“Rehoming, and Buying Another Rabbit.”

Sticky Situation: Rehoming Tyrell

As many of you may know, we got a Blue Rex buck a few months back, now. Unfortunately, It was a very sticky situation, straight from the beginning. The owners, were not completely honest with us at all, and the rightful owner, left the buck in the hands of a relative for us to meet with, because she was leaving the state, for schooling. This relative, however, knew nothing of the Rabbit, other than to drop it off to us, so he could answer no questions. 

I also found out, right before we left that he had been in his same, tiny cage for 10 whole days while they were gone, just before we picked him up. His rump, was covered in his own fecal matter said the relative, and he had to clean it off the buck’s bottom, before they gave him to us. He was also molting, which wasn’t a problem as all Rabbits molt, but he just looked, a little rough. I thought “well, he probably will get better super quick, and I can’t leave him like this with someone who has no clue what to do.”

Tip #1: Never buy an animal, because you feel bad, unless you fully have plans to commit to rehabilitating that animal, as you may not find a good home for it as quickly as hoped for.

Well, after that, the actual owner sent me his pedigree over email, and then told me he was “a product of genetic testing, nothing to worry about”. Compared to my other Rex’s, he looked a little off, quality wise. Not super noticeable, but definitely something was different. I contacted a few breeders, who said that is probably fine, and truly is nothing to worry about, but he still just looked off to me.

Over the next couple weeks, he wasn’t getting healthier, even with my efforts, to fix him up. So, we put him up for “sale” hoping someone would want him. We communicated to other breeders about our situation, and researched a lot more; we came to the conclusion he needs a pet home where he can get special care. Sadly, no one around here wanted to take in a Standard Rex who cannot be bred, or used for meat.

Luckily though, we finally found a small rescue local to us, who takes Rabbits and contacted us.  Long story short, we have successfully re-homed Tyrell, to someone who can treat him so much better! I should have never put myself in that situation, and if I had known what to look for better, I would have seen the quality he was, was not great for our breeding standards, at all. I just got too hopeful I could fix it quick, and didn’t know enough about what good, quality Rabbits look like.

Tip #2: It’s okay to say no to a breeder, if you are not comfortable with how the animal looks or acts! The breeder should know, the buyer has the right to say no, and it may just not work out. That’s just a risk, when it comes to selling animals, it might not always sell to the person who is interested.

So anyways, I’m glad that whole situation is over with, and I will not make the same mistake, twice (hopefully). I could not risk him, bringing sickness to my other Rabbits due to his poor health, and his weakened immune system, or for him to get worse through Winter.

New Buck:

This next buck, I researched like crazy for, and persuaded my husband a tad bit too, as he wasn’t, cheap. Good quality usually, if not always, isn’t. We both know that, however and with that, on top of the fact that we will not be buying another breeder Rabbit for a while (that is the plan if everything goes accordingly) is why we are comfortable with going forward. 

We do not want to end up with another, Tyrell situation, and I have not bought from this breeder before (it was a recommended breeder) so I asked her a ton of questions and told her that we have dealt with bad breeders previously, she was honest and open to all my questions, so I think we scored there! So far, the Chocolate Buck named “Corduroy” looks great! Can’t wait to see some babies from him and one of my does this Spring!

Planned Breeding Pairs: Spring 2022

So we have 3 does, and 2 bucks. The pairs that I have in mind to use, are listed below. I have one doe who may throw Charlies (almost all white; 10% color or less), just due to her coloring, and she also was pretty, small for a Standard Rex. She took longer to gain weight, and we don’t want that for our Rabbitry, as we are hoping to sell them (and use them ourselves) as meat Rabbits and/or show Rabbits in the future, however, I still would like to see how she does, if she has big, healthy kits, regardless. If not, and she produces smaller Rex’s I will re-home her, and hopefully keep a doe, from one of our litters, who is better suited for giving good sized, and good colored offspring. I’m really hoping she works out though!

We do not plan to get anymore outside breeding Rabbits, as we will just keep offspring of certain pairs to breed in the future or switch out, if these ones can’t breed for some reason. Currently, they are all first timers and anything could happen, as they are still learning. I am and will be preparing for all the things, in regards to their breeding process. I am still learning the ropes of genes, and color pairings, how colors work together, and how some don’t. With that said, I’m not confident enough to say what color offspring, these pairings will throw. However, I do have a general idea, and I hope I will be somewhat close, if not correct! We’ll see how great that turns out, though. I will let you know!

Pairings: Spring 2022

#1: “Blackie” x “Cottontail” (Solid Black buck, Broken Castor doe #1).

#2: “Corduroy” x “Flopsy” (Solid Chocolate buck, Blue Otter doe).

#3: The Test Pairing: “Blackie” x “Mopsy” (Solid Black buck, Broken Castor doe #2).