Los conejos no son juguetes para el Día de Pascua
By: Keith
La relación que hay entre los conejos y el Día de Pascua tal vez tenga algo que ver con la fertilidad. O tal vez sea lo tierno que se ven un conejo dentro de una canasta. De cualquier marea es incorrecto el regalarle a un niño un conejo por ser el Día de Pascua. Nosotros tenemos un conejo como nuestra mascota. El pesa 6 libras (2.72 kg), y es un valioso miembro de la familia. El no vive en una jaula afuera ni es ignorado como la mayoría de los conejos que son incomprendidos por sus dueños – dueños que les ven como solo un juguete mono para ver y no como un animal inteligente que necesita de afecto. No, nuestro conejo anda libre en nuestra casa y tiene una caja de arena en la que hace sus necesidades. Cuando nos sentamos a la mesa a comer Mr. B (ese es su nombre) viene a la mesa, y le damos un tazoncito con perdigones de comida y verduras para que el coma al mismo tiempo que nosotros comemos. El viene cuando le llamamos, y corre en círculos por la casa cuando está contento – luego él se acuesta para que le acariciemos cuando está cansado. Los conejos tienen sentimientos y son animales inteligentes (dentro de lo que cabe). Los conejos no deberían ser considerados como juguetes durante la temporada de Pascua para luego ser dejados libres en el patio cuando los niños se han cansado de abusarlos.
Los conejos domésticos no pueden sobrevivir si son dejados en libertad:
Un conejo doméstico no es un conejo silvestre. Estos son criados para ser mascotas y no tienen la menor idea de cómo sobrevivir en el exterior. Mi amigo encontró a Mr. B hace tres años brincando en su patio casi muerto porque un vecino ya no le había querido y lo había dejado libre pensando (o más bien sin pensar) que sería mejor de esa manera. Mr. B no sabía cómo conseguir comida y no sabía cómo defenderse de los predadores. Fue un milagro que haya sobrevivido. Cuando mi amigo lo encontró no tenía casi nada de pelaje y estaba casi muerto de hambre. Tomo varias visitas al veterinario y muchos cuidados y amor para que recuperara su salud. Es un conejito con suerte, y ahora se le ha dado una segunda oportunidad con nosotros.
Los conejos viven por muchos años:
Los conejos pueden vivir hasta 15 años (lo normal es entre 8 y 11 años). Ellos requieren de una obligación al igual que cualquier otra mascota que vive muchos años. Y no son roedores así que no empieces a pensar que son igual que una rata o un animal que puede ser dejado y olvidado en su jaula. El comprar un conejito simplemente porque es el Día de pascua y funciona como decoración es extremadamente irresponsable e ignorante.
Los conejos son sociales:
Los conejitos disfrutan la interacción con los seres humanos y les gusta ser parte de las cosas. Nuestro conejo, cuando quiere que le acariciemos, se nos acerca a lamernos en la mano. Eso significa que tengo que acariciarlo. Después de unos cuantos minutos bajo mi mano otra vez para que el me lama otra vez. Así intercambiamos caricias y lamidos por como 30 minutos hasta que él se vaya brincando satisfecho (es aseo mutuo y es lo que los conejos hacen). En varias ocasiones cuando me he quedado dormido en el sillón he despertado con Mr. B sentado en mi pecho y lamiéndome. A diferencia de la mayoría de las mascotas pequeñas, parece que a los conejos sí les importan sus dueños y tienen gran satisfacción cuando interactúan con ellos. Como lo dije antes, los conejos son genuinas mascotas familiares. Nosotros hasta nos llevamos a Mr. B de vacaciones con nosotros (es muy fácil meter a un conejo a escondidas en el cuarto de hotel).
Los conejos son frágiles:
Es muy fácil matar a un conejo pues tienen cuellos muy débiles y los huesos en su espalda son demasiado largos. Ellos se encuentran, después de todo, en la base de la cadena alimenticia. Sus únicos medios de defensa son el arte de esconderse y evasión. Por lo tanto, son animales extremadamente silenciosos, y la mayoría de la masa de su cuerpo se encuentra en su parte trasera para poder brincar y huir cuando es necesario (dejando la parte superior de sus cuerpos débil). Los conejos enjaulados no pueden brincar para huir o esconderse. Esto les hace completamente vulnerables. Ellos se acobardarán, y algunas veces tratarán de morder si ven una mano acercarse a ellos. Los conejos son con frecuencia subvalorados miembros de una familia y no se les da el espacio suficiente para sentirse cómodos; esto les hace enfermos mentales, animales incomprendidos. Un conejito enjaulado e ignorado es un conejito neurótico e infeliz. Si tú no estás dispuesto a hacerle una verdadera mascota de la familia y a enseñarles a tus hijos cómo tratarle con cuidado entonces tú no deberías siquiera tener uno.
snuffle bunny song
~MOMMY TO BE~ | Myspace Video
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This is a great article about bunnies! I think the House Rabbit Society would be proud.
