squirrels and rabbits?

[MoMo - mom]

hey! new member, worried to death. taking care of my momo squirrel for 4 months now (will release in spring) and received yesterday a rabbit, from someone that "got tired" (!). could not refuse, of course. my momo does not appreciate it too much, she kind of fussed at it, and got very jealous. she is my princess, and do not want to get her unhappy, or sick from some germs (if any - cookie seems healthy, though) or mess with her future release (as in making her too friendly to bigger animals). ont he other hand, cookie needs his love and wondering around the house. please advise!!!:ohthedrama

[Somebody's Mother]

squirrels and rabbits have their own personalities. it may be that momo is going to continue to ignore and resent cookie. my guinea pig has never warmed up to a squirrel. he didn't like the grey squirrel but he is okay with the flyer. but i think that is because the guinea pig sometimes gets in the bottom of the flyers cage and gets to eat the carrots and broccoli that fall to the floor.
you might try offering some of the rabbit treats to momo so she can see an advantage to the newbie.

[MoMo - mom]

:thankyou
that sounds like an idea! anyway, thanks for getting back to me. It's nice to know I am not alone in here:)

[Somebody's Mother]

my dogs insist on having a monkey biscuit when the flyer gets one. they love them more than dinky does.

[Timber]

Momo mom, on the whole I don't think rabbits and squirrels get along very well. I have Timber a 3yr.4mo. old squirrel who was about 2 when I took in a 24 hour old pinkie cotton tail. He hates her. I thought it was simply becasue he was jealous but then this past summer I got Wahdee when Scrabbit was about a year old. They don't get along either and I thought that for sure they might get use to one another since i have them in the big cage together. Well not exactually together. Each has its own smaller cage set inside their big cage which is where they all get time in to run and romp and exercise. But i can't allow them out together because they don't get along. And believe me if the rabbit gets annoyed enough it will rip a squirrels belly wide open with its back claws. Unfortunately I have seen this done before in 1972. Be careful.

[MoMo - mom]

so I guess I will let my princess rule and mr. rabbit will leave his cage when momo goes to sleep. I will have a full day trying to please both of them!:)
also, do you guys know anything about rabbits? he is very...well behaved:) - does not leave cage, even when door is opened. and you know, after spending time with Momo, thi seems at least strange.

anyway, thank you for resolving my dilemma!
:bowdown you people are a wonderful bunch!

[MoMo - mom]

sorry for the size of the picture, it's the first time I post here!
:dono

[Timber]

What type of rabbit is he? What are you feeding him? I have had both domesticated and wild rabbits. The domesticated ones are intelligent and are great pets but the wild are pretty skittish always. I do have a friend who is a rabbit rehaber if you are interested in contacting her.

[MoMo - mom]

uh, it's a white rabbit, with a black thick line around his eyes, relatively short upright ears :D fed him: timothy hay, fruits, vegetables and some dry rabbit food with minerals and other rabbit stuff:). plus water. I wish I could be more scientific, but it's just that - as I said - don't know much about these sweet fluffy things, just that cookie gives me a squeezing impulse:). would be great if you'd give me your friend's contact.
and excuse my mistakes, in Romanian I would explain much better:)

thanks! again!:)

[Mrs. Jack]

Is he fairly small/compact? He sounds like a dwarf hotot rabbit!! I LOVE those guys they're soooo pretty!!!

[Mrs. Jack]

does he look like this ?
3641

[Somebody's Mother]

someone would need to ask secret squirrel but i believe keeper of the wild would take the rabbit. and they are alot closer than florida.

[MoMo - mom]

yes, it looks like the one in that picture!!! so do you know the name for this one? he is so very cute, indeed! and fluffy!!! I know they don't appreciate too much cuddling, so I am working hard at that :). I've already talked to Secret Squirrel, she is in Summerville, too. she said the same thing about rabbits and squirrels - not getting along...:( I was starting to build a very kitsch picture in my mind where they would play and have fun and... :D
another thing is that, after a while, when I was reaching towards him, cookie would kind of jumped with his front paws on my hand, in repetitive, fast movement. what does he want to say? playful, a little agressiveness?
:dono

[Mrs. Jack]

Yes, he is a dwarf hotot rabbit, then. I am jealous MoMo-mom, you have my favorite kind of rabbit EVER, since I first saw them at the fair when I was ten or so :Love_Icon

That sounds a bit aggressive to me. A bit of a warning maybe.. thinking about it, if those people got rid of him because they were tired of him, then that leads me to believe that he probably didn't get much attention after the first couple weeks they had him. Poor guy. So I'd advise you to be very patient with him.. talk to him often, just sit near him and let him get used to your voice, smell and movements. put your hand near him and let him get used to you being there and causing no harm. stroke him gently whenever possible.. give him lots of love and attention in a non-threatening way.
Thank you for taking him and loving him.. I am so happy he is with you rather than the tired people.

[Timber]

Yes, that little jumping at your hand with his front paws is a "Back off. Stay away" type of sign. I had a dwarft male that I lost this summer and when I got him he wouldn't let me hold him at first. It took about 6 months before he warmed up to me but after alway speaking softly to him as I gave him his food he finally warmed up to me. But what ever , do not pick him up by the nape of his neck. This is how preditors grab them and there have been cases of them going into shock and dieing when someone attempts to pick them up in that manner. I will contact my friend today and get her e-mail address to send you. She is very knowledgable about rabbits. They are her passion as squirrels are ours. She was a tremendous help when I was hand rearing my Wild baby from a neo baby.

[MoMo - mom]

Mrs. Jack, if we would have a rabbit lady around, we would definitely gave you one of our babies hihi:). When you'll come through Summerville, you cans top by and socialize:). I am doing my best with him, talked a lot; he let me pet him and he puts his head down when I do that. He comes to me, but bites my clothes. And at one point it bit through the clothes:( - living between Cookie and Momo would make me tactile defensive :D. As for "grabbing" him, Timber - I would never do that, I lifted him with both hands by the waist, sort of.
But as you said, it might be true about that family - they are the parents of a student of mine - it's a difficult bunch, to say it nicely. So he might have not been treated nicely:( poor cookie!
and getting back to my new baby, do you know if I have to bathe him???

nighty night, squirly people!

:thankyou

[Mrs. Jack]

There you go, if I'm ever in your neck of the woods, I'll definitely come pay a visit to you and the bunny.

Okay.. I've never kept a pet rabbit, but I have a friend who had one that was very very dear to her heart. I know she bathed it when it went through a health issue that caused messy stools and got him all yucky, but I am not sure if she did it regularly. I have heard that rabbits like water, which always surprises me. I think the main thing would be like any small pet or kitten, to make sure that they stay very warm and get dried promptly, because they could so easily catch a chill. If he looks clean and well groomed, I don't know that I'd worry about the issue of a bath for now.

[MoMo - mom]

I thought so - I just read on the brush I bought for Cookie that I need to use it after or before giving him a bath - I was so amazed at the idea, that I forgot when I was supposed to use it:). Anyway, I won't try to bathe him, he is just spotless and odorless (more so then my Momo is:).

:thankyou

[MoMo - mom]

Timber, did you find that number of your friend that grows rabbits? I need to ask her some questions regarding my Cookie.
Don't forget about us!:)