Here I was in the waiting room at the car service centre and cannot help but to notice a lady with what appeares to me as a Sugar Glider bonding pouch. Firstly, I arrived at that conclusion based on experience and I guess it is only natural for one to notice certain things that he/she is intuned to. Growing up having all sorts of pets have indeed implanted or at least made me very aware the presence of cute furry animals.
My thoughts immediately turned into wonderment as to why we are fascinated with clingy pets. To tame sugar gliders, one need to bond with them and the one most important way is through scent. I have reasons to believe that people with strong body odour will have a lot of ease bonding with their pet sugar glider. Those who smell good have nothing to worry about as somehow your sugar glider will recognize you by scent anyhow. So yeah, you need a bonding pouch to keep this little marsupial comfortable and close to you at all times.
So why are we so drawn to keeping clingy animals as pets. I believe humans have the nature to nurture. We want to take care of another living creature and the more it acts like a little baby human, the more we are drawn to it. I am sure if given the choice, most of us will have no qualms raising baby chimpanzees and gorillas. Again, the human like behaviour is what draws us to another species.
No one notices that the lady have sugar gliders in that pouch because they were so comfortable being hung around her bosoms and it is also sleeping time. I guess the sense of achievement by successfully raising another living creature also plays a part to keep us interested in raising pets.
I have to admit that in many occasions, I have been tempted to give up on a lot of things in my life just to accommodate the busy schedule. I believe it is a natural reaction to simplify life or to “de-clutter” when we lose clarity in life. Giving up something that you are passionate about can be very difficult. Passion is what feeds the soul and to give up only means that there will be a dent on your soul.
We can sure be overwhelmed by other commitments and priorities but just like any other feelings, what you are feeling it is temporary and will go away after some time.
As a dear friend puts it, “never make rash decisions that you will regret later and that will ultimately hurt your soul”.
So, whenever you are feeling bogged down and need some revitalizing, take a step back, relax and breath in all the cuteness your pet have to offer…
Twenty days has passed since my last post. Time just flies when you are having fun or when you are busiest. Honestly, it is very difficult to find inspiration to write about bunnies these days or should I say how much can one write about rabbits?
I feel that I have came to a very comfortable position with my rabbits because (touch wood) they are all in good health and I am not facing as much challenges with the way I am raising them at the moment. I count that as a success for a hobbyist of seven years.
Besides from getting a few inquiries every other day, it is (bunny) business as usual in the ravbitry these days. Quite mundane sometimes just to do bunny chores in between the busy work schedule. Age is also catching up and every move seemed to be slowing down.
Every once in a while I take a peek at what is going on in the local rabbit world and things are still the same. Same old habits, same old problems and same old dramas.
When you are too involved and in the know of all the happenings in the rabbit world, human behaviors can often be the most draining factor in the hobby. That is the reason why I have taken a step back and refocus my attention on my rabbits.
It is not something new that people will undercut you and cheat you outright but I must say that all these experiences will mould you into a different person from when you start off in the hobby.
The funniest incident that stood out among the rest that I can recall clearly is how a young teenager was trying to be a broker by advertising my rabbits for a higher price. His intention was to strike a deal double my listed price and obtain the rabbit from me. I thought that was a very smart move coming from a young kid.
I am glad that I no longer need to advertise any rabbits for sale because of many reasons and one of which is that I have a long list of prospective adopters.
So if you ask why some breeders behave the way they do, it is because of all the bad experiences they have gone through dealing with people who take advantage of them and I for one have no time to deal with all the bullshit some of these people dish out.
And yes, it is only rabbits and our rabbits’ welfare should be our top priority and focus.
Have a good Bun-day!
The statement “More Than Meets The Eye” is made famous by the Transformers cartoon which made its debut in the 1980s. Vehicles turning into robots seemed to have captivated children and adults throughout the world. I believe it all boils down to expectations. No one expected the possibility of a little yellow Volkswagen Beetle to turn into a cute robot and that brings me to the subject of today’s post – expectations.
There are a few occasions throughout the 7 years being in the hobby that I have encountered people who have obtained rabbits from me after being captivated by the photos of cute and cuddly rabbits that I have posted on this weblog. Some of the rabbits lived up to their full lifespan in their new homes but other did not. One reason stood out among the many reasons that these rabbits were returned to me and it was that “he/she is nothing like how you describe rabbits in your blog”.
I guess we all have expectations of our pets. Our judgement may sometimes be clouded by cuteness just like how it was when we first started dating our wife/husband. We can only see all the goodness until we start living together after marriage. When the breeder go through all the necessities, all the eager owners have in their minds is to bring bunny home and miss out on all the important points – that they need to be litter trained, given food that helps reduce odours and the correct way of handling their new pet. It is not surprising that after a couple of days that I should receive distress calls telling me that bunny is urinating all over the place and hates being handled.
