Rabbit Rhythms December 2021

Welcome to the Rabbit Rhythms December 2021, Issue 95 !

December's Breed of the Month is the German Angora Rabbit, those stout-carrot-lager-drinking Hessian Hares that don't care that they are not yet recognized by ARBA!

Winterizing Your Rabbits: It's that season during which it might take a little more effort to ensure your rabbits' comfort during the coldest days.

Consider Chipping Your Rabbit! If, God forbid, your rabbit disappears, a chip may increase the odds of its reunion with you and your family. 

Check out the Raising-Rabbits BUNNY BAZAAR online shopping mall! This is a venue where rabbit owners that make and sell stuff can market their products. Plus we've rounded out the offerings with rabbit-y items from Amazon. Yes, we receive a bit of "kibble" from Amazon, but there is no additional expense to you our valued visitors.

Meet the Winner of the Fall/Halloween Photo Contest!

Meet Zipper! Zipper is a ruby-eyed white Jersey Wooly adult doe. She is clearly enjoying the fall season!

Even better, Zipper is our latest photo contest winner, which comes with a grand prize of a full pound of Bunny Bran! Soon she will be munching happily on each day's Bunny Bran treat (it doesn't take much - just a couple teaspoons a day for small rabbits), and the munching will last well past Christmas, and possibly into February! 

We've heard from many rabbit owners who love what Bunny Branola does for their rabbits; we have not heard about a SINGLE rabbit that did not LOVE their branola treats or rabbit owners who did not love what branola does for their rabbits. Learn more about Bunny Branola here.

Winterizing Your Rabbit's Spaces

Rabbit Rhythms December 2021 e-zine has timely tips and tricks to help your bunnies in the cold:

Rabbits, with those dense fur coats, don't typically have any difficulties surviving the winter months. Out in the wild, they just take a deep dive into their burrows during blizzards and sub-zero temperatures. For rabbits that live with people, they will take refuge in the cages and hutches we provide. Part of providing a good home for bunnies is providing them with a good home, a secure hutch or cage that is sanitary and can be winterized. Raising-Rabbits has ebooks on building your own rabbit habitats to keep bunny happy and healthy, such as Pet Rabbit Living Spaces, DIY Livestock Rabbit Housing, or our master book which has everything, Ideal DIY Rabbit Cages For All Rabbits. The Raising-Rabbits bookstore has all of these excellent ebooks at your fingertips.

For caged rabbits which have no burrows, the colder temps can become a problem for them and their owners, and by "colder," we mean temperatures dropping below minus-5 or minus-10 degrees Fahrenheit. 

The rabbit owner can help ensure the safety of his rabbits in three ways.

• Provide extra fats and proteins in the feed so rabbits can generate extra body heat (Bunny Branola is made with natural ingredients and herbs to fortify rabbits against the cold weather. It comes in 4 delicious flavors: Original, Pumpkin Spice, Cranberry Crunch, and Merry Mint).
• Provide non-frozen water several times a day.
• Provide an artificial burrow in the form of extra insulation in and around each rabbit cage.

All of the details are on the Outdoor Rabbits in the Winter page. 

Pet Rabbit Living Spaces

Pet Rabbit Living Spaces is our collection of exclusive and luxurious DIY plans for building your own rabbit cages, hutches, runs, and pens. Included are never-before published plans and designs that will please you and your pet rabbits.

Like the idea of a PVC rabbit frame but don't feel like stooping? One of our indoor rabbit cage plans features legs on this PVC frame so you and your kids can enjoy your rabbit nearly face-to-face.

Pet Rabbit Living Spaces: A hands-on, do-it-yourself manual of plans and instructions for creating a variety of rabbit homes and exercise spaces for your pet rabbits, both indoors and outside.

Pet Rabbit Living Spaces is available as an instant-download e-book. It's a big PDF file...it  is full of pictures and illustrations so we could over-deliver on value.

Click the photo or go to Build Your Own Rabbit Cage to learn more!

Breed of the Month: German Angora Rabbit

With the onset of winter weather, Rabbit Rhythms December 2021 newsletter pays homage to the festively fluffy German Angora.

Angora rabbits come in several varieties, such as Standard, English, French, German or Giant Angoras. Today we will focus on German Angoras. If you would like to learn about Giant Angoras, check out our October 2020 Newsletter.

German Angoras are what happens when you take the German love of efficiency and selectivity and apply it to rabbits. German rabbit breeders started with English Angoras in 1920 and they had a specific goal in mind: UBER-HASEN-FLUFFEN!

In addition to German Angoras, Angora rabbits come in three separate varieties: English, French, and Giant. Plus, little Jersey Woollies have angora wool (see the photo contest winner above!). The Angora Rabbit page covers all the details. If you would like to learn more about Giant Angoras, check out our October 2020 Newsletter.

How German Angoras Came To Be...

