, custom-built outdoor set up this month. They are sharing the home of a lovely family who were all really excited to home the girls. We have already received an update and they have told us that the girls are very cheeky, lovely bunnies that eat like pigs and have a great time. Pictures are to follow and we will of course share them with you all. Our little mentalist Starsky finally set out on his journey to Auntie Barbara’s
house. His 3.5 hour journey home didn’t bother him one bit. He settled in very quickly,
was renamed Tinker and fell in love with a beautiful lionhead terror of a lady named
Zippy - all in the first week! Barbara says:
When Gilly rang to see how everything was going she was told that Twinkle was playing out in the living room as they were speaking. She was settling in brilliantly and they love her so much and kept saying “thank you” for letting them have her! Hermione also left the fold this month to share her life with a housebunny boy. We had several bonding sessions at the sanctuary before she went home but early news is that her male friend has taken a huge disliking to her on his territory so she may yet come back in. ReservesSebastian should be on his way very shortly providing bonding goes well. His prospective new girlfriend is nearly 4 weeks post-neuter and the family have passed their homecheck.
Yummy Bradley and the delightful Buttercup also have reserves on them. The family have had their homecheck and have the most fantastic outdoor set up with warrens built into the garden made from tunnels, and turfed over. They will also have a massive hutch to live in too. We will soon begin the bonding process with them both as we have had to wait for Buttercup’s spay wound to heal and Bradley’s hormones to settle down after his snip! Fingers crossed all goes well. New bunny Velvet also has a reserve on her but more about her in ‘Fact File’. She is destined to be bonded with a recently bereaved male bunny.
New Arrivals in May
After being with us for just over a week we received a call from someone saying that they thought we had their bunny. They described him accurately but as yet we have not heard back from the caller and it has been over one week since they rang. Oscar was found as a stray in Chorlton. The caller said he got loose whilst neighbours were caring for him as they were in the process of moving house. We will let you know what happens in next month CC. Indigo & Willow were found dumped in a hutch on Longford Park. The groundskeeper knew one of the staff at the sanctuary and so they came into us straight away. We believe that Indigo is mum to Willow, who we estimate to be approximately 5 weeks old. As Willow is so young the two of them have gone into foster care with Karen. Although she is bursting with bunnies Karen has been an absolutely angel taking these two into her care – so a huge thanks to our fab Karen! Indigo is a beige and cream lop, whilst Willow looks like a baby Lamby-bear (see piccie later on of Lamby-bear). We will have a full update and photos next month.
They are delightful young ladies who are remarkably friendly, though aren’t keen on being handled. They nosey around everywhere together and are like each other’s shadows. The day this piccie was taken was when they had come back from their spays and were in a top grump! We also received Snowbell and Holly in the same week. Their owners no longer wanted the 2year old sisters as Holly had turned “aggressive”. Despite our advice that they both needed neutering to combat the problem the owners still wanted to give them up. The day after they arrived we had them in the vets and neutered, but in all honesty we never saw, and still haven’t seen, any signs of aggression. These two are beautiful lop eared ladies, Holly is a slightly darker beigey/brown colour whilst Snowbell is of a light fawn colour. Since birth Snowbell has lived with a dislocated right hip and knee on her back leg, yet her owners had never sought to have it rectified. They had kept them both in a two storey hutch. Thankfully Snowbell is very agile and has clearly adapted to her ‘funny’ leg that sticks out at a right angle to her body. We are in discussion with our rabbit savvy vets at Ashleigh in Chorlton, to discuss the best course of treatment. Although she has no muscles in the leg, and gets around remarkably well, she does get it trapped in things and it gets dragged around. It is so sad to see her try to scratch the side of her face with it as the leg moves up and down but the leg remains several inches away from her body. If this amount of admissions wasn’t enough, we received a call to taken in 3 females. They were the last of over 20 rabbits that had been kept in an aviary with no bedding, just bare soil, and where unneutered males and females were living together. The females had been left to repeatedly give birth on the soil, without any form of bedding or hiding place! Rodent Rescue had come across this tragic state of affairs when the owner had rung them to say he no longer wanted the rabbits. The owner did not see that they were doing anything wrong! Rodent Rescue took in all but the remaining three who turned out to be one male and two females. We had them all neutered immediately, as one of them had recently given birth and all babies had died, so we just didn’t want the females going through yet another traumatic birthing experience. They are Damson, Velvet and Nocturne. They are all up-eared bunnies with dark brown/black fur. They are all very nervous and have clearly been through one hell of an ordeal, but they are slowly adjusting and adapting to their new environment. New arrivals named by Bunny Birthday Club and Sponsored Hutch membersOscar was named by volunteer Trevor Jones, and his lovely wife Gwyn (also one of our fab volunteers) named Winnie. Our fantastic home-checker Ann Bacon named Willow; whilst our rabbit rehome website co-ordinator, Nick Webb, named Indigo after a flash of inspiration! If you are a volunteer with the rabbits at the sanctuary you too can be part of the Bunny Birthday club and receive a birthday card from one of the furries and the chance to name your very own rescue rabbit! Just give us your date of birth and address. Movers and Jumpers
Pandora the angora has come in from foster care at Helena’s house and is sitting wonderfully pretty in the Bunny Barn awaiting a special new home. We will feature more on Pandora next month, but due to her excessively long-hair we are looking for dedicated bunny people who will have her as a houserabbit and groom her daily. She is absolutely adorable and loves a snuggle and a tickle – please come and meet her!
