Post Storm

I started preparing for Isaac fairly early. I've learned with these storms to prepare for the worse, and I ended up bringing everything that could move into the shed, and all the rabbits were brought inside.

It looked so creepy not having any rabbits in their cages, and everything really bare. Over all, not a lot of rain. I was surprised. The wind was crazy, and there were a few tornado warnings (my main fear with tropical storms and hurricanes). We were lucky with this one, and it was completely mild compare to the straight week of rain we had when Debbie hit at the end of June. Hopefully no more storms! We still have until the end of November to worry about, that's when the season ends.

My main worry was for New Orleans. The storm was moving at a whopping 6mph yesterday, wind speeds peaked at 80 mph (85 is a category 2), the levees held up but were not enough. The storm surges toppled over them, and they got more rain from Isaac than they did Katrina. On top of all that, yesterday was the 7th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Good luck to those who are in the path still. Hurricanes are no joke.

wordy post | dealing with the lasting effects of heat stroke.

It's no secret that the heat is horrific for rabbits. Many breeders have taken extreme measures to prevent the loss of rabbits, and others have experienced huge losses in their herd this summer. I've heard so many horror stories from fellow breeders about their losses due to the heat, and the realization doesn't really hit home until it happens to you.

Overall, I am having a great summer, rabbit wise. The rabbits inside the patio are going about their business like normal, most don't even seem bothered by the heat. The ones that are outside are getting the brunt of it, with the lack of fan, and the tarp is like a sauna. I like to keep a water bottle in their cages, and they just attack it with licks and paws, digging and scratching at it.

There was one exception to the rule, and that would be Toulouse. There are always people or animals that can't handle the heat as well as other people. I don't know why, but there is something that their bodies just can't stand. Toulouse was one of those. I would always try my hardest to keep a water bottle in his cage, a frozen water bowl, and just to monitor him daily.

Over the weekend we had a particularly cool day, and then the next day was also pretty cool. Much cooler than it's been. So, I figure "he'll be fine, it's nicer outside than any other day". Well, I was wrong. I walked out there about 6 or 7 to feed, and I went to his cage first. It was incredibly obvious that he was having a stroke. I quickly brought him inside, took the appropriate measures to cool his off, and regulate his temp. While I was doing this, I noticed "twitching". I pushed that to the back of my mind, and sat there for an hour trying to get everything back to normal.

After that hour passed, I placed him in a single carrier, and noticed he was still twitching. It's almost like a seizure, but not quite. His movement was stiff, and he was having trouble staying still, so he cornered himself, head first.

When we hear of heat stroke, most know what it is, and even the basics at fixing it (a vet isn't really necessary, despite what you read). What we all forget, and I didn't even think of, is the lasting effects that a stroke causes, such as organ and brain damages. This is with anyone; people, rabbits, dogs, etc. My husband did some googling, and we realized that Toulouse had developed Ataxia.

"a neurological sign consisting of lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements, as in walking. Ataxia is a non-specific clinical manifestation implying dysfunction of the parts of the nervous system that coordinate movement, such as the cerebellum." - Wikipedia

Toulouse had this from the moment I brought him inside. We hay have fixed the stroke, but the damage was done. With any neurological damage, it can't be reversed. In humans physical therapy, and medication can help control or suppress the symptoms. Methods unheard of with rabbits. Plainly put, he would never live a normal life, he would never heal from this. We had to put him down.

I'm not writing this to scare those who read it, I'm just trying to tell my story, and my first experience with heat stroke. All it took was one day of careless ness for this to happen. Do I feel bad? Of course! I also know that if it wasn't today, it could have been any other day in the summer. Could have been tomorrow, next year, next month, any day that I would have been gone all day, this could have happened. This rabbit wasn't built for the heat, and if I realized the signs sooner, I could have made him a permanent resident inside the house, but I didn't.

This is the first time that was able to assess the situation, and make the decision on what to deal with him. It was hard, and it's never going to get easier. It's not supposed to be easy to do, but with what I was given, the end result was for the best.

