De Rabbits!

LIZZIE!!

and Lorelai!

For the first time ever, we have real pets! Actually, Alex had some Aquasaurs for less than a month, but that was mostly depressing, as he was so excited about them and then they died so quickly. The only perk was that they were interesting, but it was totally not worth it to see my poor boy have to deal with losing his only pets so quickly. I don't recommend them (they have naturally short lifespans).

Anyhow, Lizzie and Lorelai came to live with us a couple of weeks ago. Lizzie is the dominant of the two. I believe they're probably older rabbits, but it's hard to tell. I think I saw some opacity in Lizzie's eye. We aren't 100% sure that it's going to work out, but things seem to be improving. They were rescued by a local pet store owner, who had been looking after them for quite a long time.

When they arrived, they were cranky and so large! The biggest problem, though, is that we had been told that they were litterbox trained, and thus we were hoping to allow them to run around the house much of the time. However, they mostly didn't make it to the litterbox and my kitchen was taken up with their enclosure. That would not do!

Uncertainly, we allowed them to play in the backyard. The dumb bunnies suddenly came alive and seemed so happy! I was convinced that they had been in a dull stupor the entire time that they were indoors. We have an old dog kennel out back, and we actually decided to put them out there for now, and it seems to be working out well. It's a lovely time of year, so the weather is fine for them. We're considering enclosing it and putting in heat and air for the summer and winter, as they can't tolerate weather extremes very well.

I hope it works out. They are so quiet and cute and actually like to be petted, too. Lizzie has taken it into her head, though, to make a game of being put back in the kennel at night, whereas Lorelai has been quite cooperative about it. Michael became so frustrated with Lizzie that he left her outside last night. I went out hours later, and she was quietly sitting outside the kennel, looking in, and she meekly went in when I opened it up for her. Poor thing. I wouldn't much care to spend the night outside, either. Lorelai has been quite busy working on her own little burrow during the day, though, so perhaps they're creating their own alternatives:).

It's fun to feed them veggies--crunch! crunch! crunch! We never could figure out how to deal with a dog or a cat, as we are vegetarians ourselves, and the bunnies have been an idea that has been brewing for years. They eat a store-bought 'rabbit food' as well as the veggies. They're quiet and cuddly and smell fine! They may have litterbox issues, but their little poops don't stink and aren't that messy (tiny round balls). Very low maintenance, so far!

The kids were extremely excited at first, but I think they've curbed that a bit, as we told them that this is going to be a trial, based on the rabbits' litterbox issues. I do know, though, that the kids are definitely more excited about playing in the backyard now!

Oh, honestly, I think I curbed my own excitement as well, given my unhappiness with the house mess. Now that the backyard experiment seems to be working out, though, I'm getting a little more enthusiastic (hence this blog!). The rabbits also seem sweeter and happier. Yay!