The Truth About Bunny Care From Diet To Indoor Living

Rabbits have a reputation for being simple pets. Then you actually live with one and realize you’ve been underestimating them the whole time. We sit down with Melissa, a long-time volunteer and co-lead with the Ventura County Animal Services Bunny Brigade, and meet two very special guests: Jarvis, a 10-year-old foster rabbit living his best “old man” life, and Puzzy, an outgoing little explorer who makes her opinions known fast.

We talk about what rabbit care really looks like for indoor rabbits and first-time bunny owners: why rabbits are prey animals that feel safest with all four feet on the ground, how to build trust without forcing cuddles, and what “binkies” and flops tell you about a rabbit’s comfort level. Melissa also pulls back the curtain on shelter life, volunteer work, and the adoption education process, including the push for indoor-only housing and the real-world risks of predators, heat sensitivity, and RHDV2.

From rabbit diet and health to daily routine, we get specific. You’ll hear why hay should be the foundation of nutrition, why carrots are a treat not a meal, how spaying and neutering supports litter box training and long-term health, and what red-alert signs like GI stasis look like. We also dig into rabbit enrichment ideas that actually work, plus why clean real grass can be a safe, cool, stimulating way to bring the outdoors inside.

If you’re thinking about getting a rabbit around Easter or anytime, Melissa’s advice is clear: foster first. Subscribe, share this with a future rabbit person, and leave a review so more good pets get the right care.

Thanks for listening to the Fresh Patch podcast brought to you by Fresh Patch. We hope you enjoyed the show. Give us a like or a follow, or shop all of our real grass supplies at freshpatch.com. Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Youtube, Reddit

Transcript

Meet Melissa Jarvis And Puzzy

SPEAKER_01 0:01

You may know Fresh Patch from Shark Tank, Oprah, or the Today Show. This is the Fresh Patch Podcast where good pets get it. Sit back, put your paws up, and enjoy the show. Alright, welcome everybody to the Fresh Patch podcast. I'm your host, Drew, with my lovely co-host, Mr. Gabe, over here to my right. And we have an awesome guest today. And some two of the viewers, you probably see one on the coffee table, but we have Melissa, Jarvis, and Puzzy. Party Pussy. I'm over here sitting fuzzy in my head. I'm like, I don't know if you want to say we got rabbits today, everybody. We got rabbits and a very awesome guest. So um, yeah, welcome to the Fresh Patch Podcast. Thank you for joining us. Really, really nice. Great to be here. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

I love talking about rabbits. I love hearing about rabbits.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

And I love seeing rabbits. So that's like best of both. Yes, this is Jarvis. Jarvis.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

He is probably about 10 years old. He is a foster from Ventura County Animal Services Bunny Brigade, which is in Camarillo. We serve Ventura County, all of the public, it's a public animal shelter. And we got him about a year ago. He was in really, really rough shape. He came in with mites and fleas and all kinds of damage. Um, and his fur was an issue. And we've spent the last year rehabilitating him. He does have a condition that um will eventually uh take him, but he is living his best rabb old man rabbit life at my house. And anyway, I thought he'd he'd enjoy getting out today. He's very chill.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

Oh, he's so chill, and he's a giant.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

He is, he's probably about 10 pounds. Oh gosh, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:57

Big guy. Big guy. He's enjoying the grass, which is great.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

The grass is cool. Yes. So, and he my all the bunnies at for the bunny brigade and at my house, they're all indoors. So perfect. This is a treat. This is why I absolutely this is why I found Fresh Patch and bought it on my own. There we go.

SPEAKER_02 2:15

Yeah. That's so funny. It looks like from my angle, he's like looking at the camera. He probably is, to be honest.

SPEAKER_00 2:21

You know, you know what I'm talking about. Rabbits are really, really curious. Um people don't often realize this, they have huge personalities, they're inquisitive. Um, they are animals of prey, which obviously puts them at the bottom of the food chain and puts them at risk for many things. But when they feel safe and secure, they uh they will run around your house. They will do things called binkies, which means they have you ever seen that?

SPEAKER_02 2:51

Oh, we we know all about that because of like the social media side.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

But yeah, a binky is when a rabbit shows joy, they run and they jump and twist in the air and kick out their legs. I will say when you're 10 years old and you're a rabbit, your binky looks a lot different than the little one. But um, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:10

That's so great.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

We call it old man rabbit at our house.

SPEAKER_02 3:15

That's so good.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Cool. Well, before we really dive into all the questions, everything, I just want to let the viewers and listeners know hit that subscribe button if you're watching on YouTube, uh, Apple Podcasts, Spotify Podcast, follow at Fresh Patch on all social media. Check out freshpatch.com for your real grass potty needs and check out Ventura Canal, Ventura County Animal Services. Thank you very much. The Bunny Googade. You can check them out on social media, their website, they are local here to Ventura County in Camrio. And I can't say nothing but good things about Ventura County Animal Services. Both of us have gotten our dogs. Fabulous. It's it's we love we love it.

SPEAKER_00 3:56

We are what you'd call a no-kill shelter. So it makes it very easy to volunteer there. We have for the bunny brigade alone, more than a hundred volunteers. Wow. Um really the shelter has an amazing staff, great director, and um we run on volunteer power too. So it's a it's a fun place to be and to educate and serve Ventur County.

SPEAKER_02 4:18

Yeah. So we've been there a few times, like um to shoot content, like meet some of the team and stuff. Every time I go, I'm like, dang, I wish I could take every one of these animals with me.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

Like, oh yeah, well, it's tough sometimes. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, you guys do amazing work over there. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 4:36

I've been with, I think I'm going on 10 or 11 years as a volunteer. So yeah.

Rabbit Myths Personalities And Handling

SPEAKER_01 4:41

That's really cool. That's that's awesome. That's really cool. Cool. So let's get to know you a little bit. All right. Get to know the buddies. So you already introduced yourself, but tell us how you first got into caring for rabbits.

SPEAKER_00 4:51

Oh my gosh. I was 10 and I was in 4 H, Edna 4 H up in San Luis Obispo. Um, my best friend's mother ran the rabbit project, and my mom thought, oh, this will be a good entry, right? Entry to animal care. And we always had dogs and cats, but never a rabbit. So I learned all about the breeds, which actually turns out was very helpful for me because I retained all that knowledge. And we'll get rabbits that come into the shelter. I will instantly know that's a this or that's a that. Um, not that breeds necessarily matter, but I learned a lot about general rabbit care back then. Uh what I didn't know or do was I put them outside. I kept them in a hutch on wire, um, separated, alone. They never got fixed. In fact, I even um dabbled in breeding rabbits at one point, which now I look back on and think, oh mom, what were you thinking? But I learned, I'm giving back now. Um, and I when people come into the shelter to adopt, I often hear that's a common theme. Like, oh, I had a rabbit as a kid, and I'm like, was it outside? Yep, it was outside and it was alone. Um, and that's probably one of those myths about rabbits, is that's where they like to be. When in fact, rabbits are highly, highly social animals. Um, they love being around other rabbits if if it's appropriate, like they've been bonded. They love people, they can like other animals, but they want company.

SPEAKER_02 6:18

Yeah, yeah, no, for sure. Um, and that's you know, if you're looking for like a companion type of pet, that's kind of what you're looking for, right? So it's it's pretty, pretty awesome.

SPEAKER_01 6:29

Yeah, and I yeah, I was gonna say we get other videos too, like you saying that they're they're great with other animals, you know, most of the time and stuff. We definitely have some other influential partners and stuff where they're, you know, or just see it in on social media, a rabbit with a dog and a cat and stuff. And look at that, look at that transfer. That took a lot. Yeah, good job, Jarvis. Good job. Trying out the mini for all the viewers. This is the mini. The mini freshpatch.com.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

I will say this is the size I order for rabbits. There we go. The standard as well.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

That's why I put it both those sizes up on the coffee table because those are our most typical sizes for the rabbits and stuff. So, but we got our large on the floor, so if they do want to hop down, yeah, we got that. Awesome. Well, Jarvis, that's a great way to, I mean, from 10 years old, that's uh Yeah, and I pretty much have, and then it continued.

