The Parker Report – May 28, 2015 - 2nd Installment

Here's the 2nd Installment of the Parker Report - May 28, 2015:

Parker is doing very well with his litter box use (no droppings on the carpet).

He's eating his grass and greens well, along with about 1/4 cup of kibble per day and likes to get the grass out of the toilet paper tube (bunny Kong toy).

I also made him a grass bag and cut holes in it. I got it started for him by tearing it a bit more and he finally got the hang of what to do with it today. 

(I took a video which I'll upload in a bit).  He's still having fun running behind and around the drapes.  I thought he was going to make himself dizzy yesterday because he kept going around one in a circle a bunch of times.  I had the front drapes closed yesterday and he was going back and forth behind them so all I could see was the moving drapes.  Then he stopped and decided to just take a nap behind them next to the wall.  I think he likes it in dark places because his pink eyes are probably a bit more sensitive to the light.  Brad clipped a packing blanket over the top of his pen so it's a little darker in there for him to sleep during the afternoon.

Speaking of the X-pen, this weekend he decided he wanted to relocate it a couple of feet over into the kitchen and off of the mat.  Brad had to go downstairs after we went to bed and heard him rattling the pen.  Brad ended up letting him out to run for a bit to get rid of his pent-up energy and then he went to sleep.  Brad rigged a bar across the top of the pen to keep it rigid now so Parker can't get it all bent out of shape and move it any more.

Then we had some more fun last night...

Brad was sitting on the futon in the living room and Parker kept looking up at him so he decided to pick up Parker and put him on the futon to sit next to him.

Well, that created a monster now because up until then we've had the baby gate across the bottom of the staircase most of the time (a couple of times he slipped up there when we forgot to put the gate back) and Parker's been fixated on going up the stairs.  You could almost see the wheels going in his little brain while he was figuring out that he could jump up onto the back of the futon and slip through the balusters of the staircase and go up the stairs.  (He's no dumb bunny!)  And guess what?  That's exactly what he did!  (I even got video of that too!)

So after that little incident we had to block that section of the railing so he couldn't do it again.  I was worried he was going to slip and hurt himself.

Rabbits are very determined to do something once they put their mind to it - and they don't stop until they reach their goal (unless you can distract them with something else).

Brad finally decided "why fight it?" because he's going to want to go up the stairs and he knows how to come down by himself.  Brad didn't have to teach him like he did with Harley.

He put the baby gate at the top of the stairs (after we let him do a one-time-only exploration of the upstairs hallway and bathroom) so now he can tire himself out going up and down the stairs to his heart's content and not have to hurt himself doing it the hard way via the futon and squeezing through the balusters.  I still watch him like a hawk because who knows what he'll get into?!

He's still nibbling at the baseboard (as is expected of a young bunny), but he is learning to stop when we say a firm "no" and we can usually redirect him to his strategically-placed cardboard. I've also been collecting toilet paper tubes for him to chew on because he likes that.

I took a video of him having a "kisses and nuzzles" session with Brad yesterday and I'll upload that too.  It's pretty funny to watch them.  It happens multiple times daily and I have to laugh each time.  Parker never does it with me though, but he like to have me pet him.  He actually laid down in the family room last night and let me pet him for about 15 minutes.  That was a record so far.  I must have the touch he likes.  I was also able to brush him a bit with my brushing mitt yesterday when he was laying behind the living room drapes.  I only got one side though, because he was leaning up against the baseboard.

He  likes to also lay right up against the fireplace hearth at night when we're watching TV.  The other night I had to laugh because sometimes he flops down there and does the roll on his side.  This time he went to roll and did a complete barrel roll all the way over.  I've never seen a rabbit do that, but I guess he got some momentum going that time.  It seems Brad's always looking the other direction whenever he does something funny like that.  Yesterday Parker was in the living room and did a hop straight up into the air from a standing-still position (Brad missed that too.)  I try to get pictures of him when he's doing cute things, but sometimes by the time I go grab my Nook to take a picture he stops what he's doing.

We took Parker for his initial well-bunny check-up with Dr. Dietrich at Discovery Bay Veterinary Clinic on Tuesday morning. He came through with flying colors.  Dr. Dietrich checked his teeth and temp, felt his body and jaw plus listened to him with the stethoscope.  

The assistant weighed him and said he was 2.39 kg., which I converted to about 5.3 lbs.  

Dr. Dietrich jokingly said "I'll see you again next year!", implying that we'd still have Parker because he says Parker adopted us (after I told him how he latched onto Brad since day one.)