Does this rabbit look normal...

[crystal]

So there is a rabbit on the other side of the city that the owner is looking to rehome. She said she has had some problems with breeding her, which I don't fully understand at the moment but I might add some more info later when I hear back from the owner again.

She is apparently a mini lop x netherland dwarf about one year old... but to me, from the photos, she looks rather strange. the only way I can think to describe it is that she has a reverse mane. her body has longer hair than her face... and different coloured. take a look at these photos and tell me what you think, is this a normal and healthy bunny?

let's see if this works...

this photo, on the other hand, looks normal and cute

and this third photo is somewhere in between, I think it's slightly weird but cute.

 

[JadeIcing]

Can't see pictures.

 

[crystal]

Weird, they worked on my screen before... sorry, I'll try another method.

Let's try again. here is the particularly weird photo (hopefully)...

 

[JadeIcing]

Color looks normal. Tort coloring. I am going to move this to the rabbitry.

 

[tonyshuman]

She looks normal (healthy) to me. She's part lop, which is why her ears are that way, and the color is tort. If you think she has hair loss on her face, perhaps a closer-up pic would help. She also could be in a molt, with new hair on her face and the old winter coat on the rest of her.

 

[crystal]

JadeIcing wrote:

Color looks normal. Tort coloring. I am going to move this to the rabbitry.

Oh I couldn't find where it went for a few minutes there haha.

It's not so much the colour I am concerned about, but the amount of hair on her body compared to on her head. is this rabbit just overweight? or sitting in a strange position when the photo was taken? I am probably jumping to conclusions, but could she be inbred? could that be why she had trouble breeding? I'm not going to go all the way to the other side of the city before I know a lot more.

I'll post the other two photos I have...

 

[JadeIcing]

She looks normal. My holland lop has short hair in his head and longer on his body.

 

[pamnock]

crystal wrote:

It's not so much the colour I am concerned about, but the amount of hair on her body compared to on her head. is this rabbit just overweight? or sitting in a strange position when the photo was taken? I am probably jumping to conclusions, but could she be inbred? could that be why she had trouble breeding? I'm not going to go all the way to the other side of the city before I know a lot more.

Holland Lops are notoriously difficult to breed. This is due to inbreeding factors of choosing for particular type traits rather than reproductive ability.

Remember - if not for inbreeding, there would be no individual breeds - just the wild European rabbit.

Pam

 

[crystal]

Pam, that is a very interesting point. so how can you tell when inbreeding is bad and unhealthy?

so do people think that this girl looks like a holland lop or are you just using them as an example? all I can tell is that she has lop ears!

I still think there is something strange looking about that first photo... she looks like a sheep or something haha

 

[pamnock]

Highlyinbred populations suffer from more recessive health disorders, breeding depression and lack of vitality.

I believe that the rabbit in the photo is a Holland Lop aka Netherland Dwarf Lop aka UK Miniature Lop.

Inbreeding has also been studied in human populations. http://www.as.wvu.edu/~kgarbutt/QuantGen/Gen535_2_2004/Inbreeding_Humans.htm

Pam

 

[Blaze_Amita]

she reminds me of my sable point holland doe. gotta be the ears. she's got one more chance on producing babies before she goes to a pet home. and yes hollands are hard to breed. my three does, i have treid numerous times for babies, i've got people asking for them but so far nothing.g skye and angie are bred right now, calleigh i want to show more(Skye does throw nice babies, when she does throw some and she has a bit of a habit of trying to bit the judge)

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

I agree with Pam, looks like a regular tort Holland Lop to me.

Age is a number one factor too when it comes to breeding Hollands. If they're not started by 5-6 months, you can generally kiss their reproductive abilities goodbye. Some you can start around a year, but that's stretching it.

 

[crystal]

thanks everyone for posting...

this girl is apparently about a year old.

the thing is that I have a male bunny, and I want a female companion for him, but not babies... and I'm not certain if my boy is desexed because I only just got him. so if I did get her I would still need to have her desexed, wouldn't I? even if it seems as though she might not be able to produce? her owner said both times she has tried to breed her has been with the same male so maybe it is his fault.

 

[tonyshuman]

It's good to get her spayed to eliminate the chance of her getting uterine cancer. It can be quite common in unspayed bunnies.

 

[Maureen Las]

crystal wrote:

Weird, they worked on my screen before... sorry, I'll try another method.

Let's try again. here is the particularly weird photo (hopefully)...

This 1st pic looks like a holland lop in a bat costume LOL

looks strange to me
but in the other pics the bun looks very very cute

 

[NorthernAutumn]

:roflmao:^^^^
Not her best pose

 

[crystal]

Lol a bat costume... I like that!

I agree, in the other pics she looks cute indeed.

I am hoping that her owner emails me back saying that this bunny has found a home... because then I won't keep thinking about her. I want to be sure that my boy bunny is going to get along with whatever new bunny I get. so I've been filling out a 'rabbit wanted' form for a shelter that does bunny dates.

 

[Maureen Las]

I think that you should continue tothink about her..
maybe she's the one????

I think that it's the contrast between the dark head and lighter body that makes her look different.
Ithink that she's different and is cute
If you got her spayed you would still need to get him neutered if you want to bond them .

If he isn't neutered he won't leave her alone with hormonal behavior and she most likely won't like that.

 

[crystal]

haha she is different. I'm just picturing her next to my bunny. they would make an odd couple... my boy is slightly disabled and uncoordinated.

oh yes good point. apparently the lady at one of the shelters might be able to tell if he has been neutered. I am fairly convinced he has been but I don't know with 100% certainty!

if I get a girl from a shelter then they will help with the bonding... I can test out if they like each other first etc. I currently don't have a second cage... there are lots of things to take into consideration.