Monthly Archives: February 2009

by Tru-Luv Rabbitry | February 20, 2009 · 12:36 am

Regurgitating Information

My main point of reference for rabbit information is the House Rabbit Society website. This is the website every bunny owner must have at his/her fingertips. This is the complete guide to all there is to know about your pet rabbit.

I have gone through many of the articles there. Not really a fan of reading long articles, I normally go through those that interests me. I have read through the neuter/spay page before but that was one of the first few visits to this site.

Now that I am working on this spay/neuter policy, I needed to refresh my memory and boy, did this website came in handy. Very thorough information. I do not need to look elsewhere.

Since it has all been stated there, I would just like to add a link to their neuter/spay page. I especially like all the good reason given to spay/neuter. No point repeating what is much more informative.

So for those who wants to know more about spay/neuter, please go to FAQ: Spaying & Neutering.

Hello Mommies & Everyone

This is for Seychel’s mommy.

This is for Milkyway’s mommy. Soon to be renamed Shiro. LOL!

And this is for everyone….

6 Comments

Filed under In The Nestbox

Tagged as Milkyway, Seychel, Truffles & Camior

by Tru-Luv Rabbitry | February 18, 2009 · 9:09 am

Random Updates

Nothing much to write about today except that the kits have started munching on hay, pellets and drinking water from the world. They look so cute perched up on the hanging water bowl.

I am quite excited as two of Noobie’s kits has been booked. Seychel & Milkyway that is. I am very pleased with these 2 people who booked for many reasons. One of which is I felt that with the spay/neuter policy in place, the quality of owner that inquires really leap from zero to hero (if I could use this phrase this way-LOL). I know for sure my rabbits will be well loved pets because these new owners want them as pets, exclusively. Another reason is because these owners is willing to wait till the kits turn 6 months and only to collect them after the spay/neuter procedure.

I believe the wait is worth it. I have learned myself that patience in the essence with Holland Lops.

I also realized that many would see me as one who is selfish by not allowing others to breed. That is totally untrue. I can easily set apart a breeder for quality from one that breeds without consideration or whatsoever. Why am I so obsessed with this breeding issue you may ask. It is very simple. The development of Holland Lop started in the 1970s. This mean that to get what we have today, breeders have put in not only the years but also a lot of effort on research and of course tons of monies on the betterment of the breed. If the rabbits fall into the hands of irresponsible breeders that could not care less about the quality, we will end up having overpopulation of mixed breeds and that will spell abandonment of these poor creatures. Not to mention the 30 over years effort goes down the drain in just split seconds. Yes, it is that fast judging how fast a rabbit mates and we have so often hear all about those “accidents”.

We need to stand firm on this. The accidents should not happen if we are well aware of our pets. Accidents may well be a convenient excuse not to admit our mistakes. Most of the time if not all the time, accidental matings could well be avoided if you give a little more care to our pets. But we also give ourselves the excuse that animals should be given the rights to their natural behavior. They need to experience the entire circle of life. That is acceptable for wild rabbits or animals in the Savannah. The animals threatened to the brink of extinction has got more rights to live out their full circle of life than our pets.

If we must allow natural order of things to take place with our pets, they would not be called pets. My stand is, breeding can only take place if only improvement is the only objective. Nothing more & nothing less. We strive to pass on the highest of quality as pets.

Therefore, my intention is, for everyone to have a pet rabbit of superior quality and at the price of a pet. So please don’t hate me for labeling all my rabbits as Pet Quality because at the end of the day, that’s my main objective. Deserving people should be given good stuff that they truly deserve.

I am really enjoying how things are moving at the moment. TLR is scheduling for the first spay under the new policy somewhere this week. More to follow suit.

That’s all I have to say on this beautiful Wednesday morning. Have a nice day!

3 Comments

Filed under Random Topics

by Tru-Luv Rabbitry | February 17, 2009 · 12:00 am

Strike a Pose!

Can someone please help me count the days again? I hate counting their age in days. Each passing day would mean nearer to graduation day. LOL!. Not to say that they are leaving soon but I just dread the day when it comes. Normally my sorry will turn into joy looking at the happy faces of their new owners. I truly find joy in that one moment when the new owners embrace my rabbits for the first time. I love to see the radiant on the beaming faces.

Nothing thrills me more than to know my rabbits are truly appreciated.

Here they are:

Seychel

Camior

Milkyway

Milkyway could be the dark horse of this litter. I love its head there. Could be bigger but that will do.

Truffles

In case you’re wondering and to eliminate all speculations & unreasonable assumptions, YES, they are available for booking. Will only be able to go after spay/neuter as per TLR policy.

10 Comments

Filed under In The Nestbox

Tagged as Camior, Milkyway, Seychel, Truffles

by Tru-Luv Rabbitry | February 16, 2009 · 5:30 pm

Extremely RARE Human Death Due to Rabbit Flu

The bacteria is called Pasteurella Multocida and its carrier is limit to rabbits only as this bacteria can be found mostly in dogs, cats, birds and even fish. In fact more human get infected through dogs and cats. Pasteurellosis is an infection caused by the bacteria in question.

The bacteria can be found in saliva & feacal materials of infected animals. It can also be passed to human through bites or scratches from infected animals.

The death of a rabbit farmer in UK in 2006 was the 1st case reported and since then no other reports were made known. Moreover it is believed that he contacted the bacteria through a blister on his thumb.

So before all of you rabbit owners jump the gun and abandon your rabbits, please do understand the probability of this happening, the cause of it and what is the treatment if such thing should happen.

Take note that death through Pasteurellosis has been noted as VERY RARE. The most important thing to remember is not to allow the bacteria to get to the bloodstream.

The first signs of pasteurellosis can occur a few hours after infection, and include pain, redness and swelling around the area of the infection.

