The place for news, updates, announcements, and water bottle gossip from the Buns and their humans.

Hot Cross Hoppenings

February 22, 2024

HCB's Breeding Bun of the Week: You Are My Sunshine (AKA Sunny or Sunshine)

Sunny's incredibly sociable and sunny disposition earned his name. We adore this wee buck and are so pleased with how he has grown and filled out. We're hoping he will sire a successful litter in the fall, after the temperatures cool down. The kits were all stillborn in the first litter he sired, so we're optimistic that things will go better the next time around. More pictures have been added to his photo gallery, accessible through his image on the Meet the Hot Cross Buns page (a subtab through our HOME page.)

July 21, 2025

We're celebrating Princess Parcheesi's placement with her amazing family today! We have a feeling that this beautiful girl isn't going to think twice about life at HCB as she begins this new chapter in her life as a beloved pet Bun. We look forward to hearing how she settles n over the coming days and weeks.

Parcheesi wasn't the only departure of the day. Wee Stewart went back home with his family, too, so life is going to be considerably quieter without him and Parcheesi to keep us hopping. We so enjoyed Stewart's visit and hope for many more in the coming years. <3

July 20, 2025

Pictures of the new babies and new updates have been posted on The Nursery page! We know many of our readers have been awaiting this day. Can you believe these are our first babies since December? 2025 is more than half of the way over, and we're barely out of the starting gate. LOL

Here's a sneak peek!

July 18, 2025

I completely forgot to mention that Boggle (Available Bun) and Princess Parcheesi (already matched Bun) both did very well with their spays yesterday. They are home and resting as comfortably as possible, with their daily doses of pain medication and lots of gentle nose rubs when they want attention.

Today's Waiting Bun of the Week is Gumption!

Gumption is a total Eeyore Bun. He keeps his head down and muddles through life the best he can. His expression rarely changes, and I every time I interact with him, I think I hear him say, "Thanks for noticing me," in his best Eeyore voice. That's not to say he doesn't have some spirit and sass to him. He does! His thumps are true thumps and even startle our nearly deaf elderly dog from across the room and down the hall. He does not like to have his picture taken and went so far as to nearly chomp through the wire for the lightbox light. Thank goodness for electrical tape! I have learned to sit across the room and use my longer range camera lens to try to get better photos that show off more of his personality. If I sit too close to him, he puts his head down and goes full Eeyore.

Gumption is a big boy, weighing just shy of 6 lbs. Holland Lops are supposed to weigh no more than 4 lbs, but since he's a false dwarf boy, he gets a pass. He could definitely benefit from more exercise and space to free-roam on a regular basis. As a lilac Bun, his eyes do have a reddish cast in certain photographs, but they are a lovely blue-gray color in real life.

All in all, Gumption is a good egg and we love his rather droopy, observant self.

July 17, 2025

Today's blog post is about when an why rabbits grind their teeth. https://hotcrossbuns.org/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-teeth-grinding

Princess Parcheesi and Boggle are currently having their spay procedures. We're praying that all is well for both of these lovely does.

All the newborn kits are continuing to do a good job of sleeping, nursing, and eliminating, all of which are age-appropriate. <3

July 16, 2025

Check out the Nursery page for some exciting news!

Breeding Bun of the Week: Sweet Tea!

Sweet Tea is a life-of-the-party, affectionate little buck. He is so adorable and is always energetic and playful. He loves to free roam in the Bun Room and visits as many of the other Buns as he can reach to rub noses. Although not always the brightest bulb in the box, Sweet Tea's loving heart makes up for any other shortcomings. He adores his food and treats. Head rubs fall just behind spending time with the ladies in his ranking of favorite things. As an opal buck, he brings the dilute gene to the table and is responsible for a wider range of color possibilities in each litter. We're hoping he will sire a litter in our next round of breeding. Additional photos are available through the Meet the Hot Cross Buns page.

July 15, 2025

Pet Buns of the Day: Stewart (Visiting Bun) and Princess Parcheesi (Going Home soon!)

Usually we take pictures of one of our own pet Buns on Mondays (when time permits), but we're changing things up today!

Many of our long-term readers will recognize chinchilla buck Stewart. He has returned to HCB for annual visits all his life (if memory serves, although we may have skipped the year of Covid). Stewart is a very special tiny buck who is full of energy! Despite his petite stature, this little man can make some mischief and has been quite the Houdini until we remember his old tricks and remember how to keep him safely contained. He will be turning six years of age in November and shows no signs of slowing down. He was climbing all over my daughter Evelyn and me last evening, using us as human slides while we were supposed to be cuddling with him on the couch. LOL We love his yearly visits and always look forward to hearing from his Bun-Mom Taylor when she schedules the next one. Stewart will be with us through Sunday.