SPEAKER_00 7:12

I think when I was in I didn't have them in college, and then in my early 20s, I got um, I decided I had to have an another pet. And my then boyfriend, now husband, was allergic to cats. And I'm like, well, we're getting a rabbit. And he's like, Well, I hope I'm not allergic, and he's not, fortunately. And we've pretty much always had rabbits since then. Wow. Um, usually with you know, cats, people I think are allergic to the dander. Rabbits, not so much, though occasionally people are allergic. What they are allergic to, turns out, is the hay.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

So I was gonna ask you.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

80% of a rabbit's diet is hay, and it's either like we can talk about this being, you know, fresh grass, great. They can nibble on this, um, but they eat either orchard hay or Timothy hay, hay's like that when they're older, and um, it helps kind of keep their gut moving, it wears their teeth down. So rabbits' teeth are constantly growing, and they have to chew on things to wear it down. So hay is a great thing for them. And enrichment in general is awesome because like they might chew on this cardboard, it's safe, it's clean. Um, they chew on safe, clean wood, um, different types of willow, uh, apple sticks, things like that. And it's great because it keeps them busy and it keeps them from chewing. I'm looking around to see what my bunnies would destroy. Like this cord. iPhone cords, we pretty much order those all the time. But they think of those as like a little vine. So they like to chew.

SPEAKER_02 8:42

Got it. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. Okay. Is that danger, dangerous for them?

SPEAKER_00 8:46

I mean, it's not great. But uh honestly, I've found cords and I'm like, whoo, look what you did. And you're still alive. Yeah. We really we wrap all any cords that are on like in their area, we have cord protectors on them. Got it. And you can find that on you know wherever Amazon and anything.

SPEAKER_01 9:07

So you said their teeth, so their teeth are there you go. Take it. Yeah, get it, Jarvis.

SPEAKER_05 9:11

Get it, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:13

So you when you say their teeth are constantly growing, like they're growing for their whole life, they grow.

SPEAKER_02 9:18

That's in that's wild. That is so if if there's a bunny who like say doesn't have that kind of like enrichment available to them, will they eventually like get to the point where it's like super long and like brittle and break?

SPEAKER_00 9:31

They should um wear evenly. So if with what they're eating, like I remember back I didn't put hay in my rabbit's hutch when I was a kid, and they ate pellets and they had water. Um, they chewed all the wood all around the hutch, and that was what they were doing instead of their teeth. Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, if there's something wrong, it's called malclusion when their teeth don't line up. Exactly right. Um, and I've had a rabbit before who had to have all her top teeth removed. Wow. Rabbits actually have the front teeth, right? And then they have a full set and back. Oh wow. And so you would think, oh my gosh, no teeth. What but as long as they can get the food on their tongue, and whether it's like a long string of hay or a piece of a smaller piece of lettuce or a pellet, yeah, then they can get it to their back teeth and chew it up. So it's safe.

SPEAKER_02 10:19

Gotcha. Gotcha. Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

I that's you learn something new about it.

SPEAKER_02 10:22

Yeah, well, so what originally made you like fall in love with bunnies and really make this like kind of your passion, bro? Come on. Yeah, yeah. I know.

SPEAKER_01 10:31

Yeah, it's it's hard to deny that face.

SPEAKER_00 10:34

I I have to say, it's the personality. They are they and I know all animals have distinct personalities, but people don't expect that in a rabbit. Um and it it it's those distinct personalities. Uh they are very, they're like the mix of the dog and cat. They follow you around, like mine do, um, because they want to be fed. Yeah. But they're very engaging. Um, they aren't this is the myth, myth bust.

SPEAKER_05 11:02

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

They aren't snuggly. Like people, when they come in to adopt, they're like, but I just want a bunny, I can snuggle. And I'm like, well, they actually are happiest when they're all four feet on the ground. They're an animal of prey. Yeah. They want to be able to get away, right? Um, from whatever. It's just that's instinct. And so what I think I discovered as a kid, because I would bring them in and play with them, is that if I got on the floor with them and laid down, they would go crazy. They because they were eye to eye with me. They'd walk on me, they'd push me, they'd snuggle, they'd lay down. Yeah. And so I think it was just maybe that unexpected behavior from a rabbit. Yeah. Not a cat. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And from there, it just, you know, it took off. I became crazy rabbit, girl, lady, whatever.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Whatever the title is. Yeah, yeah. Well, many titles.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

Wear it with pride.

SPEAKER_01 11:53

Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah, that's that's a good myth busher right there. I mean, that's a huge thing, I would say, for everybody.

SPEAKER_00 11:59

They don't like to be carried, they don't really like to be picked up. I mean, it they will if they have to.

SPEAKER_02 12:04

Yeah. I'm sure if they trust you'd say, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

Yes. But it's really like they're happiest when their feet are anchored to something solid and you're at their level.

Bunny Brigade Volunteering And Adoption Education

SPEAKER_01 12:15

Gotcha. Yeah, that makes total sense, you know. Stoop, I don't want to say stoop to their level. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you are stooping to their level and they feel more comfortable. Yeah, makes total sense. Cool. So, how did you become involved with Ventura County Animal Services as a volunteer?

SPEAKER_00 12:30

Um my kids were actually in 4H as well in um in Ventura, city of Ventura. And there was this really cool project they did. It was called Roots and Shoots, and it was Jane Goodall's kind of environmental stewardship outreach group. And one of the activities we would do is we would volunteer with the bunny brigade. Um, the kids would go in and read to the bunnies or socialize with the bunnies once a month. And I was like, Oh, I guess I you know get back into the bunny groove. And we had had but house bunnies, but it was you know more immersive, and my kids were very comfortable with that. And I met this amazing woman, her name's Pat, and she she realized right away I had a lot of rabbit knowledge, and I like to volunteer. Yeah, yeah, and there it went. So I think I started uh coordinating fosters and doing offsite education events, and uh just kind of grew from there, and now I co-lead the whole group as a volunteer. Um and that, you know, ranges from going in every Saturday and kind of working the shift, doing adoptions and education to doing all our ordering and just you know, generally organizing the group with a really great, great group of volunteers.

SPEAKER_02 13:43

Yeah, that's that's really cool. And and again, like uh VCIS, incredible organization. And you know, if like you're in Southern California, there's it's such a great place to go. They have so many amazing animals available. Um but I want to ask a question, like specifically on the on the bunny side, the bunny brigade, if you will. So, what does a typical day for a volunteer look like?

SPEAKER_00 14:07

Good question. It varies, but I have a whole list I could show you. Um it depends on are you there early, are you there later? But it is getting in, um, cleaning out their kennels every single day. Um we dump their litter boxes, give them fresh hay. It's getting them out for exercise, changing the water, um socialize, you know, like doing some one-on-one socializing with them. It's cleaning the barn, it's refilling food. It like we have a lot of duties that we do, like bringing in the greens, getting a salad, daily salad ready for the rabbits, doing health checks on the rabbits. Um, if anybody's been spayed or neutered, making sure that their incisions look good, and if not, alerting the vet's office. I will also call out we have an amazing vets office at our shelter, and it I can't imagine doing what we do without their support. So um it really varies, but you know, I'm usually there three or four hours every Saturday. A lot of what I do, if I if it's a good week, is educating and do and conducting adoptions. Um, we do screenings and education on the outside, like before people come in.

SPEAKER_02 15:17

Yeah, what does that education process kind of look like?

SPEAKER_00 15:20

Uh it's really it's what we're doing here. It's talking about like it often starts with where do you think you want the rabbit to live? And then me learning. And often, you know, somebody might say, Well, I have got this really cool hutch and it's outside. And from there, I'm you know, I just talk to them about well, this is here are the reasons we recommend inside. In fact, we are we we are an indoor only. That's it's on the shelters literature website and whatnot. Um because the rabbit's happier, the rabbit's healthier, it's not going to be taken by a predator, it's not gonna be scared to death. They are nervous, I mean, right? They're nervous animals.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

I was gonna say, but when you walked in, they're like you did, they get stressed easily. So I was thinking, you know, if they're outside, they're probably thinking I gotta be on alert.

