The Bunny Pootique

BFFs "Oopsie & Poopsie" - Bunny Poop Plush Set

Wish I had thought of it! BFFs "Oopsie & Poopsie" - Bunny Poop Plush Set by Flat Bonnie on Etsy - Click image to goto item

Ten years with rabbits and it never occurred to me to actually do an internet search for bunny poop.  Ah well, it is never too late to learn about new things.

Earlier this week, someone commented they thought someone on Etsy had bunny poo encased in metal for sale.  True, as a pet memorial item.  You send in the poo and she will encase it in Sterling Silver and create earrings.  I have to admit that I have worn my bunnies’ poo, many times, but it was not intentional on my part.  It isn’t among my fondest memories of them.  So I will take a pass on this product.  However, if this is of interest to you, you can find it on Etsy, search for “bunny poop”.

Earlier this week I did a comparison of bunny poop available from Ebay sellers.  Etsy also has one seller of  Rabbit Manure Fertilizer Green side dressing Gardening garden All Natural.   That title obviously has some keyword stuffing and doesn’t read so well.  They give the size as a US Postal Priority box of poop for $6.99 with $12.00 shipping cost.  They say they stuff as much as possible into this box size which gives me a mental picture of a box about to pop with poop.  They list a benefit of the rabbit  manure, it doesn’t burn like some other manures.  I can verify that should be true since our bunnies have never caught the house on fire with their poop even though we have gas heating and thus pilot lights and open cooking flames.  The Etsy seller sounds quite friendly saying, “I look forward to shipping you some soon!”

Chocolate Bunny Poop Soap

Chocolate Bunny Poop Soap

The item in this picture was created for Easter and sold back then, but I’ll bet there could be more if you ask!  You can click on the picture to see the full listing, except the selling price.  I love the irony of bunny poop as soap and who doesn’t love a deep chocolate color and scent?  This was created by Etsy seller Love Lee Soaps.  It was intended as an Easter basket gag gift, but I think has a great year round potential for rabbit lovers. 

Looking at things available on the web, I am a bit disturbed by how many items are gag candy gifts / treat bags made to look like they contain bunny poop.  This kind of puts the gag into gag gift for me. It reminds me too much of an item from The Bad Bunny List.  Someone left an open candy dish of Raisinets in the bunny area.  I would never leave any open food in a bunny area being concerned about a bunny eating forbidden / dangerous foods.  However in this case the bunny claimed them in a different manner, by pooping in the dish and marking it “theirs”.  I could picture the next unsuspecting human not paying attention, grabbing a handful, tossing them into their mouth and really get a taste surprise. 

On Amazon, bunny poop returns something cute for kids to aid in toilet training: Toilet Buddy Poo P. Bunny . Cute name, Poo P. Bunny!  The product description says  “Toilet Buddies are designed to open up family communication, peak children’s interest, and most importantly initiate toilet training readiness. They empower children to explore the toilet and bathroom independently with fun and humor.”   And it gives your toilet a cartoon bunny rabbit ears, face, paws and carrot!  The price is $17.59 and eligible for free shipping.

Part of the reason the Bunny Poo P. Bunny makes me smile is it really gives the feel of bunny is watching you.  That reminds me of a story told to me by someone I met at a rescue group meeting.  She would leave the bathroom door open and her bunny would come to the doorway, see she was occupied and race off to get into trouble while he knew she couldn’t get to him.

Bunny Poop Necklace

For today's necklace, Wood Bead is standing in and playing the role of Bunny Poo

I will admit, I did buy something this week that tickled my funny bone. It is upscaled and subtle enough to need a second look to “get” it if you don’t actually see a title. I bought this Bunny Poop necklace by foowahu on Etsy.  I haven’t received it yet.  The shop is in vacation mode right now.  So if you like it you will have to check back in about a month to see if it is back in stock.  I loved the necklace and the description: Watch your step! Those dang bunnies leave their little ‘presents’ everywhere!

And so they do and do and do…  I will share something for the pooper troopers later.

 

*** Addendum, remembered after I posted.  One internet search told me that one of the people search companies had located Bunny Poo for me.  If I paid their fee, they would provide me with the real age, location, address and phone number for Bunny Poo.

Everybody Out of the Poo!