.-= Dennis Yu´s last blog ..Facebook Fans– concept being changed to “like” =-.
Thanks Dennis. You would know since you’re the bunny expert around here
I am sooooooo glad you wrote this article!
And am seriously interested in a rabbit for my kids.
My younger son is highly allergic to cats and we can’t have a dog.
But I have some questions for you. Does Mr. B eat your cords and wires?
And how do you train him to use a litter box? I’d love a free range bunny!
I think one might be what my pet starved kids would handle well too. Though
19 month old? Not so sure. Does Mr. B sleep with you guys? I know my kids would bicker over that one, but maybe they’re too delicate for it.
Mitzi: Great questions. Mr. B does eat chords. But, they sell these chord covers that are coated in some substance (I think it’s cinnamon flavor) that prevents rabbits for chewing. My solution to the chewing issue was to give the bunny my guitar chord. He knows it’s his and he chews to his little heart’s delight. He’s been working on it for several months now. Bunnies are naturally skittish so they don’t stay long sleeping in bed with you (when you turn over they’ll bolt). They’re crepuscular animals as well. They’re awake in the morning and in the evening but asleep during the day and at night. When we’re asleep, MR. B is frequently out playing. with a 19 month old you’d have to be really careful because rabbits are scared of quick movements, and toddlers have a hard time regulating the force with which they “love” things
You can train a Rabbit to use a litter box. You keep him in a confined area for a while and watch where he likes to do his business. you put the litter box right in that spot and put some timothy hay (what they eat) in the litter box. The bunny will go to the box to do his thing and to eat the hay. After a few days he’ll know that’s where to go. They sell this stuff, Nature’s Miracle, which you can use if said bunny forgets and marks somewhere on your carpet. The spray prevents him from going in the same spot twice. Also, their poops are really clean so they don’t stain anything. They’re just hard little pellets. Rabbits are extremely clean animals if they’re taught correctly. Mr. B makes a mistake once in a while, but he’s 99% accurate with the litter box. Hope that helps!
Yes!! The poor little ducks and chicks that await a similar fate this holiday, it’s shameful!. Hey, what’s wrong with rodents? They are very smart and loving too!
Mom: I considered talking about the chicks too. It’s a shame that cute things seem to get the ax at easter. Wonder why. I don’t mind rodents, but they aren’t quite as friendly as bunnies. Must be a species specific thing.
One of the things people should remember if they decide to get a house-bunny is that it needs to be spayed/neutered. Since rabbits are considered an exotic pet it is more costly to do this procedure and not all veterinarians are rabbit savvy. Please consider adopting vs. buying a rabbit. Most rabbit rescue groups will spay/neuter the bunny before adopting out.
Marcy: That’s a good suggestion. But, I’m not sure it’s totally necessary. Mr. B is not neutered and I he’s been a great buns for us
Definitely adopt. Yeah, I completely agree with that. Pet store bunnies are routinely abused and subjected to people who don’t understand them. There are reputable breeders of course, or there are also the Rabbit rescue people who know what they’re doing.
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Pet store bunnies are routinely abused and subjected to people who don’t understand them[/quote]
Unless you’ve worked in a petshop and abused the bunnies, what evidence have you on this?
I’m sick and tired of so called do-gooders tarring all pet shops in this way.
Yes, I’ll agree, there have been instances of bad shop owners. But there has also been countless number of people who abuse their pets/kids/wives and anything else that moves. Does that mean that no-one should own/live with anything. We might as all well just commit suicide now because we are all abusers.
Back to abuse in pet shops. Pet Shops are granted a licence to sell specific pets. They are routinely checked by the authorities as well as random checks by RSPCA and Joe Public. If at any time they fail to come up to standard, their licence is taken away.
Can this be said of private breeders? erm …. nope.
And where do you think Pet Shops get their rabbits from? They sure as heck don’t breed them themselves (at least the great majority) So these lovely breeders that are much better than pet shops are selling to ….. PET SHOPS! How two faced and dishonest of them.