SPEAKER_00 16:04

If they're running around your backyard, a hawk while a hawk can't pick him up, but but it could come down, scare him, he could, you know, and let that play out. Yeah. Um, there's a myriad of diseases they can catch. In fact, there's a disease called RHDV2, and it got to California in our area um uh in 2020, and it's a hemorrhaging disease. It's in the wild rabbit population. Um, our rabbits are vaccinated for it. But at you know, at that moment, I think it was for me like I was always like, oh, do they want to be outside a little bit? Even supervised, right? So, and at that point I was like, no, it's not worth it. And they honestly they do not care. Um, they want to be with people, they want to see people and socialize, or maybe the the bonded pair be with each other.

SPEAKER_02 16:51

Definitely.

SPEAKER_00 16:52

Um I know he's interested in it. I gotta go to the next one. So, you know, and that's why honestly, I mean, not to sell your product for you, but I'm going to. But that's why this is super fun because it mixes, it's clean, it's healthy, it's safe. There's no I did all my research. Like there's no pesticides or anything. Um exactly.

SPEAKER_02 17:11

We always say that with cats too, because like cats are another one that largely are indoor cats, like these days, like you know, most cat owner owners will keep their cats indoors. So it only makes sense that it would be a similar sort of enrichment for bunnies. And you saying that enrichment is very important to them.

SPEAKER_00 17:27

Super. I mean, to the point where I don't even have a food bowl anymore. Like I will take the I'll either put it in um oh gosh, what do they call them? Those little things where they have to hunt for the food. You hide the the Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

You know what I mean? Yeah. It's not kind of fun. I know, I'm blank too, but I get you.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

I might sprinkle the food around their pen because then it gives them something to look for, hunt for, forage. I saw not hunt, but forage.

SPEAKER_01 17:49

Yeah, and that's another great term for the graphs too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

We could put there, like I've got some treats in here for him right now. He's more interested in you guys.

SPEAKER_02 17:56

Yeah, I can see that. He's like new face.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

The other bunny, and when she comes out, she'll eat those right up.

SPEAKER_02 18:01

Yeah. Quick side question. Can you teach bunnies tricks? Like, could you could, you know, like shake with a dog, like that kind of stuff, you know?

SPEAKER_00 18:09

Um maybe. I mean, okay. I mean, we have at the shelter, we we rarely bust it out, but we do have the an agility thing that and they will like if you watch online, you'll occasionally see bunnies doing an agility. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, they're they're food motivated. So I mean, a dog's food motivated. Yes, you can teach them, but they're not gonna really like roll over. Yeah, but they'll stand up, um, they might w twirl around, you know, they might lay like kind of lay down. Um that's cute. They learn certain words. I mean, they know like when I say treaty, they you know, and I say it a certain way, they all perk up.

SPEAKER_02 18:52

Do they know their names?

SPEAKER_00 18:53

Um I I think so. Yeah, yeah. But I think that um maybe, I mean, some do, some don't. They know the sounds, right? So I always tell people end all your animals' names with a E sound. Yeah, exactly. But so, like, but he doesn't have that name. He got this name last year. He doesn't he honestly doesn't care what his name does.

SPEAKER_01 19:17

Jarve. How about that? Jarvis.

SPEAKER_00 19:20

I'm not sure who named him. One of our volunteers.

SPEAKER_01 19:22

That's good. It must be an Iron Man fan.

SPEAKER_02 19:24

Maybe the old place, like you guys come up with a great great names.

SPEAKER_01 19:28

Yeah. Um, how many bunnies are rabbits are typically at the shelter?

SPEAKER_00 19:33

Oh gosh. I mean, over the years, we've had more than a hundred at any time. Right now, if we have 20, that's a fair number. We I think only have nine right at this moment. Wow. We are fortunate, like we do a lot of adoptions. Um, and also we there's a lot of great rescue partners in Southern California who sometimes will pull from us who they need older females because they're getting requests for a lot of dates. So, one thing with rabbits, they do like a partner, and so they can be bonded. Uh, they have to pick their partner. Yeah, they're very they are peaky about that. And so um, you know, they will pull from that, and they have to be um usually at least a month or two outside of being fixed, so the hormones are out of their system. Is he sleeping?

SPEAKER_01 20:20

He looks like he's falling asleep. He probably is yeah, it's I just love that. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 20:23

So this is their nap time. Um, rabbits are crepuscular. So a lot of people are like, are they nocturnal? Nope. Yeah, I mean, they might be up at night once in a while, you'll hear them, but for the most part, they sleep. They're really active at dawn and dusk, and then they kind of sleep during the day. That's what crepuscular is. What's cool about that is if a family or whoever owns a bunny is on a typical schedule.

SPEAKER_01 20:47

I was just about to say that it's perfect.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

Yeah, people are like, Oh, but I'm not home during the day. I'm like, bunny doesn't really care.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

Yeah, you you work that nine to five, it's the most ideal schedule.

SPEAKER_02 20:55

Absolutely. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:56

Yeah.

Diet Fixing Litter Training Daily Routine

SPEAKER_02 20:56

That's cool. That's awesome. It's so funny. Like, um, I recently just lost my dog, and I was thinking, like, man, I really want to get a new dog, but like, it's just such a commitment. And then, like, you know, every day going to work, like, you're gonna feel bad, and it is, you know, so and taking him out to go to the bathroom.

SPEAKER_00 21:12

And so, rabbits, these all the rabbits are litter box trained. Okay, once they're fixed, so getting a bunny fixed, it's there's so many advantages. This is not something I knew when I was 10 years old.

SPEAKER_03 21:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:23

Um, one, it's good for their health. Uh, most rabbits will get some sort of reproductive cancer by the time they're five. And if you think about that, that's in nature, that's kind of when their eggs would be old or whatever, right? They'd be getting out of the gene pool. Got it. But um, if they get fixed and they're indoors and they have a good diet, they can live to be eight to twelve years old. And some of our volunteers have had 15 year old bodies. I know, amazing. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 21:50

Um, Jarvis, you're an old man for real.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

He is. He really, he really is.

SPEAKER_01 21:55

It's oh, there he goes. He was knocked out. I was gonna say it's so cute when they're sleeping. Their nose is still going. I don't know if he's actually asleep, but the nose is still going.

SPEAKER_00 22:04

That shows how he's really, really comfortable here.

SPEAKER_01 22:07

That's great.

SPEAKER_00 22:08

But getting them fixed, it also takes the hormones out of their system. And so that allows them to like want to use a litter box. Rabbits are very neat and clean. You never bathe a rabbit, they take care of that themselves. They will pick their spot. And if you had a bunny growing up and you're like, well, it always pooped in that corner. Yeah, it did. So they put the litter box in that corner and they go. Interesting. And once they're fixed, that really, really, really improves.

SPEAKER_01 22:36

Gotcha. Sure, yeah. Wow. Okay. So I like how you mentioned the litter box. Um being the fresh patch is a potty system for dogs. If you were to like start them off not with the litter and with the grass, do you I mean they might. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 22:52

I wouldn't really recommend it. I think this of this for rabbits more as enrichment. Yeah, gotcha. Though I mean, uh my other pair, they did poop on it a few times, but they really enjoyed playing in it and digging it up and chewing at it more than anything.

SPEAKER_02 23:06

It's all Jarvis over there. Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:08

The litter box is literally it's it like a cat litter box. You put something to absorb the urine on the bottom, it has to be a paper product, like cat litter, um wood chips. If they eat those, it'll make them very sick. So none of that. And then you put a ton of hay on top, and they just go in there and they munch on hay and they poop and pee.

SPEAKER_03 23:29

And it's wow.

SPEAKER_00 23:30

And you just dump it, wipe it out, clean it, and redo it each day, and they're very happy. So that serves the hay purpose, which this doesn't replace. Yeah. So for them, this is like fun, it's cool. It's something different. It's very different. Yeah, it's it's playtime.

