More pictures!
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: Stevie Nicks "Stand Back"

A week later;



The babies now have some fur, and are much bigger. We did loose one, which was also the smallest one. I felt bad when it died, but I've come to recognize that you can't save them all. They die for a reason. This little one kept crawling off to be by itself. After I put it back with it's siblings the third time, I realized that it was crawling off to be alone to die. I find this to be extremely sad as a human, as I'd like to think that I'll be surrounded by loved ones when I go (I can hope!). But in the animal world, some prefer to go alone, and rabbits are one of those creatures.

The remaining four are doing very well though, and are nursing well from Mia. Mia is also doing great, and I'm upping her feed intake, which must be cut down when rabbits kindle to prevent the possibility of a clogged milk duct. She's happier getting more food, and I'm giving her some treats too.

A couple of the questions made me realize that I haven't discussed the bunnies growth. In another 5-7 days, their eyes will open. They will be more mobile, and wanting to explore the nestbox. They will also be fully furred by then, and that is about the time that they move out to live with Mom (I keep the nestbox in my office until then). Because they are mobile, they sometimes attempt to get out of the nestbox, which is what happened in September to one of Annie's kids. I found the baby under my desk, but it isn't something I want to repeat. :) Of course, when they are so mobile, they then realize that Mom is right around the corner, and try to nurse all the time. That is about the time that Mia will start giving me the look of "What did you do to ME? They don't leave me alone!". And she'll be jumping around try to escape them. Eventually, they do realize that they can't nurse 24/7, and calm down. But watching that happen is amusing. And I know I'll go out there in another few weeks to find every one of those kids laying somewhere on Mia. Mother rabbits just put up with that, and it is very cute to observe. I guess she's probably just happy that they aren't trying to nurse. :)

The rest of my day today will be spent preparing for my boy's birthday party, which is tomorrow. We have approximately 20 kids coming (as of last night's count, and I'm sure I'll get a few more calls today), and I still have to buy party favors, and order the cakes. Please send me some calming energy so that I can get all this done without making myself crazy. :)