Bradley has also moved forward into the barn and Buttercup will join him shortly for bonding to commence. Meanwhile Malindi (pictured right) has moved into isolation to allow us to bond the two of them. Appeals and IdeasNorth West Rabbit Care & Advice Day
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Sex wee-wee perv Bugsy really struck lucky too. A lovely young couple, new to bunny
caring, had spent the last year reading up on having housebunnies and thinking very carefully
before taking the plunge! It was love at first sight with our little cuddle bundle Bugsy.
When we did the homecheck his new home was set up perfectly, ready and waiting for his arrival.
Some mail-order toys had not arrived in time for the home-check and the couple were concerned
they wouldn’t pass!!!!! What a delight. They really will make brilliant bunny parents. They
have also said that once Bugsy has settled they want to get him a girlie for company too.
Twinkle twinkle little star, well and truly shone brightly and won over her new family.
They were not in the least phased by her ‘attitude’ and in fact when they brought their
gorgeous little man Sweep along for bonding it went really well and Twinkle took to her new
mum instantly. Twink has very rarely shown that kind of interest and affection to other
humans so you can imagine our joy when she started climbing all over her new mum! The family
are experienced bunny carers, Sweep was dumped on their doorstep and they even looked after
a wildie for 2.5 years. Sweep is a black and white lop and very very handsome. He was very
chilled out in Twinkle’s presence and even lay out and washed himself!
Ellie and Dinky (pictured right) had their homecheck in Stafford on Saturday 31st May.
They are going to live with a wonderful family in a fabulous outdoor, two-storey playhouse.
The family are experienced bunny carers and although deeply missing their recently departed
bunny lady, they just couldn’t live without bobtails in their lives! We will bring you more
news of their departure next month.
Well we have been absolutely inundated this month with bunnies needing our help.
This is Oscar. Gilly and I have fallen head over heels in love with him and just kissy
and maul him at every opportunity. He is so unbelievably friendly and has the most
beautiful heart-shaped face.
Winnie and Wincey also arrived around the same time. They had been dumped by their
owners at the PDSA vets, as they were no longer wanted. The vet who examined them
thought was one was male and the other female and kept them together! Thankfully they
were both females. 
Bob Munchkin (pictured left) has finally had the all clear with his ear abscess
and has moved out of foster care and in to the Bunny Barn. What a yummy cutie!
Our two little cuties Ren and Stimpy have been moved into the Bunny Barn to
await a new home. One is a netherland dwarf, the other a lionhead. They are both males but
are the best of friends and since being castrated a month ago they have not shown any
signs of fall out or bullying – not that there were many before.