Tigger & Shadow and their litterboxesBlaine has actually said that to the rabbits numerous times.  It is amazing how territorial rabbits are about their poo.  When we bring new litter boxes out and start to try to take the old ones away, we always end up with a bunny in the dirty box.  The message is pretty apparent, “That is mine, where do you think you are going with it!”  As they roam around, if they spot a lone poop on the floor, they always stop to smell it.  I don’t know who’s they imagine it is going to turn out to be, but they always double-check. 

After we brought Tigger and Shadow home, I did a lot of internet research on rabbits to try to find info to best help me with bunnyproofing.  I learned that a certain amount of poop outside the box isn’t accidental, but intentional marking of territory.  We have certainly seen that over the years.  They love to poop a perimeter around the litter boxes that are in the living room.  We keep scooping it in and telling them over and over that they don’t need to mark the boxes as theirs, no one else is going to claim them or use them.  The rabbits are probably not buying that one since we keep switching the boxes out for new ones that don’t have that eau d’bunny smell or the artistically placed poo markers.  I am certain little bunny minds are saying we steal their stuff.

Ah well, there is another aspect of the rabbit territorial marking I wish we had given a bit more thought to in regards to the placement of their boxes in their current living space.  When we first got Tigger & Shadow, we were living in an apartment.  The room layouts allowed us to dedicate the smallest bedroom as theirs.  Cages, food, toys and outdoor furniture for us to sit on was all kept in the room.  The bunnies could play and mess it up. Like kids rooms, we could close the door on them if we got unexpected company.  We didn’t do a lot of thinking or planning on where the litter boxes needed to be, they just needed to be in that room.

When we moved to our house, the layout and room sizes were quite different.  We weren’t able to give the bunnies their own room and didn’t have a basement, family room, sun room or room off the main drag.  The house layout is quite open.  So there wasn’t a way to give them privacy or easily hide their worst messes either.  The only space we had large enough for their cages was in the living room.  To give them a bit more privacy, we put their cages at the back of the room. 

Now one recommendation for optimal litter box training is that you let the rabbit decide where they want the box.  We knew in the new home there would be some sorting out until we got them settled in and had their boxes where they were happiest with them. Our cage placement turned out to have unintended consequences as to where the bunnies chose as their spot for their litter boxes. 

Logically if we had thought it out at all, we would probably have realized they would pick the farthest place from their cage on the other side of their territory.  Which is what they did, but it was a slow adjusting training process of us by the bunnies getting us to keep moving the boxes to follow the poo and pee trail until the boxes reached their ultimate prefered spot.

Now Tigger & Shadow have the boxes right where they want them, on the floor in front of the TV, the first thing you see on the right when you walk in the front door of our home.  I think we should have put their cages out in the open so that we could have hidden the litter boxes at the back of the room.  Ah well, always living and learning with the bunnies.

All Kidding Aside, Bunny Poo Is Great for Gardening!

Bunny poo fed blooms

Bunny poo assisted blooms in our garden

I have been poking fun at rabbit manure for sale on the web for a couple of days.  It is funny how silly some serious listings and terminology can sound when the product being sold is poop.  Today I switch over to the real value of bunny poo.

If you have a rabbit and a garden, rabbits really do create the perfect compost.  If they are fed properly, the only things going in are veggies or hay products.  Then what comes out of a healthy rabbit are nice dry round bunny poo marbles that have extremely low odor.

Someone connected with a rabbit rescue told me they have provided gardeners with rabbit manure and used the rest for gardens around the rescue building.  I think that is terrific idea for rescues.  Added value to the community with a usable product and use it to make the grounds of the building more attractive.  It also provides another positive talking point on an unexpected side benefit of having a house rabbit.  Waste not!  What other composter will look so cute?  Rabbits are just so totally vegan, green and eco conscious little beings.

Here in Georgia, the soil is red clay based, so the soil needs improvement for gardening.  We moved in with the rabbits nine years ago and have regularly used their offerings in the parts of the yard we picked out for our gardens.  I won’t say we have had raging success, because our part of Georgia has been in and out of drought mode with a switch over to flood stage a couple of times.  To say our plants have been stressed for much of the time we have been here is an understatement.  We brought in several rain barrels to collect water from our gutters when it does rain and are putting in more plants that tolerate heat and low water conditions, xeriscaping.