How I suggest dealing with heat stroke:

1. Bring the rabbit inside
2. Wrap a wet towel (I use a cold towel) around the ears
3. A fan blowing around (not directly on) the rabbit
4. Place the rabbit on a cold (wet is fine) towel
5. Patience - It takes time, as long as the rabbit remains alert, you may have gotten there in time
6. Provide electrolytes and room temp. water. Syringe or in a bowl, whatever they'll take
7. DON'T go to the vet. They can't do much more than what is listed above. Maybe an IV fluid. You're going to be slapped with an outrageous bill for something you can do at home. If you feel you must go to the vet, by all means do. Personally, I will do what I can at home.
8. Remember it is NOT your fault. Coulda shoulda woulda, no matter how you slice it, in any situation,  there will always be something you could have done better. Just because you didn't do those extra things, does not meant you need to feel guilty. Just take it as a learning experience to try and prevent this from happening again.

FP's Toulouse

Bloglovin'

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To make it worth your while, here's a picture of Baby Gandalf!

The many sleeping positions of Baby Gandalf

So I have this Blue Tort kit. He's a singleton, fat, and loves to sleep. The following is a collection of SOME of his many off sleeping positions.

Hope you enjoy =)

Just a little note: yes the wire is broken. That is where smart one above got his head stuck at a week old. I had to cut the wire to free the little scoundrel. They don't move the bowl, so I haven't worried about rushing to fix the hole yet. No worries, they are safe, I keep a watchful eye on it =)

Tip from the Wooly people!

I was browsing the NJWRC Facebook page yesterday and I came across a post talking about freezing water in a bowl. I decided, why not? So I took a bowl, filled it up, and stuck it in the fridge. Morning comes along, and I give it to a rabbit that I figured was smart enough to utilize this. Well, he did!

Toulouse is the rabbit that can't handle the heat as well as everyone else. I'm out there A LOT trying to make sure he's comfortable, and switching out water bottles and tiles. He got the bowl, and decided to use it as his main water source and drank about a third of it each time I switched them out. The second time, I even tossed 4 ice cubes in there, and he still drank a third of the water.

It is a great method for keeping the little guys cool, and I will probably use all of my bowls up if I see anyone else extremely uncomfortable by the heat. Right now, he is the only one.

Hope this helps!

Chill Out!

During the summer months, it's often interesting to see how various rabbitries keep cool. There are a lot of different methods. I made a blog post a few days ago about the methods I suggest. Here are some pictures of the buns cooling off in the rabbitry.

Tea Cup relaxing next to her nestbox

Toulouse cooling off on top of a chilled tile and a frozen water bottle.

Our new fan. Putting a frozen bottle should, in theory, help blow cool air. I have yet to see a difference

Deuce with a freshly cleaned cage.

Gemma is the nosiest rabbit

Toulouse, enemy of heat, loves it when I put a cold towel on him. I get it wet, ring some of the water out, stick if in the freezer for a few minutes, and it's a cool blanket!

Hope your bunnies are fairing the heat well!

Summer Tips

Let's face it, summer is not a good time for rabbits. Heat stroke becomes common, bucks become sterile, and some rabbits go uncared for. There's not much we can do, but what we can do makes a world of a difference.

Temperatures of anything above 80 degrees Fahrenheit can be dagerous to rabbits. I have compiled a list of different ways to keep your rabbit cool during the summer.

