News of the Month

Himalayans are well on the way to making a bold statement in the south.  With 4 varieties of colors in black, blue, chocolate, and lilac.  Silver Fox continues to prove themselves on the showtable and we look forward to a lot of exciting colors that will make their ways to the showtable in Holland Lop and Netherland Dwarf this fall!

Over the last couple years, we have really focused on holland lops.  We have built such a large herd of various colors, that we began to slowly increase Netherland work, and have in the last year made great strides at building the color pallet of this small breed!  We now offer about just as many colors in Netherland and the list continuing to expand with Pointed Whites (himi), sable points, siamese sable, smoke pearl, black tort, and blue tort.  Although some colors are not available as we expand those programs over next 6 months, we will have some candidates from time to time available.  In fact, given the challenges in Netherland Dwarf, being small litter sizes, failed litters, etc; the herd of Netherlands has now surpassed the herd size of Hollands in the rabbitry which we never really expected.  Will be a close race all year on those two herds being the top two breeds we work in.  Mini lop work and expansion is moving along nicely, and tri color, harlequin, and castor mini rex are all doing well as we go into early March!

Years we have been utilizing a waitlist, but as we have grown, many colors, many breeds, and new things, we have also seen in most waitlist items the very hard, rare, difficult to recreate colors are what are being desired.  Other things such as very particular to age or sex also being another difficult part to match.  Waitlist items in some cases of 6 months or more for some of the hardest colors were common, and by the time we did have the rabbit someone was looking for, they were not.  So as of Jan 1, 2019, we no longer operate a running wait list.  We offer the website for posting of bunnies available as well as on our facebook page.  This first come, first serve mentality is far easier to manage.  We do still require a 50% deposit to hold any rabbit over the age of 8 weeks.  If no deposit has been recieved, it will be available to the next person.  We no longer hold rabbits without deposit for more than 3 days.

One of the big challenges any indoor facility faces is one of space.  We have been expanding our cage designs to house more rabbits in a smaller floor plan.  These new cage designs are all custom and allow us to maximize the space, all while working to improve and utilize the open floor for rabbit play and interaction activities.  We've been enjoying all our time, but with our growth, finding enough open space for play times has been a challenge to accommodate everyone daily!  The new facility add on is finally making progress again.  We have the new furnace installed to be able to heat/cool the additional 800 sq feet of floor plan this winter, and then an additional 500 sq feet of space to be completed in phase 3 later in 2018!

Q:  Do I need to wash my rabbit?

A:  Rabbits are intense groomers.  Like cats, they do an exceptional job at maintaining their fur and cleaning themselves.  However, longer haired rabbits, or rabbits going through molting should brush the rabbits with a fine soft bristle brush daily to prevent hairballs.  Also, at times, a rabbit may have loose stools, and depending on the rabbit, cage, etc; there may be a need for a bunny bath. 

Q:  What do I do if my rabbit stops eating?

A:  Any rabbit that is not eating it's normal volume, not eating or drinking is considered a pet emergency!  Always have a vet available that handles rabbits, and a way to get your rabbit to the vet immediately.

Q: What is best, a female doe, or a male buck?

A:  There are several factors to consider when looking for a rabbit.  Female rabbits can be quite territorial.  Same can go for males.  Spaying or neutering can really help by calming the hormones down.  Single rabbit homes will have less issues than with homes with more than one in most cases.  Rabbits that are spayed or neutered can also be paired and eventually live in the same cage.  Healthwise, it is better for your doe to be spayed before age 4.  It's imperative to the long life of a rabbit as uterine cancer is common after this age.  The rabbit can live with this for years, however, in today's world, there are solutions, and due to the quality of rabbit care available, rabbits can live to up to a dozen years, and in some cases much longer!

Q:  Is there a safe treatment for fleas/ticks for my rabbit?

A:  There are several products on the market, however we use Revolution kitten formula.  One packet will usually cover most rabbits successfully for 30 days.  It's always a good idea to do a follow up treatment 30 days after the first.  Cost is about $10 a treatment from your local vet.

Q: What do I feed my rabbit?

A:  Rabbits must have hay as the primary source of their diet.  The main reasons for this is to maintain a high fiber diet for proper digestive tracts, and secondly rabbits teeth grow for life; it's important they have the ability to chew to help keep them worn down.  Rabbits with teeth too long is not only painful for the rabbit to the point they can't eat leading to other health problems, but can cause absesses and infection.

Q: Can I let my rabbit free range in the house?

A: Yes, however, it is recommended that you have a defined room for your rabbit to play.  You can certainly do the entire house, however, keep in mind rabbits are chewers by nature.  All extension cords must be inaccessible, floors should be picked up and free of hazards, and care should be taken to ensure your home is suitable and safe for your rabbit.

Q: My rabbit freaks out when I pick up to put in the cage, what can I do to prevent dropping?

A:  Rabbits by nature are afraid of being picked up, particularly due to the fact they are prey animals.  We don't recommend picking up a rabbit that really doesn't like it.  There have been cases they kick too hard and break their own backs, get dropped and get internal injuries, and also the experience reduces trust between you and the rabbit.  Solutions to this are to place the cage on the floor, so that you can kind of herd the rabbit into the cage.  I recommend using a couple of pieces of cardboard so that the rabbit doesn't associate this to your hands.  During each time you put the rabbit up, use a calm voice, use a term such as "time for bed" and after going into cage, provide a small treat.  Eventually you will be able to just say the term, and your rabbit will run to it's cage on it's own and wait for their treat!

Q: What treats can I give my rabbit?  

A:  Strawberry tops, pieces of strawberry, small piece of banana, kale, yougurt chips are all good!  Stay away from sunflower seeds with the shells on them as these shells can get stuck in the GI tract.  Carrot is okay, but very small pieces.  Many of these are high in sugars or proteins which can upset your bunny's GI tract leading to loose stools.  We recommend at the most once a day on treats, and monitoring stools for changes.  If your rabbit is having loose stools from a certain treat, avoid that, and find a different one, or reduce the amount given.

We are starting the Rabbit Spotlight series this week!  Each video will
showcase a rabbit that we have as one of our pets, brood stock, and
rescues that have been rehabilitated for adoption, or specific breeding
releases that we will have available.  Each of the video's will showcase
a little about each one including information specific to the breed,
age, and personality!  We are excited about this new series and look
forward to sharing with you the world of rabbits that we fully enjoy and
work with daily!  You can visit them on our youtube channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-waN4INkncwXLU1KDlufDA