Thumper is NOT a lionhead!!

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Alanna

Alanna

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2006
Messages
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Location
Victoria, Australia
We brought Thumpy home about a month ago and when buying him were told that he was a three month old male lionhead.... ummmm.... nope! Not from the photos I've seen of lionheads! We think he is male though and the age seems about right. So, any guesses at his breed? We think he may be a Tan (from the picture we saw on centralpets.com)... possible?

He's very lively and very curious. He was quite timid to begin with despite his curiosity, but now he's quite happy to let us pat him and climbs all over us when we sit on the couch. He loves scratches on the ears! But It'll be a cold day in hell when he lets us pick him up!!

We absolutely love him, he's the best bunny ever! Here are some photos of him, he should be about 4 months now and is still really small. Gorrrgeous!


Little%20Bumpy%20Headshot.jpg


Little%20Bumpy%20Side-on.jpg

 
Is there any way you could post a photo?

It will be much easier for someone to give you suggestions if we can see a picture.

Also, some Lionheads will lose their manes, or not grow one in the first place, but someone with more Lionhead experience can explain it better.

--Dawn
 
Alanna, the problem is that you are attempting to link the pictures directly from your computer. Because you have a file with the same name, you can see the pictures on your computer but no one else can.

You can either upload them to a site like Photobucketand link it from their site or attach them individually (one picture per post) by putting the location of the file in the Attachment box and posting it.
 
Oh wow! She's absolutly gorgeous!

I agree with you, I don't think she is a lionhead. Although, just because her colouring is similar to the Tan breed, it doesn't mean she is one.

Many rabbit breeds like netherland dwarfs and mini rex carry colours like your bunny has.

She doesn't have the fur of a mini-rex (or rex), and I don't really know what else she could be.

I'll leave it for someone with more experience...

--Dawn
 
Looks like a baby Tan. They have a unique"snappy" flyback coat as an adult. The coatis comprised of mostly guard hairs andlies very close to the body. You should most definitely be able to tell when the baby coat molts out at about 12 weeks of age -- but it sure looks like a baby Tan to me :)

She also appears to have the very nice full-arch body type of the Tan.

They are a rather hyper breed, prone to bite, but very intelligent and loyal.

Here's what our babies looked like. . .

Pam

http://www.geocities.com/pamnock/



 
Thanks Pam. Wow, your Tans are beautiful. How lovely it must have been to have a whole litter of Thumpers!!

I'd have to agree with the intelligence thing- he seems to learn new things quickly and can somehow never be found when it comes to his bedtime! We never had to toilet train him even though he was still a baby when we got him- he just always seemed to undertstand that his box was his place and has never gone anywhere else! He's also quite hyper at given points of the day when he runs from room to room and back again or does binkies on the couch or on our bed, but then he does sleep for a solid 8 hours a day!

He's not a biter though- he does nibble us sometimes, but it's very obvious that he's just communicating (usually 'hey come play with me' or 'get out of my way, I wanna eat that!') and it never hurts.

The only area where he doesn't really seem to fit the Tan description is that his underbelly is actually all white with only a tan line seperating the white from the dark brown/black on his back. Is this just still his baby fur (he's 4 months now!) or do Tan markings vary enough to include white bellies?

I'll have to try and get a photo of his tummy for next time so you can see what I mean- now that's going to be a challenge! If I can just get him to stay still for 2 seconds...
 
If he's got a white belly, his color is otter and he wouldn't be a purebred Tan. I would venture to say that he is probably a Tan cross. Breeders sometimes use Tans toproduce the rich Tan coloration with the red bellies in otherbreeds. (An uncommon recessive gene produces the red belly on what would otherwise be the otter colored rabbit).

Pam
 
Pam, just a curious thought... you'd probably know more than I with your Judging experience and Training... or maybe Peg might know more?

I know Dr. Steve Roush is currently developing Tan Mini Rex (stunningly gorgeous, I've seen pictures!!!).... is it possible since this rabbit was sold as a "Lionhead" that there's a breeder somewhere that may be trying to produce Tan Patterned Lionheads?

Since the Tan is a well developed breed, and the body type of the bun in question seems to fit the standard- but the belly color does not and to my knowledge, Mane's are difficult to produce and keep (isn't that a recessive?)... could it be possible that this may be a Lionhead / Tan Hybrid?

~Sunshine
 
Yes, it could be a Tan x Lion hybrid.

Steve's Tan MR are awesome. There's a judge in our area who has some fantastic Tan Netherlands.

Pam
 
Wow, this is getting complicated! I am a little hesitant to place much faith in the pet shop's information though - they were also selling at the time we bought Thumper some "dwarfs" that were the size of houses!

Here are some more photos of his tum to help you see his colour...

Alanna*
 
I think he's likely to be a Tan cross. Most petstores don't have a clue when it comes to breed identification. Because of the light belly, and the fact that he's probably got dark fur undercolor on his belly, he's not a purebred Tan.

Pam
 
Possibly a Brittania Petite cross. The color is right.

Roger
 
Do you have any photos of Brittania petite crosses, Roger?

I would also love to see some photos of the tan mini rexes the girls were talking about!

Alanna*

One more photo of the monkey, just for fun!


 
Wow, what a beauty you have their.

I must one day get a brown rabbit, all 4 of ours are white.

Add Thumper to Bunny Napping List. Now to figure out how to get Thumper over from Switzerland. LOL.

Soooska:apollo:
 
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