Small Furry Friends

[Tobby]

I thought maybe because the feline friends topic and the reptiles topic is so popular I thought maybe people could use this one to post pictures or talk about their hamsters or rabbits or ferrets or what ever other kind of small furry friend you have. I did this because I wanted to talk about my dear rabbit Wince and didn't know there to post it.

Wince was my sisters rabbit 6 years ago. She no longer wanted to live with us and took off one day. I then became the owner of Wince. This was fine with me as I named him, groomed him and did most of the caring for him, so although he was claimed her rabbit, I felt he was mine all along. I also had Ashen, his sister, Velvet, my dads rabbit I helped take care of and we had just found Bear around that time. Anyways, my younger brother had no animals to claim as his own and the parents thought he should as a way to learn responsibility and the closeness of an animal. Now instead of asking me they just waited for me to go visit my mom for a weekend and when I came back it was my brothers rabbit, he was in his room, and had a new name of Aurthur. I was not happy. But he will always be Wince to me. Anyways, today I was grooming him, (you know, for old time sake) and the fur just kept coming. I discovered while I was not living here he must not have been greatly taken care of because he must not have been brushed in a long time. His fur came out in clumps and he now has bald spots all over his body. He also has a few scabs on his back end. While doing his nails I found blisters with puss coming out of them around his toes. I am very upset. I am happy to say I cleaned all the blisters and scabs, put ointment on the scabs and I am sure he will be fine. I am just worried as to how long he has. With his old age, (most rabbits live to about 4 or 5) and poor health I am a bit on the blue side. Anyways, that's all for now. I hope to see some happier posts on here about your Small Furry Friend.

[BudandMe]

Good idea Tobby

Well I've had lots of reptiles, but I will stick with my hamsters since it's more my thing. Well I've had many hamsters over the years, Chica, Lilo, Chicalina, Stitch, Winnie, Angel, Baby, William, Chiquita, Kiwi, Lina, Nugget and Stella, were my main hammies. I've also had 4 litters, A litter of 8 from Chicalina, a litter of 8 from Lina, a litter of 8 from Angel and a current litter of 6 from Baby. I love them all and to all those who passed away I miss you, RIP.

If anyone's interested in pictures check out my albums...And here is a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwYW37aS_JE

Ps: If anyone's noticed there is a pattern with the names at some point.

Chica, Chicalina, Lina, Chiquita.

[4 the Dogs]

Tobby, a lot of rabbits live well into their teens. How old is Wince? What kind of a cage does he live in? If it is wire and he only has that be on, that could cause the sores on his paws. Please get something to put in his cage that he can sit on. I use wicker mats in my bunnies cage. I've also used card board. Carpet squares are not suggested cuz they may eat it and that's not good. If his cage isn't cleaned and he is sitting in urine, that could also cause the blisters.
As for his fur, did you know that some bunnies go completely furless when they shed? My bunny lost his fur in patches like you described the first summer I had him. I do think it was due to stress being in a new home (with dogs) and that made him lose more. However, his fur does still come out in huge clumps now during the summer months. As long as Wince doesn't have any kind of skin mites, sounds like his heavy shedding his normal. The is a good house rabbit website, called rabbit.org with loads of information on bunnies. You might want to check that out.

I've had 3 bunnies. They have all been great pets. They have been litter boxed trained and very socialable and loving. My first 2 ran all over my house, my current bunny, a lop earred, stays in my family room. His name is Dougie. I found him at a no kill shelter when he was about 2 years old. He had belonged to a girl attending college and she was not allowed to keep him in her dorm room. Her parents didn't want to take care of him and surrendered him when she went back to school. Dougie had been at the shelter in a hutch for about 9 months when I found him on the internet. He seemed to have forgotten how to hop as he "walks" by raising his back end and walking across the floor. He is 5 years old now, and still "walks". He doesn't like to walk on anything but the carpet, so he stays in my family room. He loves to be petted and snuggle with you, on his terms...on the floor. He doesn't like to be picked up much. Dougie is a tough guy, and has learned to handle the dogs quite nicely. If they bug him to much, he growls at them, punches them and if they still don't get it, he'll back kick them! Dougie spends most of his days now, lounging on the air conditioning vent or stretched out behind his favorite chair. He's a good bunny and not destructive like most and I can leave him unattended with free roam of his room without worrying about him.

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[4 the Dogs]

This is Chip, he was my second bunny. I loved this little guy, well not so little, he was almost 10 pounds!! Chip was always more than content to stretch out in the middle of the family room and watch the goings on. He liked to follow me around and always nipped at my pant legs to let me know he was there. Most of my pants had bunny teeth marks in them! He was fast and loved to run around the house and hide under the beds too. He hated being in his cage and figured out how to open the door and let himself out! His favorite thing in the world was bananas!! I hand fed him a half one each morning on my lap. He could smell the banana, and would coming running anytime I got one out.

I got Chip from a gal I worked with who had heard me talk about my first bunny. She got him at the fair, and didn't research bunny ownership and within a few weeks was looking for a home for him. I took him and had him 8 years. He adored the female rabbit I had. He would lay next to her and groom her. His last year, I could tell he was becoming an elderly bun and the last fews days of his life I think he was having strokes. The morning he passed away, he jumped out of his cage, ran for his litter box, did his business and then ran across the family room. I was watching him, and saw him fall on his side and take his last breath. I was ever so happy to have been with him and able to stroke him, hug him and tell him how much he meant to me. I didn't think I get another bunny after him, he was just so wonderful! but 6 months later, I was missing that bunny butt running around and found Dougie. RIP Chip, I still miss you!!

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[RubyJeansMom]

Kris,

Chip was a handsome fellow, he sounds like a character.

Dougie is so beautiful, I still laugh when I think about the "bunny take down".

Funny Bunnies

[4 the Dogs]

Thanks RJM...I always thought it would be funny to add a red smoking jacket and a cigar to that picture of him. He looked so dignified.

We had another take down today! Izzy got in the bunny cage, Dougie punched Izzy and then Izzy punched Dougie and then took off running. It looked like Izzy was thinking, Oh, I'm really gunna get my butt kicked now!

[Tobby]

Sorry it took me so long to reply but I have been super busy.
Anyways, 4 the dogs,
Wince is in a cage with a thick plastic bottom. I would not put him in one with the wire on the bottom. We also put shavings in the bottom of the cage. The problem was that my brother oviously didn't clean it as much as he should have because it was discusting when I got here. I know that is what the blisters are from. Thus me saying he was not taken care of.
Also, thank you for telling me that the hair loss is normal. I have had a total of 6 rabbits in my life and this has never happened. Knowing it is common really makes me feel better.
I don't know how old he is but when we got him he was all white and he has turned almost all grey now. He was bought from an auction but he was full grown when we got him.
Last but not least, Chip looks like my last two rabbits Cronin and Cynosis.