Burgess Diary Month 4 and 5
Visiting Head Office
Belle was feeling left out because she hadn't been out and about like I had so we took a trip to Burgess Pet Care's Head Office out in beautiful Thornton Le Dale, to meet everyone up there. We spent the day with the Consumer Care team and got thoroughly spoilt! We were pretty tired at the end of that day so we settled down for a cuddle together....ahhh!
Another New Friend - Meet Honey Bee
Mum was visiting Wood Green Animal Shelter - a fantastic rescue centre based in Godmanchester that rescues all kinds of pets from dogs to horses. She also popped into the Heydon branch that specialises in small pets. There she fell in love with a very pretty cross angora/lionhead rabbit called Honey. She really wanted to rescue her there and then - but had to consider all three of us getting on and of course having enough room. Quite rightly Wood Green have specific requirements about the size of hutches and situations that their pets are re-homed in.
So she went home and thought about it for a few weeks, bought an even bigger hutch and run for all of us and then went back to get Honey. Impressively Wood Green had neutered, micro-chipped and vaccinated Honey in time for her journey back to her new Yorkshire home!
Honey is very pretty - but quickly showed her tendency for giving a quick nip on unsuspecting victims. Hence her new nickname - Honey Bee - attrctive to look at but with a sting in the tail! Hopefully she'll get out of the habbit over time - and she's particularly naughty when being brushed as she gets bored of it very quickly. Being part Angora means that she does need daily brushing - otherwise her coat can get knotty and matted. Mum reckons she'll get better with it over time and as she gets handled more often.
Honey loves climbing and always likes to be higher up than the rest of us. I think she has visions of grandeur and likes to think she's above the rest of us! Hmmmn - Belle and I were a bit unsure about her at first - and generally ignored her. Introducing us rabbits isn't actually easy and is a process that should NOT be taken lightly. We rabbits will fight to the death if we don't get on - (we recognise each other by scent and even if you seperate two rabbits for a short time who have previously lived together - say you take one to the vet for example - when you reintroduce them you have to be careful as if one rabbit has picked up new scents while being away the other rabbit might not recognise it and it has been known in these circumstances for rabbits never to get on again!!)
Luckily in our case, after a few weeks of slowly being introduced and spending time in each others hutches to get used to all the new scents - Mum eventually put us all together in the one big hutch and run - and we've not looked back! We are all great friends!
NB - note to anyone who has a rabbit - please get us the biggest hutch and run that you possibly can so we have plenty of chance to exercise when you are not around!
Think about it - in the wild we spend all our time running free in the countryside! Goodness knows who thought it was a good idea to lock us up in tiny cages all day byt they were wrong (you wouldn't do it to a cat would you?) and for years tiny cages were all the pet shops sold! We get bored and depressed if we can't exhibit natural behaviour and exercise requirements! The good news is that pet shops sell much bigger and better hutch/run combinations these days so please do try and get one of these and you'll have a much happier bunny!
Even though we like the company of another rabbit - we do like our own space too and should be given the ability to have our own areas in the sleeping section of the hutch. Mum buries large cardboard tubes in our sleeping chamber and covers these with lots and lots of straw - so it recreates the effect that we have an underground burrow each to sleep in. It also helps us to keep nice and toasty warm when colder weather sets in.
Snow Bunnies
It's Christmas!!!!!
It's snowing!!!!
There is nothing rabbits like better than running around the garden - and yes we even love running around in the snow. Here we all are having lots of fun and frolicking in the snow!
