Sir Luther has arrived. I'm very glad I took him when I did as well. They brought his cage around and there was an inch of urine in the litterboxes, no wonder his feet were always so stained. So we had another grooming session and after four days without being touched I only found two matts. Both were between his toes, a place I hadn't thought to look before. So I'd say we're getting somewhere. I also tried out my own super duper hair dryer on him which has been used on my hair all of twice (I still have no idea why I bought a $150 hair dryer, I have curly hair, hair dryers and curly hair do not go together, but it's fantastic for animals) which has a "blower" setting and wow it was amazing on his coat. Just a pity we have no outdoor plugs here. It kind of makes a 'hairstorm' as it blows out all the loose hair I didn't manage to comb out.
So Luther has a cage on our verandah where he'll spend most of his time as well as the dog crate indoors for the days when no one is home as I worry about dogs etc. He's currently examining the dog crate in minute detail. He's so personality plus. While you hold him he does his dead-log impersonation which is perfect for grooming but put him down and he's off. I couldn't even keep him in one place to blow his coat out, I ended up just following him around with the hair dryer.
So he's still baldish, but the bald patches are now all velevety and spotty as the new coat grows through
I also tranced him for the first time today. didn't actually mean to but was trying to brush his chin so had him upside down on my lap as I patted his face and he was just totally out of it, twas hilarious.
He's currently proving to me that he's a much better groomer and he'd appreciate it if I stopped wrecking his coat...
Pics will come at some point.
After spending a few hours with him I've come to the conclusion that he's a lovely, intelligent personality filled rabbit with a behavior problem and very sharp teeth. He seems to know exactly where it'll hurt the most. I can now say with confidence I know exactly the level of pain that occurs when a rodent sinks very sharp teeth into your boob. That was great fun, not. He also nipped my arm several times and I have this lovely bruise coming up now. No signs of aggression, so I'm not sure why he's biting. He washed my hands and face and licked all over my clothes and then just bit down, and then hopped off unconcernedly only to repeat the whole thing several minutes later. I know the literature says with rabbits like this you need to give them space and let them come to you, but he's a cashmere that requires daily grooming who still lives outside. Nor can he run around our current house. So he has to be handled. I just hope he'll forgive me after we move.
He is extremely territorial over cage space to the point he'll growl, lunge and bite if I so much as drop a carrot through the bars of the cage, so these next few months should be fun. Generally I don't rescue because I'm know from experience that it doesn't matter how many hours of behavioral therapy you put into an animal they never lose the aggression and abused mentality they've learned in previous homes. However in Luther's case I've agreed to take him on and will put that time and effort into him and hopefully end up with at the very least a contented happy rabbit. He just may end up a very strange rabbit, though he is going to have to continue putting up with being handled, there is no way around that.
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