Monthly Archives: January 2010

by Tru-Luv Rabbitry | January 29, 2010 · 12:11 am

Superstars!

I don’t know why I have chosen this title but Superstar by Luther Vandross seemed to be one of my favorite songs. Anyway, it is very early in the morning right now and the real reason is that I just can’t think straight let alone come up with a good title for this post.

Tried capturing photos of little Knee-Yo this evening. Trust me when I say it was the most excruciating photo session ever! My camera just can’t register the black object in him. Poor me and poor him. But thanks to some pointers from a dear friend, I was able to capture a few decent photos of him. Didn’t I tell you that there is perfection in the midst of imperfection? This is so true when Knee-Yo’s blind white eye was the only contrast my camera could capture. Thus, these photos are much clearer.

Do you believe me now how difficult it is to capture a black bunny?

Could be better...

Heli"chopter" ear...

Love this cutie...

I also capture some photos of Sibylla who needs to get her head puffed up with fur.

Acting cute!

Looking more like daddy...

Could be better with higher head mount

Java a.k.a. Brown Sugar was cam-whoring for me too. I can’t resist so I snapped some of her too…

Give me a little pat on the head will ya?

4 Comments

Filed under Does, In The Nestbox, Juniors

Tagged as holland lop, Java, life, News, pets, Photography, rabbits, Soshine's Brown Sugar, Tru-Luv Knee-Yo, Tru-Luv Sibylla

by Tru-Luv Rabbitry | January 28, 2010 · 1:38 pm

Polling Day!

I think it has been a while since I run a poll on this blog. Let’s have one right now…

Everlasting Hobby

Some of the Holland breeders I know have been raising rabbits for the past 30 years or so. I really have very high regards for them because of all the experiences acquired through the years. I dare not estimate how long I will be in this hobby but I do hope it will last forever.

But for many I dare say it is just a passing phase like anything and everything in their lives. Hobby in its real definition is something to occupy one’s free time. It is sometimes referred to as Favorite Pastimes. And I wonder what happens to pets when there is no time – LOL!

It is very easy for us to forget that when we bring a pet home, our lifestyle changes for better or for worst. The pet becomes so intertwined with our lives that special arrangements must be made and most of the time, many considerations must be made with our beloved pet in mind.

For most of us, when we find ourselves in need to prioritize, our pets would be the very first to get booted.

I was at the bookshop last evening browsing through the pet magazines. It is already 2010 and all I see are pet magazines featuring only CATS & DOGS. It is very sad and it is as though, there isn’t any other species fitting to be pets.

Is it because rabbits are highly dispensable?

Rather let a cheap rabbit die than to spend vet fees that could cover the cost of 10 other rabbits?

Rabbits are smelly? – this is the biggest stigmata and myth attached to rabbits to date!

And the list goes on and I am sure everyone has something bad to say about rabbits. An average age for a rabbit is 7 years.

My hope is that those having and will be having a TLR rabbit last at least for that 7 years in the hobby. It is not a sacred wedding but at least promise the little rabbit that you are about to bring home “Till Death Do Us Part” like how you would tell it to your spouse on your wedding day.

“Till Death Do Us Part”

1 Comment

Filed under Ramblings

Tagged as Animals, Hobby, holland lop, life, News, pets, rabbit, rabbits

by Tru-Luv Rabbitry | January 26, 2010 · 2:03 pm

Pop!

Dare you put your hand in there. It brings you to a whole new world...

I am very pleased. Very very pleased…

YeahooooOOOOOoOooooooooOOooooooooo

9 Comments

Filed under In The Nestbox

Tagged as Baby Bunny, baby rabbits, holland lop, kits, life, News, pets

by Tru-Luv Rabbitry | January 26, 2010 · 12:35 pm

Tru-Luv Knee-Yo @ Week 3

Little Knee-Yo is 3 weeks old today and such a cutie filled with a zest for life.

The perfect side

Unfortunately, we all know the irony of raising Hollands. If it wasn’t for one problem, it would be another. I noticed that his right eye is a little cloudy the moment it was opened. I have been applying an ointment but to no avail. It is definitely sad because I have so much high hopes for this one.

I am sure there is always perfection among imperfections.