The other thing we have noticed in our gardens is lots of wild cottontail rabbits who will come to visit.  It seems to us that the bunny poo fertilization has hung out a wild bunny welcome mat.  They will sit right below the windows of the house eating quite comfortably.  One time a mother brought her babies with her and they were snuggled up underneath her as she ate.  The babies took off running when we accidentally moved.  I found one of the babies napping in the sunshine curled up in a patch of grass by the backdoor the next day.  We can watch the bunnies through our windows and sometimes sit on the back patio and enjoy the yard with them as they feed. 

So use the poo, its good stuff!  On to the plan for the remainder of this week and next.  Tomorrow, I am going to talk about rabbits and territorial poo, bunnyproofing info.  Thursday, I plan to share some of the unusual things for sale on the web related to rabbit poo.  Friday, I will have a follow suggestion or two.  I figured on getting all the messy stuff out-of-the-way this week, since the first week of August is designated as a Simplify Your Life week.  During that week, I plan to share lots of the tips and tricks and supplies we find most handy for keeping things clean and simple with rabbits in the house.

Bunny Poo Comparison Shopping – Yes, You Actually Can …

Oat hay & rabbit poo

Cuckoo for Cocoa Poos ?

This weekend, I started some research on rabbit poo that is for sale on the web.  See The Wonderful World of Bunny Poo yesterday for how this investigative trail got started. 

I had put a potential name of Cheeripoos below the picture of our bunny poo since the bunnies eat so much oat hay. However, Blaine thought that Cocoa Poos for the deep chocolate coloring might be more descriptive.  Here we are already disagreeing about the name for a hypothetical product.

Someone commented yesterday that they thought that bunny poo might be available for sale on Ebay.  So I had to look.  Yes, you can find rabbit manure for sale on Etsy, Ebay and Amazon.  Ebay had the most sellers, so the best ability to comparison shop is there.

I found three sellers of bunny poo on Ebay.  The first seller advertises  6 lb. Rabbit Manure!!~~Best Organic Fertilizer There Is!  The Buy It Now price is $6.99 with an $11.00 shipping cost.  The picture shows the rabbit producers with their food bowl which I think is a nice touch.  There is an excellent description with lots of benefits and reasons for using bunny poo.  I like the added touch of using a green color for the text. It gives it a nice eco conscious feel. This seller says, “YOU’LL NEVER GO BACK TO MIRACLE GRO!!!” which is a strong closing.  They have this listed with more than 10 available which is a scary quantity of rabbit poo sitting out there somewhere waiting to be bought.       

The second seller on Ebay has two rabbit poo products for sale.  They have  6 lb or 10 lb Rabbit Manure, Organic Fertilizer.  Both sizes are Free Shipping.  The 6 lb size is $16.95, while 10 lbs is $21.95.  Awww, I open up the listing and see they have a description with a cute cartoon that includes a rabbit and a worm poking its head up out of the ground (one assumes fertilized with bunny poo!).  There is a picture of the rabbit poo which looks disturbingly like pebbles on the beach in beige, gray and sandy colors rather than the deep colors I am used to seeing with our bunnies.  So now I am concerned about the health of their rabbits.  They call their product “Bunny Berries”.  They say they make every effort to ship the manure “dry”.  Eeeuwww, TMI.  The background throughout is green providing a professional look to the listing with an eco feel. 

Unlike the first seller, this seller has filled out the Ebay Item specifics.  They give the condition as New.  I guess a real debate could start as to whether manure / compost / fertilizer is new or used.  I think I have to disagree with the “in its original packaging” part of the new statement.  Wouldn’t that be still inside the rabbit?  Anyway they list the application as “All Purpose” and I decidedly would not go that far. This seller also has more than 10 available on both the 6 lb and 10 lb listings.  So this seller has an unreal amount of rabbit poo sitting around somewhere.  

Which brings us to the final Ebay seller who has Rabbit Manure for a natural fertilizer.  They too have filled out the item specifics with the bunny poo listed as New?  However they have the application listed as being for plants, much better.  They estimate weight at roughly 14 lbs.  The Buy It Now price is $5 with $14.95 in shipping cost, however there is a Make an Offer option.  You can haggle price on this one!  However, they have less poo available, only 4 currently.  This listing is straight black and white, so no eco conscious vibe.   They have a nice description which almost makes it sound cute:  “Rabbit manure is very unique, as it is solid, and comes in small round droppings a little larger than a b.b. pellet. They are almost like a time release capsule, and perfect for your garden.” 

