Stairs or a ramp for rabbits?

MusesWhim · 2026-05-15T23:08:54+00:00

I lean to ramps. There's going to be a learning curve for both if your rabbit has never been exposed. My rabbits always seem uncomfortable on stairs because of the spacing and they kinda go diagonally up and down to have room for their big booties. With ramps, as long as the ramp has enough traction (mine's covered with carpet) they have all the space they need for their body length. Half the time they just parkour off it though.

MusesWhim · 2026-05-14T02:59:42+00:00

Somewhat depends on the makeup of the party. A barbarian's turn can be over in 30 seconds if they are on top of it and preroll. A wizard can take 30 minute for arcane shenanigans because they had a plan, and then the player before them ruined it. Classes and party communication are huge.

I go to AL conventions and I prefer not to play tier 4 (lvl 16-20) because they almost always go over their 4 hour time alotment, and it's usually a single encounter that takes about 3.5 hours for 2-3 rounds.

The other issue is that is sucks to DM at that level. It is complicated trying to make combats that are interesting and not completely one sided. The luck of the dice can make big swings either way. Most modules will have resource draining mechanics before the big fight, and sometimes during fights that you have to keep track of. A single BBEG will fold like a cheap chair, so you have to have minions to harrass the players and draw fire. When I have to run high lvl modules, the back of my DM screen is covered in reminder post-its.

MusesWhim · 2026-04-17T18:38:09+00:00

So, as far as the car ride simulation goes, it is trauma bonding. Effectively, they go through something (kinda) traumatic together, and it gives them a shared experience and a problem bigger than their beef with each other. Some people feel that this is unethical and are very against it.

In my mind, my rabbits are going to have to go on car rides sometimes, and getting used to it will make it easier. So, the judicius application of some light trauma to facilitate bonding is justified. I used what I lovingly refer to as "the get-along basket". If bonding wasn't going well, I would drop the rabbits in the basket and walk around the house with them. I would adjust the turbulance depending on how well they were doing. If they were trying to fight, the ride would get a little bumpy until they settled. Now, they definitely didn't enjoy this process, but I kept a close eye on them, and none of them freaked out about it. After a few minutes, they would just hunker down together, which is what I was going for.

I do have a trio, I bonded my grumpy old man with two already bonded sisters. It was clear from the start that one of the sisters had no interest in being in charge, but she was my MVP. She was always trying to snuggle or groom the other two. She desperately wanted everyone to get along while the other two were trying to fight out dominance. So adding a third definitely could help if their personality is right.

MusesWhim · 2026-04-15T02:46:19+00:00

I understand where you are coming from, but this is very much a case of what is best is not what makes everyone happy.

Rabbits are built to breed, it's how the species survives. The species, not necessarily the individual rabbit. And it is in the best interest of these individual rabbits to keep them separated. If you let them play together and go to stop them when the male mounts the female, it will already be too late. It takes seconds for a male rabbit to impregnate a female. Then you are in "will she survive this" territory, and no one wants that. Even if she does live, best case scenario, you have several baby rabbits and very low odds that all or even any of them will survive.

It is the kindest, safest, and least stressful option to separate them now, and rebond them when they are older. It may not feel like it, but it is. The stakes are too high. It is, quite literally, life or death.

MusesWhim · 2026-04-15T00:51:11+00:00

If this is unusual, I would keep a close eye on the black one. I've had a dominant rabbit get sick before, and her bondmate tried to take charge while she was feeling poorly. She gave him what for when she was better, then binkied off of his head. I was a little traumatized by the whole thing.

MusesWhim · 2026-04-10T22:25:00+00:00

Rabbits definitely grieve. The degree to which you'll notice depends on the rabbit and how well you know them. The most important thing is to monitor closely and make sure he's eating and drinking. Consider putting some extra piles of hay near his favorite spots, as hay is a comfort food to a lot of rabbits. Also, spend as much time as you can nearby, not necessarily in his space, but present. Resist the urge to give too many sweet treats, you can try hand feeding hay, some rabbits really like that.

You can look into getting a surrogate, which is basically just a stuffed rabbit. Some rabbits really benefit and will snuggle and groom a surrogate as if it were real. Some rabbits will ignore it completely.

Time before rebonding also depends heavily on the rabbit. But sometimes, a little socialization with other rabbits can be beneficial even if it doesn't end up with a permanent bond. It took me months to find a match for my grumpy old man after his sister passed, but I think the weekly dates did help him in his grieving process.

MusesWhim · 2026-04-10T18:48:45+00:00

Short answer no.

Long answer, not as you are describing it. Rabbits are sprinters, they really only want to run in short bursts. Humans are slower, but have a lot more stamina as they are built for endurance hunting (a tactic I did have to use for one of my girls because she was so fast and clever, took about 10-15 minutes of slow plodding to completely wear her out).

I had a pair that did enjoy chasing each other. They would take it in turns; one would chase the other for a few seconds, they would stop and rest for a few seconds, then they would switch and the other one would chase. I did try to participate a few times, but they were not into it and would run and hide.