The imperfect side

3 Comments

Filed under In The Nestbox

Tagged as Baby Bunny, baby rabbits, holland lop, kits, life, News, pets, Tru-Luv Knee-Yo

by Tru-Luv Rabbitry | January 23, 2010 · 2:49 pm

Tru-Luv Sibylla: 3 months, 6 Days

Time really flies, can't believe she's 3 months already

I'll prefer better head mount, shorter ears and wider shoulders

Tru-Luv Knee-Yo Day 15

“Black till it shines”, said my wife.

That’s exactly what this 15 day old is. Among other traits that I notice is the wideness & short ears. I hope they stay that way. At this age, nothing is for certain. Right now anything can look like a miniature Thunder. LOL!

Enjoy these photos…

Love the paws!

Shorty ears!

Cute?

Gentleman?

Lazy little fellow...

Hi, down under!

4 Comments

Filed under In The Nestbox

Tagged as Baby Bunny, baby rabbits, holland lop, kits, life, News, pets, Tru-Luv Knee-Yo

by Tru-Luv Rabbitry | January 18, 2010 · 4:49 pm

Karate Chopped Hay Anyone?

Most of the time, at the end of each pack of Timothy Hay, I will usually find a little or more loose hay and sometimes they are almost in powder form. The boys and girls at TLR absolutely hate these loose hay and they couldn’t be bothered with me saving up for them. Most of the time, these chopped hay ends up in the dustbin.

Hay Ya! Chopped Hay

The reason why we feed hay in their normal “long” form is to help motility or should I say gut movement. You see, when a strand of hay goes through the rabbit’s mouth, it is not “chopped” but the chewing causes it to soften and thus most of the time, they are ingested with a bit of length. Just imagine having a long leaf going through the intestines in the peristalsis process. The leaf will “flow” through like a little worm and that motion keeps the rabbit’s stomach moving and moving. That is exactly what we want.

So what is the use of these “chopped hay”? Totally useless and marketing tells us that they are less messy. Sure, the rabbits don’t even touch them and you just dump the entire crock filled crap into the dustbin. NO MESS for sure…

I rather have hay messing up my cages knowing well that my rabbits have taken their daily doses of hay and not spend a single cent in junk called “Chopped Hay”…

The Run’s Back!

After almost a month without the run, it is finally back in business. I was having problem with rabbits digging up newspaper that I line underneath the wood shaving beddings. I finally stop procrastinating and bought a piece of huge wire mesh to line the bottom of the play pen so that they will not be able to dig the newspaper up.

Wonder how long the cleanliness will last...

Also, glad to announce that baby Knee-Yo has its eyes opened today. Thanks to the tip given by a dear friend, I gathered my little family around to welcome this little kit into this world when I gave it a help opening its eyes. It is good to help at day 11 if they are still closed to avoid blindness. As I split the eyes open, we whispered “Welcome to the world little one”. Thanks Colleen for this wonderful “tradition” that I will sure to practice for the rest of my rabbit raising days.

Can you see my little bunny teeth?

Another thing that I noticed is how unavoidable it is not to have black colored Hollands in my herd. Honestly, I do not really fancy black Hollands all that much because it is so difficult to capture photos of them. Unfortunately, black is one of the most dominant color if you go through color genetics.

Then again, who cares about color when type is all we need? I hope Knee-Yo will turn out well.

As you can see, it is very difficult to capture photos of a black rabbit

1 Comment

Filed under Does, In The Nestbox

Tagged as Holland Lops, Ivy Crescent's Haley, Rabbit Run, Tru-Luv Knee-Yo

by Tru-Luv Rabbitry | January 16, 2010 · 5:04 pm

Bon Voyage Tru-Luv Balian

If there is one rabbit that I’ll probably regret not keeping at this moment is Tru-Luv Balian. I don’t mean it in a bad way though. I wish he was a doe so that I could keep him for the breeding program. But all is well and good because he is now proudly owned by a little girl, Meg & her family. Meg’s mom has agreed not to neuter him in case I need to use him as a stud. But if he do not behave (bringing down the Golden Shower or play target practice), there goes his precious jewels.

I felt it was appropriate to let Balian go because I still have both his parents and two herd bucks are all I need at the moment.

Both these kits will be 3 months old tomorrow and I took a few photos of them.