Meet the Rabbits

Why a bunny? That's the first question a lot of people ask. Well, Chi-An's allergic to both cats and dogs. She could probably develop a tolerance to a cat or dog (as she has to Jonesy and Tina), but we definitely have to keep pets out of our bedroom, and it just didn't seem fair to a cat or dog to confine them to certain parts of the house. We also wanted a pet with which we could interact--birds and snakes, while interesting, aren't always responsive to petting. And, we didn't want a pet for which we would need to keep live food.

Rabbits are also pretty low maintenance- they like having running time outside their cage, but they're ok with being in their cage for hours at a stretch if need be. They're crepuscular, which means they are active during morning and evening, and logy during the day while we're at work.

Name:	Jonesy Bunny	Concertina (Tina) Bunny
Birthdate (approximate):	2/14/01	1/20/01
Weight:	4 pounds	7 pounds
Occupation:	Being a bunny	Being a bunny
Job Description:	Eating, being petted, cage scaling, sleeping; looking cute while doing all of the above	Eating, being petted, nipping humans, eating, exploring boxes and bags, eating; looking cute while doing all of the above
Hobbies:	Running, loafing, getting head scratched, climbing	Running, loafing, nipping, getting head scratched, moving her belongings, tossing food, destroying property
Likes:	Apples, raisins, carrots, bok choy, lettuce, apples, hay, pellets, apples, bananas, cilantro, nasturtium, apples, pears, apples	Bok choy, carrots, hay, pellets, bananas, cilantro, mint, nasturtium, just about anything she can fit in her mouth
Dislikes:	Loud abrupt noises, sudden movement, being picked up, being nipped by Tina	Being nipped by Jonesy, lack of head rubs, having her belongings moved
Aliases:	J.B., Mudfoot, Bunnyloaf, Jonesyloaf, J. Loaf, Bunnyboy	Tina-bina, Tinabun, Bunnybabe, Bunnygirl
Superhero name:	Black Lightning	Rabbit of Mass Destruction
Hockey name:	Pocket Rocket Rabbit	Rocket Rabbit
Star Trek name:	Corgano	Masaka

Here are some early pictures of Jonesy, all on one page so they take a long time to load
And here is a gallery of pictures of both bunnies.
Some video,unindexed files that are 2-3MB each

Jonesy came to live with us on September 14th 2001 from the Peninsula Humane Society. His previous owner had dropped him in the 'night box', so we know nothing about his prior history before the PHS. He weighed about 3 1/2 pounds when we first got him, and since then we think he's gained about half a pound or so. He's a dwarf bunny, and is now fully grown, so he won't get much bigger. Jonesy lives in the kitchen, which all things considered is the easiest room to keep clean. He may graduate to the rest of the house, or to another room, at some point.

Jonesy's pretty mellow, and was well-behaved from the start- litterbox trained and doesn't chew on many things he's not supposed to. It probably helps that he gets all sorts of toys to chew on, plus we don't care about any damage he might do to our kitchen. We don't want him chewing the linoleum, since it's probably not good for his digestion. Actually, mellow may not be the right word for him, since he can be skittish, and will make a run for safety if he hears a noise he doesn't like, or he thinks you're going to try and pick him up.

When he first came to us, he was a deep, dark chocolate brown all over with some reddish-brown fur on his back haunches- he looked like a furry, hopping caramel truffle. About a month later he started shedding out all the reddish-brown fur, and he's now dark chocolate all over, with some darker patches on his neck and back. The soles of Jonesy's feet have remained a light tan color, thus earning him the nickname of Mudfoot (from David Brin's second Uplift Trilogy).

Why the name Jonesy? Well, we didn't want a cutesy, obvious name like Flopsy, Mopsy, Thumper, or Peter. We also didn't want a derisive name like Chainsaw or Killer. Two of our favorite fictional characters are named Jonesy- the cat in the movie Alien and the sonarman in the novel The Hunt for Red October.

Jonesy died suddenly on 18 April 2004. Our vet said that he died of a quick-forming intestinal blockage--he was perfectly fine that day at 3am, running around like he usually does, but when we found him at 10am he was already dead in his litterbox. Jonesy was such a wonderful companion, and we will miss him very much.

Tina came to live with us in January 2002, from the House Rabbit Society in Richmond. We don't know much about her past, but we know she was in the Marin Humane Society's shelter, then in foster care, before she went to the Rabbit Center. She's clearly an English spot, perhaps with some Rex or Tricolor thrown in. Approximately Jonesy's age, she's also full-grown.

Tina can be very possessive and makes her feelings known. She's more vocal (snorts, wheezes, and sneezes) and more dental (chewing things to pieces, nipping) than Jonesy. When she first moved in, she was understandably a little insecure. We got nipped for the following offenses: moving her stuff, stopping petting her, not feeding her in a timely manner. Fortunately, she didn't break too much human or rabbit skin, and she dropped that habit when she felt more at home. Tina also came litterbox trained, and she's darned cute and loves affection. We call her the puppy of the family. She often runs up to the fence to be petted when a human enters the room. Tina is especially happy to see people around mealtimes, and she has a special Crazy Bunny Dance that she performs when she thinks she's getting fed (Jumping up and down, running around in circles very quickly). She will also follow you around, nudging your ankles to get head rubs.

Since Jonesy passed away, Tina's moved into the kitchen. She's been very happy there, partly for more space, partly for more attention. She and Theo get along quite well, so we leave the gate off the wall, just lying across the doorway blocking the way, so Theo can slide the gate to get into and out of the kitchen, but Tina can't get out. (If this were Jonesy, he'd have escaped by now.) We're considering adopting another bun companion for Tina, but with a second baby on the way we don't want to make any other family additions right now.

Why Tina? That was her name at the HRS, and it wasn't too cutesy that we wanted to change it. We lengthened it to Concertina, because she has markings like she's been rolling in sheet music, but we usually just call her Tina.

Further reading: Two great sites are The House Rabbit Society (general information on keeping a rabbit as a pet) and The Language of Lagomorphs (a guide to rabbit communication).

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last updated: 09/28/06