The place for news, updates, announcements, and water bottle gossip from the Buns and their humans.
Hot Cross Hoppenings
February 22, 2024
January 21, 2025
We're finally updating the older babies' pictures and videos! Holly was the first Bun updated, and we're planning to do Noelle's on Thursday and Ivy's on Friday, just to spread them out a bit and prolong the enjoyment.
New pictures of the babies have been posted on their listings!
Rosie's litter... Rummy (now named Bugz), Whist, Mancala, and Boggle (doesn't she look great?)
January 20, 2025
Quinoa's litter...Scrabble (already matched), Snooker, Tiddlywinks, Hopscotch, and Parcheesi.
January 15, 2025
We went through nearly the entire day without mentioning that there's a new post about bonding with your new Bun on our All Things Bunny Blog.
Evelyn and I gave Sukie (our pet French Angora girl who provides lots of extra wool for lining nest boxes and keeping baby Buns nice and toasty when their mamas don't pull enough of their own fur) a new haircut today. She had gotten quite matted on her chest and feet (which is typical for her). Once we got started, we ended up shaving her down quite a bit because she looked so lopsided and silly. She still looks rather silly, but at least her coat will grow out evenly and she'll be altogether stunning in a few short weeks. We'll try to get some new pictures of her at that time...if she forgives us by then. Sukie lives in Evelyn's bedroom and is nice and toasty with her blankets and a little space heater, so we don't need to worry about her catching a chill. She's such a spunky girl and brings us so much joy, even when she's holding a grudge.
We've worked our way through the Waiting List and are now opening to all people/families who have gone through our approval process. Rummy (opal buck) and Scrabble (opal doe) have been matched with amazing families!
It always seems to happen that when we have a lot of people on the waiting list, we have very few Buns, and when we are blessed with an ample supply of Buns, we have very few people on the waiting list. We're praying for many new families to find their way to our website, so these little loves soon have families of their own.
January 13, 2025
January 12, 2025
All the new Buns' listings have been posted. Pleases let me know if you see any problems. If the videos say that they are currently unavailable, refreshing the page usually does the trick. The babies are such cuties!
My apologies for the silence of the past couple of days. We were moving our eldest child to her very first apartment and helping her get settled in. It's difficult for me to accept that the child we brought home just over 22 years ago is now a grown woman, with a college degree, a full-time job, and the ability to live on her own. She is very responsible and has a good head on her shoulders, but I'll never stop being concerned for the health and safety of each of our children.
Now that the moving project is completed, we are beginning to work on creating the listings for the babies. We're hoping to get everything completed by Sunday evening, but new pictures, videos, and thorough descriptions of each of them is a slow process, so please be patient if it takes a bit longer than anticipated. We only have three families on our waiting list, so are hoping that we receive many New Bunny Questionnaires in the coming days as we wait for these babies to reach the 8 week mark and go to their new homes. We won't be breeding again until all have found their new homes.
January 11, 2025
January 8, 2025
After taking a couple of weeks off from writing blog posts, we've just uploaded a new one today. This one is about why most rabbits don't like to be picked up and what you can do to handle moving your Bun from Point A to Point B safely.
New pictures of Rosie's babies have been posted on the Nursery page. Her babies are taking after their sire, Gumption. They are a very observant, thoughtful group. Cuddles are enjoyed by all, but trust needs to be established first and foremost.
Rummy, Mancala, and Whist
January 7, 2025
January 6, 2025
We posted new pictures of Quinoa's babies, along with their genders and a quick description of the temperament we're seeing so far. These little ones will be listed next week. Time has flown with these litters. We seem to be back to our typical numbers results when determining genders; we have far more does than little bucks.
Snooker (orange buck), Scrabble (opal doe), Hopscotch (cream doe), Tiddlywinks (chestnut doe), and Parcheesi (orange doe.)