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Keegan’s owners had not been caring for their bunnies adequately for quite some time and as a consequence his mate had been eaten by foxes. He was a lonely, neglected, smelly, urine stained bunny that was rather nervy when he came into our care. |
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During his time at the sanctuary he began to trust humans and gradually blossomed into a big bundle of fluffy-naughtiness that loved a snuggle and a fuss. Though woe betide anyone who tried to put him back in his hutch. He just wanted to play out all day long and would protest at bedtime with a gentle nip! This was just one of the many charms this fab furry man possessed. At the Easter Open Day he stole the heart of Heather Wallace, who lived some distance away in Birmingham. She passed her homecheck with flying colours and off he went to live in the land of Brum! Heather’s photos demonstrate just how happy our man is in his new home... |
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Er, where am I? What’s going on? Oh! I think I quite like it here. This seat seems rather comfortable. Hmm, yeh, it’s ok here. What’s that I can hear. Is there food? Is there? Is there? No, I can definitely hear the rattle of a food bag. No point having ears this large if you can’t use them as a veggie detector! |
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If you come any closer I’ll wee on ya! Cor, it’s bigger than me! What is it? Can I eat it? |
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Ahhhh, that’s good. Nice and cool, and rather comfy too. From here I can see everything going on. And there’s no may that ‘two-foot’ will find me in here. Hey, I’m looking good, and feeling rather groovy! It’s actually rather alright here… |
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It’s thirsty work all this exploring. |
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Don’t know what kind of talent there is around here, but it pays to keep oneself looking ones best! |
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I am not going to bed. I’m going to stay out all night long, so there! |
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Well, if I’d known the view was going to be this good………. Could she be the one for me? Is she looking at me? Play it cool son, come on, think cool, I’m cool. |
SPECIAL FEATURE by Lisa Hodgson
Camille’s Story- Part Two
www.rabbitrehome.org.uk really does work!
By Abbie Norbury – bunny slave
This is the second part of the story (first part- March CC) of how Camille went from being on www.rabbitrehome.org.uk , to coming home with us!
Having seen her picture on the site and going to visit her at her foster home, we decided that Camille was definitely the bunny for us. However, because our home is quite small there was no neutral territory for her and Lewie to first meet, as Lewie (being a very nosey bunny) has been everywhere! (and we couldn’t even introduce them in the bath tub as we don’t have one!) We started to worry that the lack of neutral territory was posing a problem, although we were desperate to bring Camille home with us.
Luckily, Camille’s foster mummy (Anna Howell) had friends nearby who run a rabbit sanctuary called Bobtails. After a phone call Anna told us that Delia & Jim had kindly agreed to let us take Lewie and Camille to Bobtails to get acquainted. Which meant that not only would they be allowing our bunnies to use some of their precious space, but also Delia would oversee the bonding herself. I was really astonished at the kindness of both a lady I’d only just met (Anna) and a lady I was yet to meet (Delia). Just goes to show you that rabbit people really are a nice bunch!!
We arranged a date and took both bunnies to Bobtails in separate cardboard boxes. When we got there Delia had prepared a wonderful run in her dining room, full of platforms for them to explore. This meant that when we put them both in (at exactly the same time) they were more interested in exploring and getting to know their surroundings than one another! After about 10 minutes of watching them sniff and chin the run, Lewie finally approached Camille, which made her thump loudly and run away! This cycle continued for a while, then he seemed to give up and be content to resume exploring his surroundings. Camille did the same. It was such a relief as having read numerous horror stories of bondings I was expecting to see aggression and fur flying. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they were actually very indifferent to one other.
I stayed and watched them for about an hour, and in that time Delia talked to me about the things she would look for at various stages of the bonding process. As an initial impression she said that the indifference they were showing to one another was a good sign, so I went home feeling at ease, and knowing my little boy and newly acquired little girl were both in safe hands!
Later that evening Delia called to give me an update, and she did the same just before
bedtime, then throughout the following day. It was such a relief to know that not only was
the bonding going well, but the person responsible really understood how nervous I was
feeling and kept me posted at every stage. Before I met Delia I was worried she might
think I was a neurotic bunny mummy, as I was so nervous about leaving my precious boy at
somebody else’s house. But within minutes of entering Delia’s home I knew I didn’t have to
worry, her calm aura and natural way with bunnies made me realise everything would be okay!
Less than 24 hours after dropping the bunnies at Bobtails I was given the all clear and told I could pick them up the following day, as they had started to lay next to one another and there had been absolutely no hint of aggression. This was great news! The 48 hours without a bun in the home was so strange, I’d really missed Lewie, and I was really looking forward to bringing them both home.