1. Frozen Water Bottles:  Many rabbit owners prefer this method. It's easy and affordable. All you need are old plastic bottles that would have normally been recycled. Clean them out nice and good, fill them up with tap water and stick them in the freezer. I have 2 bottles per outside rabbit. One for the morning and one for at night if necessary. We use a variation of Poweraide, water, and soda bottles. They are all marked for each rabbit. Make sure the label is torn off or they will do it for you. This is a good alternative because they often play with it, lick it, bite it, and lay next to it. If they chew a hole in it, it's easy to replace!
2. Fans: These are a good way to keep your rabbits cool. My dad went to walmart when the cheap personal fans were on sale and bought them for $1 each. They are hooked individually to each of the rabbits cages and plugged into a power strip. They are easily removable and controlled by a timer. The blades have to be cleaned every month or so because the hair gets caught in there.
3. Air Conditioned Barn: I have only seen a small handful of these around. They are the ideal solution but not the most cost efficient. It keeps them cool to your preferences. If kept properly it offers a cool and clean environment for your rabbits to live in and reduces the risk of heat stroke and sterility.
4. Shaving Long Hared Rabbits: I have yet to do this but I hear it helps those long hared rabbits out there. Be careful. Rabbits skin is extremely tender and cuts easily.

Here are a list of things to remember and to look out for during the hot summer days:

• Always have fresh water available at all times. If a rabbits drink more then a bottle/bowl a day put another up just in case.
• If your rabbits use a bowl keep it out of the sun. The sun causes it to evaporate quicker.
• Watch for ANY kinds of heat stroke. 
• Keep your rabbit out of the sun. Always have a shady place for your rabbits to cool off.
• Look out for heavy panting and foaming of the mouth. If you see your rabbit doing this bring him/her inside.
• Rabbits for Dummies suggests putting a cool, wet towel around the ears cool down the blood in the ears.
• If you feel it is necessary, bring your rabbit to the local vet. Don't hesitate, your rabbits life is extremely important.
• It may also be a good idea to keep a thermometer outside so you can monitor the temperature.

http://www.thefuzzypatch.com/how-to-beat-the-summer-heat.html

New addition

After that solemn post a few days ago, it's time for some cheer! Tea Cup had her litter. Sadly one was a DOA (stretched), the other a peanut, and one normal kit. Here is a picture of the new momma and her baby.

He got peed on lol

Now let me show you what the nest looks like. She created a typical nest, but also added a little compartment that I can hardly see into. I have to reach in and feel around for anything.

This litter is a bit of an odd ball case. Either the live baby was born first, or the stretched baby. Either way the peanut was born last, which in theory it should have been another DOA. BUT if the normal kit was born first, why did she have issues with the second one? Things we are trying to figure out over on the forum.

Updates and such

It's been a while since I've updated. To be honest there isn't anything really going on. Tea Cup is due a littler later this week, other than that not too much going on apart from the storm.

Tropical storm Debbie is so unorganized it was covering the entire state of Florida at one point. I'm paranoid about the rabbits, so I bring the three I have in a cage outside into the kitchen. They were covered, of course. Then I hear about a tornado touch down in Sarasota, which is south of us, and it was moving north at 40 mph. Tornados are not very common around here, mainly warnings, but a watch is a rarity. I'm watching for Tea Cup, who I am worried will abort her litter if it gets too bad. Luckily there wasn't much thunder or lightening.

I never thought that i would have to choose between which rabbits to save. The thing is, in Florida there isn't anywhere to run. If a tornado is coming, you have to duck there is no cellar or basement, just a house. Only a few rabbits can fit in the safe places, and it was a scary thought. I am so glad that I did not have to fully make that decision.

Either way, we made the decision to leave for Orlando for a couple of days like we planned, despite my  worry of another tornado. On the way up, the rain continued, as I expected, and we hear on the radio that there is a tornado just north of the county we live in. It was in the area we were driving in. Luckily that tornado was moving north, no threat to us. On the way up we found a car with no lights on. No lights on on I-4 in the middle of a storm at 8pm!!! We flash our lights (we=Spencer and I),  passing cars do the same, I say "forget this", and roll down my window and shout at them to turn on the lights. They did, thankfully, and oh did the karma gods rain happiness on us. We drive and drive and 3 hours later, normally a hour and a half drive, we make it to Kissimmee safe and sound.