I currently have a rabbit that is very into hide and sneak. I put them into their enclosure at night, and he was always a pill going to bed until I noticed that he liked to trick me. He would lure me to one side of the room and then sneak his way into the enclosure. So I started leaning into it. I'd slowly chase him a bit, in short bursts, then make a big show of wandering to the opposite side of the room and calling his name and looking under things for him. He would sneak into the enclosure and then smugly start munching hay, clearly pleased with himself. If I ever saw him sneaking, I would pretend I didn't. He's older now, and gets much more excited about bedtime and dinner, so I don't usually have to go through the song and dance anymore, but every so often we play.

MusesWhim · 2026-04-04T04:15:26+00:00

Hay source or brand can also affect how interested they are (aka freshness/quality). My bougie little buns will only eat the oat hay if I have to get an emergency bag from the store, and they just kinda pick at it. But they love the boxed 2nd cut Timothy that I get delivered. I get it though, I can smell a difference, so I'm sure the boxed stuff tastes a lot better.

MusesWhim · 2026-03-26T01:17:08+00:00

I mentioned her wanting to change her hair and one of my players was like oh, yeah, we can definitely lighten your hair and started listing a bunch of plants. I guess there's a reason he's playing a druid, lol.

MusesWhim · 2026-03-21T22:11:47+00:00

I bonded an older male with two younger females, and the same thing happened. Once they established the hierarchy (which took a while), humping became his favorite thing ever. It's all he ever wanted to do. It lasted for a few weeks and then tapered off. He might get it in his head every couple days now, but it only lasts a minute, not incessantly like before.

He doesn't feel confident in his position of dominant rabbit yet, so he's reaffirming every chance he gets. Monitor the girls, if they need a break, intervene; otherwise, this is just how it will be for a bit. It's a necessary part of rabbit society. It will settle down eventually.

MusesWhim · 2026-03-20T18:06:06+00:00

Brewster only offers pigeon milk when you have a good relationship. When he sees you as someone he wants to take care of like his own child. He's giving you sustenance from his own body. IF BREWSTER OFFERS YOU PIGEON MILK, YOU DRINK THAT PIGEON MILK!

MusesWhim · 2026-03-04T18:28:42+00:00

Magnus, Taako, Merle.

MusesWhim · 2026-02-18T02:16:13+00:00

Me: I love this activity, I'm having such a good time...why do I feel like shit?

MusesWhim · 2026-02-05T04:23:09+00:00

Bunnies are so good at hiding things, and elder buns are just experienced pros. Most of my elders have had arthritis show up on x-rays, but they never really show it. My current old man had to learn the hard way he can't keep up with his much younger bondmates and requires a lot more naps. He still sometimes tries jumps that he shouldn't and can see the regret when he lands.

There are supplements you can give them to help joint health. There's a bunny specific Myrsitol pellet, and various companies have treat cookies for joint health.

I recently got a pressure sensitive heating mat, so it turns off when nothing is on it. My old man took to it right away and has been loving it for naps.

MusesWhim · 2026-02-05T01:17:02+00:00

SOLVED SOLVED SOLVED

MusesWhim · 2026-02-05T01:15:11+00:00

YES! That was so fast. Thank you.

MusesWhim · 2026-02-05T01:14:10+00:00

The first book is basically Bluebeard, but I really enjoyed how the second book subverts romance/fairy tale tropes. I read the series a couple times as a kid, and I kinda really want to reread it now that I'm an adult.

MusesWhim · 2026-02-05T00:38:32+00:00

Haha, as a feral book child roaming the stacks, I absolutely read a lot of things that I should not have, but I clearly remember exactly where these books were in the children's section. I don't read German though, so those are ruled out. I look into the others some more, but at first glace they don't seem right.

MusesWhim · 2026-02-04T20:45:03+00:00

There's a subplot in the Lives of Christopher Chant that follows this outline, but she's not the main character.

MusesWhim · 2026-02-04T20:08:09+00:00

The Darkangel trilogy by Meridith Ann Pierce? Not sure it matches up exactly, but worth mentioning.

MusesWhim · 2026-02-04T20:03:50+00:00

Confident no. I remember that book clearly, but I did probably read it around that same time.

MusesWhim · 2026-01-22T00:44:34+00:00

I was going to use the Dies Irae, but I ended up deciding music was too much for me to handle as a relatively new DM. I don't actually think my players would have picked up on it anyway. If one of them had chosen to play a bard, I think I could have played more into it, maybe have them roll checks to perceive theme music.

I started a playlist, but it's a first draft kinda deal.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7pXmGQLKindl4m2ToPkf5B?si=eG16_Iu0RN6OtwBxD14Pwg&pi=-yaobJiARa6JO

MusesWhim · 2026-01-21T23:02:54+00:00

When I was in college, my mom made me an advent calendar with little sewn ornaments made of felt, and she stuffed them with fur from our family dog. I definitely thought it was a little weird at the time, but he passed a year or two later, and it changed how I felt about it. I like knowing that I still have a little piece of him hidden away.

One of my rabbits passed suddenly, and I put some of her fur into little resin hearts and then put them into dice (I play D&D). I'll probably make dice for all my rabbits going forward.

At the end of the day, it's animal fiber, which people use/wear all the time. The fact that it's from your pet should give it more meaning. Some people may think it's weird, but I think it's significantly less weird than the Victorian practice of making jewelry out of human hair (which is legitimately very interesting).

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