Baking Treats

I have seen several recipes for baked bunny treats on a couple sites now.  Today, I decided to try making some.  I read a few recipes and came up with this one based on the ingredients I had available in my pantry:
1/4 c. rabbit pellets

1/4 c. Quaker oats

2 oz. applesauce baby food jar

small pinch of rabbit hay

I pulsed the pellets and oats in a coffee grinder, then mixed them together in a bowl.  I added the applesauce and mixed it until it started clumping.  I pulsed the hay in the grinder, too, just to break down the long strands a bit.  I added that to the mix and a splash of water.  On a parchment paper lined baking sheet, I pressed the mixture into a patty about 1/4″ thick.  Baked at 350 for 40 minutes.  Half way through baking, I flipped the whole thing over.  After 40 minutes, it looked like this:

It probably doesn’t look all that great to you, but it smelled really good!

I let it cool a bit, then broke it up into a bunch of pieces.  I let the bunnies sample it when it was completely cooled.  Crispin and Nibbles seemed to like it a lot.  Junie munched on her piece, but left a bunch on the floor, so I don’t know if she was quite as crazy about it.

Nomming.

Junie can’t decide if she really likes it or not.

Crispin has no problem deciding.

Nibbles ate his right up…

…even though he was a bit tired.

The Hay Cubes

As mentioned previously, I had planned to wait to give the bunnies the hay cubes that came in yesterday’s wag.com order.

 

I gave them each a hay cube this morning.

 
I’m weak, I know.  I just like giving presents!!  Anyway, they really seem to like them!  Nibbles has already half eaten his and Junie and Crispin are fighting over who gets to gnaw on it next.  The hay cubes are just super-compressed hay that forms a very solid cube.  It’s tasty and gives the bunnies to chew on.  You can watch Nibbles munching on his and Junie and Crispin stealing it from each other in this video:

 

A Great Deal!

Wag.com:  It’s a pet supply website that mainly has items for cats and dogs, but they do have a fairly nice selection of items for small animals, including (of course!) rabbits!  A while ago (not sure how long…couple months maybe?) I created an account to order some stuff, but then decided not to.  Fast forward to Monday.  I got an email from them saying I had been given a $15 credit on my account–no strings attached!  I checked it out and they had indeed put $15 in my account!  I was able to buy three things for the bunnies and only paid $5 in shipping costs.  One of the great things about the order (besides the free money to spend!) was that the order I placed Monday afternoon got here today (Wednesday)!  I live in VA and the order shipped from PA.

I would definitely recommend signing up for their site if you have pets–maybe you’ll get the credit, too!  It was certainly a nice surprise.

 

Anyway, the bunnies seem to really like the stuff they got so far.  I’m saving the bag of timothy hay cubes for later.  Gotta spread out the presents, ya know?  Don’t want those bunnies to be too spoiled… 😉

 

First up, Nibbles’ new toy.  It looks kinda gross, but it’s a dowel rod with dried apple slices wrapped around it!

Nibbles tentatively takes a sniff and a lick.

Nibbles tests it out.

I think he likes it!

Intense bunny chewing face = toy success!

The destruction after just a few minutes.

Next, Crispin and Junie were introduced to their new toy.

It seems unassuming enough.  A wicker basket that can double as a hiding spot.

Nothing too fancy.

Crispin checks it out first.

It’s good!

Now Junie hops over to make sure Crispin’s not having all the fun.

NOM NOM NOM NOM

Both of them sat there for quite a while, just chewing away.

I’ll let you know how the timothy hay cubes go over with the bunnies later.  Since it’s food, I’m guessing they’ll like it well enough!

Treats

Our bunnies aren’t trained very well.  We can’t make them do tricks, or stand up on command, or retrieve things for us.  They are, however, very well trained in listening for and responding to the treat jar opening.  See for yourself:

 

A Smorgasbord of Pictures and Videos

Since Crispin has to take his medicine for the next little while and since he won’t take it without it being mixed with baby food, I decided that all the bunnies should get a little baby food treat after dinner.  Pureed fruit–what’s not to like?

 
Here’s Crispin with his apple/banana/medicine blend.  He likes it (and I had focusing issues…sorry):

Next, Junie wasn’t going to let Crispin have all the treats.  She gladly licked up some apple/banana baby food (without the medicine, but all over her face, thank you):

And, of course, not wanting to be left out of the party, Nibbles helped himself to some deliciousness, too:

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Earlier today and yesterday I took some pictures of Junie and Crispin.  First, we have Junie sitting on Crispin’s head.  Lovely!

Later on, though, she was feeling more compassionate and offered her snuggling services:

D’awwww!!