April 9 – 15 Days Old
“Hoppy” Easter. We went to the Ritz Tiburon like we do every year on Easter so the children there can see the bunnies. The Ritz buys 40 of my children’s picture books to give to guests in an Easter basket and then we come for two hours to their Easter celebration. This year we brought Samantha, Peter, Finnegan and Brynn. Lexi stayed home because she is on maternity leave. The Ritz sets up a nice long table with a soft black tablecloth. They put a huge umbrella over the table to keep us all in the shade. There is an egg hunt, a person making balloon figures, a costumed bunny, an arch of balloons, ice cream and then our table which I think is the most popular. We had an area next to us on the grass where we let some of the children hold the bunnies on their laps so their parents could take photos. I think the kids and parents liked that the best. After the event we put Lexi in the bathroom and the kits in a carrier and the other bunnies in the outdoor run so we could completely clean all the cages. We pulled them all out and scrubbed them with bleach to get all the hay and fur cleaned out. We also repaired the bottom of one cage that was breaking. Now the bunnies are settled back in very clean cages. This will be the last time we use this nest box. The constant cleaning every day is making the wood warp. So if we ever have another litter, it will be in a new nest box. We make them out of wood with three tall sides and then a smaller side in the front. Since English Lops are so large, our nest boxes are quite big to give the mother bunny lots of room. The kits are still mostly staying in the back corner which is great because when Lexi hops into the nest box she can move around without stepping on them. Of course now they are moving around quite a bit. This morning when I went to feed Lexi, there were only five kits in the nest box. Willow, the black tort, was missing. Since she is the darkest and so different in color from the rest, it was easy to determine who was missing. First I moved all the hay and searched the nest box, but there was no Willow. Then I looked in the back room where Lexi was eating, but there was no Willow. Finally, I removed the litter pan and there behind the litter pan, snuggled in the corner, was Willow. I gently picked her up and put her back in the nest. Usually I have bags over the litter pan so I don’t have to clean the actual pan. I just turn the back inside out and throw everything away. But when I have kits, I do not use a bag. I don’t want a kit to get out of the nest box and somehow get into the bag and suffocate. So this green litter pan had no bag, so Willow was safely tucked away between the litter pan and the side of the cage. She seem quite content to be put back with her siblings. Now once again they are all snuggled in the nest in the back of the cage.