Evelyn and I checked the genders of Rosie's litter tonight. It looks like we have have one little opal buck (Rummy), and the three others are does (Boggle, Whist, and Mancala). I'm not 100% sure about Mancala (the cream baby) yet, but we'll keep checking. Little Boggle, the doe with e. cuniculi, is slowly responding to the antibiotics. The day we started treatment, she could not hop around or return to an upright position when picked up and set down. But she is able to eat out of the food bowl and drink water on her own, although her head tilt is very severe. She still has 17 more days on the wormer and another week of antibiotics, and then we'll reassess. We're doing twice daily neck massages, in an effort to help her neck remain flexible and not lock into the tilted position.
We're going to check Quinoa's babies tomorrow. They are all doing really well.
January 5, 2025
January 1, 2025
Happy New Year!
We were able to post pictures of Rosie's babies today. It was still slow-going, but not as bad as yesterday. We're holding off on posting pictures of Boggle, the blue baby with e. cuniculi until we know how he/she responds to the current treatment plan.
Left to right (top to bottom on cell phone)...Whist, Mancala, and Rummy
We added an update to Francesca's listing on the Available Buns page. We hope to post new photos of Holly, Ivy, and Noelle in the next few days, hopefully when the weather is a bit clearer and the process of uploading photos won't be so painfully slow.
We're in the process of trying to schedule a spay for Mississippi Mud Pie and a neuter for Loofah, but the vet for the APL who was safe to use for bunnies has apparently left the practice. We know that, when the previous veterinarian we worked with for several years suddenly passed away last year, the APL would contract with a veterinary service who would fill in with spays and neuters for dogs and cats and, occasionally had one who was competent with rabbits, so we could still have some of the Buns' procedures done until the APL hired a full-time vet. Now we're just waiting to see if/when something can happen.
We had been so hopeful of keeping a baby doe out of Missy, but she has had two single stillborn babies the past two times we bred her, plus she's just turned four years old, so it's time to have her spayed, for her health and well-being. We have beautiful Figgy Pudding out of Penelope, so hope to have more gorgeous black Buns in the future. Our readers may be surprised to learn of our decision to have Loofah neutered. We had kept him because his sire Finnegan is our only other broken patterned rabbit in our herd. Finn is getting older, so keeping his son seemed like an easy choice. Loofah is a petite little guy and doesn't have the "bone" and width we would like one of our breeding sires to have. As much as we love this sweet little guy, he just doesn't have the physical traits we want to pass on to future babies. He won't be available for placement until after he is neutered, so it could still be some months before he goes to his new home. We've already reached out to one of our Bun clients about him, so are just waiting to see how the veterinarian situation at the APL plays out.
We're also considering scheduling Rosie and Posey for their spays, too, as they recently turned three years old.
Happy New Year to all of you! I have been working all day to get new photos of the babies uploaded, but it has been painfully slow going. Four hours to upload pictures of five babies! I'm not sure if it's the computer or the weather, but I think we'll save the picture of Rosie's babies for tomorrow. We hope you enjoy the latest pictures of Quinoa and Sullivan's kits, who are four weeks old today!
The kits all have their HCB names. We went with a wide range of games for this theme. Quinoa's litter includes Scrabble, Hopscotch, Tiddlywinks, Snooker, and Parcheesi. Rosie's kits have been named Rummy, Mancala, Whist, and Boggle.
We've had many inquiries about the status of Rosie's baby with e. cuniculi. It had been doing okay for most of the week, and was eating well. There has been marked deterioration the past couple of days. It's head is much more tilted and balance is an issue. I reached out to Dr. Krupka again today, for a prescription for antibiotics (Baytril), which he had been reluctant to prescribe during last week's visit due to the baby's very young age and his concern about disrupting the gut bacteria at the very beginning of the bunny's life. We're trying to protect it with probiotics, cecatropes from a healthy rabbit mixed in to supplemental milk, and we're going to add a motion sickness medicine because dizziness is going to worsen. We're praying for improvement. If things get even worse, the baby won't be able to stand up at all, and will have symptoms like vertigo. This little bunny, named Boggle, is so sweet and is a survivor. It's absolutely beautiful and is feisty with a will to live. The next week will be crucial.
December 31, 2024
December 26, 2024
Happy Boxing Day to our British friends!
We hope all of you have had a wonderful Christmas and are continuing to enjoy the remaining 11 days of the holiday!