I have a friend a few minutes form my house, so if she says they'll be safe, I feel good. My parents are home, but whenever an expected mother is involved I take extra care. It's great that Tea Cup is such a good mother.

Such a depressing post! Hopefully I'll be able to post more joyful news from the area, hopefully the parks, if we can get there.

Please excuse any grammatical errors.

Show results!!!

These are form the last two shows.

May 12:

MA= Agouti Jr. Doe (sold that day)

MV=Dimple, Agouti Jr. Buck (DQ for wrong sex class, my fault)

MI= Marie, Self Jr. Doe

TO= Toulouse, Tan Jr. Buck

J1= Braden, Self Sr. Buck (Toulouse and Marie's father)

8 rabbits shown, 3 exhibitors

Show A

MA- BOG
MV- DQ
MI- 1st
TO- BOG

Show B

MA- BOG
MV- DQ
MI- BOG
TO- BOG, BOB (LEG)

Show C

MA- BOG
MV- DQ
J1- 2nd
MI- 1st
TO- BOG

Special events: Toulouse received his first leg, Marie beat her father (10 leg GC), and my Agouti doe is an Agouti buck.

May 26:

MV= Dimple, Agouti Jr. Buck (Only Agouti)

MI= Marie, Self Jr. Doe (4 Selfs shown, only in class)

TO= Toulouse, Tan Jr. Buck (DQ in 2 shows for butting teeth, and 4 Tans shown, 2 in class)

15 rabbits shown, 6 exhibitors

Show A

MV- BOG
MI- BOSG
TO- DQ

Show B

MV- BOG
MI- BOSG
TO- BOSG

Show C

MV-BOG
MI- BOSG, and BOS (LEG)
TO- DQ

Special events: Marie received her first leg, Spencer realized he wants to start showing AFL again, and Toulouse now has teeth issues =(, and many legs were awarded!

Next show: June 16 in Bartow (maybe)

One of my goals for this year was to take time off of showing, and focus on breeding, and juniors. I hit a bump, and I was focusing more on showing, and not getting those does bred. Now that I have juniors to show I am incredibly pleased with the outcome of my recent homegrowns. There are only three that I am showing currently. They all are receiving great comments on the table, two have already received legs when shown against some really nice rabbits; brother and sister Toulouse (Black Otter) and Marie (REW). Marie even got the comment "I want to see this rabbit in a month", as well as how typey she is. Her first leg was for BOS. Toulouse has one for BOB, his teeth is butting so his show days are unsure at the moment. All of my rabbits are "typey" and "promising" and that is such a great feeling. I'm not at the point that I want to be yet, not sure if I will ever be satisfied, but it's a step in the right direction and I am improving.

It's a slow ride, but I'm getting somewhere and that's important.

A view of the rabbitry

After a deep cleaning, the rabbitry is looking quite spiffy! Here is the final look, and how everything is set up as of now.

These are my new weaning cages. I got rid of the hutch I had, and bought this cage from a friend and converted it to a four hole.

One side of the rabbitry

The first set of stackers that you see. There isn't much organization going on here.

The second stacker and three single hole cages

My table that I work on. I placed my netherland here. The boxes in the back are my medicine, and show box. My show table top is also here so I don't have to keep it on the stand all the time. It takes up unnecessary room. I also have equine bedding, vinegar, sweet pdz, and a bag full of pine cones on the left. The trash can is where my feed is kept, and the boxes have trash that I need to throw out.

The other side that only has two rabbits. My scale, hanging show table, and an extra nest box are on top of the cage. The drawer unit has the Sevin dust, wipes, and travel bowls on top with the first drawer filled with random stuff, second has toilet paper rolls, and the last one holds all of my dust pans and brushes.

Another side view

OPI <3

My little Opal buck. His name is Dimple.

Braden all sprawled out.

Gemma eating a pine cone while laying down, too lazy to get up with Marie in the back. These two get along great considering they're not even litter mates.

That's it! I may do a video tour soon, it depends on if I'm home alone this week.