Princess Parcheesi is going to have quite the week ahead of her! This darling orange doe is going to be spayed on Wednesday morning (along with waiting-to-be-matched doe Boggle), so we're nervous and prayerful for all to go well for her. She will spend the first few days of her recovery with us, but then will go home with her new family on Sunday, as they are so looking forward to helping her heal and shower her with love upon their arrival home. After taking pictures of this beautiful girl for seven months, I think these are some of her most striking photos. <3 (There are others on her listing page.)

July 14, 2025

We have some wonderful news to share! Nora has a family! We're doing quite the happy dance because our quiet little mouse of a Bun found her person. Matt D. from Ohio knew just the right love language to melt her into a squishy puddle of contentment. We had a nice visit and shared some great laughs about rabbits and life. We're looking forward to an update in which we will learn Nora's new name and how she has settled into life as a very pampered Bun and the only pet in her household. We suspect she will eat it up!

We have been working on some projects around the homestead, so haven't been on the ball with writing and updating pictures this week. We're hoping to make some announcements in the near future about some changes in our life (all good, we think!). For today, we're just going to be thankful for Nora's new life and home.

July 11, 2025

We have some new pictures of Parcheesi (or Princess Parcheesi, as she is now officially named by her new family). She and Boggle (Available Bun) are going to be spayed on July 16th . Parcheesi will be joining her family on the 19th or 20th, so the worst of her spay recuperation will be over before she goes home.

If there are any cat-lovers in our area who are looking for a new kitty to love, we'd like to share the contact information for CATSS (Community Action to Save Strays of Oberlin). They are desperately in need of adoptive homes for their many kittens and adult cats. We were able to work with them to take in the two stray kittens that showed up on our doorstep on June 27th. They are stretched to the limit because of the many animals they have rescued due to it being "kitten season" so if you or someone you know are able to adopt another furry friend, please check out their website: CATSSOberlin.org. Although we aren't able to have any additional cats because of our current beastie's FIV+ status, we do hope to support and encourage the efforts of the CATSS organization by spreading the word and finding ways to volunteer in our local community.

And now...onto Princess Parcheesi pictures! (There are several more on her listing page gallery at the bottom, accessed through the Available Buns page in the On-Hold section.)

July 3, 2025

Today's blog post has been published. This one hit quite close to home, as it involves now-retired breeding buck, Hamish, who is now enjoying his best years with four-time HCB client and her other Buns: Sweet Pea, Basil, and Rosie. Hamish was diagnosed with Liver Lobe Torsion (LLT) in June. Thankfully he is doing very well, but it was quite a frightening diagnosis. The blog post contains general information about the condition and treatment, as well as links to articles written by knowledgeable veterinarians about LLT.

We received an email this morning from our bunny spay/neuter location that they are able to spay Boggle on July 16th. We're trying to decide if we should/are able to make appointments for any of the others this month.

Pikachu went home on Sunday. We so enjoyed having him with us for his long visit. He was a bit of an escape artist, but we caught on to his tricks very quickly. It was such a great feeling to have him come right up to us for nose rubs and pets. He was wonderful about getting his nails clipped and being brushed out. He's an all-around fun little Bun and we hope to welcome him back for another visit in the future. <3

July 2, 2025

You know how you just have one of THOSE weeks from time to time? It seems as though we've been having more than our fair share lately, and I apologize profusely for the lack of updates all week.

Our large, very well-stocked freezer died over the weekend, so I was mourning the waste of all of that food as I threw it out. I like to do once a month cooking, only I usually do it for 3-4 months at a time (I really hate to cook!) and had just prepared everything a couple of weeks ago. That really hurt, financially and from the amount of time and effort put into it.

On Monday, it became very apparent that it was time to let go of our 15 year old kitty, Grimalkin. She had been battling cancer for almost two years (we didn't do major interventions, just kept her happy and comfortable). We had decided that when she no longer enjoyed her food, stopped purring, and didn't want love and pets that it would be time to take her to the vet to be euthanized. All three of those things happened on Monday, so I was the one to take her, and love her until she was gone. She's now buried in our back field and we'll plant a tree and some special flowers in her memory.

