New Family Members

We recently added 3 new family members!  For many months...probably over a year...Marc and I had been discussing the possibility of acquiring a small animal pet.  We have one indoor cat (Mitten) and one outdoor cat (Izzy) and also Timber, Marc's dog.  We also have the 2 sheep and 2 goats, but they are outdoor pets too.  I missed having a dog of my own, but Timber doesn't like other dogs.  I also missed having a rabbit.  When we were still living in Marc's house, we couldn't get a small pet because there wasn't enough room, and we were trying to sell the house, so it wasn't the right time. We needed to spend time getting settled into the new house before making the decision about a new pet.  The Moncton SPCA had a recent influx of many small animals, and we had been watching them on the website, and finally decided it was time to take a look.

We had 3 lovely people who agreed to be our references so that the SPCA could be sure that the animal would go to a new home.  Once we passed the approval process, we were ready to check out the candidates.  We spent time in a "meeting room" with several different animals.  We visited with 2 different rabbits, a pair of bonded rats, and 2 guinea pigs.  In the end, we decided that we didn't just want 1 small animal - we wanted 3.  So, we came home with a new bunny and a pair of guinea pigs. We really liked the rats as well, but after much deliberation, we felt the guinea pigs were a better choice for us.

Today I'll write about the rabbit, and another day I'll write about the guinea pigs.

Our rabbit is named Pippin (formerly Tapper) and he is estimated to be between 1 and 2 years old.

I believe he is a cross breed that includes some "rex" rabbit genetics, due to the feel of his fur.  He is one of the softest rabbits I have ever touched, and has a similar feel to a rex breed.  He's a bit overweight, so right now he is on a lower calorie pellet diet with lots of fresh vegetables.

He gets to run around the living room on a regular basis.  We are really fortunate that he is already a regular user of the litter box, so doesn't need training on that.

He loves to rest on the top of the couch in the room where we watch movies and have a stereo.

He jumps right up on the back of it and relaxes.

He seems to enjoy interacting with us, so we believe he had a lot of handling as a young rabbit.  He was surrendered to the SPCA due to allergies, although we find it odd that someone would have him for more than a year before deciding they were allergic to him.

It's really difficult to take "action" pictures of a rabbit because they are SO fast!

He races around the room and leaps in the air and I never seem to get a good picture.

Marc was his usual creative self and made Pippin a hut from pallet wood.

He seems to like it and it's a good fit.  He kept tipping over the cardboard box we were initially using. He dumps out his food dish in front of the house.  I have to find a better feeder.

Pippin gets a lot of love, and we're really happy to have him!