Symptoms include fever, headaches, chills and swollen glands if the infection spreads and gets into the bloodstream. Can result in pneumonia or septicaemia, and on rare occasions, death if left untreated.

According to the Health Protection Ageny in UK, this is a highly preventable and treatable disease. Complication will only arise if not treated. Infection can be further prevented through the administration of general antibiotics.

There is nothing to worry about as long as bite and scratch wounds are treated with caution.

7 Comments

Filed under General Care

Tagged as John Freeman, Rabbit Flu

by Tru-Luv Rabbitry | February 15, 2009 · 2:10 pm

Updates from Melbourne: Survivors

Here are some photos of the bunnies in Melbourne. Notice the litter trays? They are from Pet Shack and the bunnies are loving them loads. J & J are very pleased that the hutches are much cleaner now that they are using the litter trays.

Don’t you just love this hutch!?

Kopiko & Horlicks (Nico, your favorite and according to J, they are all BUCKS!)

Chachi & Oreo

Family portrait….

3 Comments

Filed under Friends Of Tru-Luv

Tagged as ChaChi, Horlicks, Kopiko, Oreo

by Tru-Luv Rabbitry | February 14, 2009 · 5:12 pm

When Kits Come Out & Play

Seychel, Camior and Milkyway is 3 weeks old now. They are extremely cute. I let them out to play for the first time while I did a semi spring cleaning this morning. I must say, the new setup is much easier to clean as I have the space to work with. Here are some photos of them and a video too.

Camior seemed to be meditating a lot this morning. Camior’s a she (tentatively).

This photo does not justify how cute Milkyway looks. He is really cute! Did I mention he? Yes, I believe Milkyway’s a boy…the only boy among the 4.

Chocolate Fondue with Cream in a bowl anyone? Seychel’s a girl!

Hare raisin’ Havoc?

And Truffles’ almost 5 weeks old.

9 Comments

Filed under In The Nestbox

Tagged as Camior, Milkyway, Seychel, Truffles

by Tru-Luv Rabbitry | February 13, 2009 · 4:10 pm

Are you touched or what?

CHOOSE LIFE!

2 Comments

Filed under For Adoption

Tagged as touching commercial

by Tru-Luv Rabbitry | February 12, 2009 · 12:07 am

A little bit of everything

I was so sleepy last night I knocked out without writing a post. Was dozing off reading the reports from Zone Directors on Hollander. Don’t get me wrong, they wrote great stuff. I really love this issue of Hollander. Some of the articles written mentioned about the possible change in the way of judging Holland Lops. Some indicated that the poll for the change may put more weight in promoting color hollands.

As you can see, the current TLR herd is made up of chocolate, lilac & perhaps black/white. Black & white is not a neutral color mind you. LOL! So yes, TLR has been working with color Holland Lops. To be very honest, color is not what I wanted to start off initially. I have (and will) always wanted the typey Holland Lop. Getting into the color was more of a convenience in getting my foundation stock. In my opinion, the development of color Holland Lops are still at its initial stages and the gene pool that we have here is rather inconsistent to be very frank. A typey Holland Lop should have a very massive look and if you have been following, I always used the term BULLDOG-ISH. Yes, a real Holland Lop looks like a bulldog.

Another thing that I have learned and would like to share is that, Holland Lops tend to look better after 6 months when they turn Senior. These intriguing creatures really defies the popular beliefs that rabbits are cute only when they are young. Yes, they are super cute as kits but cuter as adults. But, there is a catch to this. I must also say that not every Holland Lop in a litter will turn out a “BULLDOG”. This is the reason why many breeders are still breeding in a massive scale just to look for that one pearl in their herd. A pearl will be hard to find especially for those who are just starting off in this hobby.

You see, it is quite logical as not many breeders will be willing to share their best with you. And you always start off a level lower than you expect. This could be worst if you are working with an unethical breeder. It will be far worst if you are working with an unethical breeder that thinks he/she has the full rights to send culls overseas. Be very careful with whom you are dealing with. Honestly, there are many breeders awaiting for the opportunity to send their worst at their “best” prices. And when this happens, it will take longer or even impossible for you to find that pearl in your herd. So far, I am quite lucky in the sense that I am smacked right in between getting a pearl & working with the worst. LOL…

Even Laurie has advised in one of her blog postings that aspiring breeders should start off with the best that they can get their hands on. This is very true in my experience. When you start off with the best, more pearls will be produced and that will help lower the chances of rabbits getting culled. But it also depends on how big the rabbit market is. If there is no appreciation for the breed, it is quite impossible to even pet them out.

Alright, guess I went off topic a little there. Back to the proposal of judging Holland Lops in groups. There is a poll for all HLRSC members to fill and for us to express our opinions on this issue. If the change is to take place, the new standards for judging will be updated in ARBA Standard of Perfection 2016 to 2020 onwards. At the moment we know that Holland Lops are judged based on Solid or Broken regardless of the color (but mostly are torts and they always win due to their strong type). A broken blue will still be judged under the broken group. Some are proposing that they should be judged based on color groups instead.

It is quite obvious that this could mean that even if a colored Holland Lop is not that strongly typed but is the best among its group, it could get GCs and be at par with other rabbits with better type (which is usually a TORT). So we could see that the real quality is not being justified here.

On the other hand, this change could also be seen as an encouragement for color Holland Lop breeder to continue working on them. I understand people in general like to have varieties.

In my own humble opinion, based on what I have seen thus far, I believe that the colored Holland Lops are not yet ready for a group judging, buy they could be come 2016/2020 if breeders of typey TORTS start producing colors with their rabbits with strong genetic makeups. I could see that some top breeders has since started their color projects.

As for TLR, I will go for overall type, anytime!