Tuesday started off as a quiet introspective day, thinking about how precious life is and how many animals we have loved over the years. I had planned on taking some pictures and doing updates of the Buns, but it was sooooo hot, despite all of the air conditioners running. I didn't have the heart to disturb the rabbits when they were so comfortable and happy, enjoying their 65 degree bunny room to come into the rest of the house, which is kept at 75 degrees during the day. I decided it was barn cleaning day. I enjoy doing woodworking (along with all my other hobbies) and the barn had become quite the mashup of woodworking supplies, gardening tools, regular household repair supplies, etc. We needed to have some hay for Evelyn's pet goats (Bailey, Monty, and Micah) delivered, so decided that was the impetus needed to get my rear into gear and get everything cleaned out on the side where the hay needed to go. I had to removed a tone of nasty old insulation that was in the barn ceiling (not fun in 90 degree weather), and get all the residue carefully swept out so it wouldn't contaminate the new hay or get ingested by the goaties.

After showering and feeling human again, Evelyn wanted to go up to our church to try perfecting her Victoria Sponge Cake at her bakery, so we were ready to head out the door at 6:20 pm. Our progress came to a screeching halt when we encountered the Cat Distribution System, alive and well. There were two 11-ish week old kittens on our front porch. After trying to keep the skittish kittens away from our fairly busy road, I left our two younger sons in charge of trying to corral the them and get them safely to the barn, which they thankfully managed to do. (The kittens received food, water, a litter box, and some toys to play with). Evelyn and I were then able to head out and were at the church kitchen until 11;30pm while she worked on her cakes. The results were beautiful and tasted wonderful. She's going to make a couple more for photographing, and they will soon be added to her bakery website.

Wednesday was a day to deal with non-rabbit animals. Although we have had two cats for many years, I don't want to have any additional cats added to our menagerie. Four of our five children are allergic to them and the only reason we got away from major issues is because we have very little carpeting in our house. While I like other people's cats reasonably well, I'm not a huge cat person (bunnies and dogs make my heart go pitter-patter). With Grimalkin now gone, we have only our cat Jabberwocky to fulfill the role of family feline. Wednesday morning was spent contacting various APLs and cat rescues, in an attempt to find a place for Gnocchi and Tortellini (yes, Evelyn named them) to find forever families. Apparently every place is bursting at the seams because it's kitten season. We're praying that we can find a place for them.

Wednesday afternoon I took our elder daughter (she now lives on her own) and her newly adopted 7 month old rescue puppy, Penny, to the vet for her check-up. Penny is a very sweet little girl. She looks like a mini golden retriever and loves to wiggle her way into every lap. She has never met a stranger, only friends to whom she hasn't yet been introduced. Backstory: We had stopped in at the Friendship APL in Elyria on a whim, to ask about any smaller breed older dogs that would adapt well to apartment life. We met a little guy who fit the description, but he was an anxious bundle of nerves and definitely needed time to decompress away from the big, barking dogs who were wearing on his nerves. One of the volunteers said the perfect dog for my daughter was Penny. When they were introduced, my daughter's eyes filled with tears as Penny wriggled into her lap and sighed contentedly. That was all it took. I'm thrilled with my new grand-puppy and look forward to helping spoil her with all the love she deserves.

Thursday was church-cleaning day, so we worked on that, came home, and passed out when the temperatures suddenly plummeted during a rainstorm. We opened the windows up and let the wonderful fresh air in, even for only a few hours before the humidity crept back up and made everything sticky again.

This morning, my youngest son has his wisdom teeth removed, so he is now settled in and texting me questions every few minutes. LOL I made myself sit down and write this update to reconnect with our rabbitry readers. When things are quiet, it's so easy to put everything off for another day or two. As I type this, the weather has taken an ominous turn, so the rain is about to begin...again. Our hay is supposed to arrive this afternoon. Hopefully we can keep it dry!

June 27, 2025

Waiting Bun of the Week: Hot Cross Buns' Ivy

Ivy has been re-listed following her spay. She has healed nicely and is now beginning to enjoy her first forays into sampling treats, now that she's an adult bunny, over six months of age. She has become more observant as she has grown and we so hope a special family will come for this beautiful girl who has Eeyore tendencies. For more information, please click on her picture on the Available Buns page.

June 19, 2025

Today's blog post was just a re-posting of yesterday's bunny treat recipe, so it can be found as time passes and we post more up-to-date information on the Hoppenings page.

We so hope all of our readers are safe and dry in the midst of all of these sudden storms. We had a tornado warning that just expired. Evelyn and I were outside during the worst of the weather, trying to secure a tarp over the ducklings' new coop. They were not happy and were very frightened with the sudden change of weather. We have had some water come in and had to move Henrietta and Sweet Tart's pens to dryer locations in the bunny room. I'll stay up until the rains stop tonight, just to make sure everyone stays dry.

