Monday, June 25, 2012

An Introduction to Oscar and Annabelle

What a wonderful Monday it is! It's actually been quite the beautiful day here, making me in super high spirits and completely loving life. I thought today would be a nice introduction to my lovely, adorable, and quite personable rabbits: Oscar and Annabelle.
 OSCAR:
    Oscar is my very first rabbit and he is two years old (I can't believe it!) I got to hold him when he was only a couple of weeks old and he fit in the palm of my hand. I actually got him from my friends' sisters' rabbit who had little baby rabbits and I've been in love with them since.
    I actually named Oscar after my favorite Fire Emblem character (From Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn). Although he can't ride a horse, use a lance, or have green hair like this guy:

Oscar is a dwarf rabbit and weighs about five pounds. He absolutely loves people, but HATES getting picked up (and getting his nails clipped, ears cleaned, and for some reason newspapers).
     Thanks to Oscar, I learned a lot about rabbit care, what it takes to keep a cage clean, a rabbit happy, and to even build his own three story rabbit condo. I was able to take him to school where he would be able to free roam around my room, but since I was gone for part of the day, I thought he might get lonely so then I decided to get another wonderful rabbit.
ANNABELLE:
    I did a lot of research when it came to getting a second rabbit. Since Oscar was a boy (and neutered) I thought it would be appropriate to get him a nice girlfriend since I found out most male-female pairs for rabbits worked the best. I actually searched on petfinder for adoptable rabbits because I wanted to get an already spayed rabbit that needed a home instead of one of the rabbits from the petstore.
    I came across Annabelle from the Rat Chick Rat Rescue in Philadelphia who had recently taken part in a rabbit rescue operation where a man hoarded 40+ rabbits in cramped, smelly conditions and no sunlight or personal care. The Rat Rescue rounded up  volunteers to take care of the rabbits and I adopted Annabelle from a wonderful woman named Sunshine who helped me introduce Oscar and Annabelle to each other for the first time.They ignored each other for their first meeting, which in rabbit language is a very good sign. However, when I brought her home she would not move, was terrified of everything and would not drink. Soon, I began the bonding process between her and Oscar which took only about three weeks until they were attached at the hip to one another. Annabelle finally started to open up, and although she has a bit of a weight problem and is still fearful of most humans, she's very affectionate and I would never change adopting her for the world. As far as Annabelle's name is concerned, that is the name that Sunshine gave to her and I decided to keep it since Oscar and Annabelle just sounds too cute.
 I would like to say that as an additional disclaimer, rabbits are not starter pets and need a lot of care and attention. They're wonderful pets to have and care for but they require just as much maintenance as a cat or dog. Oscar and Annabelle are indoor house pets, but I let them outside on nice days, especially when they're shedding. Rabbits are beautiful, caring, and affectionate animals and should always be loved.

~ Bunny

No comments:

Post a Comment