How to find NewZealand rabbits for sale??

[Lou Valentine]

Hello, I am new to this site for a while. I joined because I want to buy a rabbit, but I have never owned a rabbit before, and I don't know anyone who has either. It's very difficult to find out information, and know what I am doing correctly. After researching like crazy I decided I wanted a New Zealand white rabbit because of their temperament as well as their size and color. They seem perfect for me, but I just can't seem to find a breeder that sells them other than Petsmart, etc and I don't want to buy a rabbit from there. There was one that I was eyeing for a while at my local rescue but he was recently adopted. Every time I try a search for one I usually find breeders that sell for meat, and because of this, I'm not sure what I will be buying when I buy the rabbit. Does anyone know of a breeder (Hopefully near Georgia) that would be a good place to buy from? Is buying from a breeder that breeds for meat okay? What am I getting into if I buy from one of those breeders? Lol, please help me.

 

[SableSteel]

Some meat breeders don't like to sell for pets, but just be upfront with them: I'm looking for a new zealand white for a pet. They might have an idea already of the temperament of their kits and which one might make a good pet. New Zealand Whites tend to have a huge variety of temperament (I used to breed them for meat pens; mine weren't mean but they weren't nice either, I'd say they had some rather boring personality if anything, rather shy of people.) because they are so common and have been bred with so many purposes - and quite a few of the "new zealands" you see are really mixed breeds, because they're the dominant breed in most meat crosses. From my experience and what I've heard, lab lines tend to be flighty and often aggressive, show/fancy lines tend to be calmer and better pets and meat lines can be anywhere on the spectrum between the two. Ask the breeder about the temperaments of their rabbits because it varies line to line (and is highly dependent on genetics in this breed). Because New Zealand are such a common meat breed, a meat breeder probably would be your most likely bet for getting one of them.

This was my favorite of mine that I had, at 10 weeks old (and 5.5 lbs)

 

[olobunny]

Maybe they had New Zealands and also some lops in there but the lops had been sold? Or else they were NZ + lop mixes? I've never heard of NZ lops... Anyway, the New Zealand breed rabbits get quite big - up to 5 1/2 kg. They're an up ear breed - the NZ whites have red eyes but you can get NZ reds and NZ blacks and possible "broken' colourings. i.e. white with black splotches.