SPEAKER_01 23:45

They're not in danger of being actually outside.

SPEAKER_00 23:47

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 23:48

That's so cool. Uh, okay, so for people who have never owned a rabbit, how would you describe their personalities? I know you've touched on it a little bit, but depends on the rabbit, for one.

SPEAKER_00 23:58

I mean, and it depends on how much they've been socialized and they're comfortable with their environment. So, like any animal, I always tell people, I I know there's a certain number, like a certain number of days with dogs, but like you have to give them time to get into your house and to feel comfortable and safe before they're gonna show you their real personality. Now we get to know the personalities at the shelter, and so I worked with a wonderful family last week, and she was like, The kids think this one's cute, and I'm like, that one's really skittish. And it just it's I I would not have that bunny with kids because it would scratch and do all these things, yeah, right? It's gonna be a nice bunny, but for somebody else, or be a bond up bunny. Yes, um, and she's like, Could you show me the can what's the sweetest bunny here? And it was this bunny, Romy. And we got her out, and she sat with these kids, and she just was like this, and then she was crawling on them and snuggling them, and I'm like, Oh, how perfect. Yeah, so they're curious, they're precocious. I have one who when she comes out every night and we sit and we're watching her like the Dodgers or whatever, the sports, and she gets up on the couch right behind me, or my husband, she likes to lick his head. Um, but she sits right next to me and and puts her head here and I pat her and I pat her and I pat her. And then when I stop, she digs at me like this. And sometimes she'll do a quick nip, like, why did you stop? So demanding can be also um like if you're watching over here, the other bunny, she's like poking her head out, wondering, and she's in there digging. She's like, How come I'm not getting attention?

SPEAKER_02 25:35

Yeah, they're a little mischievous. They can be mischievous.

SPEAKER_00 25:38

Um, not most bunnies though, like I said, are not snuggly, cuddly. Yeah, they're they're just they're like cats. When they want you, they want you.

SPEAKER_02 25:47

Yeah, exactly. So, what are like some funny or like maybe surprising things that bunnies do that most people like wouldn't expect?

SPEAKER_00 25:55

Um, I mean, that bunny, the other bunny, yeah, sitting maybe at some point, Pussy. Pussy, sorry, don't forget it again.

SPEAKER_01 26:02

Don't forget it. Pussy will make an appearance soon, don't worry.

SPEAKER_00 26:05

She literally, like, she's she has our whole bedroom during like, and she will get on our bed during the day, and she looks exactly like a cat would. And I always just laugh. Like, and she lays out and shows her belly, and she flops. A couple of mine really do this, it's when they flop, you know they're really comfortable, but it's so cute, and they're showing their their underside, which is like exposing. Exactly. It's like their zone, the most vulnerable part of a prey animal. And I think that is like what I'm joyful because I'm like, oh, they're really happy.

SPEAKER_02 26:41

You do trust me. Yeah, you trust us.

SPEAKER_00 26:44

Um, I think it's fun when like they literally will follow me around because I mean it that has to do with food usually. But the one who comes up on PJ, she comes up and sits with me every night. Like I got her when she was 10 days old as well, and I bottle fed her as an orphan, and she thinks that she is in charge of everyone in the house, like she's the alpha, she has no idea she's a bunny.

SPEAKER_01 27:08

Wow, that's so funny.

unknown 27:11

That's great.

SPEAKER_01 27:13

Uh cool. So I love how you touched on you know the personalities, and I think that's a huge um trait with even our other rescues that we uh work with and stuff that you know, like you said, oh, that one's so cute, and it's like, yeah, but it's not gonna be the best fit for you know, and I I love that approach with all rescues, and I think that's so important too, you know what I mean? Because you're you're trying to get the rabbit into the perfect home. Of course, you don't want to give a family something that's not gonna work out and stuff, of course. So with that in mind, and people going to adopt and stuff, what are some of the biggest misconceptions people have about bunnies as pets?

SPEAKER_00 27:49

So many. Um, one that they're a starter pet. It's kind of like we were talking earlier before we started rolling like guinea pigs or or hamsters and whatnot. No, guinea pigs aren't starter pets either. But no no pet is a starter pet. Right. Okay, like let's be real. But um that people really think like, oh, it's just a rabbit. Like, again, I can throw it out in the backyard and a hutch, and that's that. Um, they are exotic animals. It's harder to find vets who will take them. Um so that that is just number one, that they require a lot of care. They do requ they require you to pay attention to are they eating, are they pooping? You want a rabbit's digestive system always working. And if it slows down, that is like red alert. You need to get them to a vet or get them some kind of attention.

SPEAKER_03 28:36

Yeah, gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 28:37

Um, so for that reason, you can't just go on vacation and leave them home alone with a big bowl of food. They need to be checked on and cared for. Gotcha.

SPEAKER_02 28:45

Okay. And it's uh the snuggly thing too. Um, although I will say, uh, Jarvis and Puzzy, we were we kind of had them out.

SPEAKER_00 28:53

I know they've been handled a lot. Yes, okay, okay. Okay, so that's the other thing is like I always tell people they want that instantly, right? And I'm like, but you have to invest in it. So like as much as you put into your pets, yeah, they eventually hopefully we'll see, but we'll give it back to you.

SPEAKER_02 29:11

You gotta like build the trust.

SPEAKER_00 29:13

Yeah, also I always tell people when you get a bunny home, we recommend that so people think they live in hutches. Hutches are bad, they are they're tiny, they're small. Um, they're usually they have wire on the bottom and it wears the hair off the bottom of their feet and can cause bleeding and infection. So uh we recommend um a four by four like dog X pen. And I'm happy to share that with you guys if it helps. Like you can post it online for folks or link to us. And they that is the right amount of space for them to be able to get out, stretch, hop around a little, for them to have their litter box, their water bowl. I always put like a cardboard heidi hole in there so if they ever feel unsafe, they have a place to go. Um, and it should be in a house and somewhere where people are you know walking around and they can they're being interacted with. I've had people say to me, Well, we'll just put them in the garage. And I'm like, it's not the house, it's not temperature controlled either. So rabbits, when it gets 80 degrees or above, they're very, very heat sensitive.

SPEAKER_02 30:16

Oh right. So there's so many rabbits in California. That's crazy. I know.

SPEAKER_00 30:21

Well, they might, that's why they burrow underground, right? Because it's cooler. And so that's something to be aware of. If you know your house gets really warm, you want to think about I don't have AC in in Ventura, so we freeze water bottles and run fans, and we're like we if it gets it rarely gets really bad, but if it does, they're in the coolest part of the house. Gotcha.

SPEAKER_01 30:42

Yeah, that makes total sense. Yeah, and I could totally see I feel like I've had friends that had bunnies in the garage growing up and stuff, you know, and it's just yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:51

When they're kind of in a dark place by themselves, yeah, I know, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:54

It's sad.

SPEAKER_00 30:54

That's not fun.

SPEAKER_02 30:55

No, definitely. And I think I think that's so cool, like what you do, because like this information like should be widely known, especially for people who like want to own a bunny, you know. Like, this is um really important stuff. Cool. Um, so on that note, what is what are, excuse me, what are the most important things to know before you go and get yourself a bunny?

SPEAKER_00 31:17

Their diet. I think that so first of all, okay, another myth.

SPEAKER_01 31:21

Okay, so turning it into a whole segment. So Bucks Bunny myth busted with malicious.

SPEAKER_00 31:27

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 31:28

That's a good one.

SPEAKER_02 31:29

That's a good one. Alliterative. Yeah, I like that.

