See? – totally irresistable 🙂
And Smartie and Button, just for equality 🙂
As for the permission thing… there is a delicate balance to negotiation, if you know you’re on to a definite winner (and he was never going to refuse me anything yesterday) then ask, that way you are less likely to get stung with the “you need to clean out YOUR rabbit” line, plus i might not even get asked to cough up for Fiver’s 1/3 of the bills. Rabbits are very definitely Max’s domain in this house, he is Keeper of the Rabbit Run and a pet should always be a joint decision *cough*
As it was, i just got a text back asking if i was going to get bored after 3 weeks, but i replied that i felt i’d proved myself with the child ownership, up to now 😉
It *was* a light-hearted comment m’dear. Though I would suggest that asking someone’s permission is not part of negotiation. You could suggest getting another rabbit was a good idea etc……asking suggests Max has the final say which I *can’t* believe is true in your house. I reckon (like my house) the permission thing works the other way round more often not? Is it alright for me to say that P1?
Entirely lighthearted reply, sorry if it didn’t read as so 🙂
Did make em think though, i think i’ve lost a bit of my confidence over the last little while; i certainly never used to ask him if i could do things andi was quite surprised when it occurred to me that i actually had. lol. Normally, like you say, the person wearing the trousers in this house is not necessarily the one with the most apendages to house in them 😉
Just saw this on your tumblr C. Yeah, I think a pet should be a joint decision, so I’d talk to you about it.
Fiver’s gorgeous 🙂 (and I’m not really into rabbits!)
Hannah wonders why this one has sticky-up ears, and the others have floppy ears. Is it a bread thing or a mood thing? We are getting giuneas at the weekend. I’m not sure if I am happy about this or not. Fiver very sweet looking
Button and Smartie are lop-eared rabbits, allegedly a mini and a dwarf lop at that, thoguh i can’t say there is anything particularly small about them. Fiver is a more ordinary rabbit, though Netherland Dwarfs have shorter ears than typical non-dwarf rabbits and are overall smaller too, if they are purely bred (so heaven knows how big Fiver will get, if B&S are anything to go by!)
B&S can just about twitch an ear upwards, but mainly cock them back slightly if they are feeling nervouse, Fiver can lay his back is frightened or happy, but can’t droop them over.
And he does the cutest face washing thing 🙂 That was what sold him to me really.
All the rabbits are very cute :0)
oh thats a very cute lickle bunny 🙂
They’re absolutely lovely! 😀
Lovely photos – so cute! Elle
oh how sweet. Hope they are all friends (and all the same sex!!!)
Lol – no, Fiver and Smartie are boys, or at least, Smartie was once a boy – and Fiver isn’t in with them because Button is a hussy and will maul him. She humps Smartie like it’s going out of fashion and she doesn’t care which end of him she gets much either. Has made for awkward conversations in the past! “Mummy… what IS Button doing to Smartie…?”
Fiver and Smartie might fight too, though i doubt it given how soft Smartie is (not to mention short of a bale of straw or two), but apparently it is rare for unrelated, un ‘neutered at the same time’ boy rabbits to cohabit particularly happily.
Breeding them would be much more useful, a tasty addition to the pot.
No Daddy Bean!!!!!!!! Naughty *smacks hand* 🙂
Same principle as growing veggies or fruit in the back garden – teaches them where the food comes from. Seems like excellent home education to me 😉
We’ve been thinking of getting Button mated for a while, for that very reason – the HE bit, not the pot bit… (honestly, how far from veganism can one man fall?) – we figured we had enough friends to send one litter of rabbits safely on their way and the petshop we got them from said they’d take spares as we bought her from them.
Max is keener than me, i think it sounds like a lot of hard work from what i’ve read 😕
We briefly considered just mating Fiver and Button… but i think the resultant offspring might be a tad odd – imagine if they got BOTH ear genes!
Is it harder work than letting a cat having kittens?
Not sure, not having done that, but apparently any wrong temperature or loud noise can make them eat them or abandon them and lots of rabbits are just pants mothers so if they give up trying you get stuck with either letting them die or hand rearing them. And obviously, that would just fit nicely into my day! 😆
Oh right, cats and dogs seem to be pretty good mothers. I know my parents really enjoyed it when their cat had kittens. Don’t think I would want to be running those sorts of risks!
Nah, Rabbits aren’t that bad. I used to raise rabbits in my mid-teens (for the pot- so bred quite a few, ‘free range’ and jolly tasty they were too….. 😉 ) never really had any problem with the Does eating them or abandoning them, though it can happen, but it never happened to me AFAICR. I suspect some more highly bred varieties might be more prone. Certainly, a generally more stressful environment – living with other rabbits, small hutch/run etc. is more likely to cause it to happen. (though personally I think any rabbits kept in the average hutch is going to find it stressful they are much too small and the rabbits can’t indulge in normal rabbit behavior). Though since there are probably plenty of rabbits around looking for homes, not sure I think breeding any specifically is a good idea.
On the ‘pot’ front, whilst mostly jesting – and this isn’t aimed at you Merry, actually I do think (if they are going to be eating meat), that children (and adults for that matter)) should be exposed to the raising and killing of animals for their food. I think it engenders respect for the animals, and maybe they might have bit more thought and consideration for the conditions in which most animals are raised for food
Oooops, mini rant over.
Hmm agree and disagree.. I watched this perspective on that Jamie Oliver program last year – the Italian kids that watched on whilst a boar (or something similar – I can’t quite remember specifics) had it’s throat slit.
The kid was completely unfazed as she saw it all the time – but Jaime was v shocked and even more so when he killed a sheep (lamb?)..
I don’t particularly feel the need to *show* my kids animals being raised and killed .. I never saw this and yet I have a healthy respect for animals and how they are raised and in what conditions they live in etc.. .. .. I think *I* think that it is my resp to teach them how to respect animals and that if they asked to see something like that I wouldn’t say no but I would reserve the right to postpone that depending on their age…
I think it all comes down to what they eat and what form they see their food in.. Rowan sees fillets of proper fish for example (not just fish fingers) and I think that counts for a lot …
I also watched the Gordon Ramsey program where his kids raised turkeys and then let them go for Christmas dinner (altho didn’t watch them get slaughtered)… his kids were fine mostly but I’m not sure they *needed* that experience in order to respect animals or food or production of food.. etc etc..
They will get that education because their parents *care* about food .. and will want to pass that on to them
anyway.. burbling.. I do agree .. and I don’t.. 🙂
OMG apostrophe in its.. how embarrassing…
I have to say, on the subject of small rabbit hutches, I was shocked to read the RSPCA’s guidelines for rabbit hutch size compared to most of the ‘pet shop’ hutches on sale, can’t remember what they were now though. One of the reasons we went for guinea pigs instead!
Our main rabbits have a lovely big run to hop in and out of that is attached to their hutch so they have constant access to it. Have had a debate about getting Fiver a girlfriend and if so, i suspect another chunk of patio will be lost to chicken wire and 2 by 4!