We have some concerning news to share: One of Rosie's blue babies is showing signs of e. cuniculi. We took him/her to the vet at 8pm on 12/23 and saw Dr. Krupka at the Avon Lake Animal Clinic. The baby is on medication and we are very hopeful that it will respond well to treatment because we caught it early. We've never seen e. cuniculi in such a young kit before. There is no sign of infection, but we are to call Dr. Krupka if symptoms worsen. We're supplemental feeling the baby with goat's milk and KMR along with some probiotics. It has been a really long time since we had an active case of e. cuniculi in one of our babies, so we are taking extra special care of this wee one. Almost all rabbits carry this parasite but it lies dormant and symptoms only become active when a rabbit is stressed or becomes ill. We aren't sure what triggered it to become active, but all of the other kits are symptom-free and seem to be happily thriving. The affected kit is beautiful and has good mass and is eating and drinking well, so please say some prayers for a full recovery for this little sweetie. The only sign that something is wrong is that it has a tilted head. Otherwise, it keeps trying to play and groom itself, just as it should be at this point in its development.
Merry Christmas to all of our Hot Cross Buns Families and Friends! We pray you all have a beautiful and blessed day with those you hold dear.
Here are some pictures of the littlest Buns to help you celebrate!
December 24, 2024
December 22, 2024
Periwinkle has a new family! We're so excited that this sweet older, spayed doe was matched with her forever family and will be given lots of love and attention in the coming years. She's going to be living about four hours away, so has a long ride ahead of her, but she was absolutely smitten with her new people. We're looking forward to learning what her new name will be!
Our new blog post about what to expect on your Bun's Pick-Up Day has been posted. Poor timing on my part, since all of the already matched Buns have gone home. LOL
Things have been fairly quiet lately. I haven't received responses from the two most recent New Bunny Questionnaire people who contacted us last week, so believe we're done with matchings for the remainder of 2024. While we'd love to line up families for Holly, Ivy, Noelle, Periwinkle, and Francesca before the new year begins, we know that people are at their busiest with travel plans and holiday fun, so will consider this a quiet time for a bit of a break. We'll still be here, checking and responding to messages as time permits, but it would be lovely to take that "long winter's nap" and move at a slower pace for a few days.
December 18, 2024
December 17, 2024
A huge THANK YOU to Suzanne N and her doe Bunsley who so thoughtfully sent the bunnies a care package for Christmas! They will absolutely love it and we are overwhelmed by their thoughtfulness and kindness.
Little Wenceslas is happily settling into his new home with his wonderful new family. They really think he is something special and have given him the new name Emmett. It was absolutely lovely to meet them and to know he is going to be a cherished member of this animal-loving family.
We have updated the pictures of Rosie and Quinoa's litters today. The babies have had a major growth spurt! Check out all the photos on The Nursery page and a sneak peek below. (Rosie and Gumption's babies are the first three pictures, and Quinoa and Sullivan's babies are the next three.)
We had to laugh at Quinoa's babies demonstrating the concept of "cuddle puddle" with stunning clarity. They piled onto each other for a cuddle and proceeded to make puddles They were quite wet when we put them back in their nest box. LOL
We have new pictures of the older babies today...except for Ivy. All of her photos turned out to be blurry. I'll try again tomorrow to see if she's in the mood to sit still. LOL
Wenceslas will be heading home tomorrow!
December 13, 2024
We also have an update from Cassady C. about her beautiful opal doe, Winifred (HCB's Snap). She says:
It has been snowing non stop in (town name) and it is lovely! Winnie and I spent a fun evening playing in some indoor snow and admiring the gorgeous view from the window... We recently had light up night in town which was lovely! The town really looks straight out of a Christmas card at this time of year. I think Winnie enjoys it to because she absolutely loves watching everything go by from her perch on the windowsill. It is very funny to me to see her up there as I have never known a Bunny to do that but she gets very annoyed at me if I move her pillow "step" so she can't hop up... These past few mornings she has been trying everything in her power to get me up earlier than my 7am alarm for her breakfast which includes sitting on my chest, face kisses, and nudging my hand. She is hard to resist even at 6:30am! I recently set up the Christmas tree which she has had a fun time checking out...
