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The fashion for keeping various exotic, and not so exotic, animals in the house continues to gain momentum. In addition to wild forms of animals: iguanas, pythons, various lizards, which breeders have not yet had a chance to lay their hands on, animal lovers also get more familiar species.
One of these domesticated species, but not previously living in apartments, includes rabbits.
In the case of these animals, you will first have to understand what types of decorative rabbits are and the concepts of “decorative”, “dwarf” and “miniature”.
Often, neither sellers when selling, nor buyers when purchasing animals, think about these points. As a result, a situation can easily arise from the joke about a man with a bear who was looking for a hamster seller at the market who sold him a “hamster.”
Differences between the concepts of “decorative”, “dwarf” and “miniature”
The concept of “decorative” includes any rabbit that is kept as a pet, without seeking to obtain skin, meat or fluff from it.Decorative can be a medium-sized black-skinned black-fired, meat-skinned Californian and Dutch or a meat giant - the Flanders rabbit.
The dwarf rabbit often has a body the same size as its industrial ancestors breeds. But at the same time, dwarfs have short legs, which makes them appear smaller. Such animals are born if the dwarfism gene Dw appears in their genome. Sometimes this is a spontaneous mutation, sometimes it is a deliberate crossing of short-legged animals in order to obtain a dwarf breed.
The only group of rabbits originally intended to be pets only is the group of miniature rabbit breeds. Miniature rabbits include all rabbits weighing less than 3 kg.
Rabbit competition
But there is no need to consider decorative rabbits as stupid animals that are not adapted to anything. If the owner likes to communicate with the animal and train it, then rabbits of any group are quite amenable to training. In the West they even organize competitions for them.
Cute Bunny Jumping Competition!
At the same time, such physical exercises will help the animals not gain excess weight.
Rabbit Grand National The Final
Types of decorative rabbits
In addition to size, decorative rabbits differ in exterior characteristics. They can be smooth-haired or long-haired. And there is a third, intermediate option, the occurrence of which is controversial: either a spontaneous mutation, or the product of crossing a smooth-haired and a long-haired rabbit. These are lion-headed rabbits, distinguished by the presence of long hair on the neck, forming a semblance of a lion's mane around the head.
And one more division that exists among decorative rabbits: by the ears. Ears can be erect, hanging, long or short.
It’s easy to get confused in all this diversity, so you need to describe the breeds of decorative rabbits with photographs.
The most popular decorative large breeds
These same breeds are also often bred for meat and skins, but, for example, the English Fold is no longer convenient to breed in modern cages, and its ears get in the way, so it has moved into the category of purely decorative rabbits of large breeds.
English fold breed
The English “ram” bred from the French Fold is smaller than its progenitor, although it weighs 4.5 kg, which is quite a suitable weight for a meat breed.
The length and width of the ears of the English Fold significantly exceeds its ancestor. An Englishman's ears these days already reach 70 cm, and their width exceeds 16 cm.
So where does this go? You can’t even adapt to agility; you’ll knock down sticks with your ears. Therefore, it is strictly a pet for those who like to tinker with the animal, since this rabbit’s ears are trimmed with special clothespins.
Since the breed is already decorative, special attention is paid not only to the ears, but also to the color. The English ram can be any color that exists in rabbits.
Dutch
A characteristic feature of the breed is its color, which visually divides the animal’s body into two halves. The front is white, the back is dark. Dark color can be black, blue or chocolate, red.
Initially, the breed was a meat-and-skin breed, and in Russia the old version of these rabbits, weighing an average of 5 kg, is still bred. In Europe with the advent broiler breeds of rabbits and a decrease in the number of cheap furs, the Dutch rabbit became decorative due to its interesting color and decreased in size.
A Dutch rabbit is classified as an ornamental rabbit if its weight does not exceed 3 kg.
The Dutch rabbit is an animal with a calm temperament and a completely athletic build. He is quite trainable.
A Dutch rabbit can be tri-colored, but only if the so-called cross combination is observed, that is, there should be a black ear on one red cheek, and a red ear on the other, black cheek.
Florida white
The animal weighing 2-3 kg in the States is not only a pet, valued for its calm disposition and white skin, but also a source of meat and a laboratory animal. It is on these rabbits that new products, cosmetics and medicines are tested.
When purchasing this breed, you must take into account the quality for which the rabbit is used in the laboratory: albinos are prone to allergies. Therefore, you need to pamper your pet even more carefully than other breeds of decorative rabbits.
Havanese
Bred in Holland, this rabbit was originally only dark brown in color, similar to the color of the Havana cigar. Because of this color, he received the name Havanese rabbit. Later, three more colors were added to the breed: blue, black and chubaraya (Dalmatian). Rabbits cannot be classified as miniature. Its weight is 3.5 kg.
For all their gentleness and friendliness, these animals have a cheerful disposition and love active games. Considering the size of a rabbit of this breed, you will either have to give him the opportunity to splash out his energy in a controlled way, or he will destroy the apartment. But this breed would be ideal for agility.