SPEAKER_00 31:32

Um they don't they shouldn't eat carrots. I mean, so everyone comes. I can't tell you the number of rabbits that like they might come in and oh, there's a carrot. Um it's not good for them, right? It's got a lot of sugar. They can so a rabbit should have the time, maybe once a day the tiniest treat. Sugar is not good for their gut. It's not good for any part of them. They need it, like I said, 80% of the diet is hay. They get an eighth to a quarter cup of pellets, which is really like the the vitamins, the minerals, a little, you know, some of the protein, the calcium, all those things that they need, right? But it's my rabbits all think their pellets are candy because they they don't get it. And then they get a nice daily salad like mixed greens, romaine. They love cilantro, maybe some carrot tops are in there. So and we've got all kinds of flyers around the best type of salad. You know, you don't want too much spinach, too much calcium can help or lead to building up sludge in their bladder. So, which, you know, will be a pain later. Yeah. Um so diet is like really super, super important. Um, the other thing I always say is keep that bunny in the pen when you get it home. Um, that kind of establishes its safe home base and like do that for like a week and you go into the bunny. You go into the bunny. Um get to the bunny's level, let the bunny get to know you. The other thing that I think I would encourage people who are like, I really want a bunny, it's so cute. Yeah, don't do the Easter like thing.

SPEAKER_04 33:04

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 33:05

Or the Christmas. First of all, never, I mean, don't give an animal as a gift, right? Like go choose it together, like make the decision together, meet it together. Um, their personalities do matter, like they see how they react. And I'm people are always shocked when they come into the shelter and they're like, that one I want, that one, it's the cutest one here. And I'm like, okay, sit with it. And then the bunny ignores them, and then I bring out the other bunny, and who's just so happy to see them. Like it just depends.

SPEAKER_01 33:32

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 33:33

Um, so something for people to consider is m many or most shelters will foster. Yeah. And so if you're on the fence, foster because, like for us, we give you all the gear, we give you the food, you do the salad, and all the love and attention.

SPEAKER_02 33:50

And you really got me thinking here. Well, I'll be there tomorrow.

SPEAKER_00 33:55

You do like do that, and then we'll check in with you. You know, it might be because it's a young rabbit's before it's fixed, and that's why we need it to get out. Well, we rarely have rabbits who are before they're fixed in the shelter. Gotcha. Um, we want them socialized in a home as early as possible. Uh it might be a medical situation. It sometimes it's temperamental, right? So he's medical, that's why he's with me. But I I mean, I just love him.

SPEAKER_05 34:19

So he's so cute.

SPEAKER_00 34:21

So like so foster, and then you decide like if you really love that bunny, often you will be the first, like you'll have the first rights to adopt.

SPEAKER_03 34:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:31

Um, if not, if maybe that rabbit wasn't the right fit, you could come in, sit with other bunnies. And if it wasn't the right fit, you learned something and you did a really nice thing. You got you gave a bunny a break.

SPEAKER_05 34:42

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:43

And this would be true of dogs, cats, all kinds of animals. Absolutely. So fostering to me, like that's my kids did they we fostered tons of rabbits. I mean, since they were little, and then when they were in high school, they became the ones who did all the cleaning and feeding. And I oversaw it, of course, as the adult. And they got service hours and volunteer hours, which looked great on a college application.

SPEAKER_01 35:05

Yeah, no kidding. So, for all you young ones out there, too, yeah. You could be doing it too. Um, and I wanted to point out what you said, because we do plan to release this episode towards Easter. So um the education behind, you know, they're a lot of work. Yeah, they're a lot of work and just gifting a pet. You know what I mean? Like I'm sure there's gonna be numerous cases of people getting a rabbit for Easter. So, you know, I'm glad that you're here educating people that you know that's foster foster instead. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 35:33

They are super cute when they are this big. Yeah. Oh my goodness, nothing is cuter. And then they're this big, and they turn into forgive me, teenagers. And they really get wild, and it's before they can get fixed, they're hormonal, they stink, they pee and poop on everything. They it's crazy their behavior. We always joke. I'm like, I got the babies, I'm who want who gets them next? I don't want them after eight weeks from eight to sixteen weeks, no thanks. And um I'm teasing, but it's so, and that's when we see a lot of rabbits either get released because they're like, oh, they could go out in the wild. They cannot. They are not set up to live with wild rabbits, they have no idea how to safely eat. I mean, they they're domestic animals, yeah. Um, and I just yeah, I think that that's a critical thing is or adopt an older rabbit, yeah, right? That so the people think they're cute, then they turn into kind of these beasts, and then they don't it it's expensive to get a rabbit fixed. It can be anywhere from 200 to 600. I guess I mean I'm guessing right now, dollars. People are un they're unwilling to do that. And then they have a rabbit who's hormonal as an adult, not always very nice. Getting fixed makes these bunnies just really chill and turn into like the great house pets that they are.

SPEAKER_02 36:57

Yeah, that's awesome. I never knew, I would never think that that would make such a big difference. That's like really interesting.

SPEAKER_00 37:02

I mean, they were put on this earth to procreate. You know what they say?

SPEAKER_02 37:06

There is a famous phrase, you know, breeding like rabbits. So I'm sure that doesn't come from nowhere, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:13

So I mean, uh, you kind of touched on this a little bit, but what is a healthy daily routine for a rabbit look like?

SPEAKER_00 37:19

Uh it's they're up in the morning, and um it's probably the eighth of a cup of pellets, the fresh hay, making sure they have fresh water, they get out while you're I do supervised with mine because I don't like finding chewed like chewed furniture or chewed cords, but they're out and about with us in the morning, running around, and then go to work and they get back in their pen. Um, there's usually different toys in the pen or things I change out, um, get home from work, feed them their daily salad, give them the chance to do that. Then they come back out and hang out with us through the evening, whether you know we're watching TV or you know, playing. Um, I rotate because I have multiples, and when my kids are home from college, they might have a bunny in their room. You know, we all rotate them through. Um, and then right before bed, they get a cookie, a treat that we call it cookie. But it might be like a piece of a little tiny piece of carrot, a blueberry, um, something. And what that triggers me is they want it. And so they had an appetite. I'm checking it like three times a day, a strong appetite. And I always look in their box. Oh, look, they've made rabbits poop a lot. Yeah, that's that's what I've heard. Yeah, the good news is you it's called cold, so it can go right into your garden. It's great for your garden. Well, it's not there's rabbits eat grass, right? It's just it's natural compost. Right? Yeah, it's it's you know, not like chicken or something that needs to cure.

SPEAKER_02 38:47

For sure. Um, yeah, for for you gardeners out there. Rabbit poop, rabbit poop. You'd be the best gardener in the land.

SPEAKER_00 38:53

Oh yeah. So I'm always like kind of looking in the box, making sure everyone's happy and yeah, and then the other, you know, things you rotate in, getting their nails trimmed, grooming them, making sure um they aren't if they're shedding, group grooming a lot, because rabbits clean like they lick themselves like a cat, they cannot vomit. So they ingest their hair, and if they have a bonded partner, they ingest their hair too, because they groom each other, and then sometimes that hair can get stuck in their gut. And for like Angoras, it's called wool block. Um, and that's when it's something called GI stasis happens. They slow down, they stop pooping, they stop eating, and it's very dangerous. So grooming is important, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:34

Yeah, it makes sense. Yeah. Um, should we swap bunnies? Sure. Let's give Puzzy a little chance to shine.

SPEAKER_01 39:42

Pussy Jarvis. All right, Jarvis, it was a pleasure. Look at that big boy. Oh my goodness gracious. All right, buddy.

unknown 39:51

You want to go?

SPEAKER_01 39:53

Just a little quick bunny swap for the viewers.

SPEAKER_02 39:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:58

Got the black bunny. We're bringing out Puzzy, the white bunny. Oh puzzy. Puzzy Wuzzies.

unknown 40:08

There we go. There we go.

SPEAKER_01 40:09

Onto the grass. Right, where you gonna. Yeah, there we go. Yeah, you called it.

SPEAKER_02 40:14

So, first thing first, you can see that Puzzy is a lot smaller than Jarvis.

SPEAKER_00 40:18

She's probably about five pounds.

SPEAKER_02 40:20

Wow, so like half the size of.

SPEAKER_00 40:23

That's crazy. She's um, her breed is at least a mix of an English spot.

