The Bun Room

     I have two angora rabbits, Sapphire and Misty. Sapphire has been on the blog before, and Misty is a recent addition. She came this spring to be a buddy for Sapphire. Some bunny's don't like buddies, but I've always found mine do. I've always had a bunny around, and they've always had friends, be they guinea pigs, another bun, cats, or even goats (my rabbit Harvey used to dump his pellets out the door/or push carrots through the wire to feed "his" goats).

     They previously lived in 2 seperate 4 foot by 4 foot pens, Sapphire is a brood bitch cage, and Misty in a NIC cube bunny condo I made. They sat side by side, and the buns usually slept "together" through the wire, and had never cage fought (though I'm not sure bunny's cage fight, thought they will cage hump). I left them "roommates" like this for a long time, hoping that I could eventually put them together and they would not fight, as buns sometimes do.

     In the house there is the mud room, a separate room that does nothing but hold the washer/dryer and occasionally someone who is sick and doesn't want to deal with the dogs. It's got a concrete floor, and no woodwork. Who wants to heat a whole room that basically does nothing?

     So now it's a bunny colony. :) 

      It is not done yet, as I intend to put down non-slip rubber matting. But I have to pick that up custom cut and haven't got that done.

     I put up a dog-proof latch on the mud room door (Zak can and does open it regularly), bunny proofed the room, added litter boxes, food and water bowls, and a bunch of toys and treats.



     Zip-ties and wire squares can bunny-proof anything.

     Sometimes new buns fight. It can be hard to bond them. I did a bunch of research on it, and found many people who talked about the difficulty they had getting two buns to live together. So far so good, Sapphire quickly humped Misty's head (both are girls, buns hump to establish dominance like dogs do), Misty didn't care, and that was basically the end of it. Hopefully it stays that way and they become good buddies quickly. I have spent the last week telling them, "The bad bun stays in a cage", while giving Sapphire the "yes, you" look.  

     Sapphire is a French Angora, they have clean heads/ears and less belly/foot fiber.

     Misty is an English Angora, they have the full furry faces and ears, and long belly/foot fiber. They also tend to be just a bit smaller. Misty is very friendly and sweet. Sapphire is too, she just has a bit of an ornery streak, where Misty only has the sweet streak.

     From the quick hump they pretty much ignored each other and explored, then Misty claimed a litter box...

     And Sapphire decided to join her. It's the box the fan blows on the most, so I assume that is why it's the favorite. I plan to get a under-the-bed storage container to put there for a two-bun sized box.

    
     So far so good for now. Hopefully I'll get the rubber matting in the next week or two and finish it. And definitely knocking on wood/crossing fingers that they continue to be buddies and get along together. Sapphire's never been aggressive to Misty, but she *loves* to chase my cats (and occasionally the beagle).

     Right now they are laying nose-to-nose stretched out on the cement directly in front of the fan. :)