Teddy’s nails have been clipped and he hasn’t been wounding us anymore with his sharp nails! Another thing we need to get is a cream called Quickstop to apply on his nails to stop the blood if we accidentally nip him next time.
Kids and I learned how to pick him up and put him on our laps. It gave us heart palpitations, but our friend was very patient with us. First thing is that once we decide to pick him up, we need to commit. Even if he wiggles and wants to hop away, we need to hold onto him and put him on our laps. For picking him up, we use one hand to grab his body by his shoulders and use the other hand to support his bottom. That’s how he feels supported and safe. Ellis mentioned that he looked like a brown tornado that was going to fly away when our friend first picked him up. When he sits on our lap, he then gets a treat (a dried papaya cube or a shredded mini wheat).
Although we would like him to be a free roam rabbit, our friend said that Teddy would not be a good show rabbit that could be handled easily. He could have some open cage play time once he learns how to be handled, which would come later. He needs more developing too. He will be 5 months old on May 4th.
The first step was holding him and petting him on our laps. This is the step we’re practicing now so that all of us get familiar with the process and not freak out. Next step to learn: how to flip him over. In showmanship, the rabbit needs to be flipped over while one of the kids shows the judge how to examine Teddy’s belly, legs, arms, teeth, nose, and eyes. That step will occur in the next few months. We have to learn the proper way to do it and so does Teddy. Our tentative goal is to do showmanship with Teddy in December of this year. That’s very tentative. Kids need to learn more facts about Teddy’s breed and learn more about rabbits in general to answer the judge’s questions.
Dart is doing great too! He’s been adventurous and climbing on the vines with no regard for his safety! He has no body spatial awareness. He’ll fall and get back up like nothing happened.
Elliot has been in charge of Dart’s care since last month and he’s been feeding him regularly the roaches, crickets, and mealworms. Dart is not 8 1/4 inches long and looking rounder. Elliot says he’ll scale back on the feeding for a while!
25 responses to “Teddy’s and Dart’s updates”
Thank you for the Teddy and Dart updates! It’s good to know they’re both doing well.
You’re welcome! Yes, they’re doing great. We know how to take care of Dart and know his patterns, so he’s become easy to take care of. But Teddy! He’s a new pet and a baby so it’s a big learning curve for us.
There is always a learning curve with babies!
So true! When he interacts with us and flops, we are over the moon. But when he turns his back to us, we are back to being discouraged. We’re learning how to control our emotions too. lol
I’m sure it’s nothing personal.
I try not to see it that way, but I’m starting to take it personally!
Wonderful pets! Glad to know they are thriving. Good luck with the rabbit show in December! That will be fun!
Thank you, friend! I hope we will be ready by then.
Wonderful teddy’s & dart’s update. Nice doing kids nail trimming. Beautiful dear Dart climbing on the top .
Thank you!
Lovely to see Dart again and Teddy is so gorgeous.
Thank you!
Hello Darling Dart! So nice to see you strong doing your home exercise program!! It must be great to have Elliot in charge of food now!!! More crickets… please.
I loved reading about the techniques your rabbit teacher is suggesting. Excellent photos and explanations, Esther.
Dreamsycle Teddy has lots of time to learn all about becoming a wonderful show rabbit. ❣️
Hello Auntie TD! Elliot is my new caretaker and he feeds me too good. He got new crickets today and mama said she’ll clean my cage. I’m a messy eater with vitamin powder all over my bridge.
Thank you, TD, for your encouragement on Teddy! We are eager to learn and to make Teddy feel loved. Today Elliot was having trouble holding him and Teddy got flustered. He wouldn’t come out of his cage even when coaxed with his favorite treats. Elliot felt awful and beating himself up for messing up on the handling, I was feeling that way 3 days ago. I told him to use this bad experience as a stepping stone for doing better next time and know that we’ll have these bad experiences as we’re all newbies.
It’s an emotional roller coaster. We want this 3 pound to love us and to let us hold him! lol
There is lots going on in the pet department at the Suh family. Can you use a styptic pencil for Teddy’s nails? We had a parakeet for years and parakeets are very docile and you flip them on their back to trip their beak and nails, but with canaries, both had to go to the vet as canaries are skittish and don’t like to be handled. The vet said to always have a styptic pencil on hand in case of a bleed after a vet appointment, highly unlikely but it was what the vet used if they cut a little too deeply into the nail. Canaries do not get beak trims as their beaks are made different than canaries’ beaks.
I’ve never heard of a styptic pencil. I’m going to look it up. Oh boy, that’s kind of crazy to clip bird’s nails and beaks!! Thank you for telling me the difference between a parakeet and a canary.
Styptic pencils are found near the shaving supplies. Men used to use them when they cut themselves shaving with a blade, razor. They are white and have something that immediately stopped the bleeding. As to the birds …
Parakeets are more affectionate and talk and you can take them out of the cage and they sit on your finger or shoulder. Both males and females talk, but males talk more. Canaries like the sanctity of their cage, no human touch and canaries sing their hearts out (only male canaries). We always had parakeets for years, then the last two birds were canaries.
Thank you for letting me know about styptic pencils! New stuff to learn everyday.
Now that you’ve explained the difference between the two, I’d like to have parakeets. As you know, we love to interact with our pets and pet them.
You will learn a lot more as you work with 4-H and now have two pets since I’ve met you. Ask about the styptic pencils to ensure it is okay, but if you were using the styptic cream it should be fine. Much easier to use than dealing with cream, which you know will go everywhere but you want it to.
I know…2 pets already! Chris is in disbelief about the whole thing. lol. I’m very persuasive or Chris just can’t stand us talking about a fur ball pet any longer.
This rabbit project will take a long time to learn and we need to stay patient with it. It took us a long time to get familiar with Dart and his care, but now he’s so easy to take care of.
Chris secretly wondered what he got himself into all along, but was a good guy. Well, that settles it, you make Chris a Father’s Day card from Teddy and Dart in one photo, so that solidifies his good decision to get pets. Go – start now, Father’s Day is June 15th.
You give me great photo plans!!
Glad to give you photo plans Esther … have fun implementing them! 🙂
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Thank you so much!! Your comment makes me so happy.