Update (No Pictures)

Time for a bunny update. No pictures, but I'll try for them tonight. Everyone is settling in just fine.

We did have a little discussion about who "owns" the wing back chair that's in their room. Evidently the rabbits think it's theirs and decided to mark it. Danny insists that it's HIS (silly human) and so he used an enzymatic cleaner, wrapped the cushion in plastic and then sprayed the whole thing with perfume. We've read that rabbits don't like that... we'll see! Once our new sofa arrives for the living room, we'll probably just move the chair.

The poop parties are getting a little less. There are still certain areas that they like to leave their droppings in... so we'll do some more rearranging to place things in a way that encourages good litter box habits. We learned a long time ago that when an animal does something you don't like it's YOUR job to find a way to fix it, not the animals!

Ellie is slowly coming out of her shell. At this point, both Danny and I have gotten "simultaneous pettings". That's where Elton and Ellie both burrow in close to you and want to be petted. We're also working on petting Ellie when she seems most agreeable to it. That's generally when there's something really good to eat! We also have now seen her all over the bunny playground (the bunnodome as we call it) she's been on the hammock and the top shelf. So, she's getting more comfortable being out in the open.

Last night she actually binkied under foot as I tried to pick up her room and this morning her and Elton swarmed Danny during our morning routine. Having two bunnies hopping around, nosing you and wanting to be petted is pretty neat even if it's a little disconcerting when you're still groggy.

They are both really into exploring outside their room. Since the other parts of the house aren't fully rabbit proofed, we don't let them do it without supervision. However, when they are allowed out both are fearless... for rabbits that is. Elton is fascinated by our cat Sylvester. Sylvester just wants to lay and nap - and having a curious rabbit nosing you and sniffing you ruins his beauty sleep. So, he normally gets some place high and watches the action while he dozes off. We're calling that a success..

Then there's the parrots. The greys are completely non-plussed by seeing a rabbit. They sort of watch them like they do the cat, but no one is upset and no one alarm calls. The rabbits will take a lot of time to get used to flying birds I think. Right now we're working on them being comfortable in their own room while they hear the birds fly in another room. So far, so good. The rabbits no longer dive for cover and generally ignore the flapping. Excellent progress... in the next couple of weeks we'll see if we can't desensitize them to the *visual* effect of a parrot in flight as well.

The cockatoos are a mixed bag. Charlie (who loved our other rabbit George) is *extremely* excited to see another rabbit. So, she screams "HI" at the top of her lungs. Thankfully Elton is incredibly curious even if something spooks him. She'll scream "HI!!!!!!!!!" and he'll scamper out, then he'll stick his head back in their room. He's gotten pretty brave and will go in several feet and look around before leaving now. Our goffin's cockatoo Hoppy is another matter entirely. She goes full fuzzball and attempts to intimidate the rabbits (who promptly ignore her) by doing her evil alarm call. The rabbits are not intimidated. Xylon is too blind to be able to see the rabbits, but he knows his "ladies" are fussing about something so he has to chime in. Let's just say we can always tell when one of the buns decides to poke their head in the cockatoo room. We know our parrots well enough by now to say that they will eventually stop reacting, but it will likely be several week.

The verdict: So far so good. A few things to work out, but they're not difficult to do. All part and parcel of sharing your life with another being.