The Fluff Tips

The following are a compiled list of tips that can be found in Spring's issue of The Fluff. If you are a member of the National Jersey Wooly Club, you may have seen these! Either way, here they are in one list. You know, just in case you misplace your copy.

Disclaimer: This is word-for-word exactly what it says in the newsletter. None of these tips are my own, property owned by The Fluff and written by Angel LeSage and Timmy Bauer.

Spring 2012

• Saving a doe's show coat - Save the collected wool for those pregnant does who have nice show coats. By placing the wool in the cage around 28 days (not in the box) it may encourage her to use that wool instead of plucking her own. Pg. 3
• Provide a distraction - For a buck that licks his rear legs bare give a hay ball stuffed in a cardboard tube, or other toys to keep him busy. Pg. 4
• Chewing wool - For a rabbit with wool chewing problems give cut up chunks of sweet potatoes, or yams. Pg. 4
• Successful Matings - Always breed your does 4 or more times throughout the course of the day for optimum success. It is usually not recommended to breed over several days. Wait 2 weeks and palpate, if not pregnant breed again. Pg. 13
• When fur flies - While grooming and blowing collect the wool, and store it in an old kleenex box. This works great at shows to keep it from flying everywhere. Pg. 16
• Successful Palpation - Practice palpation on a non-pregnant rabbit so that you can identify a pregnant rabbit. Palpation is most successful at 12-14 days. The babies at that stage feel like medium sized grapes. Support the rabbit with the right hand while you use your left to gently squeeze the lower abdomen. Pg. 25
• Due dates made easy - Plan ahead when breeding to make sure you are home. A fast way to calculate due dates is to count 4 weeks form the day you bred, and add 3 days. For example; breeding on Saturday, count the next 4 Saturday and then add 4 more days. So the due date would be on a Tuesday. Pg. 27
• Keeping bottoms clean - Apply cornmeal to a poopy bottom to soak everything up. Brush it out when dry. Pg. 29

Where are we headed?

In a great direction, I hope.

  Often I find myself disappointed in the direction my herd went. My homegrowns were subpar, even for newbie standards. I had either nice bodies, or nice heads. Never both. Also the amount of DOAs my does kept having would drive anyone into madness.

  Keep in mind I used the words "went" and "were". This was before I took the time to evaluate two of 2012s litters. I don't know if it was luck, or the perfect pairing, but I am extremely pleased with Emma and Tea Cup's litters. The balance is excellent, the bodies are lovely, and the personalities are something I hope to keep! Such naturally curious and sweet babies those two does had. Makes me smile so much!


Well, that's fantastic! What about the varieties?
  Right now, I am focusing on my Agoutis. I'm off to a great start with the Opals. It took me a while to actually get Agoutis. Why? Well, all the bucks I had were Shaded, or carried Shaded. When I bred my doe to my REW, I got Sables. I waited, and I waited, and I FINALLY got an Opal buck. The rest, you know if you follow the blog (or read this post fully). Now I need to get that dominant gene in the mix. That is where Tea Cup comes in. My hope is that she will provide my buck with the genes he needs to give me Chestnuts. I will probably introduce a new buck in the mix at some point, but right now I'm focusing on what I have.

*sizzle* - little doe that is promised to a new home

But, what about the Otters?
  Psh. Otters are easy! It took me one breeding to get those things, also a shocker litter, and there is noooo way they are leaving. Especially since I now have 2 Otter does, and one buck.  All are homebreds, mind you. I do plan on getting another Otter in the mix. Buck, or doe, I'm not sure. All of mine have the same father, and I need to figure out what their faults are, and bring in a new bun to fix that issue.

Mister "I'm not as long as I look"

You have a fawn, does this mean you're working on Oranges?
  Possibly. I love her personality (Gemma's the name), and I am keeping my Tort in hopes to throw some dominant into that non-extension gene bringing out the Orange within her! I will be taking my time on this, and certainly wont start an orange project until they get closer to being recognized. For now she will stay with her sister (my POL from Emma's litter) until I decide to breed her.

