Californians?

[qtipthebun]

So, I fell in love with a Californian while volunteering at a bunny shelter today (all of you who guessed one shelter visit before I wanted a husbun for Q were right!).

I've never encountered them before but was very, very drawn to them at the shelter. Does anyone have them/have you ever had them?

I've heard they're super docile. This one appeared to be no exception. He was curious and snuggled on my lap for a while.

 

[majorv]

I believeone or two others on here have Cals...we raised them for about a year, when my daughter was in FFA. We found them to be pretty docile, also, and not real active. They make good moms, but you probably don't care about that. We enjoyed having them, but we decided that we'd rather raise a smaller, lighter,breed.

 

[ldoerr]

I raised them for 4 years. I HATED them. 95% of them were pure evil. I think that out of all that I had there were only 1-3 sweet ones. These are big bunnies. They do not like to be held. They are just a pain in the but. I will NEVER get one again. Those are Britannia Petite are my 2 least favorite breeds.

 

[caustin4]

I have one that I've had for over a year and another I just adopted. I absolutely LOVE them! They are so sweet and so adorable. They make great pets and they're very sturdy rabbits. Lots of people don't like their look (white with red eyes and medium-large rabbit size), but I think that's one of the most beautiful looks. The one I just adopted at a shelter was going to be euthanized that day and all rescues denied taking him in solely because he's white with red eyes and was all dirty. They took a Netherland dwarf and holland lop who weren't friendly at all instead.

Anyways, my rant aside, they're great rabbits!

 

[qtipthebun]

Yeah, the people at the shelter said that their Californians are great with kids (which I don't have), and other animals (like cats...which I do have). The one I fell in love with was a total charmer. He loved being held and kept hopping onto my lap.
He seemed super gentle and friendly. I just didn't know if this was a characteristic of most of them, or if he was an exception, and abnormally sweet.

 

[woahlookitsme]

I loved my cals. The boy I raised was named Hefner for obvious reasons because we were breeding them LOL. But he was a doll and so were the does. Many breeders have very skittish cals like Lauren said but I have seen it is because they aren't handled daily. They would seem like very loving pets although most people are turned off by the red eyes. My mom adored them so much we got a smaller version of them, himalayans lol

 

[agnesthelion]

I have heard other people say what lauren has said that they aren't friendly. But we all know that rabbits are unique and that doesn't mean the one you met isn't friendly

They are a common meat rabbit and not always bred to be handled by people nor always bred as household pets. Maybe that's why I've heard negative before.

Our local shelter had one for adoption. She was quite snarky and they were trying to get her more used to people.

I do agree that the red eyes is something people either love or hate. It's not something everyone finds attractive.

 

[qtipthebun]

I love the red eyes. My other half isn't too keen on it. But his eyes were super pretty. They weren't solid red. They were light pink with red pupils.

So, if handled often, they can become really sweet, gentle rabbits? This one let me pick him up and snuggle him, and he purred while he was sitting on my lap...

 

[JessicaK]

I have either a Cal or Himalayan (not quite sure, I'd lean towards Himalayan).
My husband doesn't like his eyes.
He's shy and a bit standoff-ish, but that could be his background too.

 

[dungeonbunnies]

when I was a kid, we bred cali's, I don't remember anyone being mean. It's been probably 18-20 years since we had them though.

I know what you mean about the red eyes, but I just adopted my NZ and surprisingly, I don't mind it so much (love does crazy things). Also, Caerbannog's eyes are pink with a lavender pupil, so handsome! <3

Obviously he's taken a liking to you, so I wouldn't worry about breed reputation too much, because you know first hand that he's friendly.

 

[majorv]

JessicaK wrote:

I have either a Cal or Himalayan (not quite sure, I'd lean towards Himalayan).
My husband doesn't like his eyes.
He's shy and a bit standoff-ish, but that could be his background too.

From your avatar, I'd say Himalayan. Cals don't have that large of an egg (the black) on their nose. Himmie's tend to be like Cals...if you don't handle them when they're young they get skittish, but they can make good pets when they're socialized.

 

[MagPie]

I personally think the red eyes are lovely. Harvey is a himi marked Netherland and has pretty pink eyes with a darker red pupil.

I've seen some Cals in person and they seemed like nice rabbits. They were very curious about me and wanted to say hi.