The Parker Report - August 30, 2015 - 10th Installment

This is the Parker Report for the week ending August 30, 2015

Parker woke me up again twice this week by jumping on the bed...

once before 5:00 am as I was dreaming again.  He's also still having nocturnal activity.  He was doing speed runs downstairs in the living room at 1:30 am the other night.  I don't know what that was all about, but I wish he would act like a "normal" rabbit that sleeps at night.  He's just a party animal I guess.

He's still jumping up on fireplace hearth, but at least he comes down now when we tell him to.  We have a problem with peeling paint on the hearth.  It's from a bad paint job from the people who sold us the house.  The paint didn't bond well to the surface and they also used cheap paint that sticks to everything you place on top of it.  You can actually peel it it off in large pieces.  It's awful and we're planning on encasing it in decorative wood panels and put cushions on top for seating.  Parker jumped on the hearth Friday night and started chewing on the peeling paint on the center of the top so we had to get him off so he wouldn't get sick on the paint chips.  We were in the middle of watching a TV program about 9:00 pm and we ended up peeling off all the loose paint from most of the top surface (not a project we had planned on doing that day - especially that late) and then we covered the entire length with packing blankets.  I guess we'll be building our decorative encasement sooner than expected.

This week we bought him a tunnel to run through.  One of our clients had one for her cats and we thought it looked like something fun that Parker would enjoy because it was 52" long  and 10" tall and had two holes in the top for peeking out.  Pet food express had one that was less expensive than the one Petco had on sale so we bought it when we went there to get him some more kibble.  It's sold in the cat department, but the label says it can also be used for rabbits and other small animals.  The dingle ball hanging from one end was easily removable so I took it off since bunnies aren't usually amused by those things like cats. 

He went through it a couple of times (cautiously) but it's basically a large fabric-covered spring and unfortunately, he didn't like the metal spring material inside and started to try to scratch it.  It's a natural instinct for rabbits to try to dig things out from under their feet (like roots) and I guess it was kind of like a root to him because it was small and round.

Luckily, he didn't cause any visible damage and it was still clean so we carefully repacked it up the way it was and I put the dingle ball back on and we returned it for a refund.  (Advantages of formerly working in retail - you learn how to re-package things so they look new.)  Oh well, so much for that experiment.  Rabbits always seem to like to free toys better.

Speaking of free things...

I cut down one of his small oatmeal tubes so the bottom part is about three inches tall and I stuffed grass in it and put it in his pen.  He seems to really like it.  The only problem is that it's so light-weight that he was tipping it over all the time.  I found out that the base just fit into a food bowl he wasn't using so I stuck it in there to stabilize it.  Then he started flinging the entire thing around and had it on top of his kibble bowl.  He also likes to toss the grass out of it and have it all over his pen, so he can forage for his favorite parts I guess.  I just pick up the loose grass after awhile and stuff it back into his oatmeal tub or his pinata bag or toilet paper tube.  He has a lot to keep him occupied.

Notice a theme here...he loves his grass!  At least it keeps his digestive system healthy.

He's getting better at letting us brush him.  I usually distract him with food by doing it while he's eating his kibble, or by feeding him greens.  He actually came into my lap as I fed him bits of dandelion greens while I combed and brushed him a couple of times this week.  I just grab a big leaf and put it behind my back and just tear off small pieces to hand feed him with one hand while I comb with the other.  He has to come close if he wants the treat.  Brad said he combed him really well this morning by just holding his hand on him to keep him still and he got quite a bit of fur off.  Otherwise, when you pet him you get fur flurries flying in the air.

We went shopping at Costco yesterday and brought home a couple more boxes for his collection.  This morning he went into one (from large cranberry juice bottles) that I turned upside down in the family room and then he started sneezing about a half dozen times or so.  I don't know what caused that, but I checked the box to see if anything was in there but I didn't see or smell anything.  He seems to be OK now.  Sometimes when he drinks his water he comes up and does a little sneeze.  I think he sometimes gets carried away when he drinks.

I forgot to mention in last week's report that he chewed the phone wire in our office, which caused our phones to go down.  Luckily Brad knows how to fix these sort of problems so our dial tone was back in no time. 

By the way, I've given him the nickname "Chewy" because he likes to chew on things.  I bought him a pack of apple wood sticks a while and he seems to like them, but we really have to watch him around tempting items he likes to munch on.

The warm weather has really faded Parkers ears and tail.  I compared his first photos to how he looks now and his ears are practically white now with just a couple of markings across the front of them at the base.  His tail is also very light grey.  We keep our thermostat for the A/C at 77-78 degrees during the day and use a portable fan in the kitchen to help keep him cool since he hasn't caught on to laying by the frozen water bottles.

I'm wondering if his markings will turn dark again in the winter.  It'll be interesting to find out.

Gotta go get ready to feed him his dinner.

Until next time, have a great week!