Meet Samus

On August 17, 2010, CJ and I adopted a rabbit from the Humane Society. We named her Samus, after a video game character.

At the time we adopted Samus we lived in an apartment that only allowed caged pets. CJ and I also both work full time and aren't home during the day most days. These two factors led us to a rabbit instead of a dog - a rabbit can stay in a cage during the day with no problem.

Right away I knew I wanted a young black female rabbit. Young so that she'd be around for a while, black because the white rabbits tend to get all the attention and I don't know why a female. While searching the Utah Humane Society's website for animals they had available we found two 2-year old black females and one 3 month old black male. Since rabbits only live for about 10 years, 2 seemed a little old so I got my heart set on the male.

When we actually went to the Humane Society we found that one of the black females was actually 3 months old instead of 2 years. She hid from us at first when we tried to pick her up but once I had her and she started licking my arm (a sign of affection from rabbits) I was taken. We also found out that she was much smaller that then other available black rabbits and that she was likely from the same liter as the male (there was a gray rabbit and a caramel rabbit from the same liter as well). Samus (at the time she was called "Tiny") was much smaller than her siblings and she was missing a patch of hair on the back of her neck so we figure she was the runt of the liter and was beat up a bit by her much bigger siblings.

We hadn't planned on adopting on our first trip to the Humane Society but they don't hold animals or keep them at their location after they are adopted, so they put her in a cardboard carrying box and we headed to the pet store for a cage, food, litter box, litter, food bowl, bedding, hay, water bottle, play pen, and some toys.


Samus is a total cutie but also a typical rabbit. She sleeps a lot during the day and night and is most active in the mornings and evenings. When she is awake she does a lot of pooping, exploring, eating, and chewing. (As I wrote this blog entry she chewed right through the only cord I have that connects my camera to my computer and she took a chunk out of the scroller on my mouse; I should have been paying better attention to her.) Some of her favorite vegetables are basil, radicchio, and dandelion greens; she does not like chard or mustard greens. She also likes all the fruits that we've tried to give her: apples, bananas, watermelon, frozen peaches, frozen blueberries, and frozen raspberries. But, her favorite treat ever is almonds. She goes crazy if she smells them near her and she'll even eat them when she is stressed out and won't eat any other treats.

Like most rabbits, Samus is a total diva. She has to have everything her way or she gets very upset. She's constantly moving her food and hay bowls in her cage because CJ and I don't always put them where she likes them. She doesn't like to be picked up, cuddled with, or have her toe nails clipped and CJ and I have the scars to prove it. Once I was moving something out of her way that I didn't want her to chew on and she bit a nice chunk of skin off my finger.

But she is also very nice. Samus is often quite content just sitting in her favorite spots or licking CJ's head or my eyebrows. It's really precious. Once I was half asleep on the couch and she jumped on my chest and started licking my face. It was really funny. CJ got a video on his phone but it isn't very good quality so I can't put it here.

We are very grateful to have Samus with us. Even though she can be a handful, she's a lot of fun to have around.