Brat refuses to pose!

So, those Shadeds of yours, still working on Shadeds?
  I was thinking about continuing to breed her while I still had Espresso (Sable Martin), but with her passing I don't really want to deal with them, especially with my Agoutis. My Siamese Sable buck will be for sale when I clean him up (I just... don't even want to go there), and my Smoke Pearl is in retirement. Tortie will stay for reasons listed above, and other than that I am DONE with Shadeds for a loooooooong time. I like my Agoutis too much to risk them being "tampered" with. Sable chin... *shudders*.

Shows?
Well, I intend on keeping my showing days strictly for juniors only for a bit. Even with Convention, I may only send one or two 2012 homegrowns with a friend to be shown. I just don't have the want to show my older/"bought" stock. Time to move on, and show my own, ya know? Plus my coats have been something less than gorgeous lately.. That kind of helps too, I suppose.

Here I am, I'm not completely horrible!
  Overall I think my herd is heading in a positive direction, and I hope to bring some nice juniors to the show table, as well as selling more show rabbits and getting my name out there more.

Ok folks, thats basically all the happenings, and future happenings here at the Fuzzy Patch. I hope you have a great day, and a fantastic time with your own herd. ☺

Opal updates

Talk about Smexy! If the head stays as nice as it looks, this may be the best homegrown as of yet. This means that my show "freeze" isn't in vain! I am showing this weekend, 2 buns. I'm mainly going to try and sell some babies. Hopefully some will go to nice homes. I just need to decide which of Tea Cup's babies I want to keep. Decisions!!! This little guy (or gal) is looking like my POL from Emma and OPI's litter. Both look really nice though. It's just so tough to decide.

Moo: Sample Business Cards!

Of course the actual cards (not the free sample) will not have the "moo.com" stamp. Other than that, this is basically what mine will look like! I may switch up the pictures a bit.

Moo

Oh Moo, how you make me laugh. With their witty comments, and sense of humor, the people at Moo.com have won my heart over. After the misery vistaprint put me through, I was quickly in search for a new printing company. That company, is now Moo.

First off, I ordered a free sample pack to check the quality, and see what their products were like. This is what I saw when I opened the packet: (click any picture to enlarge)

Everything that Moo has to offer is completely customizable. You even have the option of choosing different backs to your cards! I love this option.

Quick look at the actual business cards (with their prices on the back, so convenient!).

First off are their Luxe cards. They feel like cardboard sandwich. The sides of the card are split in half, with a piece of thick (in this case red) cardboard in the middle. They feel really sturdy.

The next one are the classic style rounded corner cards. This is what my actual business cards will be printed on. The paper is really nice! They weren't kidding when they said it was a high quality paper. The actual feel of the card is a satin finish. Not to shiny, but not to matte. Perfect mix.

The first one is the classic style without the rounded corners.

Second are the "Moo Green" stock. 100% recycled, and 100% recyclable. To me, it feels like another cardboard business card, but not cardboard at the same time. This one is hard to explain. Definitely doesn't feel cheap, and is also more sturdy than the average business card walking around.

I was so skeptical about the Mini cards. The sample pack came with two, and I used them to compare to the average size of a business card. The ones i got were printed on the classic paper, same quality, small size. The actual width of the image wont be altered, but you will loose some of the height in the image (which you can view when you upload the image). Above are comparisons for you.

 The post card is on top, and it is printed on photo paper, and the card on the bottom feels like the green stock. I probably wont use these, but they're still nice.

Then the stickers. There are plane stickers, and return labels. All customizable.



I do agree that Moo is a little bit pricey, but compared to what Vistaprint is/did, it's worth it. From the quality, to the humor, I will invest the money. I also want to add, no I am not being paid to do this (I wish). I got the sample pack for free at Moo.com. I think that's everything. I received the sample business cards I made in the male today, and I will make a blog post about those tomorrow!!