From the moment Nicole Kanason laid eyes on Shelby, she knew she had to take him home.
Shelby was one of four rabbit babies born in her uncle’s housing area. The little bunny is the “black sheep” of his family – even though he is neither black nor a sheep – as he is the only one with brown fur, while the rest of his siblings are white.
Shelby also has a patch of white on the top of his head that Nicole says is his secret sweet spot. “It’s like a little birthmark, and he absolutely loves being scratched there,” she giggles.
After noticing Nicole’s immediate attachment, her uncle suggested she adopt the bunny. “I had no plans of taking in a pet but when I saw Shelby, I just knew I was ready,” Nicole tells FMT.
“I initially named him ‘Shelly’ thinking he was a girl, but when I found out otherwise, I had to change his name,” she laughs.
This happy little bunny loves to spend his day licking himself until he is clean. And when he is not doing that, Shelby loves to be around Nicole and her family – though he doesn’t like strangers and tends to shy away from them.
Although Shelby is only nine weeks old, he has a huge appetite and loves to eat. “Given the opportunity, he would spend his whole day eating,” Nicole says fondly.
To avoid Shelby overeating, Nicole limits his meals to twice a day. He has pellets for breakfast and dinner, and if he has been a good boy, he gets Romaine lettuce as a treat – his absolute favourite.
Nicole shares that she has tried giving him carrots to nibble on, but he does not eat it. “Surprisingly, for a rabbit, Shelby doesn’t like carrots at all.”
This little leporidae can be quite mischievous and has picked up a few naughty habits. Nicole says Shelby loves to nibble on anything and everything.
“He especially enjoys wires and newspapers,” she reveals, adding that Shelby recently chewed two charging cables to shreds.
Due to this bad biting habit and the fear he might electrocute himself, Shelby is usually in his cage if he has to be left alone.
Otherwise, the naughty bunny spends his days roaming about the house. “He loves running around freely in the garden, so we try to take him out every evening,” Nicole adds.
Shelby usually gets sudden bursts of energy where he will jump in the air and proceed to run really fast. Nicole calls these little energy bursts “binkies” and says he usually does this when he gets excited.
Unfortunately, Shelby does not always have time to watch where he is going and sometimes ends up knocking into walls or furniture.
Being so little, Shelby has a fear of loud noises and always runs to Nicole or his cage for safety when he hears loud noises.
“He is especially afraid of my two-year-old niece as she is always shouting,” Nicole laughs, explaining that her young niece doesn’t know any better and tends to “bully” Shelby.
Nicole says although Shelby is just a bunny, she often considers him her “child” and is always worried about him. For example, she always makes sure she’s home in time to feed him.
And some days, Nicole takes Shelby on field trips to see his siblings at her uncle’s house.
“Shelby loves seeing his siblings. He always runs around and plays with them,” she says, adding that after all the excitement, Shelby and his bunny brothers and sisters will eventually huddle together and fall asleep, exhausted from their play date.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR PET: FMT Lifestyle readers are invited to send in pictures (landscape format) and a short video (if any) of their furry, scaly or feathery friends to [email protected]. Don’t forget to include details like your pet’s name, age, breed and a short story about them.