Do the breeders also sell everything that is necessary to give your bunny a happy life? Food / Playtime Accessories / Water Bottles / Bedding
Lets just get to the nub of the arguement shall we? Do-gooders don’t like to see people making profit from animals. And Pet Shops are an easy target.
What they forget to take into consideration is that Pet Shops are licenced and have to pay huge amounts in costs relating to running a shop.
Breeders have no such overheads. So when you see an animal in a pet shop for sale at twice the price of a breeder, just take time to think that maybe the pet shop has trained it’s staff, paid it’s business rates (keeping your council tax down), quaranteened the animal to ensure it’s health, de-flea’d, de-wormed , fed and homed the animal from the time it was bought from the breeder.
Lets all be grown up and just get on with letting people do the best job they can and stop demonizing pet shops.
Sorry, just thought it was worth venting my spleen.
PS. I was only here to find a cute bunny picture, sorry to have woken you all up
Andrew: Evidence? The first thing I see when I walk into my local pet shop is the bunny enclosure. It’s almost always surrounded by a dozen or so children who are reaching in and fondling the bunnies. Anybody who knows anything about bunnies knows that they should be undisturbed during the day as they are crepuscular animals. They also are naturally timid animals and should not be handled by children who are not given any guidance about how to treat them. Heck, when’s the last time you saw a bunny enclosure in a pet shop with any place for a bunny to hide? What do you suppose bunnies do all day in the wild? They hide! But, pet shops have them sitting out in the open for random kids and adults who know nothing about them to come and pet. Bunnies treated like that routinely become neurotic and fearful of humans. The kid working at my pet shop even thought, when I started talking to him, that a rabbit was a rodent. Trained, you say? Um, hardly.
Kudos to you Keith. I really didn’t think you’d post that verbatum.
Anyway, after posting, I realised you are in the States, so probably wondered who the heck the RSPCA were. I’m from UK so really, I shouldn’t have gone quite so mad
It’s different here in the UK, we are still the easy target, but I’m not qualified to coment on the shops Stateside, so I’ll bow out.
Andrew: Well, I have to proclaim ignorance about UK pet stores. I’ve been to Scotland once and England once, and did not get the urge, in either instance, to check out the local pet shops.
Although, now that you mention it, I’ll bet there is a difference between the shops over there and here, probably a rather dramatic difference.
Very good article! When we got our Merlin, he was about 9 months old and had spent the entirety of his short little life standing in his own filth in an 18″ X 30″ cage, isolated in a spare room with the door closed all day while his owner worked 8-hour days and spent all her free time away from home, hanging out with her friends. He was EXTREMELY fearful of us, and EXTREMELY cranky when I had to refill his food bowl every day. (ouch!)
But after some majorly intense one-on-one “bunny therapy,” he is now a happy, healthy, funny, social 2 year-old, and a member of our family. He sleeps in his cage at night (for his own safety), but shakes his door at 7:30 every morning to be let out and fed his breakfast — our daughter’s job, which she diligently remembers to do every day. He hangs out with me most of the morning, then goes to the kid’s playroom and relaxes in his little hidey-hole behind her book chair all day (she’s a VERY mature, responsible, well-disciplined 5 year old who understands the rules of bunnydom and doesn’t pester him, so I have no doubts about his safety in her care). In the evenings, after the kiddo goes to bed, he snuggles me and hubby on the couch while we all share a few raisins, and then he and the cat chase each other up and down the hall ’til bed time.
Bunnies are such sweet little pets, and it’s such a shame so many people treat them as conversation pieces instead of members of the family. I can’t imagine having him stay in a hutch in the back yard or anything.
Toni, sounds like Merlin is a sweet bunny! Do you have pictures, perhaps on your Facebook?
Great Article!
If you’re serious about living with a rabbit (the best pet I’ve ever had by far) check out the House Rabbit Society for more info and places to adopt (don’t breed or buy while other die):
http://www.rabbit.org
If your wife is still a PM for a construction company, she can probably find scrap flexible electrical conduit at job sites. I pull the heavy-duty wiring out, slip it over lamp/TV cable/extension cords, and secure with electrical tape and wrap the tape with wire. This is extreme, but works great in areas hard for me to reach, but within easy bunny reach.
It’s Mister B’s birthday! Go wish him happy birthday!
http://www.facebook.com/blitzbun
what kind of bunny is MR. B? I’m looking into getting a bunny in a few months and they’re all so cute its hard to choose
Kaylee: He’s a mix. We’re not sure exactly what he’s a mix of. My friend found him outside (someone abandoned him) almost starved to death and nursed him back. He’s a great buns! Good luck in your search.