Willow

So.....
We got a rabbit.
As a pet.
But like... a big rabbit.
A GIANT RABBIT.

What even is happening ???

Meet Willow!  

Our Flemish Giant bunny, now a part of the family! 

Macy isn't quite sure what to think...

Ooof

We got Willow on December 15, 2018.  Blu, Xander, and I drove to Lubbock to pick her from from a Flemish Giant breeder.  We had a bit of an adventure getting to the breeder's home, to begin with, because I'm maybe not the best with direction?  I got us lost and kinda stuck in a very muddy middle-of-nowhere dirt road?  Whatever.  We made it.  :) 

We thought we'd end up with a beige/tan Flemish Giant bunny, but when we saw and then held Willow (even though she was totally freaked out which made us freak out to try to hold her), we knew she was THE bunny.  Originally going to be named Reepicheep (shoutout C.S. Lewis), that named just didn't fit her.  So at Chick-fil-a that evening, we ended up with settling on "Willow".  And it's perfect for her!

Willow was approximately six months old when we got her... so we estimate her birthday to be sometime in June. :)  And she was approximately 15ish lbs (definitely kept growing for about 4 months after we got her!).  The breeder gave us some very generic instructions on how to take care of her, and we drove home with a stinky, furry rodent in tact!  I mean, honestly, we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into.  

The first couple of months that we had Willow, it almost felt like we had brought home a new baby.  There was adjusting and transitioning and "what the heck are we doing" and there was some feelings of being overwhelmed.  Blu made Willow a crate because the crate we purchased at Petsmart (largest one they had) was TOO SMALL for Willow.  Sheesh.  Willow lived in the crate in our back living room (what?) and we would let her out every chance we got so she could roam around the room.  She naturally just stayed in the back room, because she couldn't walk on the tile/wood in any other room.  But pottying was an issue, even as we tried to litter box train her (which you can do, like you would a cat!).  

Eventually we decided to move Willow outdoors under a well-shaded area.  omg SHE HAS SUCH A GREAT LIFE.  As we are much more concerned with her during hot months rather than during cold weather, we wanted to make sure she wouldn't get too hot inside her crate.  We let her out every day to have free range in our backyard!  She eats grass and ivy (which we have plenty of) and hops around like a little (giant) bunny!  We make sure she doesn't eat the vegetable garden.  She has dug a burrow, at this point, that kinda goes under our swing in one corner of our yard.  I don't want it to get too much bigger, but her burrow is pretty cute I must admit.  

Willow is SO SOFT, especially right behind her ears where there's a pure white spot!  She's getting so much better about being around people, and letting us pick her up and hold her.  We think she's equally cute and stinky and hilarious.  It's so entertaining to be sitting on our patio and then all of the sudden a giant bunny hops by... And she's certainly a good point of conversation.  Willow and Macy more or less get along -- Willow wants to be friends; Macy is sometimes tolerant and sometimes very intent on just ignoring Willow.  

So there you have it.  

More adventures to come, I'm sure, with our giant bunny.  But Willow has really become a part of the fam -- super fun, super weird.  We wouldn't want it any other way.  :) 

Oh yea -- follow her on Instagram: @willow_the_giant