The place for news, updates, announcements, and water bottle gossip from the Buns and their humans.
Hot Cross Hoppenings
February 22, 2024
Things are continuing to go well. Thomas met a potential family yesterday and their visit went extremely well. He met their doe Millie, and was very sweet with her, even when he got excited and mounted her multiple times. He never pulled at her fur and there were no signs of aggression. He flopped and was very open to receiving affection from both of them. We're awaiting news of their decision.
Today we're sharing pictures of Tiddlywinks. She is a very sweet and quiet little doe. Observant by nature and fond of cuddles from familiar friends, she is a darling. We love her chestnut coloring!
10:45pm...UPDATE!!!! We're thrilled to announce that Thomas has a new family! He will be staying with us until Thursday evening, but will then be joining Nick, Ally, and bonded-friend-to-be, Millie. Once fully established as a bond, Thomas will have lots of attention and time to free roam in his new home. We're so excited for him!
March 17, 2025
March 15, 2025
Everything is still going swimmingly where Thomas and Missy are concerned.
Today is Parcheesi's turn to have her pictures posted. She is Quinoa and Sullivan's orange daughter and is a total busy-bunny. She boops and investigates everything! We love her energy and playfulness. She was being especially photogenic during her photoshoot, so she has a lot of new pictures posted on her gallery on her listing page (scroll all the way to the bottom to see the newest pictures.)
Little Thomas is doing wonderfully. He stayed in the exercise pen all night, used his litter box, and was binkying and looking for attention this morning. He ran up to every member of our family, to sniff and receive a quick pat on the head. He's a bit wary of too much handling, but I chalk that up to common sense for a rabbit who's still trying to understand what's going on.
Missy is continuing to do well and is showing more enthusiasm about eating. It took her a while to catch on that her pain medication was mixed in with her Sherwood Appetite Restore, but once she learned that the banana-flavored goodness would help her feel better, she was all in.
Today, we're sharing new pictures of Boggle on her listing. She is as delightful as ever, and has a very sweet, inquisitive personality. She is a busy-bunny who loves to be involved in all activities.
March 14, 2025
March 13, 2025
HCB's Thomas came back to us this morning. (We always refer to Buns being re-homed by their original HCB names, as it keeps things streamlined in our minds and paperwork.) Thomas is settling in well. We gave him some cuddles, clipped his toenails, took a few pictures, and set him up in an exercise pen for some play time and wiggle room.
Mississippi Mud Pie (Missy) is doing great following her spay. She's moving around slowly, but has been eating hay and food, as well as drinking her water, so we're very pleased with her progress.
We took new pictures of the younger Buns today and will be sharing one set of photos each day. Today, we have Whist! The broken patterned Bun is Thomas and Whist is the solid blue.
Today's blog post is about the joys of bunny binkies! It was definitely a fun one to write. :D
We dropped Mississippi Mud Pie (Missy) off at the vet bright and early this morning for her spay. If all goes well, she should be settled back into her cage space by 3:30 this afternoon. Originally we had planned to have Loofah neutered next, but Evelyn and I decided that, as Gumption suddenly began to spray and we didn't want this to become a bad habit that would make finding a forever family very challenging, we've chosen to retire him much earlier than planned. Our hope is that the spraying will disappear as his testosterone levels diminish.
With a new bunny vet available for spays, we're looking at retiring a couple of our older does (Rosie and Posey - they will most likely remain here as pets, as they are personal favorites of mine) and having the older, still-waiting younger does spayed prior to placement (Noelle, Holly, and Ivy.) The hope is to do one per month, in whatever order we deem best.
Plans have been made to take back a Bun for re-homing. Thunder Bunz (Hot Cross Buns' Thomas) will be arriving tomorrow morning. His family of five years have been doing a lot of work-related travel and have realized that he is not getting the time and attention he craves and deserves. After trying to make the best of it for a long time, they realized that finding a new family for him is in his best interests. We're going to assess him for the next week or so, give him time with one or two of our spayed does to see how he would do as a bonding bunny, and get a feel for his overall temperament before creating a listing for him. Our hope is to find a family for him quickly, before he becomes too accustomed to things at HCB. He's a neutered broken squirrel born on November 11, 2019. His family have answered a lengthy questionnaire to give us more information about him and his likes and dislikes. We'll share that information on his listing.