SPEAKER_03 40:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 40:30

And there's, you know, write-ups of all kinds of different bunnies. Yeah. And like the little ones, people come in, they know this, like the little Netherland dwarfs, adorable ears. Little tiny ears.

SPEAKER_02 40:40

Feisty. Oh my gosh. Okay. That's like, you know, bunny day off. Yeah. That's yeah, there we go.

SPEAKER_00 40:48

Lion heads. I have one of my bunnies at home, is a lion head. They're very um, I don't know, feisty, but they are very opinionated. Um but this is actually like one of the most curious breeds and outgoing people. Oh, hey there. Um, another breed that's really sweet is a Dutch Rexes or have like kind of mellow lops.

SPEAKER_02 41:10

Some lops can be kind of I was gonna add, those are the ones I see a lot on social media, the lops. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:15

Super cute, right?

SPEAKER_02 41:17

Oh, with the folded ears.

SPEAKER_00 41:18

Yeah, but they've been bred to have these smushed-in flat faces, which is appealing. We're kind of like pugs, right? Dutch issue. They have uh they tend to have a lot of, they can have a lot of tooth issues, nasal breathing, all of that. And so overbreeding has contributed to that.

SPEAKER_02 41:34

Is the is there like a genetic sort of bottleneck issue? Because I know like with dog breeds, that's like a huge thing. Um but I'm curious as to like whether that happens with bunnies.

SPEAKER_00 41:43

I don't, you know, I don't know, I'm not in the breeding world enough. But the thing is when you so when somebody has a breeding issue and the breed it gets out of control at their house, say like they get out and then they're all of a sudden you started with four. We had this, um, I don't remember, in 2019, we had fifty 59 or rabbits or 58 rabbits come into the shelter on one day. And I want to say like 30 of them were babies. And right. And it was a situation where the the whoever it was started with four, and within like a year there were 59. Oh my gosh. And I would imagine all the interbreeding that there were probably some issues there.

SPEAKER_02 42:24

But hard to say. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah, that's that's really interesting. Um sorry.

SPEAKER_05 42:32

That's all right.

SPEAKER_02 42:32

Moving on to my next question. So I we kind of covered this a lot, but I don't know if there's anything that you want to like add to it. But like what sort of environments uh do bunnies need to like thrive in a home?

SPEAKER_00 42:46

Um varies. I think uh higher traffic, like now it depends on the bunny. If the bunny's very scared and you've got a lot of other pets, like then I would encourage, like, say that you we do a we do a really cool thing at the shelter. One of our volunteers, Hannah, brings in her two different dogs and her cat, and they're service dogs, so they're very well trained, they're both poodles. And we put the bunnies in the pens and we walk the dogs safely around, yeah, and we see how the rabbits react. So we get a feel for if they're comfortable with dogs, and some are just like at the cage, like, well, I want the dog, and some are genuinely scared. So we can kind of say, Oh, this is for more of a house with or without a dog. Yeah, um, the thing is, you can have the nicest dog in the whole world. We have the sweetest basset hound, and she's young, she's a year and a half old, yeah, and she doesn't want to harm the bunny, but she wants to play with it. And she would absolutely harm the bunny. So we are just I would never leave a rabbit alone with a dog. You gotta be cautious. Even if it's the sweetest dog in the world. Yeah, like what about cats? Cats are it's cats can get away from rabbits. I mean, unless the rabbit Is very small, like say I got her when she was also like this big. Oh wow. I you know, the cat might think it's like a mouse. Yeah. But cats and rabbits tend to get along, but remember the cat is always still gonna be the predator, the rabbits the prey.

SPEAKER_02 44:13

For sure.

SPEAKER_00 44:14

So you just have to respect that relationship.

SPEAKER_02 44:16

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 44:17

Um, so being conscious of where you're putting them, um, they do genuinely like like a lot of people will do their living room. Some might do a bedroom, like we ours are in bedrooms, and then they rotate out into our living room. I always have a litter box in the living room so that they know to go there.

SPEAKER_01 44:32

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 44:33

Um yeah, but we keep them in the bedrooms more because we have a dog, so for safety reasons.

SPEAKER_02 44:39

Gotcha. So I think it sounds like having their own kind of space is like pretty important.

SPEAKER_00 44:44

Yeah, I mean, depends. Like I Jarvis is in a room with two the two bonded bunnies and they kind of happily ignore each other. Yeah, oh that's good.

SPEAKER_02 44:53

Because it sounds like Jarvis is not very sociable.

SPEAKER_00 44:55

They have two gates between them. Yeah, okay. So he can't like bite anybody. But as sweet as he is, he just does not want scrapper. He doesn't he is, he's a scrapper.

SPEAKER_02 45:04

I feel like if he was a human, he'd be like a heavyweight champion or something.

SPEAKER_00 45:08

He would have in his day, yes. Yep. Little George Foreman bunny.

SPEAKER_02 45:13

Maybe he'll come out with the great grill one day.

SPEAKER_00 45:15

Tyson, I don't know.

Enrichment Ideas Plus Fresh Patch Grass

SPEAKER_01 45:20

Yeah, there you go. That's Jarvis. Oh cool. So we know you've used Fresh Patch for your bunnies. Yes. And um, obviously you were telling us before we started filming how great it is and everything. But how did you first discover Fresh Patch?

SPEAKER_00 45:35

You guys, advertising pays off. Woo! Uh it came into my feed. There we go. My in my algorithm, my my Instagram.

SPEAKER_01 45:46

Yeah. Was it uh was it a dog or a cat on it, or was it a rabbit? It was a dog. It was a dog, okay.

SPEAKER_00 45:50

Um, I think it's because I mean, I'm always I always am like, what? How did this get here? Yeah, but we just recently gotten a puppy. Gotcha. And I'd started posting puppy pictures and cute things like that in our new dog, and we know what we're doing over here with California. So it popped in, and but you know, we're in California. I don't need a grass patch for my dog, right? Like she can just go in the backyard.

SPEAKER_01 46:14

Yeah, but I'm not an apartment or anything. No, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 46:17

I'm like, but I can have a grass patch. So of course I'm like to my husband, I think I'm gonna buy this patch of grass from for the bunnies. And he he's pretty funny. He's like, uh, really? You're gonna spend whatever, like whatever, I don't know, 30, 36?

SPEAKER_01 46:33

That one right there is 30. Yeah, 30, 30, okay, 30. Seriously, Melissa? That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_00 46:38

He's like, can you just go down to Lowe's and like cut off a piece of sod? And I'm like, hmm, have you looked at the sod? Yeah, yeah. It's got all of the fertilizer in it and netting in it, and it's not, I don't know if it's clean and safe, and I've researched it, and this company says blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

SPEAKER_03 46:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:53

And he's like, Why, why do you ask? You're gonna do what you want. So I got it for them to be, and my son was, oh my gosh, he was home from college when it arrived, and I was working from home that day, and I was in my office out back, and he like runs out with the box of grass. And I get out of the meeting, and I'm like, oh my god. So we bring it in and we immediately put it on. And they were all kind of like, hmm. But then like my bonded pair immediately started sitting on it and sniffing it, and then the other one, PJ, we put it for we gave her one, and she started chin, like when uh you know how cats mark things with their cheeks, and she started chinning at rabbits chin things. She chinned every blade of grass, and so it was a big hit. And then I came out like two mornings later, and then it was on the ground with the bonded pear, and they had like dug up half of it and torn it, and I was so bummed. I'm like, you ruined my grass. But my husband was like, that's what they're supposed to do. Isn't that what you wanted? And I'm like, Yeah, you're right. So anyway, I'm sure they had a great time. They did, and they they love the grass.

SPEAKER_02 48:02

My dog used to tear up the grass a little bit, but he he had so much fun doing it. Like, so I was like, he was already older when I started working here, so I was like, ah, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to train him on it, but you know, maybe a little rush.

