From: wd5j@vax5.cit.cornell.edu
Newsgroups: rec.pets
Subject: Re: Funny bunnies
Date: 22 Dec 92 12:04:41 EST
Distribution: na,rec
Organization: Cornell University


In article <1992Dec20.164930.18266@news.cs.indiana.edu>,
"Amy Young Leith" <alyoung@kiwi.ucs.indiana.edu> writes: 
> In article <1992Dec20.153808.1@stsci.edu> kenny@stsci.edu writes:
>>Well, I guess I'm a member.  I sent them money last August and have received
>>only one House Rabbit Journal so far.  And I do hug them; unfortunately, not 
>>all of them appreciate it - I have scars and scratches to prove it.  They
>>much prefer I scratch their backs.
>>
>>Debbie
> 
> Perhaps Dink is just strange, that would be no far stretch of the
> imagination, but he loves to be held.  Sometimes of course he's too
> busy, not in the mood, has a headache, etc, but as a rule, he doesn't
> mind being picked up at all as long as he's supported properly.  
> 
> Perhaps it was because we got him really young, and I constantly was
> holding him, carrying him around, petting him, probably in all the
> "wrong" ways.  But he's used to it now, and uses me as a human jungle
> gym when he feels he's not getting enough attention.  
> 
> How much did most of you pay for your rabbits, if you received them
> from a seller?  Dink was $14.99 at a slightly out of town pet store
> that had about eight of them, half spoken for, in the first part of
> June.  Other stores normally don't have a whole lot of them, if any,
> except around Easter.  The thought of all the impulsive purchases is
> almost too much... Anyway, at other pet stores I've seen them for $30
> or $35.  I can't believe it. 
> 
> Can't say I still haven't been tempted to get Dink a friend... 
> 
> amy
> -- 
> alyoung@kiwi.ucs.indiana.edu for personal mail
> 			    All business mail to alyoung@silver.ucs.indiana.edu
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> **Dislcaimer:I only speak for myself.  Anyone who thinks differently is a fool.
> 			(This means NOT my employer!!)

Sorry for including all that stuff up there but I don't know how to
delete it.

I got Darwin from a breeder of Flemish giants in Cortland, NY, about
1/2 hour from Cornell/Ithaca.  I'd seen the breed at the NY State Fair
and (like I did every year) because fixated at those enormous lumps
of cute bun.  So I spoke to some of the exhibitors and they gave me the
breeder's name.  He had hundreds of them, in a few colors (black, sandy,
light grey, blue, white), most out of sight in a barn.  Darwin and his
littermates were in hutches in a converted three-sided garage, each in
an individual cage.  I had come for a buck, but there was a _cute_ little
8 week doe (sandy) that I fell in love with, but she was in a cage with
two rabbits with "floppy" ears (sorry, all you loppers out there--
guess it's a fault in this breed) and one with overt snuffles, and though
she was healthy I felt I shouldn't take her -- he then said the cage was
slated for the meat truck (aargh!) but I still felt uncomfortable.
I left and came back the next day after buying a cage, etc, and instead of
taking her I took one of his black bucks (12 weeks) who were robust and
well separated from the sick cage.  I paid $25 and gave him a little money
to "board" Darwin until I was readier, but then I couldn't wait.

It turned out that Peeve (the sandy doe) was yanked out of the cull
cage at the last minute, and he's "trying her out".  Oh - she was in
there to begin with because of her smallish size.

I've learned a lot about orphaned rabbits and the HRH since reading
the net (which happened A.D. (after Darwin)) and feel pretty bad
about the whole breeder thing.  Although, I really did want a Flemish.
What do others out there feel about breeds vs mixed?  Any other Flemish
giant housemates?  I still think about Peeve.

Ilana Reisner
Maccabee's vet
Newsgroups: rec.pets