March 12, 2025
March 10, 2025
We decided to take some pictures of our French Angora pet doe, Sukie, today. Sukie plays a very special role in caring for the babies born at Hot Cross Buns. Some of the mamas don't pull enough fur to keep their babies warm in their nest boxes. This is where Sukie and her wonderfully warm angora wool come in. When we groom her, we collect all the softest, cleanest wool and keep it close at hand to use whenever we have a concern about the amount of fur in the doe's nest box. We take a hand full of Sukie's beautiful wool and cut it into much smaller lengths, so the babies don't accidentally strangle themselves in her longer wool. They snuggle in and stay warm and toasty until their own fur grows out and they are better able to regulate their body temperature. Sukie is truly an unsung hero at HCB.
Sukie lives in Evelyn's bedroom and free roams. She is opinionated and very sassy, and we love her for it! She loves to throw her toys and food bowls around, so we hear some interesting sounds emanating from the room at all hours. Sukie doesn't like other rabbits and has been known to nip a nose or an ear if some other bunny got too close to her space. That's why she now lives in Evelyn's room. She isn't particularly adventurous, so has never hopped up the steps to Evelyn's loft bed (as other Buns have done), but she loves to hop into the cubby holes in her book shelf and chomps on whatever she finds. Evelyn, who is very creative, often gets boops from a bossy bunny demanding more attention while she's drawing or painting.
We like to take pictures of her a couple of times each year to share and today, she was hamming it up! She has a HUGE personality in her very furry body. Thank you for all you do to help the babies, Sukie!
We're beginning a new blog post series about bunny behaviors. Today's topic is all about begging.
March 5, 2025
February 26, 2025
Looking for ideas about what to do with all the nuggets your bunny leaves trailing behind or in the litter box? Check out our latest blog post on the All Things Bunny Blog called "A Plethora of Poo Balls."
We had some good news this morning! The practice we use for spays and neuters just let us know they have a competent vet on staff now and we were able to schedule Missy (Mississippi Mud Pie) and Loofah for their procedures. We're always more apprehensive when working with a new vet for bunny care, but hope to be able to recommend her for our other bunny clients in the area. The procedures are in mid-March, so we have some waiting to do. They will remain with us until they have recuperated and then will be available for matching, if all goes well.
February 25, 2025
February 24, 2025
I can't believe it's almost two weeks since our last update. I managed to pick up another bug and was down for several days, so things just weren't getting done. We finally updated all of the younger babies' pictures today. They have grown and changed so much, I barely recognize them. Parcheesi is still the outgoing, curious, playful girl, and Boggle is not far behind. Mancala, Whist, Hopscotch, and Tiddlywinks still tend to be more serious and observant. I'm going to be spending as much time as possible with all of them, to make up for lost time and missed socialization time. Evelyn has done her best, but she also has schoolwork and was determined to keep up with the bunny laundry, so had little time to work with them. We did nail trims yesterday, and pictures today, and they've been responding well to the attention and interaction.
Below are Boggle, Mancala, Whist, Parcheesi, Tiddlywinks, and Hopscotch.
UPDATE: Mancala was placed with a lovely family this evening! We were very surprised that she was so interested and sociable, because she's usually a bit on the shy and reserved side. She is now named Lulu!
Apologies for not posting new pictures today. I have Covid and feel awful. Rummy (Bugz) is going to be with us until Friday,
I promise to respond to emails as soon as I feel semi-human again. Stay healthy, every-bunny.
February 9, 2025
February 8, 2025
I was hoping to get pictures of Quinoa's remaining babies (Tiddlywinks, Hopscotch, and Parcheesi) done today, but will hopefully get them done tomorrow afternoon, instead. Evelyn had some bakery orders to fulfill at our church today, so we spent most of the day over there. It started snowing/sleeting in the afternoon and driving home was not fun, but we made it home, safe and sound. If you're going to be out and about in the greater Cleveland area, please drive safely! We saw several accidents and cars that slid off the road along 480.
We've updated pictures of Rosie's babies and added brief updates to Whist and Boggle's listings. All are doing very well. Rummy (now Bugz) will be going home on Sunday. We're hoping to find loving homes for his sisters, Boggle, Mancala, and Whist, soon.
