Something in here to think about where you own pets or you breed them. :)
Check it out here.
Here's a good read for you.
Something in here to think about where you own pets or you breed them. :) Check it out here. I sold a bunny last fall, a young doe who just didn't grow out the way I had hoped. She's quite happy in her new home. Check it out. :) She has a friend named Paddy. And here she's just flaking out.
A pet home bunny enjoying her exercise... enjoying the snow that we Ontarioians are starting to say phooey too. :) Doesn't she look content?
It's really cold and windy out tonight so I went out planning to give the rabbits LOTS of hay to huddle in.
Three of them I gave sitting in boxes due to where the wind was coming in from as well as tons of hay. Carma sits in her box like a little queen carefully gathering hay all around her and when she has it where she wants starts gnawing on the box. "X" makes a tunnel with his hay and box and then runs around like a little crazy boy as if he's saying LOOK WHAT I DID! LOOK!!!!! :) Tory just quietly sits on her hay and peers out from between the stalks like she's tunneled in all safe and sound so can now survey all she sees. Their behaviours suit their personalities perfectly.. it's just funny to watch them. When I have PinPin her hay she proceeded to mess it all up even more than I did and then bundled herself all up inside and starting munching away. I am hopeful I gave her enough she won't eat it all overnight... Acorn was delighted to get her hay but she won't sit in it or tunnel....she pushes it all into a corner and then huddles down like she's cold and just munches away. I don't understand bunnies sometimes.... :) I've tried giving her a box when it's chill out and she won't sit in it either so I let her make do. What else can I do? If I bring her in she stresses, so she's best left where she's at. Spaying and Neutering. written from a Pro-spay/neuter view point. I wish I could find a well-written article that gives the cons to spay/neuter but was unable to do so.
So let me give you the cons that I know 1. it's a convenience. Many people spay/neuter because they don't want to deal with a rabbit being a rabbit. males have certain behaviours, females have others that are directly related to being the sex that they are. MANY rabbits, if well handled by confident handlers do not exhibit unwanted behaviours. 2. finding a good rabbit knowledgeable vet is difficult in many parts of the world. 3. it's expensive. more expensive generally than getting a cat or dog done. 4. it's not guaranteed to get rid of behaviours. 5. cancer is often used as a scare tactic to get people to spay their female rabbits. yes, it totally removes the possibility, but of the 100's of rabbits I have known or know about 1, just 1, rabbit got cancer. So it can't be that prevalent. Herds not Hoards. a new blog that I just ran into. Just three posts. Seems very common sense. A feel good story I discovered at Pet Rabbit News. It's about a pet rabbit that helped save a family whose house was burning. Good survival instinct in that rabbit! :) The Rabbit Whisperer has some interesting articles. Written mostly from a pet bunny perspective, but has some helpful ideas in there, particularly for new rabbit owners. Tonight is going to be mighty cold so I thought it wise to bring Pepper inside. She's due to kindle sometime in the next two days and having lost Peach's litter last night due to kindling early I thought it best not to be surprised again. I don't much like bringing the does in, I don't like messing with the changes in temperature for them. So I keep them by the garage door which often feels a bit chill. I then cover the doe with a towel to make sure they don't feel exposed in a new environment. The cage will smell like the rabbitry which will be comfort to them, and the darkness and quiet will help with feeling secure. In the morning she'll go back outside and hopefully NOT kindle during the day if I'm not home and I"ll bring her in again in the evening if she hasn't, but her kits will come in regardless during this very cold spell. So why winter Breed?I breed in the winter because that is when I get my healthiest strongest kits bare none. If they survive the nestbox and weaning I know I've got a hardy youngster on my hands. One that smart enough to stay in the nestbox where it is warm(as some litters are explorers from an early age), one that knows to hundle with siblings to stay warm, and knows how to get started on solid food quicker. I get less health problems in the cold than in the summer.
