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Winter 2007- 2008
Winter 2007- 2008
We are happy to finally be sending you our first newsletter of 2008, it's a little late due to a terrible bout with bronchitis this winter. We will be covering several topics in this newsletter and hope that you will find them of interest. With Easter rapidly approaching we hope you will join in and help with the Make Mine Chocolate Campaign. http://www.makeminechocolate.org/ The Columbus Chapter of the House Rabbit Society started the Make Mine Chocolate Campaign to bring to the publics attention that rabbits are not toys to be given at Easter and dumped at a shelter a few month's later when the novelty wears off. A rabbit is a 10 year commitment or more, and future rabbit guardians need to do research to find out all they can about rabbits before adding one to their household. Please go to the link above and help share the Make Mine Chocolate message by passing out fliers, selling See's candy for your local chapter, writing to newspaper editors and spreading the word any way you can. It's time to start planning your Bunny Garden and ordering seeds, be sure too plan plenty of extras to share with the bunnies at your local shelter. As soon as weather permits we'll start planting some kale, parsley, carrots, chard, radicchio, dandelion (not the weeds),escarole, dill, fennel, bok choy, strawberries, grapes, stringless snap peas, and maybe a few new favorites this year. It's fun looking through the seed catalogs to see what's available, or going to the gardening center and buying a few starter plants. Don't forget some fruit trees. They are great for you and your bunny. If you plant an apple tree you and your bunny can enjoy the fresh fruit, in moderation, and your bunny can enjoy nibbling on fresh apple twigs and branches. Don't feed other fresh fruit twigs as they can be poisonous. Willow trees of all varieties make great chewing sources for your bunny, and they are very pretty trees. I personally love Pussy Willow trees, and Artemis and Einstein are wild about munching the fresh or dried twigs. Make sure you have plenty of room though, as these trees can reach their full height of 20 – 30 feet the first two years. They can then be cut back to the ground in the fall so they will once again grow and produce more willow branches for your bunny. Willow is said to be a natural pain reliever so it's not only good for bunny teeth, it's apparently good for whatever may ail you. We use all organic seed and fertilizer in our Bunny Garden. If you can't find organic seed and fertilizer please don't spray any pesticides, use any herbicides like Roundup around the garden or fungicides on the plants your rabbits will be eating. Your bunny will be thrilled with the flavor of freshly picked food from your garden, it beats grocery store produce hands down. We'd also like to cover shedding in this newsletter. Rabbit's shed about every three months. Your short haired rabbit should be brushed weekly throughout the year, daily if you have a long haired rabbit, this can become part of your bonding time. When your bunny (even a short haired bunny) is shedding you need to start brushing daily so that you remove the hair instead of allowing your rabbit to lick the loose hair and ingest it. When your rabbit is shedding make sure s/he is getting plenty of hay as well as adding daily rather than weekly Petromalt or Laxatone and some prozyme or papaya tablets. Check your bunny's litter box for signs of hair in the poop which will be strung together like a little “pearl necklace”. Your rabbit needs access to plenty of fresh hay, water, veggies and lots of exercise to help prevent hair getting backed up in her digestive system. If your rabbit stops eating during a shed or anytime, be sure to contact your vet right away. Rabbits should not go without eating, it can be a medical emergency and even cause death. Keeping long haired rabbits like Angoras or Fuzzy Lops trimmed to about ½ to 1” long will not only help control shedding but will make grooming in general much easier. Shorter hair is less likely to become matted than long hair, even though the long hair is gorgeous. If you can't commit to daily brushing/combing it's easier to keep them trimmed. If your long haired bunny does get a mat be very careful removing it as your bunny's skin is very sensitive to pulling and is also very thin and can be snipped easily if you don't keep your finger between the skin and the hair you want to trim off. If, despite vigilant grooming, you still find a large mat on your long haired bunny you may want to take your rabbit to a groomer or vet to have the mat shaved off. Mats are very painful for bunnies as they pull hairs from different areas of the body and form the mat and can make it difficult to move around without pain. Being a guardian to a long haired rabbit requires much more work than a short haired rabbit. Einstein is a french angora and is very high maintenance, and Artemis is a Florida White and is fairly low maintenance in comparison. Whatever their hair length, all rabbits need basic care of weekly brushing, monthly nail trimming, teeth and ear checks, and yearly vet exams, or more often if needed. Our recipe this time will have a St. Patrick's Day Theme since it is almost time for leprechauns, lucky clovers and St. Patrick's Day. LUCKY CLOVER SALAD (Serves 2 Buns) 2 cups Lucky Clovers ( since these aren't available everywhere, watercress may be substituted) 4 Green Seedless Grapes – diced 2 Stringless Snap Peas – chopped 1 Outer Leaf of Cabbage – Cut in two Assemble all ingredients and place half on each cabbage leaf, using the cabbage leaf as a salad bowl. Bun Appetite' I'm throwing in these links that I found cute. They are short bunny related videos. I hope you enjoy them too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE9OXATfF0o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLUAbkRUvVQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koPsqp8Nrtg Don't forget to enter our monthly contest for a chance to win a free toy for your bunny. Congratulations to Fuzzy on being this month's winner. http://www.funnybunnytoyco.com/page/page/1404104.htm Our best to you and your bunnies,
Kerry, Artemis, and Einstein
Funny Bunny Toy Company
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