February 7, 2025
February 6, 2025
My apologies for the lack of updates and pictures the past few days...I'm just in a busy season and am trying to catch up on some work, like clipping Bun nails and trying to figure out other ways of getting the word out about our beautiful does who are waiting to be matched.
I added a blog post today, which is a bit overdue regarding the subject matter, but it was written and ready to publish. :D
Tomorrow will bring updated pictures of Rosie's babies.
Snooker has a new family and home! We were anticipating a long visit with his new family as they met each of the Buns, but after meeting Boggle, Hopscotch, and Snooker, he was declared to be the right Bun. He has been renamed "Waffle" and was happy to go off with his very king and gentle family.
February 2, 2025
February 1, 2025
We just received word that Scrabble has been re-named "Matilda" and is settling in beautifully. She has been very adaptable to the wide range of human personalities among her new family and has loved every one of them in different ways.
We are looking forward to meeting with an approved NBQ family tomorrow afternoon, as they come to meet the available Bun and help them find just the right one to add to their lives.
In the meantime, I'm desperately searching for a washing machine, as ours suddenly stopped working and it's beyond my mechanical skills of repair. I refuse to let go of my beloved Speed Queen top loader, but need to call a service person to try to resurrect it. We need a back up in the meantime. Please pray for us! The mountains of laundry are piling up alarmingly quickly. The bunny laundry alone is going to take two solid days to complete. It's so difficult to find something that's available, affordable, large enough in capacity, and that actually gets the clothes clean. Is anyone else frustrated with washing machine technology? :0
UPDATE...our prayers were answered! We were able to purchase a very nice where/dryer set off of Facebook Market place for a reasonable price. We're climbing Mt. Laundry once again!
While we're preparing for Scrabble to go home with her family this evening, we took the time to make an updated video of Loofah and added it to his Meet the Hot Cross Buns page. We'll add it here, too, for the sake of convenience.
January 30, 2025
UPDATE...Scrabble's new family are absolutely wonderful! We have no doubt that she is going to be a very loved little girl, receiving much affection and attention. They're still trying to land on just the right name for her, and have promised to let us know when they do. We've so enjoyed this sweet, engaging little doe and will miss her. Her siblings will keep us on our toes, however, so we won't have time to miss her too much. <3
January 29, 2025
Today's blog post delves into further detail with Tips and Tricks of Litter Box Training.
If any of our HCB clients who have already been matched with an HCB doe and have already had her spayed is interested in a buck for bonding, we are still looking to place Loofah. Because we haven't been successful in our search for an affordable spay/neuter vet while our regular resource in searching for a new doctor, we will place him with a responsible family or individual who will keep him separated from their doe until he has been neutered and is fully recuperated (about 6-8 weeks post-neuter.) We haven't created a formal listing for him yet, as we don't want to offer him to unknown people who might be searching for a breeding buck.
Loofah is a sweet boy, who is more on the observant side. He loves interaction after adjusting to new activities (it just takes him a few minutes to shift gears.) We love him dearly, but he doesn't have the oomph and stocky build Holland Lops are supposed to have. He's a wee little man and we want to find the very best of homes for him. Please contact us if you would like more information. These photos were taken last week.
You may have noticed that the HCB Shoppe tab has disappeared from the header. We have deactivated the store for the foreseeable future, until I have time to do more crafting. Most of the stuffed animals and baby sweaters were either sold at a church craft sale or added to Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts in November, and I haven't had much time to catch up on resupplying the HCB Shoppe. I hope that's something that will happen, but it will have to wait while I spend time doing some other home-related projects. If only there were more hours in the day for doing the things we enjoy doing!
If anyone would like to purchase some Bunny Snuggle Mats, please let me know. We still have plenty of those in stock.
January 28, 2025
January 27, 2025
New pictures of the younger babies have been posted on their Available Buns page listings! We can't believe they are 8 weeks old now. Quinoa's babies have had quite the growth spurt over the past week and are so much bigger and sturdier now.
Quinoa's babies - Parcheesi, Tiddlywinks, Scrabble (matched), Hopscotch, and Snooker
Rosie's babies - Boggle, Mancala, Rummy (now named Bugz - matched), Whist