SPEAKER_00 48:14

Anyway, and then I posted that I did it, yeah, and I tagged you guys, and then we started like, I don't know who I started talking to. Yeah, too John or we're like, well, we should meet each other. Well, the funniest part was I ordered it, I had no idea where it was coming from. Oh, and then it gets here and it's like oxnard, and I'm like, Are you kidding me? Yeah, I could have not I know you ship, you don't do direct, but like or but I was like, Are you kidding me? It's in my backyard. Yeah, oh no, you can stop by. We're actually just implemented that this year.

SPEAKER_01 48:43

Yeah, if anybody's listening, you want to stop by for a patch. We're doing that. Oh, that's cool.

SPEAKER_00 48:47

Okay, well then I'll tell all the money brigade.

SPEAKER_01 48:50

The local community, bring it on in.

SPEAKER_00 48:52

But I was like, I just had something shipped from Ox. But I was happy to support a local business.

SPEAKER_02 48:59

That's so crazy, though, that you kind of like independently found it.

SPEAKER_00 49:03

Yeah, well, then I started getting everyone else's patches of grass ads, and I don't know how many competitors are out there. There's some. We have a few, yeah. But there's a few. I I mean you were local, and at that point I was like, I'm in. This is my this is my grass.

SPEAKER_01 49:16

Appreciate it. Yeah, I love the local community, you know, supporting the local businesses and stuff. It's amazing. And um, that's really cool. I'm glad you found it.

SPEAKER_03 49:24

And yeah, she's just that's so cool.

SPEAKER_01 49:26

And for everyone listening, you know, if you are interested in getting it for your rabbit or bunny, um, check it out, freshpatch.com. We do have subscriptions, so if they do chew it up or mess it on up, you'll be on subscription, you'll get a new one delivered right to your door, so don't even worry. You can always hit up our wonderful customer service team for any instances like that. But I love that story. That's so great. That is amazing.

SPEAKER_00 49:48

I think and I kind of water it, like I missed it.

SPEAKER_01 49:51

You missed it. That's exactly what we tell people to do. Mist it. Um, for the dogs, we have a stay fresh spray, which is like a lemongrass scented spray. I don't know if lemongrass is good for rabbits, probably not. I know it's not good for the cats.

SPEAKER_05 50:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 50:01

Um, but yes, you can just miss spray it. As soon as you hose the thing, it you're gonna ruin it. Yeah, it's gonna get soaked, of course. But yeah, just a light miss, it'll prolong the life of it to your next delivery.

SPEAKER_00 50:10

I think it lasted like a good three to four weeks, to be honest.

SPEAKER_01 50:14

No, and that's what we've got to stuff. Yeah, exactly. If they're not ripping it up and they're not potting on it, yeah, it's and it's in a cooled environment and you're missing it. Yeah, we have, I mean, we've had people last up to like six weeks, you know, when they're not potting on it.

SPEAKER_02 50:26

So my gosh, talk about enrichment. Yeah. I was just petting puzzy. I feel enriched now. That's so good.

SPEAKER_01 50:34

Oh man. So on to the next question. How do rabbits interact with grass compared to other enrichment options? All are viewing. We're getting the it's just a just lining up. She can hear it right now. Yeah. Do you know what I'm talking about? Ah, they nibble it.

SPEAKER_00 50:49

Yeah, well, watch.

SPEAKER_01 50:50

There we go.

SPEAKER_00 50:51

She's nibbling it, she's gonna chin it, she's gonna dig at it. My one bunny blossom will like literally pulls the whole thing up and shreds it from like yeah, but she also will shred anything like so. She that's her outlet. Um, it's safe to eat if they want to eat it. Yeah. Uh, they did nibble on the cardboard, so I put one of them in kind of a bigger litter box at some point, like just once they chewed it down.

SPEAKER_01 51:17

Gotcha. So yeah, we do offer wooden sleeves as well that go around it. Yeah. So we have oak ones and pine ones.

SPEAKER_00 51:24

So pine would be probably is it untreated?

SPEAKER_01 51:27

Um, we can sell them as untreated. We do put a stain on them usually for the dogs, but I mean we could leave it unfinished. Don't do any stains. I'm part of that's that's great. I'm part of the product development team here. So I will thank you. I will take all that. That'll be brought up in our meeting on Monday. Uh we have been looking into expanding our rabbit products and stuff, you know. And we, I don't know if you've seen our cat condo.

SPEAKER_05 51:49

I have.

SPEAKER_01 51:50

So we were like, oh, maybe that'd be good for rabbits. And we've sent it to some, and we're like, they're like, this is great. And then they're like five days later sent us a picture, like, well, this is what it looks like five days after, and it was it was torn up. We're like, okay, like good to know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:04

Yeah. They they do tear, I mean the teeth, it's the teeth. They tear stuff up. Hi.

SPEAKER_01 52:08

Yeah. What is a more typical enrichment option outside of grass that um people usually cardboard. Cardboard, okay.

SPEAKER_00 52:16

I get the you know, whatever chewy order, and we cut, I we sell like cardboard castles. We have a key, so we have this cool little uh bunny cottage, and we sell stuff at the shelter. We found that um, and we're a nonprofit, right? But we found that people would come in to adopt and they didn't have the right supplies. And what they sell out there, like they want to sell you this tiny little guinea guinea pig cage thing that is not sufficient for a rabbit. They need a four by four that's tall because they will some of them will climb out or pop out. Um so we we sell cardboard houses there, but uh, it's hard for me to want to pay$25 for cardboard. So I take a box, I cut holes in it, um, cut, you know, different things, and they love to tear that apart. Uh like apple sticks, willow sticks. Um you know, you can make a ton of toys on your own. You can take paper towels or toilet paper holders, put a treat like say a blueberry right in the middle, shove hay in there, do sisal. Oops, yeah, do sisal, you know. Gotcha. And then the rabbit will spend all day tearing that whole thing apart. Yeah. Um, there's all kinds of like wick like wicker willow balls you can buy online and you could shove something in. They're very motivated if they have something to get to.

SPEAKER_01 53:36

Yeah, it's like the con toy for a dog. You know, put the peanut butter in there or something.

SPEAKER_00 53:40

Stacking cups. So a lot of baby toys keys, they like to throw keys, plastic balls, that hard plastic they can't really chew through. Gotcha. But the stacking cups, I once had a bunny clover. Um, I would put food, his food, in the cups, and he would go through each cup, and then every morning he would bring me the cup to refill his food. So that I mean, that's kind of like a trick, right?

SPEAKER_01 54:05

Yeah, I was gonna say that goes back to our other question. Yeah, that's they they learn, they do, they learn routine, and you know, that's awesome. That is so cool. Well, I'm glad the grass is working out for you and everyone listening, you know, check it out. Fresh batch.

SPEAKER_00 54:16

It's also like it's cool. Yeah, right? It's a different texture, and it's cool. So, like one thing I with rabbits when it's hot, I always tell people go to Lowe's and get a big tile, like a and put it in their their enclosure, and when it's hot, and they like to lay down on something there that's very cool. And this is that.

SPEAKER_02 54:35

Did you see that big trend on TikTok? I think it was about a year ago now, but it was like get your cat a cinder block. They will absolutely love it. And they do, they just like sit, I think it's because it's cool. Yeah, you know, they kind of like sit on it, it's cool.

SPEAKER_01 54:48

They can climb in it and yeah. All our grass here is refrigerated too. So get it directly from the farm, from a refrigerator, straight to our refrigerator, and then straight to the box. So it stays very cool for a good amount of time.

SPEAKER_05 55:01

I'm gonna give you a little pets.

SPEAKER_01 55:04

Give yourself some enrichment, man. Little, little what was that? Uh what is it? Oh, you stop it.

SPEAKER_00 55:10

Yeah, a little flick.

SPEAKER_02 55:11

What's the the thump? Thump.

SPEAKER_00 55:13

So that is when it's usually a warning of some sort. Like either I'm really mad or something's scaring me, or hey everybody, when it's in the middle of the night and you've got wood floors. And let's wake up.