Miniature breeds
For greater contrast, after the largest breeds of rabbits that claim to be decorative, we can describe the smallest representatives of rabbits. The smallest decorative rabbits cause affection with their size, as they are very similar to baby rabbits. But the rabbits themselves consider themselves quite strong and large animals. Or maybe the point here is that due to its “toy” appearance, not enough attention is paid to the upbringing of such an animal. In any case, it is the miniature breeds of rabbits that are distinguished by their increased viciousness. Not all mini bunnies will necessarily bite, but many of them are addicted to it.
The smallest breeds include: Hermelin, Shorthaired Dwarf and Dutch Fold.
Hermelin
It is distinguished by its cute appearance, short ears, shortened muzzle and small size. The maximum weight of hermelin is 1.5 kg. Most often it does not reach 1 kg.
Also among the features is a rather vile character. It is difficult to say why this breed is not popular in Russia. Either it’s a matter of character, since the animal has its own mind, or it’s the fact that, due to its thick fur, the hermelin cannot stand the heat at all.
The ears are no longer than 5 cm, the color is always white with red or blue eyes.
Very similar to the Hermelina shorthaired dwarf.
Shorthaired Dwarf (Colored Dwarf)
The breed is very similar to the Hermelina and is related to it. Even the breed standard requirements are the same. But if hermelin can only be white, then a colored dwarf has 60 color variations. However, here too the most fashionable color is white. True, with a black border around the eyes.
This colored dwarf can easily be confused with a hermelin.
It is said that the character of the colored dwarf is lighter than that of the hermelin. Maybe Hermelin just doesn't want to be grabbed by unwashed hands? But during puberty, a colored dwarf can also show aggression.
Dutch Fold
The smallest representative of the group lop-eared rabbits. According to the standard of the American Association of Decorative Rabbit Fanciers, the weight of the Dutch Fold ranges from 0.9 to 1.8 kg. Colors are divided into two groups: one-color and two- and three-color.
A mandatory requirement of the standard is wide, fleshy ears hanging on the sides with a clearly defined “crown”. Pointed, narrow or thin ears are not allowed.
In addition to being miniature, they are also decorative dwarf rabbits, since their genome contains the Dw dwarfism gene.
The presence of this gene indicates that the individual is a “true dwarf”; in the absence of the gene, the Dutch Fold is a false dwarf and its weight often exceeds the standard.
This point must be taken into account when breeding. And it is better to cross a true dwarf with a false one than two true ones, since in the latter case some of the offspring will die in the womb.
Lionhead
A decorative rabbit obtained either as a result of mating a long-haired rabbit with a short-haired one, or as a result of mutation. Experts are still arguing.
What speaks in favor of the mutation is that the quantity and quality of the mane is determined by the dominant M gene. With a heterozygous M/m set, the rabbit does not show much fluffiness anywhere except the neck, as can be clearly seen in the photograph.
With the homozygous M/M set, the lionhead's mane is much more luxuriant, and long hair is also present on the sides.
The colors of lionheads can be very diverse. Average weight 1.4 kg, maximum 1.7 kg.
A lionhead with a double set of M can be so fluffy.
But it should be borne in mind that caring for the mane of lion-headed rabbits is very difficult. During molting, the fallen fur tends to get entangled in the new one and form tangles, so the animals are advised to comb their manes daily.
It is also necessary to ensure that animals do not eat wool, which can form clumps in the intestines and clog the gastrointestinal tract. To prevent blockage of the gastrointestinal tract, malt paste can be given.
Downy breeds
Another common name for these breeds is Angora. Although in fact, only one breed was exported from Turkey, which ended up in France. Since the 19th century, the march of the Angora breed across the planet began. Breeders from different countries changed the breed to suit their needs. The animal's appearance, fur length and weight changed. Today, the weight of representatives of various downy breeds ranges from 2 to 6 kg.
Like the Angora goat, the Angora's coat consists mainly of down with a slight admixture of protective guard hair.
The Chinese, the leaders in the production of Angora rabbit wool, can boast of such animals.
U angora rabbit Even the ears and head may be pubescent, as in the top photo. Or maybe there is fur only on the body.
Cropped Angora with fluffy ears.
And an Angora with a smooth head and ears, but luxurious down on the body.
The Angora's fur is removed either during shedding twice a year or by shearing. When shearing, you can get a wool harvest 3 times a year.The main thing is not to be scared when you wake up in the morning and see this in front of you:
It's not an alien, it's just a clipped Angora rabbit.
These circumstances make them very troublesome to keep as ornamental animals, although the animals are quite trainable and have a cheerful character.
Experienced rabbit breeders advise hiding all breakable items before letting the Angora dog out for a walk.
Considering that many Angoras die from “intestinal diseases” before reaching 5 years of age, you need to think about whether they have a gene in their genotype that provokes the development of megacolon. The development of the disease with age is a sign of congenital megacolon. Farms do not select for this trait, since Angoras are slaughtered long before they reach 5 years of age, but for a pet owner this issue is relevant.
Conclusion
It is important to know that no matter what decorative breed you choose, the animal will need something to occupy its brain. The only exception is the English Fold breed due to the size of its ears. But given the size of these animals, few people want to keep them as pets.
