and--yeah.

So I went to the pet store to get more crickets and a larger cage for the rabbits.

Yeah. Plural.

Well. It's a long, tragic, boring story that we won't repeat, but it has a lot to do with the new diet I have Reggie on, and perhaps a little too much obsessive reading on rabbit health. It might also have to do with a ball python being carried around by my officially least favorite parent and son, and possibly the fact I came in on Pet And Carry All The Reptiles Day, and Yes I Mean All The Reptiles. It might have somethign to do with the massive overabundance of rabbits in the store--oh my God, they totally had two Cadbury bunnies, big as very large cats, staring at me and promising if I bought them, they would happily chew out my throat. It was love, of course.

But no, I didn't get those. Mostly because I just don't have space.

But okay. I'd like everyone to meet Bryant and Mopsy (my sister named that one), Reggie's official two best friends. Pictures will be forthcoming, since I'm finally giving up and ordering a camera, which should be here soon. Until then--Holland lops, six weeks old, grey and brown with bright white tails and little folded down ears. Both are--

I don't know how to say this, but they make Reggie look like a well-adjusted, socially adept, life of the party, hail-fellow-well-met kind of rabbit. They're freaking *snobs*. They look down their nose at me even more than Reggie does, and I mean, the day I can say Reggie commparatively speaking is warm and fuzzy is the day you know you have some seriously aloof rabbits.

Okay, first off, for those worried, I've been forbidden entrance into Herpeteon for three months unless I go in with cash only and less than five dollars, and not to leave the cash register for any reason.

The thing is, Reggie is lonely.

I was reading at the house rabbit sites, and they made this huge deal about using pellets instead of hay and vegetables, so I switched Reggie to a hay and alfalfa diet with fresh greens and carrots and my personal ultimate weapon of choice, fresh banana. And I have no idea if he's any happier on that, but it will apparently keep his teeth properly worn down, so all is well.

So then I was studying rabbit emotions and behavior, and worried about emotional stunting of young rabbits when they have limited society, and I kept worrying that Reggie was lonely and bored. He has a ton of rabbit toys to play with, but he never seemed more animated than when he could snub me in person, and I felt this wasn't healthy. And well--I think my true pet may be rabbits. I just--like them. I like sitting on teh floor and watching them. So they had these beautiful Holland lops, and at first, I wanted one, but they only had two that were curled up together, and it felt wrong to separate them so--I kinda got a new split level cage and walked out with them, then introduced them to Reggie. It was serious love at first sight. Well, first lots of weird whose on top games, which were fun to watch, but they all settled down together and sleep all together in the same rabbit bed and chase each other around the den where I can watch. The lops don't have Reggie's grace or speed, but they're freaking *funny* to watch run around, because their back legs are huge, compared to their smaller, Reggie-size bodies. They do weird things like stand perfectly still then take off like a tiny Ferrari and do these long jumps and 180s in the air and just--it's so freaking *cool*.

So, yeah. Three rabbits.

On a more intersting note, we've been looking at building our own terrarium for Junior the Bearded Lizard. Currently, this desert-dwelling animal lives on astroturf (because sand is bad--for a *desert animal*), filled with various rocks, a piece of driftwood, and a long piece of bark for him to crawl and hide under, and a small cave. But we saw a really interesting model terrarium usign live plants and a waterfall, and yes, that won't work for Junior, but Child was promised a second reptile this summer if he shows he can take care fo this one and so far, he's been great about feedign and holding and caring for, and it might be interesting to choose a lizard or turtle that likes wet climates. We did run across a really cool lizard that starts with a u and has a weirdly terraced tail that is said to be friendly and good wiht people.

Basically, I am getting to like lizards. However, this did not stop me from sitting nearly in the rabbit bin when the ball python came out. The salespeople know me on sight and have started blocking particularly disturbing cages with their bodies when I arrive. This is progress. And today, I was able to go in, buy crickets, and get out without a single mammalian purchase.

Also saw the new group of baby ferrets. Oh my God, how cute. Seriously. And when I was finding zen at their cage, they all gathered close to the glass to nose it in my general direction. Considering the rabbits pretend I do'nt exist? Good for my ego.

Aww, Bryante just came over to look at me in scorn, sniff my hand, nip my finger, and turn it's back on me in disgust. It has to say something about me that I am just charmed by this level of progress.