When I moved into my apartment, the first animal I looked into getting was a Russian Dwarf hamster. They were small and since I didn’t live in the dorms anymore, I was allowed to keep one in my small place. I watched many videos on how to care for them and what equipment they needed.
I got fish instead. Don’t get me wrong, my fish are great. They even have different quirks about them. Nico likes to sleep belly up at the top of the tank and Wanda likes to poke the rocks with her nose to make a lot of noise. Wanda also eats all the food, which means she’s the bigger of the two.
Recently, one of my closest friends got an emotional support bunny to help her with her anxiety. The rabbit’s name is Setti, and he is the sassiest rabbit in the world guaranteed. Being a female who has 24/7 baby fever but doesn’t want a baby (because, you know: college), I always want to cuddle with little Setti. I didn’t have a hankering to get a rabbit because I couldn’t afford the supplies in addition to an animal. So if I ever wanted snuggles, all I had to do was go to my friend’s apartment.
One night while doing homework, my sorority sister, Skylar, told us that their boyfriend’s sister had a pet rabbit that she was looking to get rid of. Apparently, the sister is an athlete and didn’t have much time to care or play with the rabbit, so it just sat in a dark room all day. I, of course, happily stated that I could take it, not expecting at all that the sister would be totally willing to give her pet to some stranger that lived over a hundred miles away. But not only was she willing to give her buddy to me, but also she gave me the cutie with all of his supplies free of charge.
I was guaranteed the rabbit during the last week of November but was not expecting to get him until after Christmas, so I figured I’d have enough time to bunny-proof my apartment and research all of a bunny’s needs. But then December 1st rolled around, not even a week after claiming the rabbit, and here I was clearing a little spot on my bedroom floor for his cage.
At first, I had named him Deacy, after Queen’s bass guitarist, John Deacon. His original owner sent a text to Skylar that told me that “Deacy” was born on September 5th, which is Freddie Mercury’s birthday as well, which to me was fate that this animal and I belonged together. I couldn’t name my rabbit Freddie because that is my Dad’s name, nor could I name him Mercury (for reasons I can not get into), so I changed his name to Rami Deacy, or RD for short. Rami Malek is the actor that plays Freddie Mercury in the new Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody. If I can’t name my bunny after the legend himself, I have to improvise!
The night RD came home, he was surprisingly calm. Even after spending 5 hours in a car, he let me and several of my friends pick him up and hold him. I’m confident that he would let me snuggle for hours.
The next day, one of my other sisters, Maddie, came over with Setti so we could have a bunny play date. Bad. Idea.
At first, Setti was just hopping around, rubbing his scent glands on everything to mark his territory with RD following behind him. I was putting up a baby gate in the hallway so we could put the rabbits in a space where it would have been easy to grab them if need be.
“Aw, they’re playing,” Maddie says, adoringly. “Wait… are they playing?”
That’s when I hear the loudest scream come out of an animal. If you haven’t heard a bunny scream, you don’t want to: rabbits only make that sound when they are in extreme pain.
Neither of our boys are neutered. We think that, because RD is older and bigger, he tried to assert his dominance on Setti by mounting him, which made Setti whip around and bite him. He ripped a chunk of fur out of RD’s eye-area and left a minor scratch on his cornea.
RD ran underneath my Christmas tree, shaking. When I reached for him, he turned away before pausing a moment and coming back to me. He let me pick him up and he burrowed himself into my neck.
That was the moment I knew he trusted me and knew I was his momma and it made my heart full. I wasn’t mad or upset that Setti went after RD because I knew Setti was freaked out by having a stranger-rabbit try to mount him. But, I’m glad RD gave me his trust to make him feel safe.
After a while, he began to run around my living room, doing “binkies”, which are when rabbits jump in the air and twist their bodies to show everyone that they are extremely happy. Many scent gland rubbings, hand licks, back hops, and one pee-soaked pillow later, I knew that RD has found his home. He is the best early-Christmas present I could have asked for, and I’m excited to show him that I can be a loveable and reliable momma.
So from me and a totally adorable rabbit to you—Hoppy Holidays!