In the two days the buns had been on their ‘dirty weekend’ (as we like to call it!) my partner and I completely cleaned the house and particularly the kitchen, where Lewie is based, so that nothing would smell exclusively his anymore. We also moved things around a bit so it wasn’t too familiar, as there was a danger of him getting big for his boots as soon as he realised he was home. Luckily the trick worked and they were both hopping about the kitchen chinning everything together. It took us about a week to gain Camille’s trust, and a further week before Lewie accepted her completely. As in the first couple of weeks she would hop up to him and give him a good groom, then put her head underneath for him to reciprocate and he would then just hop off! Typical male- gets what he wants then leaves!! They also kept doing the submissive thing to one another, which was really funny to watch. As one of them would put their head under the other ones chin, then the other one would do the same, and this would go on for ages! They really couldn’t decide who should be the boss! Then one day, totally out of the blue, Camille gave Lewie a good groom then mounted him! From this day on she was the boss, and if she wants grooming he now complies! About every 3 - 4 weeks we will notice her mount him, then he gets annoyed and chases after her to bite her bottom, then they flop down together for some mutual grooming. Lewie has never attempted to mount her (ahh bless!), and they continue to live in bonded bliss.
I am very lucky that my bonding was so painless, I obviously just chose the ‘right’
partner for Lewie. Not everyone is that lucky. But I do think that whenever possible you
should let your existing bunny ‘choose’ the new one by taking them to the sanctuary. If Lewie
and Camille hadn’t got on then he would have had the choice of any of the female bunnies at
Bobtails, but as I said, I was lucky! I also think that the ease of bonding was very much
down to the skill of the person overseeing the whole thing, which of course was Delia. So
if you are attempting a bond at home yourself, make sure you have the advice of an expert
like her on hand and you’re sure to be okay! But however difficult the bonding may be, the
end result of seeing two bunnies lying together is the best reward you could hope for. It
wasn’t until I saw Lewie and Camille together that I realised how lonely he must have been
as a single bunny. Getting him a companion is the best present I could ever give him.
Jim & Delia Cordell run Bobtails Rabbit & Guinea Pig Rescue in East Ewell, Surrey. TEL: 020 8393 2016.Read more about Bobtails’ work at: www.bobtailsrescue.org.uk Look at all the bunnies waiting for a new home.
I have found out about a very hand book all about feeding weeds to your rabbit. The book is called ‘Rabbit Nutrition’ and is written by the vet Virginia Richardson and can be purchased from her surgery on 01794 830288. Cost £6.50, plus postage.
If you don’t have the time to go weed collecting (either leaf or plant) they are available from www.barwinnock.co.uk and cost £1.50 per plant.
I’m sure many of you will remember the arrival last summer of Hagen and Vanilla with
their off-spring Beany and Snowdrop.
Vanilla had been used as a ‘baby machine’ and had well and truly had enough of Hagen.
Well, take a look at Vanilla with her adoring boyfriend Otis.
They have been together for over a year now and Vanilla has settled in really well. Bunny mum Sue Staley says that she’s not as nervous as she was and actually comes to greet her in the mornings. She also says that Otis loves her company and he’s not half as grumpy as he was before Vanilla arrived.
On the left is Imogen. She featured in our first ever Carrot Chronicle back in
January 2002. This is what we wrote:
“we took a call from someone who couldn’t cope with her unneutered rabbits Harry and Imogen. Imogen was rumoured to be on her seventh litter and she is only young, but the person calling dismissed the idea of having them neutered and said the pet shop would not take any more litters from them. Obviously we were only too keen to take them in. Imogen was exhausted and spent 24 hours in her hutch just relaxing and eating – she wasn’t even interested in coming out to play- and was neutered on Wednesday this week and is doing fine. Harry is a very naughty (and randy!) black fluffy lop like Bingo. He is doing fine and is a real softy.”
As a result of Immy’s over-breeding she really was a nervous wreck. Soon after her and Harry arrived the owners brought in her last remaining baby that had been living ‘wild’ in the garden for a couple of weeks because they had been unable to catch her. She was called Harriet and was approximately 5 weeks old and had been living out in freezing temperatures and snow!