Cheers
Cassady & Winnie
December 11, 2024
A new blog post has been published about Week Seven of bunny development.
This has been a nice series to write because we knew what was going to come next. About three years ago, I had filled a notebook with ideas for posts and promptly misplaced it. This led to the writing of a second list, but I just found the original! I think we have enough material to do a weekly posting for the next five or six years. Writing hopefully won't become an onerous task since the ideas are already there. :D
New pictures of both baby litters have been posted on the Nursery page! Lots of color and so many adorable baby Buns to love and cuddle!
December 10, 2024
December 9, 2024
Noelle's listing has been posted. I so hope we can find an amazing family for this sweet, special little girl. If not, she will always have a home with us. We prefer for her to be placed with an amazing family of her own so she can receive all the love and attention she deserves.
Leo (HCB's Herald) went home with his incredible new Bun-Mom, Alexis, today. There was so much joy (and even a few tears) as Alexis' dreams of having a pet bunny came true today. It was a delight to meet her and her Nana Pat this afternoon. They has so many questions and we shared some surprising things in common, so, all in all, it was a very fun Pick-Up appointment!
Noelle is on the left, Leo is on the right. It's easy to tell that they're littermates! :D
We've already received a very promising update about Pigeon as she settles in with her new beau, Twix. This was sent to us last night:
She and Twix chased each other around a little (they both seemed pretty relaxed, and there was a lot of turning around and touching noses to make sure the other one was following). Then Pigeon explored a bit on her own while he flopped. And now she’s been cuddled in C’s lap for the last 15 minutes. She seems quite comfy. Thank you so much for today. It really warmed my heart to see Twix come out of his shell again and be the happy, confident, dynamic fellow I remember. ❤️❤️❤️ You have such a wonderful rabbitry and such sweet little buns!
December 8, 2024
On an incredibly sad note, we just received word from Nick V. that his beloved buck Milo passed away suddenly yesterday. Although it doesn't happen often, this kind of devastating loss can occur out of the blue with rabbits who seem to be healthy and happy in every way. Milo's bond, Millie, is learning to cope, and she and Nick are upset and confused, understandably. Milo is the solid orange buck on the right in each of the below pictures. He was as sweet and content as could be. Rest in peace, Milo. You were a beloved friend to everyone who had the opportunity to know you. We're praying for Nick and Millie. <3
December 7, 2024
Little Stewie (HCB's Parson Brown) went home this morning! Wouldn't you know it, he was as good as gold for his new Bun-Mom, Felicity. Is it wrong for us to hope that his energetic, sassy side comes out again when he gets settled in to his new home? We're going to miss his goofy antics, but Henrietta will probably be a lot less frazzled without him making mischief and egging on his littermates. LOL
We posted the sad news that one of Quinoa's babies didn't make it in an update on the Nursery page.
Due to a very busy day ahead, we most likely won't get to create Noelle's listing until tomorrow on Monday, but that is at the top of our To-Do List. We think her eye already looks a bit better, even after only a couple of days of massaging the scar tissue.
AFTERNON UPDATE: Hippopotamus (now named Thumper) has just gone home with his new family! He was very sweet and calm throughout the introduction process, which is what we expected from him. He is going to do beautifully with his new people!
Pigeon has a new family! Our sassy girl was matched as the bonding buddy of a very handsome buck named Twix. He was a rescue bunny and is believed to be a Havana rabbit mix. Twix lost his first bond, Nora, a few months ago and was feeling a bit depressed. His family (who are friends of the family adopting Wenceslas) brought him to meet Pigeon, Periwinkle, and Francesca today. They all did very well with him and it was a tough decision, but Pigeon ended up being the chosen doe. We look forward to updates as their bonding progresses towards a full-time bond together.
We've caught up on pictures! Figgy Pudding and Wenceslas (Stewie) have their new litter pictures on their listing pages. Ivy cooperated (sort of) so has a few new ones, as well. The fur around her eyes still isn't quite right, but we promise she's perfectly fine, just a little goofy looking in her photos.