Lured away from Great Britain during Oktoberfest by promises of stout carrot lager and hay pretzels, imported English Angoras settled into new homes in Germany, wearing lederhosen and hopping along to oom-pa-pa music.

German breeders focused on quality wool and rabbit size, in that order. The Rabbit Reich concentrated on issues like softness, coloring, molting, matting, and stylish monocle wearing.

The original English Angoras produced under a half-pound of wool per year, but by 1963, the Bavarian Bunnies were producing over two pounds per year. Currently, German Angoras produce over four pounds of high quality angora wool per year!

German Angoras aren’t accepted by the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) as an independent breed due to lack of exact conformity to body standards. The Hessian Hares don’t give a thump though; they have formed their own breeder club, the International Association of German Angora Rabbit Breeders (IAGARB), complete with wool competitions.

ARBA competitions tend to be beauty contests, but IAGARB events focus decidedly more on talent. The points are specifically distributed to prioritize their coats vs body shape, which includes a 90-day performance review of wool quality and production. The one purely aesthetic criteria is that the rabbit must be monochromatic, with Ruby Eye White (REW) being the most common.

German Angoras make great pets, even for families with children. They have mellow temperaments, like to play, are easily litter trained, and will come when called. Their fur, while long, is not prone to molting or matting as long as they are sheared every 90 days. They shed very little despite being so wooly, and require little to no grooming until the 4 month mark. Once their coat is 4 months old, it will begin to more easily mat, so to keep your rabbits happy and healthy, take them to the salon every 3 months. 

Because they self-groom and their hair is very long, they can be prone to wool block. A great treat for protecting your Angora is Bunny Branola which helps keep digestion moving along. It is available in four delicious flavors: Original, Pumpkin Spice, Cranberry Crunch, and Merry Mint.

If you would like to learn more about the German Angora, or other breeds, check out these links:

• German Angora Rabbits page
• Domestic Rabbit Breeds ebook
  
  

Consider Chipping Your Rabbit!

No one wants to discover their beloved pet rabbit is missing!

Issue 95 of the Rabbit Rhythms December 2021 newsletter discusses something you may not have thought of: Microchipping your rabbit.

Quality healthcare is an extremely important issue for rabbit owners, and one service to seriously consider is getting your pet rabbit microchipped. The process itself is quite quick, the same as getting a shot. It can be combined with any other veterinary or spa visit; just check with your provider.  The chips are small enough that they can even be used for dwarf and very small breeds.

The Humane Society estimates that less than 10% of lost pets that get turned over to shelters get reunited with their families. That number will be even lower since rabbits aren’t commonly chipped. However, over 60% of chipped pets that get admitted to shelters are reunited with families. Tattooing is one method that does get used to identify rabbits, especially for 4H and show rabbits, however, tattoos can fade, distort, or be altered due to scarring or other injury.

Chips can also help recover bunnies in case of theft or pet-napping. 

In the Pacific Northwest, there was a recent outbreak of 4H rabbit thefts, and there are stories all over the country of other thefts and pet-nappings for ransom. Without bills of sale, the pet thefts are nearly impossible to prove, but microchipping and registering can be used to prove ownership. Finally, sometimes a beloved pet gets loose and comes to a tragic end. When local animal services deal with the situation, they can scan the remains and notify families.

When you want to provide the best care for your rabbits, consider all your options.

Bunny Bazaar Online Shopping Mall!

Handmade Rabbit Toys from Raising-Rabbits

Looking for original Christmas gift ideas? The Rabbit Rhythms December 2021 newsletter has great news! Raising-Rabbits is excited to present to the world an online shopping mall featuring anything and everything rabbit-related!

Do you have someone who is impossible to buy for? 
Good news - their bunny is easy to shop for!
Load up on toys and treats.
Does your child want a rabbit but you're not sure yet?
Do you already have a rabbit and want to take it to the next level?
We have supplies, equipment, and learning materials for rabbit rescuers and ranchers. 

Got bunny on the brain??
Go check out Raising-Rabbits' Bunny Bazaar Online Shopping Mall!

Like this Rabbit Rhythms December 2021 Newsletter?

Maybe your friends would too...

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Your friends at Raising-Rabbits.com wish you a wonderful Christmas this December, 2021. 

Enjoy your rabbits!

Chew Stix by Raising-Rabbits
Just the sticks your bunnies need for chewing and gnawing!

Fruit-infused Raising Rabbits Chew Stix are nature's blessings from the beautiful Washington State forests and orchards.

Fresh alder branches are harvested from trees grown without chemicals, pesticides, or smog. Those branches are then hand cut down to bunny size portions, and infused with apple from Washington’s famous apple farms.

Alder is perfect for rabbit dental hygiene! The apple taste and smell will attract your bun, and they can chew to their heart's content, saving your phone cords and your sanity. 

Check out Raising Rabbits Chew Stix Here