Breeding in the winter is easier on the does than breeding in the summer. Rabbits handle cold far better than they do heat. I've lost does pregnant in the summer heat and I'd really not experience that again. Do I lose babies? Yes. Do I like losing babies? No. But the pros out-weigh the cons for me. Stronger kits, immense pride in the does who do everything right, and the joy of babies to brighten the dreary winter days. :) It's worth it in the long run. :) One of my beefs with rabbit people is the calling of various behaviours as being aggressive. In this day of political correctness and needing to be accurate with language this one bothers me… much as culling can mean a WHOLE host of things some with negative overtones. Is the bunny aggressive OR is there other terminology that we can use? An aggressive rabbit is not a pleasant rabbit to work with. It is a rabbit that when allowed to roam around chases its’ people, turns around and tries to bite them, when being handled flails madly even when held securely (though that also just might be a very frightened rabbit), bites with no apparent provocation, and such like. This type of rabbit will bite when you feed it, pet it, etc. Train these rabbits if you can. This article may be of assistance. Also knowing more about the language of langomorphs may prove helpful. Now… A normally pleasant rabbit that chooses to bite you might be responding to something in the environment…aka your perfume, deodorant etc. Now.. lets say you have a rabbit, particularly female, that does not like you coming into HER space. Is this rabbit aggressive? OR is this rabbit reacting in a way that nature tells her that she should? Does that mean that she is being aggressive OR does it mean that she is being space protective? In the wild rabbits are known to defend their turf. They can act in an aggressive manner to do so, but the reasoning behind it is defensive not offensive. This rabbit wants to defend her area..it’s how she keeps her babies safe! Cage protective rabbits tend to be female though I’ve met the odd male that is like this as well. Those bucks don’t tend to stay around here long. Now in reality in life… whether a rabbit is acting defensively or offensively doesn’t matter in the end result…no one wants to get bitten or scratched. BUT as a breeder my response is different. You are being cage protective… I can live with that. I will teach you that I am good, that I am not going to hurt you or your littles, that I will give you treats, and pets and backrubs and be alert and give you time to adjust to me. I will breed those cage protective young does to give them something to do with those crazy hormones. My expectation is that you won’t hurt me and you will NOT hurt your littles. I won’t rush you, I will give you time to adjust. I find that over time you know what happens??? These cage protective does tend to be make excellent mothers and they settle down once they realize that nothing bad happens. Their kits come back, they look and smell the same, and OH>>> I got a treat!!!! You are being aggressive little rabbit??? Well… different attitude requires a different approach. I very strongly dislike aggressive, acting always on the offensive rabbits. You are fine in your space but not out of it? You want to bite and scratch and carry on as if the world is ending? ACH! Not good. These rabbits get more handling not less. They are towel wrapped and carried. They are trained. Rewarded for being nice using food and nose/back rubs. I work hard with them for three weeks and if there is no improvement over three weeks… then they get a death sentence if I can’t locate an appropriate home. Though the odd aggressive rabbit to knowledgeable owners and sometimes… get this…sometimes they do better in a new home! It’s happened at least three times that I know that a crazy attitude rabbit here goes to a new home and becomes miss or mister sweetness personified. Go figure. Sometimes I do not understand rabbits as much as I love ‘em. BUT there are way too many good nice rabbits in the world to fight with a nasty tempered rabbit for an extended period of time. Every rabbit can be useful in the world either as a companion animal, breed animal, fur animal, or food animal. All types of value are equal in my opinion. and not every rabbit can fill every role… so they fit the role they are best suited for. Did you know that many rabbits respond really well to having pressure applied to their forehead? Works marvelously with many rabbits.. not all.. some simply can’t settle down for anything.. they have it so engrained within them to fight fight fight that they just can’t settle. But for those who are aggressive due to fear concerns pressure on the foreheads (which often results in eyes covered and head held down) helps to settle them down. Rather amazing to watch if you can stand back within yourself and observe it. :) Pick your rabbit if you can, from a person who breeds for temperament as one of their main concerns. There is no sense purchasing a rabbit that by the time it is six months old is trying to chase you out of the house or won’t let you do anything with her/him at all. The rabbit above is Biscuit. Miss Biscuit is a rabbit that I thoroughly enjoy. She is a very PROTECTIVE rabbit. She is not aggressive (as in being mean and targetting the people around her). But she is highly protective of her space and her youngsters. Do you see how carefully she is watching me? She is waiting to see if I am going to mess with her kits.
I put her kits in a large rubbermaid container that it light enough for me to lift out easily and quickly. Then I can check on her kits and put them back again without risking the wrath of a watchful parent. This girlie will accept pets from strangers as she has learned they come bearing treats, when she is unhappy with you her body language is clear.. she'll start to waggle her tail and her ears will lay flat against her back. She will growl and box at you with her feet. Biting is ALWAYS her last step. With an aggressive rabbit...biting is usually one of the first things that comes. When Miss Biscuit was in a smaller cage surrounded by rabbits she was not happy. Being on her own, in a huge cage has made for a very contented girlie that I can let out to run and she'll come back when I call her. :) She is a space protective rabbit, NOT an aggressive one. So do be clear... is your rabbit aggressive or space protective? Then handle it in a way that respects the rabbit that you have. :) what they say in this video is so true. Don't look so much at the breed as at the individual rabbit. There are pros and cons to size and weight and type of rabbit, what you want to do is look at the rabbit itself. You do need to consider your time commitment and the space you have. If you have a tiny apartment, a flemish might not be the best mix, but I"ve known people with tiny apartments who have great danes, so don't let size be a deterrent. But you may wish to consider hair length. if you don't like to sit around brushing a rabbit, an angora or well-furred breed might not be in your (or the rabbits) best interest.
But for the most part... go for personality not looks. Janine's Rabbit Jumping. A small website to teach and show rabbit jumping. Here's one of her videos. And what actually is, isn't always the same thing.... Here's a post that points that out rather well. What seems to be and what is. Many people and groups criticize and attack agriculture with horrible videos and pictures. They say if we had nothing to hide then we wouldn’t be concerned about photos. Yet the explanation for photos isn’t always accurate. Here are some examples of photos that could be twisted on explanation. These are ordinary photos taken when I happened to have the camera out shooting something else for the blog. It’s ordinary, but with a sensationalized “what appears to be” ‘explanation’ it sounds horrible, which is not reality. A snapshot or a 10 second video clip doesn’t tell the whole story. |
AuthorI have been breeding rabbits for a quite a few years. I thoroughly enjoy them as animals and think they make great pets. I also like to take some of them to rabbit shows to see how they measure up to the standards. For the BEST rabbit forum I've ever found. Go to Rabbittalk.com. Good for the pet rabbit owner as well as the breeder for meat or show.
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