Pictures of Quinoa's litter have been added to the Nursery page. They are pretty small compared to Rosie's babies, which were born only one day earlier. We're checking them regularly and are making certain new mama Quinoa is feeding all of them.
We're going to be working on a special needs listing for Noelle, the injured lilac doe from Henrietta's litter, over the next day or two. The veterinarian was very encouraging about her having a full and happy life. A bit of backstory about Noelle: when she was three weeks old, this inquisitive, spunky girl escaped the baby-safe exercise pen and got too close to another pen Bun, Francesca. (We aren't 100% certain this is what happened, but this is where the evidence is pointing.) Francesca defended her territory, as any self-respecting doe would, and gave Noelle a bad bite just above her left eye. The bite left two wounds: a smaller hole above the brow line, and the other one impacting the eyelid. The vet is optimistic that the upper wound may fully close on its own over the next couple of weeks. It's largely hidden by her fur and the doctor has to search carefully for it. The lower wound impact is much more noticeable. Scar tissue has build up above the eyelid, which causes her to not be able to close it fully, except when she's stressed about something. The good news is that, with careful massage a couple of times each day, the scar tissue may break down and allow the eyelid to have more elasticity, allowing it to close more naturally and protect the eyeball itself. The doctor did a stain test to look for any damage to the eye itself and she found nothing wrong. She believes Noelle has full vision or at least the majority of her vision in the left eye. The eyeball itself sits in an offset position, so she has a bit of a quirky look. We are to put moisturizing eyedrops 2-3 times daily in her left eye, to help it remain comfortable. Other than that, she has a completely full bill of health. The eyedrops can be purchased at any drugstore, and are non-prescription. They are the same type a person could use when experiencing dry eyes.
While we begin the work of massaging her eyelid and continuing with the eyedrops, we are going to be seeking a very special family who is interested in adopting this little doe. She is completely healthy, playful, sassy, and fun. Her injury doesn't hold her back at all. She would love to be a free-roam girl eventually, and possibly a bonding buddy in the future, as she loves to snuggle with her mama and littermates. If the upper wound on her head does not close on its own, the vet suggested having it surgically closed at six months, at the same time she is in for her spay. She is currently far too young to undergo anesthesia, and having both the spay and the eye repair done at the same time would be very beneficial to her well-being. Until she is old enough for surgery, she will need a very dedicated family who will watch over her and her eye carefully, making certain to give her the eye drops on a very regular basis, as part of her daily care routine. It just takes a moment to put the drops in, but they make her feel so much better. She usually binkies and zoomies afterwards.
Her listing will be added after we are able to create a video of her. Because some people (especially children) might be upset by the graphic nature of the images we have taken of her injury, there will be a warning on the Available Buns page about the images of her injury being on her listing page. We don't want to upset anyone, but know that it's important for people considering adopting Noelle to be able to see the full extent of her injuries.
December 5, 2024
December 4, 2024
I totally forgot to hit the "publish" button on last week's blog post, so you get two posts today, covering weeks five and six of bunny growth and development.
All of the new babies are doing well. We're going to hold off on posting pictures of Quinoa and Sully's litter until tomorrow, to allow them time to adjust and grow a tiny bit, before handling them. Since the litter was so large, the kits are on the small side and we want to give them every opportunity to stay warm and cozy together, before disrupting them for photos. They look good, though!
Because we were blessed with such an unexpected abundance of babies this month, we probably won't do any breeding for the next month or two, unless we get an influx of approved New Bunny Questionnaires from people who are willing to be matched with little does. We still have four baby does from our ready to be matched litters (Noelle will hopefully be listed after our consultation with the vet tomorrow), let alone however many newborn does we have in Rosie and Quinoa's litters.
Missy had a single, very large stillborn kit during the night. :( We're keeping an eye on Posey to see if she has any babies. She looks and feels as though she might have a couple of babies on board. We don't believe Chummy or Nora conceived in November, so that's a relief! We are more than happy with the number of kits who have arrived in the past couple of days...actually we're flabbergasted!