SPEAKER_02 55:26

Yeah, I'm here. His dog does it. Yeah, yeah. It's super, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 55:31

My dog does it when he's itching. He he does the chin scratches too. When he gets a good itch, you just call him his it's his thumper, you know. Of course. So maybe that that is why Thumper was doing it in Bambi, right?

SPEAKER_00 55:43

Yeah, maybe, or he was yeah, he was excited. Yeah, yeah, gotcha. It's it's I mean, they're quiet. So that's something we do say to people like if you want a quiet pet, other than thumping, um, they don't bark, they don't meow. Do they make a noise? Well, so that when they're really happy, they can grind their teeth. I actually that can be the real pain, like they're they have pain, but you'll notice sometimes they'll hunker down and they'll kind of grit their teeth, and that means they're really good, they're happy. Um rabbits do scream. I was gonna say scary, it's rare, but if they're in pain or there's something shocky, or and it is really frightening. Yeah, it does not happen very often. Is it loud? Oh my gosh, it's ear piercing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 56:30

It's like that uh what's the it's really scary. It's like an old um, there's like a whistle, it's like a war cry whistle from oh gosh, I forget the there's that famous social media video too of like a chipmunk or whatever.

SPEAKER_02 56:44

Yeah. And it's just like it's filming it and all of a sudden it goes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 56:48

It's a s it's it's a scream. I don't know. Did you guys see Water Chip Down ever or read it? I read it, but and I think rabbits might scream a little in that.

SPEAKER_01 56:58

Yeah, yeah. There we go. Okay, it was terrifying. Another thing I just learned how rabbits scream. They can.

SPEAKER_00 57:05

It's not it is rare, it is not common, but they can.

SPEAKER_01 57:09

Gotcha. Okay. Interesting. Did it sound like my dog earlier? No. Yeah. Louder or talk about screaming. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:15

Very high-pitched and it is not a whine. It's frightening. It's like something you haven't heard before and it makes you stop. I will sometimes if with if a bunny nips or bites, or you I I have like said to people, make a little like E sound and because then they'll know that they hurt you. And I I've done it with a couple small, like young rabbits who didn't know what they were doing, and they stopped. It got their attention, but it's not something I do often. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 57:41

Something that we haven't really talked about is um them kind of nib nibbling or biting at someone. What are like the best ways to kind of like avoid that?

SPEAKER_00 57:51

Um I mean they they really they there's gotta be a reason they're biting, and usually it's a nip and it's because they want attention. So I move away from them. I get up and walk away.

SPEAKER_01 58:05

You're not getting my attention right now.

SPEAKER_00 58:07

Right, or or I give them the attention, right? So it's always reinforced that I mean their brains are still not that big. So it's not I don't know the extent to which you could the other thing where they might nip another if another rabbit comes into play and they're wound up about it, or they're really hungry and they really want that food in your hand, and they are going to go after it and they mistake your finger and get your finger instead of the food. That's yeah, and that's not intentional. That's just I want food. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 58:36

So most rabbits like are pretty friendly with humans, just like off the bat, like well, I mean, they're cautious.

SPEAKER_00 58:44

It depends on how much they've been socialized. Gotcha. So, which is why being at the animal shelter is a cool thing, is that a lot of the volun like the volunteers get to work with the bunnies. We have this really fun thing. This is another thing for people with younger kids. I always get the question like, I want my kids to volunteer. And we have definite rules around volunteering, and we can get those to you. You have to be a certain age to you, and then you're with a parent or guardian, and then you're can be on your own, I think, after 16. But we do this thing called rescue readers, and it's for younger kids, and they come in one Sunday a month, and they sit in the pens, and we put like obviously we put the really sweet bunnies out, yeah. And they read to the bunnies, and the bunnies love to it walk on them and sniff them and nudge them.

SPEAKER_02 59:31

And so is that open to adults? Because like that sounds pretty fun.

SPEAKER_00 59:36

Why not? It is, it is fun.

SPEAKER_01 59:39

That's a classic question about that.

SPEAKER_00 59:42

It sounds like you need to foster a bunny.

SPEAKER_01 59:47

Yeah, yeah. That's great. I love that. That's a great program to have in your own program.

SPEAKER_00 59:51

I mean, that's I mean anything that like gets kids interested in animals and right and how to take care of them and interact with them safely.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:00

Yeah, totally. And it's like what you were mentioning before with 4-H. I have a lot of friends that grew up doing 4-H and lambs in the backyards, goats. I mean, I've I saw them all. I was never in it, but I would help them from time to time and stuff. And I know you mentioned that before that that was kind of a program too. You guys would go read to them as well. And yeah, great way to interact with the kid, you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:19

We never raised livestock with our kids. Um, it was just it was a lot of volunteering and service type projects. So um, yeah. And we, you know, the rabbits were just the house pets.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:30

Yeah, yeah. And yeah, 4-H is such an amazing program and stuff. I've always loved going to the fair and seeing the animals, but just knowing my friends raise that animal and stuff, and like it's just it's just cool.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:40

The kids get like true hands-on learning. The other, I mean, I'm gonna do my 4-H plug. Um, I we were in Loma Vista 4 H for years, and um public speaking, my kids really got to learn how to do that. They would have to do presentations, and eventually my daughter got a scholarship to college on with the speech team. Wow, you know, but she learned about public speaking there, and that was my mom told me when I was unbeknownst. She's like, I put you in 4-H so you could learn to speak in front of a group of people. Oh, there you go.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:11

So here we are today. Yeah, you know, a career is taken off, yeah, we don't know about podcasts.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:17

But so it wasn't like necessarily to raise animals, it was to learn responsibility and to public speaking.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:24

And I know that's a huge focus of the whole 4-H aspect in general.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:27

And learn by doing. Exactly. Yeah, that's certainly cool.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:31

So, one more question. This is gonna be more for like the clip, but I feel like we've already answered this. But why is real grass beneficial for rabbits?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:39

Oh, real grass is beneficial for rabbits because it really provides enrichment. Um, house rabbits are are very happy inside and they're safe inside, but it gives the it brings the outdoors in. And I think maybe it's as good for the humans to see it with their bunny as it is for the rabbits to be on a different texture. And it's it's real grass when it's safe, real grass. There's no pesticides, there's nothing additive on it, right? You can see, like, they don't want to get off this. Um, it's cool, they can nibble at it, they can dig at it. And for rabbits, like enrichment is a critical, critical part of keeping their mind busy and also keeping them from getting in trouble around your house.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:21

There we go.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:22

Save those cords, get some grass.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:24

Yes. Freshpatch.com. You heard it here. Oh, yeah. Look at that. There we go. Puzzy! Puzzy.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:31

What do you say?

Foster Rabbits And Final Takeaways

SPEAKER_01 1:02:34

Said, I love real grass. That's awesome. Well, thank you so much, Melissa. This has been an amazing episode. We've learned so much, and thank you for bringing Jarvis and Puzzy. Amazing. Yeah. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:47

Well, thanks for the interest. And we'll share all our links and info with you. But of course, rabbits make amazing pets. And I really like if there's one last thing, is I want to emphasize that, foster. If you are wondering if this is the right pet for you, foster, foster, foster.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:04

There we go. So for all our local listeners, check out Ventura County Animal Services. Um, if you are anywhere else that um, you know, not in the area and you are interested in rabbits and stuff, or listening to Melissa.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:17

Yeah, foster all of them.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:18

But you know, this is the rabbit episode, so um, you know, go check out your local shelter, um, especially those in Ventura County. And you can probably meet Melissa. She's there on Saturday, so go check out if you're a weekend warrior. Yeah, we'll advocate, you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:33

All right, thanks you guys. This was finally. Thank you for being here.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:36

And last time, hit that subscribe button if you're watching on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify Podcast, follow at Fresh Patch on all social media. Check out freshpatch.com, check out venturic animal services, and we will see you guys on the next episode of the Fresh Patch Podcast. It's been a fun one. Thank you guys. Absolutely, thank you. Thanks for listening to the Fresh Patch Podcast, where good pets get it. We hope you enjoyed the show. Give us a like or a follow and shop all real grass supplies at freshpatch.com.