June 18, 2025

Recipe of the Month: It's Raspberry Thyme! Bunny Treat Crackers

Makes approximately 25 half-dollar sized "crackers". Please halve the recipe if you know you won't use that amount within a 2-4 weeks period while stored in an airtight container.

Ingredients: 1 Cup ground pellets/pellet powder from bottom of food bag. (I used an electric coffee bean mill to grind them to a coarse powder).

1 1/2 Cups hay dust and short-cut hay pieces

1/2 Cup fresh raspberries (frozen and thawed berries can also be used, if fresh are unavailable)

1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, stripped from stems (if using dried thyme, use 1/2 Tablespoon instead)

3/4 Cup - 1 Cup water, depending upon texture when mixed

Directions: Combine all of the prepared ingredients into a comfortably large mixing bowl and mix with your hands, so you can feel the texture. Add the water little by little, so you get the right consistency. You want it to be moist so it holds together, but not soupy. (You should be able to pat it into a loaf shape and it will hold it's shape.) Pat the mixture flat onto the dehydrator tray(s). The thickness should be similar to that of a cracker or pancake.

In dehydrator, set for 195 degrees for 6-7 hours and allow to cool overnight. Break into small, cracker-sized pieces. Store in an air-tight container. Keep an eye on freshness. Discard remaining treats after 2-4 weeks. (Since we currently have 25 Buns, they go through the treats a lot faster than most bunny-loving families will, so you will need to determine the level of freshness. When in doubt, please discard them and make a fresh batch. )

Our squirrel doe Chummy posed for pictures and served as taste-tester for this batch. She kept going back for more and that Bun-smile says it all. :D

June 17, 2025

Hot Cross Buns' Breeding Bun of the Week: Posey

Our beautiful chinchilla doe Posey has some new photos on her Meet the Hot Cross Buns page (a subtab of our Home page). She gets more beautiful and more beloved with each passing day. Never a prolific breeder, we're hoping to have one more litter from her before she is spayed and retired from our breeding program. She will always be one of our special Bus and will remain with us when she retires by the end of this year.

June 16, 2025

We're finally sharing pictures of our current houseguest, Pikachu! While he was with us, his name was Cadbury and he is the litter mate of our now-retired breeding buck Hamish. Pikachu is a delightfully sociable little Bun and loves to see what we're doing. He gave us a bit of a scare shortly after his arrival because he refused to eat his pelleted food. He would nibble at his hay and greedily snatch his treat, but the pellets went untouched. Once we were clued in that he enjoys a spring mix salad in the mornings and we added that to his diet, he perked up and began eating at least some of his pellets each day. Pikachu free-roams every day, but we put him in a tall pen at night, for his own safety. We are loving this busy-bunny's temperament and affectionate presence during his visit!

June 15, 2025

We have some new, updated photos of Parcheesi for her family! Although matched with Brittany T. and her family, Parcheesi will be with us until mid-July, so we're going to do our best to provide weekly photo updates for them until she's back in their arms.

Parcheesi is doing great, and continues to be her very inquisitive, playful self. She is a darling young doe! Additional new photos are on the gallery on her listing page.

June 14, 2025

Hot Cross Buns' Waiting Bun of the Day: Holly

Adorable Holly has just been re-listed following her spay. Since she had her procedure, she is slowly becoming more interested in interacting with people (treat are a plus!) and will willingly accept some pets and cuddles. Her shy, observant side is still at odds with her sociable, curious side, and that may always be a daily battle for her, until she settles in with an amazing family who finds her quirks endearing. This beautiful chocolate doe is just shy of eight months of age.

Holly's sister Ivy will be re-listed next week.

June 12, 2025

We're continuing to focus upon placing our currently waiting Buns, rather than trying to breed for additional litters.

I am contacted nearly daily by people applauding our responsible breeding practices who then turn around and ask when we're going to have babies available. (Talk about frustrating!) It's not going to happen until at least five of them are placed (we currently have five listed, but Holly will be re-listed tomorrow and her sister Ivy will be listed next week, and we're trying to get spay/neuter appointments for Noelle and Loofah, which will bring the total of waiting Buns up to nine.) It takes a lot of time and energy to care for those nine additional Buns, so we're not going overextend ourselves by adding more babies to our lives, who require even more time and attention.

If you can think of anyone who is looking for a Holland Lop to love, could you please have them take a look at our waiting Buns?