ct binky bopper's story

Welcome to CT binky boppers!​

Our Story

First off, a little back story, I've always been an animal lover. My house is more like a zoo, but there's something special about the unconditional love of an animal. Animals have taught me patience, how to love big, and be caring. My mom tells me I was an animal in my past life. my sister-in-law calls me "Snow white". I grew up caring for sick and injured animals I would find; it didn't matter what it was. I thank my parents for allowing me to have whatever animals I wanted as a kid. Every kid should have at least 1 animal, even if it's just a hamster-- it's the best way to teach them how to be gentle, earn trust, loyalty, love unconditionally, and forge an unbreakable bond. That motto has been no different in my house. My kids have grown up with many different animals.

 

Back in 2024, my then 7-year-old son begged me for a rabbit. We already had a houseful of animals: 2 dogs, 2 guinea pigs, 2 lizards, 2 ferrets, and multiple fish tanks. I wasn't too sure I wanted to take on caring for a new rabbit, too. I had rabbits as a young child, I was too young to remember how to properly care for them though and had no clue what their requirements were. After some research and my kids constant nagging, I gave in. I purchased our first bunny - an 8-week-old female holland lop that we named Callie. Two weeks later, I purchased her a friend. scarlet! With no clue how to properly care for them, other than unlimited hay and a large enclosure, my rabbit journey began...

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Callie & Scarlet, both sweet as pie and so loving changed Our world. They brought joy to our lives. They became my therapy. If I had a bad day, cuddles & play time from them instantly lifted my mood. My husband, who doesn't care for animals and really only tolerates them for me, fell in love. I would catch him early in the morning talking to them in a baby voice while cuddling them. They pretty much came everywhere with us - from kid's schooling events to the store. They were part of our family, and I was officially obsessed with bunnies.

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After spending time with my bunnies, My mom and sister decided they wanted one too! My mom got a little boy, Teddy; while my sister got a little girl, Reese. My sister and I have always been close and talk about everything but found our conversations revolving constantly around bunny talk and comparing the best litter boxes and toys for them. We'd share all our amazon finds with each other and got excited over beautiful, lush green hay for them to enjoy. She fell in love so in love with her bunny and decided she wanted to get another! She found her Benny boy. Together, we learned everything we could about bunnies and what was best for them.

 

I wanted to be the best bunny mom and give my girls the best life ever. I became part of every Facebook bunny group. I read online how important spaying was, and the horror stories of people posting their 2 baby females began fighting once the hormones came in. Stuff breeders would never tell you! I saw photos of irreparable damage they caused each other -- like ripping an ear off. I was petrified of that happening to my girls. I was not going to let that happen to my bunnies. I was also upset with the breeder I bought them from for not giving me a warning this could happen. They didn't tell me that without spaying, it's nearly impossible to bond 2 female bunnies. They did, however, quickly take my money for those bunnies and clearly not care about the wellbeing thereafter. Just the money!

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Around 6 months of age, their hormones were becoming apparent. I began notice scarlet mounting Callie's head, a way to show dominance. Just like with dogs, bunnies will fight to be head bun -- there's a hierarchy. This behavior worried me. Anxiety and panic started to take over. I would be devastated if I woke up one morning to find one of my beloved babies injured by one another. That was it -- I was getting my girls spayed.

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Everything was a learning experience for me with these 2 bunnies. I Needed a vet ASAP. I decided to reach out to my dog's vet, whom I love and frequent a lot to control my dog's diabetes. They recommended their sister vet to me, an exotics vet. I took them in, and they were cleared to get spayed the following week.

 

The morning of the surgery, while I was driving there, my gut kept telling me to turn around-- go home. I ignored that feeling and brought them anyways, thinking it was just my anxiety getting the best of me. They were dropped off around 8:30am and I gave them both a goodbye kiss. All Morning long I had severe anxiety awaiting a call. hours went by. finally, around 1:30pm, I was just pulling into my driveway from picking my eldest up from school, when I received a call that changed everything!

