I GUESS I AM OUT OF THE RABBIT BUSINESS

[Katiean]

Well, I still had one 6 compartment cage (12 feet long) left from my show rabbit days. I also had 6 portable cages and one 2 hole carry cage. Well, the portables are stacked in the shed. The 6 hole cage is gone. My sister in law gets the 3 hole carry cage along with 2 sets of outside hutches. When she takes the hutches she has to take my moms 7 year old blue eyed white netherland dwarf and my nephews' 4 year old black otter dwarf buck. They are leftovers from showing. I figured they would have been dead by now. But at 7 years old Gidget is still going strong and looks like a young doe. I am not sure how I feel about getting rid of the rabbit stuff. But, we are trying to move to a larger place and if we get the place I want, I will have to build a barn so I don't need extra baggage hanging over my head. I hope I did the right thing.

 

[jacks'thunder]

I think lightening your load is a great Idea! You'll make your move so much easier! At least it went to a family member, so if one day she's not using it you can borrow it back. I was wondering how your house hunting was going?

I hope well! Good luck!

 

[KanoasDestiny]

I have a netherland dwarf bunny who just celebrated his tenth birthday last August. I heard they are 'senior' around six years of age? He has cataracs, but he still gets around really well and is overall healthy.

I think you did the right thing. At least they went to family.

 

[mini horse mania]

Whenever you get ready,i have about a hundred bunnies and cages gor sale.lol.you get attached to them over time,i have a few mini rex I love!.maybe when you move and get settled in you can get more.

they can be a lot of work

 

[AnnaC]

My daughter bred and showed (with National success) Netherland Dwarfs for around 15 years, but once her life became too busy with family commitments she called it a day and left us with 30 bunnies to look after - mostly the older ones who had 'done their bit' at the shows or by breeding. They all happily lived out their lives as pets until time slowly reduced their numbers. A lot of them reached 10 years and one very special boy - a black otter - made it to several months after his 12th Birthday! He just loved his cuddles, but even in his final year, if sat on a piece of matting/square of carpet, he would immediately sit up straight, perfectly still, in his show days 'pose'. Such a character!

 

[Katiean]

Well, since Gidget looks so young maybe she will get to 10-12 years too. Our BEW Buck we got the year before we got Gidget passed at age 4 and he looked like an "old man" He had wrinkles on his face and all. I loved my Mini Rex. They were great as far as needing less space and eating less. Then my loves are French Lops and Sandy Flemish Giants. I just have to keep telling myself I don't need any more rabbits.

As far as out house hunting, we tried to look at a house today and it didn't have a lock box. We couldn't get in. I don't like the house anyway. They made the garage into rooms and added a garage on the other side of the house. It has a septic and man does it smell on that side of the house. I think there are too many problems with that house.

 

[MindyLee]

My daughter bred and showed (with National success) Netherland Dwarfs for around 15 years, but once her life became too busy with family commitments she called it a day and left us with 30 bunnies to look after - mostly the older ones who had 'done their bit' at the shows or by breeding. They all happily lived out their lives as pets until time slowly reduced their numbers. A lot of them reached 10 years and one very special boy - a black otter - made it to several months after his 12th Birthday! He just loved his cuddles, but even in his final year, if sat on a piece of matting/square of carpet, he would immediately sit up straight, perfectly still, in his show days 'pose'. Such a character!

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

I have 5 dwarfs, some with pedigrees and parents who show, but I have NO IDEAL how to show bunnys or if mine are even quality...

 

[AnnaC]

Hi MindyLee, I dont know if it is the same in the US with rabbit shows, but here the rabbits are supposed to sit 'upright', front legs straight, head up and ears 'pricked' ('give me ears' just like with mini horses!!) The general picture should be of alertness and (hopefully) it should remain in this position while the judges are making their 'rounds'. Judges do handle the rabbits and are quite happy to offer the rabbit a chance to re-position itself once they have been handled by either the judge or the steward (the owners are not allowed to touch rabbits after they have been placed on the judging tables)

Just like our minis, not all rabbits will enjoy showing, so while you can have a great deal of fun with all sorts of rabbits at local shows, you really do need one that genuinely enjoys showing to do well at National level.

Daughter used to spend many hours handling and fussing her rabbits, gently positioning them and 'lifting' them into the correct showing position. She used a small square of carpet to sit them on and they soon learnt that when on the carpet they had to 'look their best' - Rather like a stallion will learn that a certain headcollar is for normal things, but a different one (or whatever the owner chooses to use) is for covering.

But as with all showing, it should be fun. Why not find a local one if possible and go along to watch?

 

[Katiean]

MindyLee, You can go to the ARBA site and search shows in your area. Shows are a lot of fun. We used to travel to Stockton, Ca and Central Point, OR to shows in addition to the shows we had here in Reno. In the Spring and summer we generally had a show every other week. At the time I had a Jeep Cherokee and we would fit 35 rabbits plus sale rabbits in the Jeep. We had a few different sizes of carry cages and they fit like a puzzle. We would get up at about 3:30am to load the Jeep and get to Stockton. Earlier if there was snow. It made for a very long day. We usually stayed in Stockton that night.

AnnaC, It does sound like your shows are like ours. Once the rabbit is on the table, the owner can not say which rabbit is theirs. However, most people used a system specific to their rabbit barn and soon the judges do know where the rabbit came from by the ear tattoo. The dwarfs pose the same here in the states. However, each breed has there own way they are set up.