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The fashion for keeping various exotic, and not so, animals in the house continues to gain momentum. In addition to wild forms of animals: iguanas, pythons, various lizards, to which breeders have not yet had time to lay a hand, animal lovers also start more familiar species.
Rabbits are one of these domesticated, but previously not living in apartments.
In the case of these animals, you first have to figure out what are the types of decorative rabbits and with the concepts of "decorative", "dwarf" and "miniature".
Often, neither sellers when selling, nor buyers when purchasing animals do not think about these points. As a result, a situation can easily arise from an anecdote about a man with a bear, who was looking for a hamster seller in the market, who sold him a “hamster”.
Differences between the concepts "decorative", "dwarf" and "miniature"
Any rabbit that is kept as a pet, not trying to get a skin, meat or fluff from it, falls under the concept of "decorative". Ornamental may be a medium-sized black-fiery skinned, meat-skinned Californian and Dutch or 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, due to which they seem smaller. Such animals are born if the dwarfism gene Dw appears in their genome. Sometimes this is a spontaneous mutation, sometimes a deliberate crossing of short-legged animals in order to get a dwarf breed.
The only group of rabbits originally intended to be only pets is the miniature rabbit breed group. Miniature rabbits include all rabbits weighing less than 3 kg.
Rabbit competition
But do not consider decorative rabbits as stupid animals that are not adapted to anything. If the owner likes to communicate with the animal, train it, then rabbits of any group lend themselves well to training. Competitions are even arranged for them in the West.
Cute Bunny Jumping Competition!
At the same time, such physical exercises will help the animals not to gain excess weight.
Rabbit Grand National The Final
Types of decorative rabbits
In addition to size, decorative rabbits differ in appearance. 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 long-haired rabbit. These are lion-headed rabbits, characterized 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 ears. Ears can be erect, drooping, long or short.
It is easy to get confused in all this variety, so you need to describe the breeds of decorative rabbits with photographs.
The most popular decorative large breeds
The same breeds are often bred for meat and skins, but, for example, it is already inconvenient to breed an English Fold in modern cages, and ears interfere, so it has passed into the category of purely decorative rabbits of large breeds.
English fold breed
Derived from the French Fold, the English "ram" 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 is much greater than its progenitor. The ears of an Englishman nowadays already reach 70 cm, and their width exceeds 16 cm.
So where is this? Even in agility you cannot adapt, it will knock down sticks with your ears. Therefore, it is strictly a pet for those who like to tinker with an animal, since this rabbit's ears are picked up 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 of any color that exists in rabbits.
Dutch
A characteristic feature of the breed is its color, which visually divides the body of the animal into two halves. The front is white, the back is dark. The dark color can be black, blue or chocolate, red.
Initially, the breed was meat-skinned and in Russia the old version of these rabbits weighing an average of 5 kg is still bred. In Europe with the emergence broiler rabbits and the decrease in the number of cheap furs, the Dutch rabbit moved into the category of decorative ones due to its interesting color and decreased in size.
A decorative Dutch rabbit is considered if its weight does not exceed 3 kg.
The Dutch rabbit is an animal with a calm temperament and quite athletic build. He lends itself well to training.
The Dutch rabbit can also be tricolor, but only if the so-called cross combination is observed, that is, a black ear above one red cheek, and a black ear above the other, should be red.
Florida White
An animal weighing 2-3 kg in the States is not only a domestic pet, appreciated for its calm disposition and white skin, but also a source of meat, as well as a laboratory animal. It is on these rabbits that new products, cosmetics and medicines are tested.
When buying this breed, one must take into account the quality due to 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 a dark brown color, similar to the color of a Havana cigar. Because of this suit, he received the name of the Havana rabbit. Later, three more suits were added to the breed: blue, black and chubaraya (Dalmatian). A rabbit cannot be attributed to miniature. Its weight is 3.5 kg.
For all their gentleness and friendliness, these animals have a cheerful disposition and love active games. Given the size of the rabbit of this breed, you will either have to give him the opportunity to pour out his energy into a regulated channel, or he will blow the apartment apart. But this breed would be ideal for agility.
