Foxfire Farms Show Rabbits
"Where quality comes in many colors"

Rabbits make great pets  

people often don't think of rabbits as main pets but rabbits make awesome pets rabbits are small and don't make noise you can have them in an appartment. they can be litter box trained and require less care, and less vet bills than most other kinds of pets. rabbits are great for kids i beleive because they are easy to care for. They can be litter box trained very easily and they don't smell bad if you just dump the litter box every other day or so. they are very freindly. they don't need vet care worming is necessary every once in a while easy to do your self or maybe ask someone like a local breeder to help. they also need their toenails trimmed atleast every 6 months.

preventing mean behavior

I do not beleive rabbits are born mean or they are predispossed to become mean or in most breed sterio types. my dwarfs are not hyper and my dwarf hotots are not mean I don't think their behavior is determined by breed. most breeders try not breed or keep aggressive rabbits (depending on the breeder) and normally breeders handle their babies from birth. however some rabbits do develope aggresive behaivor i beleive most of the time you can prevent this here are some simple tips to try to prevent this.

NEVER hand feed the rabbit this is a very bad thing to do it teaches the rabbit your hand is food and that is why most rabbtis bite you can feed treats just put them down don't hold them while their eating them.

DON'T let other animals torment your rabbit out side of the cage because they can scare the rabbit making it cage agressive to try to protect itself.  

ALWAYS handle your bunnies tehy will be scared if you don't handle them often and if their not used to it. so handle them and lay them in your lap and always be nice to them. they will be mean if you are mean to them

Cage

a cage or even a well fenced yard are good places to keep rabbits. a cage should be big enough to let the rabbit have a little excersise also an outside yard is easy to let them run around in during the day time. rabbits love to run around and eat grass but the yard should be well fenced and protected so a rabbit can't get out tey dig alot so keep that in mind and predators can't get in neighborhood or pet cats, dogs and birds like hawks can harm rabbits so keep that in mind.

The cage should be big enough for the bunny to get excersise if he/she chooses to. If he gets to run around the house Just remember to bunny proof telephone and electric cords, computer cables and stereo wires. Folding exercise pens are very helpful in providing a safe place to play and make catching them later easy. When you chase after them one of two things happen. Either your rabbit becomes frightened and runs or they think it's a game. It is generally easiest to end an exercise session by habitually feeding them or giving them a treat. They soon begin to associate your call to go in with a pleasant dinner or snack.

You can get very creative in designing play areas. Cardboard boxes and large mailing tubes make great hiding and jumping places as do paper sacks. A kiddie wading pool full of clean sand makes a great place to dig and scratch without harming carpeting or lawns.

Weather and your rabbit

the number one killer of rabbits is heat. rabbits can't deal with hot weather so during weather over 90 degress bring the rabbit in, put fans on it's cage, give it a bath, or wet towels over the cage, any thing that helps get the rabbit cool. the veins in their ears are their main heat releiver so if you can cool down their ears that helps alot. 

cold weather rabbits are fine as long as the temerature is not to cold they like cold better than hot. to keep rabbits warmer if your worried put hay in the cage give them a well inselated box or house to go in also be shure the cage has wind blocks. 

Rabbits and your other pets 

rabbit are not harmful to any other animals how ever the other animals could hurt your bunny rabbits can be hurt by both cats and dogs so be cautious in keeping them apart and safe. even when the bunny is in its cage if a cat can gets its paw in or if it can be scarred and antagonized by another animal it can cause harm and aggressive behavior.

What to feed my rabbit

the main diet for your rabbit should be their rabbit pellets or alfalfa pellets also give plunty of timothy hay for them at all times. rabbit pellets are formulated to give the rabbit everything it needs so you want to be sure they eat that more than anything else. hay is great for fiber and great for proventing hairballs.

Food aditives- Oatmeal, rolled oats, black oil sunflower seeds are just some examples of great things you can ad to your rabbits pellets that are good for them too.

Treats- Carrots, cale, apples their are all sorts of treats you can give rabbits that are good for them but please don't feed these daily treats should be attleast everyother day. other things like willow tree branches, lavender are also great treasts. they will even love treats like trimmings from your rose's, trees and many other plants.  I recomened you not feed young rabbits treats to often as the water content in alot of fruits can cause serious problems. I recomend not feeding lettuce or cabbage it can cause real problems with to much watter in the rabbits system. I do not feed any treats until the rabbits are atleast 6-8 months babies are so small they are easily effected by small things. you will find many oppinions on this but this is what i beleive and recomend.

Toys and cage accesories

Rabbits love to chew so edible Toys are the best they love wood and cardboard toys. wood blocks of wood  for the rabbit to both sit on and chew on. rabbits in wire cage need a a spot to sit off the wire to give their feet a rest and prevent sore hocks so a wood block of other cage gaurd like the plastic ones they make are important to have in your cage. toys that fufill their natural habbits are great. toys they can dig, chew or nest. a run around yard is great for digging also you can give them like a planter box in their excersise yard to prevent diggin out of the cage.