Wow, this is a whole lot more bunny poo for sale than I expected to find online!  I am now running way late and pooped out.

The Wonderful World of Bunny Poo

oat hay & rabbit poo

Oat Hay + Rabbit = Cheeripoos ?

As a cottage industry, seriously.  I have often fantasized about getting the bunnies to earn their own keep.  I had read at one time about a how-to book that had information for using bunny poo to start a worm farm and then sell the worms to fishermen.  Blaine has a wonderful green thumb and we use bunny poo in our garden.  So I have always been aware of the rich fertilization in the poo since it is already composted veggies and hay.  It is also nice hard dry little marbles that are easy to pick up and don’t have much of an odor.

However, I had never heard or thought about the possibility of actually selling bunny poo online.  I had just recently joined the Creative Breakroom forum.  In one thread I learned about a challenge they had a while back for “Jars O Crap”.  Everyone was to take a Mason jar and fill it with whatever, take pictures and then list their jars online.

Looking through the challenge thread and the very creative responses had me laughing myself silly.  This is the one I loved the most:  Un Bocal des Peaux D’Oignons.  Oh so very special, I am almost tempted to buy it myself.  If I had been there at the time to take part, the title had me thinking quite literally about my most available free item here, a jar of bunny poo!

So I got into a discussion in the Breakroom on the topic of bunny poo.  What do you say the expiration date is on a bottle full of bunny poop? What kind of shelf life does that have? Or does it become vintage at some point? Rapid thoughts were running through my head as to whether that would be tagged as handmade or a supply.  Do I say I made it myself or it was created by my rabbit collective?  Some pointed out that a bottle could have explosive gas issues and that holes in the top or a plastic bag with a nice label might be better. 

As we were verbally flinging the poo back and forth in this discussion, one member asked another if they had heard back officially on this.  That is when I found out that someone had investigated whether selling bunny poo on Etsy was allowed.  They were told that it was, as long as local laws and regulations in regards to animal compost are met.  Hey, I am living in a farming community!  I will just bet I can find out about that!  That is where hysterically funny idea meets up with actual business opportunity.  Too funny! 

I suppose I should be incredibly alarmed with myself that the idea of selling bunny poo has generated more creative marketing ideas in my head than anything else this year.  Perhaps there are whole huge cottage industries out there for the unemployed to sell pet waste and help feed their families.  I did check this morning on Etsy and there are current active listings there for both Rabbit Manure and Llama Beans.  

Objectively, the picture for the Llama beans was a great deal cleaner (does that term ever apply to compost?)  than the Rabbit Manure.  The Llama Bean title is also more appealing than Rabbit Manure which sounds a bit too down on the farm for eco conscious urban viewers.  So I sense an opportunity to upscale the market for rabbit compost / fertilizer.  I am intrigued in my research today on Etsy to see how many people have tagged their items with fertilizer when they aren’t selling compost ???  I am not at all certain about the thinking on that one for SEO keyword searches.

At this point, I have no idea where I am going (is that a poor word choice?) with this.  The minimum I expect is to have some great fun and laughs here for the blog.  Since laughs have been in short supply at many points this year that will be oh so welcome.  So stay tuned for poo!

Just Thinking …

Whoops

I just love this photo from istockphoto.com!

It is Saturday, a day to unwind, review, mull … zzz. Whoops have to catch myself. Actually, I have been hopping and bopping around the internet to various sites. I am always on the look out for great bunny things or funny bunny ideas.

I am thinking about bunny poo today, lots and lots of bunny poo.  Part of that is because I see lots and lots of bunny poo.  Even when I don’t see the bunnies, I see evidence of the existence of bunnies here.

We didn’t realize that the careful leaving of rabbit droppings in specific areas is part of rabbit territorial marking.   Now we do.  However, we keep telling Tigger and Shadow it really isn’t necessary to mark the area around their litter box as theirs by ringing it with poo.  No one else is going to be claiming those boxes.  We have found that a kitchen skimmer (dedicated to the bunnies, no going back to the kitchen now!)  is a great tool to scoop those up and drop them in the litter boxes.  The cat scoops always had holes too big and allowed the poos to drop right through.

So where am I going with all the poo? Oh that would be telling today and I am going to make you wait and come back another day to find out.