A very loyal supporter of the sanctuary, Debby Smith, fell in love with Immy. The early signs were good between her and her prospective boyfriend Bells (pictured on the right), so off she went to her new home. Immy remained very nervy, despite lots of care and attention and just had no trust in anyone, especially Bells. For very many months the two of them lived side by side, with Bells still keen to be her friend. Debby still persevered with the bonding, but Immy was having none of it. Until a month ago….
Bells was playing out one day and Debby just decided to try them together again once
more. To Debby’s utter surprise they bonded instantly and haven’t been apart since! Imogen
had obviously been seriously traumatised by her previous experiences and took a long while
to feel settled and secure. We are told that they are now inseparable…how fab.
Remember Voodoo? A bun with attitude that was (un)lucky enough to be named on one of Gilly’s days of inspiration!
Well, you may remember she was rehomed to a lady in Lancaster, who was an experienced housebunny mum. Well, we recently received some lovely photos of Voodoo and the following update:
“She is very happy and has grown in confidence. She regularly dances and jumps around the lounge and throws my slippers in the air.
Thanks for all your help with rehoming her. She’s a star.
Love, Katy”
Debbie Fairhurst recently came across the following site:
www.btinternet.com/%7Ekevin.potts1/kevin.potts1/housing.htm
It is Lightning’s campaign for better outdoor housing for bunnies. This little lady certainly has a palatial home. It is very inspiring.
Lightning even has posters in her bunny home and a radio to listen to – you must take a look!
www.animals-constitution.info/uk/stats.html Help Spread The Word! Sign a pan-European petition demanding an ‘Animals’ Constitution’
“With the prepared petition letter addressed to the Chairman of the European Convention you can support our call to include the protection of animals against avoidable, senseless cruelty as an objective in the future EU Constitution and to recognize animal protection as an indispensable part of European culture. The European Convention is a body preparing the draft of the future EU Constitution. It consists of 15 representatives of the heads of state or government of the EU member states, 30 representatives of the national parliaments, 16 members of the European Parliament and 2 representatives of the European Commission, amongst others (www.european-convention.eu.int/). Three proposals have so far been made to incorporate animal welfare into the future EU Constitution. It is of the utmost importance that we support these requests!”
Lamby-bear says….guess who’s been staying in my house?
As I am sure many of you know, I lost my beloved disabled bunny Lumpy last month. Lumps
usually shared with you which ex-sanctuary bunnies had been holidaying each month in our
home. Well, because of Lambert’s severe dental problems Lumpy’s 3 friends; Badger, Bob and
Moo, decided that he could stay and live out his life with them. He was bonded with the
guys within 10 days and he is a very happy chappie. So over to Lamby-bear to tell you who
has been on their holidays……
Hello there folks! This month has been a hive of activity with 3 bunny boarders in (not to mention the foster furballs too).
This is Pemberton (left) and Pippin (right). Pemberton was well known at the sanctuary
when he stayed there a couple of years ago. He was known for his boxing paws and growls,
but The Wilson weren’t put off in the slightest and thought he was the one for them.
A year later the family decided they’d like to get the little man a matey. Snowdrop came in with her brother Beany, and mum Vanilla and dad Hagen (as featured in ‘Where Are They Now?’). Sanctuary staff thought 12 week old Snowdrop would be perfect for the little guy and indeed they were right. Snowdrop was easily bonded with Pemberton and renamed Pippin. As you can see she has grown into such a beautiful bunny and tripled in size. Pemberton is very protective of his lady but I am told she is definitely the boss in the relationship. These two are so blissfully happy together living the life of pampered housebunnies.
As soon as these guys left, a new one arrived. This bunjie was massive, and I mean massive. She was a stunning peachy-orange coloured moose of a rabbit with a thug mentality. Have you guessed who it is yet? It was Sally! She stayed with us for a week and definitely showed Susie and Steve who was boss. But Susie got her own back by picking her up everyday and giving her a kissy and a cuddle – she hated it!
Then the same day Sally left another two came in – but I’ll keep them a surprise until next month….
Helena reported last month about the 14 rabbits that had been removed by RSPCA Inspectors and brought into our care. Amongst them were a mum and 4 babies. Sadly mum rejected the babies and despite expert foster care they unfortunately all died. We had post-mortems undertaken as we were deeply concerned by their deaths at 6/7 weeks old, but the results proved inconclusive and their deaths were put down to ‘natural causes’. R.I.P. Button, Tinker, Bomber and Twilight.