Houses or rabbit hide aways the only problem with these type of toys is that it encourages the natural instingt of posesing a teritory. rabbits may become agressive in gaurding their teritories and then this may cause them to bite. houses aren't always a bad idea but at the first sign of gaurding and agression take the house away.

showing rabbit is a great thing for kids or adults it is addicting to me atleast the shows are on the weakends. you can find shows by searching for rabbitshow.com or ARBA website has a good show section or rabbitshows.com. then you must send your entries in with your information full name, adress, and rabbits info breed, variety, class, sex and tatto.

To get your rabbit a tattoo you can look for a local breeder the person you bought it from to tatto it someone attending the show who can do it that day a local 4-H club or buy a tattoo kit if you plan on joining the rabbit showing hobby.

Then you just take your rabbit to the show find the table with your breed and when your breed vareity and class is called a card should be on the table with your information you put the rabbit in the coop and the judge handles it from there.

judges look at the rabbit compare it to the standard of perfection, how healthy and well taken care of the rabbit is coat and flesh condition. it is a fun competittion and the other majority of exhibitors are all happy to help new interested breeders and showers in any way.

also you can show at you local county or state fair the best thing is to join your local 4-H or FFA. enter your county fair and you not only get your rabbit judged like other shows, but you also get to show in a show called showmanship. in showmanship your rabbit isn't judged, you are judged on how you handle your rabbit and your knowledgeof your rabbit. 

Bathing your rabbit

I advise not to bath your rabbit water is fine but soap takes importants oils and things out of your rabbits coat. I you want to give a bath use childs soap that is tear less and use conditioner. don't bath your rabbit within 1 month of a show. this is to give them time to build up normal oils and textures. a rabbits coat will be very weird textured and will make them look different too up to a few weeks after their bath. Rabbits do get dirty expessially the white ones so i just learned a trick on how to remove urine stains.  this is how you do it, you mix white vinegar with corn starch in to a past put it on the stain let it dry and brush it out, it might take a couple of times but it works and will not damage the hair like a bath will.

Tips in choosing your rabbit

Boy VS. girl everyone asks which is better as a pet a boy or a girl. My person oppinion is that most of the time boys are better girls do get moody once they reach breeding age and aren't bred. However as most things i beleive that it just depends on the bunny I have seen some girl bunnies who don't get all grumpy.

Pick the healthy bunny the freindly, active bunny is best often times people pickt he bunny that looks calmest and if you are buying a baby sometimes the baby is being extremely calm because it is lethargic or not feeling good.

picking a show bunny make sure if you are picking a show bunny the breeder says in their oppinion it is showable. and it dosen't hurt to get a second oppinion if you are buying a rabbit at a rabbit show take it to a judge or register their and ask their oppinion.

Health check now what to look for when picking out your bunny. look at general condition if the fur is dirty or missing if the rabbit is skinny. check the bunnies teeth make sure the top teeth over lap the bottom row of teeth. check for general health the bunny shouldn't be sneazing their shouldn't be much fluid around the nose. the bunnies ears should be clean no scabs and the feet of the bunny should be fuzzy not scabby or missing hair.

Interpreting Rabbits Body Language and Behavior

•  Sniffing — May be annoyed or just talking to you 
•  Grunts — Usually angry, watch out or you could get bit!
•  Shrill scream — bad sign the rabbits is extremely scared Hurt or dying.
•  Circling your feet — Usually indicates sexual behavior. He/She's in love.
• Spraying — Males that are not neutered will mark female rabbits in this manner as well as their territory. Females will also spray. 
• Chinning — Their chin contains scent glands, so they rub their chin on items to indicate that they belong to them. Same as a cat rubbing its forehead on people and objects. 
• False pregnancy — Usually just unspayed females may build a nest & pull hair from their chest & stomach to line the nest. They may even stop eating as rabbits do the day before they give birth.
• Bunny hop/dance — A sign of pure joy & happiness!
• Begging — Rabbits are worse than dogs about begging, especially for sweets. Beware of giving the rabbit treats as overweight rabbits are not as healthy as trim rabbits.
• Territory droppings — Droppings that are not in a pile, but are scattered, are signs that this territory belongs to the rabbit. This will often occur upon entering a new environment. If another rabbit lives in the same house this may always be a nuisance.
• Playing — Rabbits like to push or toss objects around. They may also race madly around the house, jump on and off of the couch and act like a kid that's had too much sugar.
• Don't touch my stuff — Rabbits often are displeased when you rearrange their cage as you clean. They are creatures of habit and when they get things just right, they like them to remain that way. 
•  Stomping — He's frightened, mad or trying to tell you that there's danger (in his/here opinion).
•  Teeth Grinding — Indicates contentment, like a cats purr. Loud grinding can indicate pain.

this page has so much information on rabbits their care health and everything that you need to know about rabbits. http://www.barbibrownsbunnies.com/ when i get stumped on a rabbit problem or question this is were i go.

feel free to email me anytime you have any question about bunnies their care health or anything.