Miniature breeds
For greater contrast, after the largest breeds of rabbits, claiming to be decorative, the smallest representatives of rabbits can be described. The smallest decorative rabbits cause affection with their size, as they are very similar to rabbits. But the rabbits themselves consider themselves quite strong and large animals. Or maybe the point here is that because of the "toy" appearance, the education of such an animal is not given enough attention. In any case, it is the miniature breeds of rabbits that are distinguished by increased viciousness. Not all mini rabbits will bite, but many of them are addicted to it.
The smallest breeds include Hermelin, Shorthaired Dwarf and Dutch Fold.
Hermelin
Differs in cute appearance, short ears, shortened muzzle and small size.The maximum weight of hermelin is 1.5 kg. Most often, it does not even reach 1 kg.
Also among the features is a rather nefarious character. It is difficult to say why this breed is not popular in Russia. Either it's a matter of character, since the animal is on its mind, or in the fact that, because of its thick fur, the hermelin does not tolerate the heat at all.
The ears are not more than 5 cm long, the color is always white with red or blue eyes.
The short-haired dwarf is very similar to hermelin.
Short-haired dwarf (colored dwarf)
The breed is very similar to and closely related to Hermelin. Even the requirements of the breed standard are the same for them. But if hermelin can only be white, then a colored dwarf has 60 color variations. However, here, too, the most fashionable white suit. True, with a black border around the eyes.
It is easy to confuse such a colored dwarf with hermelin.
It is argued that the character of the colored dwarf is lighter than that of hermelin. Maybe Hermeline just doesn't want to be grabbed with unwashed hands? But during puberty, a colored dwarf can also show aggression.
Dutch fold
The smallest representative of the group fold rabbits... According to the standard of the American Association of fans of decorative rabbits, the weight of the Dutch Fold ranges from 0.9 to 1.8 kg. The colors are divided into two groups: one-color and two-, three-color.
A mandatory requirement of the standard are wide, fleshy ears hanging on the sides with a pronounced "crown". Pointed, narrow or thin cartilage ears are not allowed.
In addition to being miniature, they are also decorative dwarf rabbits, since the dwarf gene Dw is present in their genome.
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, part of the offspring will die in the womb.
Lionhead
Decorative rabbit, obtained either as a result of mating a long-haired rabbit with a short-haired rabbit, or as a result of a mutation. Experts are still arguing.
The mutation is supported by the fact that the quantity and quality of the mane is determined by the dominant gene M. With a heterozygous set of M / m, the rabbit does not show any particular fluffiness anywhere except the neck, as is clearly seen in the photograph.
With a homozygous set of M / M, 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 Ms can be that fluffy too.
But it should be borne in mind that it is very difficult to care for the mane of lion-headed rabbits. During the molt, the fallen out wool strives to get entangled in the new one and get lost in mats, so the animals are shown daily combing of the mane.
Care should also be taken to ensure that the animals do not gorge on wool, which can lump in the intestines and clog the gastrointestinal tract. For the prevention of gastrointestinal obstruction, 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 came to France. The procession of the Angora breed across the planet began in the 19th century. Breeders from different countries have changed the breed to suit their needs. The appearance of the animal, the length of the coat and the 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 fluff with a slight admixture of protective guard hair.
The Chinese, leading in the production of rabbit angora wool, can boast of such animals.
Have angora rabbit even the ears and head can be pubescent, as in the top photo. Or maybe there is only wool on the body.
A trimmed Angorese with fluffy ears.
And an Angorese with a smooth head and ears, but luxurious down on the body.
Wool is removed from Angora either during molting twice a year, or by shearing. When clipping, you can get a wool harvest 3 times a year. The main thing is then not to be scared when, waking up in the morning, you see this in front of you:
This is not an alien, it is just a trimmed angora rabbit.
These circumstances make them very troublesome to keep as decorative, although the animals lend themselves well to training and have a cheerful character.
Experienced rabbit breeders advise to hide all easily breakable objects before letting the Angora go for a walk.
Considering that many Angora people die from "intestinal diseases" before they reach the age of 5, 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 a congenital megacolon. On farms, selection is not conducted on this basis, since Angora people are slaughtered long before they reach 5 years old, but for the owner of a pet this issue is relevant.
Conclusion
It is important to know that no matter what decorative breed you choose, the animal will need to occupy its brains with something. An exception may be the English Fold breed due to the size of its ears. But given the size of these animals, few people want to have them as pets.
