The Dread Pirate Rabbits aka Westley!

So the Bunny has been confirmed as a boy and now has a name - Westley, named for a character from one of Geri's favourite movies; The Princess Bride.

Westley - The Dread Pirate Roberts

In the movie, Westley inherits the title of 'The Dread Pirate Roberts' .... which logically leads us to The Dread Rabbit Westley. But of course!!!!!

And you just know that sooner or later, our Westley is going to be sporting a little black mask and bandana compliments of Geri, don't you? 

Horrendous teeth there, Buddy.

We took Westley to the vet yesterday and he confirmed that Westley's teeth are in an awful state. No wonder he is so skinny! These teeth have been stopping him from eating comfortably and need dealing to without question.

However, these teeth aren't just too long but are also not aligned properly. This means that it isn't simply a matter of having them trimmed once and then managing their growth through good husbandry, because due to the fact that the teeth don't 'match up' they will never be worn down properly by eating high fibre foods and tree branches. So, the vet gave us two options. The first was to bring Westley in every month to have them trimmed or to have the teeth removed completely. We have elected to have the problematic teeth removed in order to spare Westley the ongoing stress of having the teeth constantly trimmed as he will be having a general anesthetic when he is neutered, so it makes sense to have the teeth removed at the same time. The vet assured us that rabbits that have undergone this procedure manage very well without their front teeth as long as their back teeth are ok - which Westley's are.

Oh La La! The Hoppy Hilton

Westley is now ensconced in his very own two level condo. He is a bit perturbed by the ramp which accesses the lower level at this stage; having only shifted house today, but I'm sure he will figure it out overnight. He will spend his nights and any time during the day that we aren't home, in the hutch.
 

You expect me to timeshare with Hedgehogs? REALLY??? 

During the day while we are home he spends his time in his 'playpen' out on the grass. Yup, that pen is a spare hog pre release pen which I don't need at the moment as it is winter.

What IS that thing in there?

 The cats are quite perturbed by Westley. Miss Effie; running true to character, is mighty curious and isn't too worried by His Hopiness. Mme Coco is also her usual suspicious, aloof self. Mr Tyrion is becoming cautiously curious and Wee Lisbeth's nose is well and truly out of joint. She spent the first few days Westley was with us sitting inside the house, growling and glaring at The Dread Rabbit Westley whilst he sat out in his playpen totally oblivious.

All set for another stormy night here! Bring it ON!

We've had a few nights of really bad weather with extremely high winds with driving rain and poor Yoda's and Westley's hutches got a bit flooded (their bedrooms were warm and dry though) so I have jury rigged rain covers for the hutches until I can make something more permanent.

Hmmmmm, I think I will change the name of this blog to reflect its expanding animal participants...