[ian]

My female english rabbit died, so I had to get a new rabbit to pair with my dutch buck, Ivor. I tried to rescue an adult doe which had already been spayed but all the rescue places seemed to pair the does to bucks as soon as they come in so there were no suitbale single does. Anyway I found a baby doe which is a cross between and english lop and a continental giant. She is 9 weeks old and already bigger than the dutch!

This is a picture of her and her sisters while they were with their breeder. She is the one on the left with the spot on her nose. I think she is going to be called Martha.

 

[julieszoo]

Aww cute Going to be a big bunny!

 

[SarahC]

really lovely rabbits.

 

[Jack Garcia]

I never cease to be amazed at how beautiful rabbits are! Gorgeous animal(s)!

 

[moustress]

The only bunny we ever had when I was a kid was brought home by my dad, who took the doe as payment for some minor carpentry work. It was a huge white thing and I was in love with it. My mother was very displeased, and was even less pleased after she presented us with 13 tiny bunny babies.

The mother and the babies were traded off to a cousin (in return for some minor welding work) who had spare space in a shed, where he began bunny farming. They never quite came out and told me what had happened or I would have run away from home (again). She didn't like having anything to do with animals that weren't already dressed for cooking, but she had little choice, as my father's trade trickled out to next to nothing in 1960 and 1961, and we ate a lot of various game and fish. My father cleaned the fish, but he left my mom to dress the ducks and pheasants and quail and partridge.

He brought home other things that we also we ate....but that's another few stories. It suffices to say that my dad and I loved critters in general, and she didn't. I did get a nice picture with me trying to hold the huge thing on my lap, though.

(You may come to notice that I really like to write)

 

[ian]

My mum was quite similar when I was young. I had a couple of mice for christmas one year, ofcourse there was one buck and two does! So it ended up with quite a lot of mice. My mum got rid of the lot telling me they had found a good home, a few years later I found out they went to a snake keeper, a common fate for my current mice, but these were cherished childhood pets.

I never had rabbits as a youngster, we always had guinea pigs which were really lovely childrens pets, very docile. From keeping rabbits in the last few years I think rabbits need quite a lot of handling and socialisation to get them to be managable. I am really lucky because its obvious that Martha has been well handled by her breeders, she is very confidant, far more than my other rabbits were at the same age. Without proper handling they can be very antisocial animals, I'm putting in a lot of work with Martha because she is going to be a very large rabbit so could inflict quite a bit of damage if she decided to, she already has invertantly, her claws are like little pins!

 

[moustress]

Bunnies are fierce strong things, to be sure.

 

[ian]

I got a new camera for christmas so I took some updated pictures of Martha, now aged 12 weeks.

 

[WoodWitch]

Oh my word.....look at those ears!! Can she fly?

 

[Rowangate]

Gosh Ian those ears are huge, does she get on well with your boy?

 

[wyliegirl]

How cute

 

[julieszoo]

Aww what a sweetheart. Hope her ears stay up, I love the big upright ears on the giants

 

[april]

OMGOSH look at those ears! so cute!

 

[julieszoo]

Any up to date pics Ian? Did the ears stay up?

 

[unicorn]

Wow I really hope mum was the conti, gorgeous bunny though.

 

[ian]

Yes the mum was the conti :lol:

Her right ear has just flopped down, was hoping they would both stay up too!

 

[unicorn]

Her skull is maybe a bit narrow to hold the weight, she seems to have an english shaped skull with conti ears, ever so sweet though.
This is one of my recent babies a wooly chinchilla, not showable but ever so pretty. Just one of those things that pop up in a litter now and again.

 

[julieszoo]

That sheepy bunny is very cute!