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The vet called to tell me, "Hi. I'm so sorry but Callie Didn't make it. We tried everything we could to save her, but she just stopped breathing while we were stitching her up" The rest of the conversation was a blur, as I was screaming and crying. Seriously, my neighbor even ran over concerned thinking something happen to one of my kids, as I couldn't control myself in that instance. Scarlet at the time of the call was still under anesthesia, waiting to go into surgery next. Somehow, I was able to utter to them, "wake her up now." There was no way she was getting the surgery done after that. I picked my kids up early from school and told them the dreaded news, as we went to say our goodbyes. Not only were we all left grieving, but Scarlet was also. The next week with her was heartbreaking, and I fell into a depression. The vet was inexperienced with rabbits. She wasn't rabbit-savvy. In a sense I feel like I failed my girl because I didn't do my research on a proper vet. I figured she was an exotics vet, she must know what she's doing. I also really trusted my vet's recommendation. big lesson learned at my expense. I did find a rabbit savvy vet for Scarlet afterwards. Someone that was performing 3-4 rabbit spays a week and also working with rabbit rescues. I contemplated the decision of spaying her again with the new vet. I told him my story. He told me to take time to grieve before making the decision for Scarlet. I don't know what the outcome would've been for Callie had I brought her to another vet first, as rabbit spaying surgery does come with risks for females. I just wish I asked the proper questions the first time around, like how many rabbit surgeries she performs weekly, monthly, or yearly, aftercare, how long it takes, etc. I then could have made the decision to take my girls to someone more qualified. I'm not against fixing your rabbit, but I do caution anyone that wants to -- please! Ask proper questions and make sure they're familiar with rabbits.

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After Callie's death, I went on a hunt to find a new friend for Scarlet. She was grieving. She would growl or hiss. I didn't even know they could do that! She bit my oldest daughter. She was sad. Both of us grieving in our own ways, it was hard for us to bond. I normally sweet rabbit was turning into a terror and I felt horrible. I didn't know what to do for her, other than finding a companion and quick!

 

I spoke to breeder after breeder -- some that were very thorough and made you fill out forms, to others who were just all about selling bunnies for the money, and you could tell. I ended up talking to a woman on facebook that had a litter of holland lop babies. After talking to her and telling her my story, I found out we purchased our rabbit's from the same place and her bunnies Mom was actually Callie's sister. They even looked alike. I knew then it was meant to be and i needed one of those babies in that litter. the baby i was interested in was the only harlequin in the litter, just like my callie girl. I brought him home and it was the first time since Callie passed that Scarlet seemed happy again. An instant change! Originally thought to be a girl, we named him Lily. After weeks of "her" trying to hump Scarlet repeatedly, we came to the conclusion "she" was really he. Since he already knew his name as Lily, we decided to keep it -- but call him Lil for short. I ended up buying 2 more girls after him - Stormy & Bluebell. And now we have our small herd.

 

after such a traumatic experience, I decided I couldn't go through spaying or neutering my bunnies. my sister also agreed and was too scared to fix hers. We also wanted to give people the same joy that we get from our bunnies. So many breeders don't socialize their babies or are inbreeding and it creates these holland lops with tiny heads. They also don't explain the care that goes into owning a rabbit -- most don't even tell you the food they're currently eating. So with that, my sister and I decided to start CT Binky Boppers and create the best quality holland lops bred for temperament. Our rabbits are above all our pets first. They are part of our homes, and live with us, free-roam and are absolutely spoiled. We strive to be as transparent as possible. we want you to meet your bunny's mom & Dad. if any of our rabbits shows any signs of aggression, they will not be in our breeding program, only loved as pets. We want family bunnies that are loving, cuddly, and socialized. And yes, while we technically breed rabbits, we hate that term and would prefer "Bunny Enthusiasts" instead. We also do not want to add bunnies to any shelters/rescues load, so we will always gladly take back one of our babies if needed, no questions asked.

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-Ashley & Danielle

CT Binky Boppers

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