We posted new pictures of Henrietta's babies today ! They are on the individual photo galleries on their listing pages found through the Available Bunnies page. You may notice we don't have any pictures of Ivy from today. She's just fine. We were doing a big clean in the bunny room yesterday and all the flying dust seems to have irritated her eyes more than all the rest, combined. Her eyes were a bit gunky today, but Henrietta was taking excellent care of her by washing them for her. Ivy's fur was all wet and wonky during the photo shoot and she just looked odd. LOL We'll try to get some new ones of her on Thursday, to post when we share new photos of Wenceslas and Figgy Pudding.
All of the little bucks have been matched. Holly, Ivy, and Figgy Pudding are awaiting matching with loving families who are open to loving a little doe
Check out The Nursery page for updates on December's Nest Box Watch. Pictured below are Rosie and Gumption's four new babies!
The photo gallery below from left to right, top to bottom: Parson Brown (now named Stewie!), Hippopotamus, Ivy, Herald (now named Leo!), and two pictures of Rosie and Gumption's new babies. <3
December 3, 2024
November 28, 2024
We are so thankful for all of our clients, past, present, and future! We so hope each and every one of you have a blessed and healthy Thanksgiving!
Here are a few pictures we took the other day of all the Buns who were listed, just for fun. :D
Just a quick update on the matching progress. We're currently working with Vicki S. about the Bun who will be the best fit for her and her family. They are asking very good questions and are hoping to make a decision by this evening.
Noelle, the lilac doe who was nipped above her left eye, has an appointment with the vet on Thursday afternoon. They had a cancellation with one of the bunny vets and reached out to us yesterday.
Matching Buns this time around is proving to be a challenge because the genders, colors, and temperaments aren't lining up with our waiting list families' wish lists for their desired bunny traits. We rarely have active Buns, and this time we have two at the same time. Bucks are always more popular, but we only have so many to go around. We want people to fall in love with their Buns, but are asking our waiting list family to be a bit more flexible in regards to coloring and gender preferences, if possible. Temperament is still of utmost importance, and we have a lot of Buns with observant tendencies at war with equally strong social butterfly tendencies, so it can be more difficult to see and appreciate all the facets of each Bun's personality at first glance. We so appreciate your patience!
November 27, 2024
November 25, 2024
It's currently 2:30am and I just completed the listings and videos. I have a few new pictures of all the babies to add to their listings late in the evening, but it's another full day.
The plan is to reach out to the first person on the list around 8am, so we'll get the ball rolling!
Hi everybody! It's 9:30pm and I am currently working on bunny videos and will try to get started on all the listings, too, and will try to complete them all, but we will see how the process goes.
November 24, 2024
November 22, 2024
Although posted very late in the day, we do have pictures of Penelope's babies, Wenceslas and Figgy Pudding (Pudding, for short) added to The Nursery page. They are both very amusing in their own way. I must have taken over 50 pictures of Wenceslas and all but ten of them were quite blurry. He does not sit still. Figgy Pudding is the complete opposite. She (we're only about 85% sure it's a doe) got comfy and refused to budge, hence all of her photos are very similar. They are such funny bunnies.
We have three more days of Operation Christmas Child to get through and should then get back to our normal routine so we won't be posting quite so late at night. Our apologies to any individuals/families who have submitted a NBQ and are awaiting a response. We have not forgotten about any of you, nor are we ignoring you. It has just been an exhausting week and we want to communicate with you when our minds are fresh and alert, not when we can barely put two coherent thoughts together. We will respond by Monday evening.
Our next project is to work on listings (videos, pictures, and descriptions) for the babies on the Available Buns page. At this point we're not going to list Noelle, unless someone is specifically interested in her, as we're still waiting to get her in to see the bunny vet to get her eye checked out. If it looks like she could have any potential medical issues, we will keep her and do our best to keep her healthy and happy. If the doctor gives her a clean bill of health, we'll look for a loving pet home with a family who will be okay with her wonky left eye injury. She still has the sweetest, happiest temperament.
The goal is for the listing information to go live late Sunday night and we'll begin contacting families on the waiting list on Monday morning.