Expectations.
A rabbit will never behave like how you want a dog or cat to behave. If you want to have an animal behaving like a dog or a cat, get a dog or a cat but I must say that rabbits do have their own personalities that differs from individual to individual. You just have to “tune in” and get in sync or be vigilant by observing their body language to gauge what he/she is trying to tell you. Rabbits definitely communicate very differently from your regular dog and cat.
While we are at this subject, I cannot help but to also ponder on the question of sustainability. I recently read a post in one of the facebook groups asking why there are many rabbits being put up for adoption – whether it is because of the Easter season or otherwise. In this region I believe that rabbits for adoption is not seasonal as compared to the western countries. When we see that there are rabbits up for adoption, we will always question the reason behind them. I can understand the many reasons and some may make sense while others not. I have come to the conclusion that as long as there is a pet industry, we will never be able to escape from the issues of abandoned and unwanted animals. Crude, but that is reality and it takes everyone to just be the responsible person and do what is right if animal welfare is what we are after.
Expectations.
As pet people, first and foremost our intention and expectation from our pets is companionship. We may want to fulfil our sense of responsibility over another living being. Perhaps keeping something alive is treated as a personal achievement and that gives us joy to see our beloved pet thrive in our hands. Maybe and just maybe, we have the desire to go through the different phases or levels of difficulties in raising animals as pets. For example, Level One is keeping some fishes, Level Two – a hamster, Level Three – a rabbit and slowly graduating to let say – a Tiger?
Whatever the reason, I believe it is all about the expectations we have from our pets.
As for me, I have always been an animal lover and rabbits have always been a part of my life. I find great joy to know that they are happy under my care and they grow and remain beautiful until their last breath. Most of the time, it is the vow I make for each and every rabbit that I own. It is a simple vow that they will live a good life whether under my care or someone else’s I have chosen for them. For those that I have decided to import from the USA, I always make a silent vow and wish in my heart before they are being sent over to me. It is only fair to treat them well because these rabbits go through the long journey and they will have to endure the change of climate which is the toughest element that they will have to get used to.
Through my observation, the rabbit hobby can be quite monotonous in general and having friends can help motivate and keep us interested. Most friends that I know were able to stay in the hobby for a very long time because they spend a lot of time competing in shows and also being involved in helping out in the clubs. More often than not, they enjoy the company of friends.
Very often you will find yourself looking for other activities to complement or supplement the hobby. My advice based on experience is that you should not deviate too far from the focus on your pet as it can get out of hand sometimes. For example, most of us like to purchase a nice skin or cover for our mobile phones and if not careful, you will end up with many that are redundant and not being used.
Besides the usual bunny chores, there are only two other activities that I enjoy doing that is related back to the rabbits – photographing the rabbits and writing on this weblog. I am really happy to have many photographs of my rabbits throughout the year. I had previously made plans to consolidate and produce a photobook for this weblog’s 5th year Anniversary but it did not happen.
This year being the 7th year in the hobby, I finally had the time to order a photobook to commemorate and celebrate the best rabbits that I have owned throughout the years and also friends I have made in the hobby.
Ellen Whyte is no stranger to pet lovers here in Malaysia especially among the cat lovers. A cat lover herself, she first gained a huge readership writing the book Katz Tales and she writes for The Star newspaper’s Katz Tales/Dog Talk section published on most Saturdays. I met Ellen the first time back in 2010 when she was writing on Pet Ethics. She is a strong supporter of pet/animal welfare and most of the time, you will see an adoption section as part of the Dog Talk articles.
Today, she wrote a very compelling article entitled “Defects in purebred dogs“. This article is not only relevant to dog lovers but for all animal lovers alike because it affects whatever animal that is tagged as “pedigree”.
Like the experience shared by Ellen in her article, I too received numerous inquiries about the Holland Lop breed and at times, am lost for words. We cannot deny how cute these rabbits are but each do come with certain genetic related fault. As I said, the article is very relevant to any species “governed” by any sort of “breed standards” which simply put is a set of specification of man made or human interpreted desired of a certain animal. The article can be replicated 100% except changing the subject of dogs to any other animal species.
Do not get me wrong because I also believe that like every living thing under the sun, thoughtful planning and careful handling of any subject can help eliminate/lower the risk of bad traits manifesting when animals are bred. There are reputable and ethical breeders out there, just rare. It is a very difficult balance to strike between passion and profit. I do not normally recommend breeders because I just do not have as much confident or faith in the genetic composition of the animals sold. It is heart breaking to learn after a few months or years, that the animal purchased has developed some sort of hereditary sickness. It does no good to both owner and the pet. The outcome can often end with either a broken heart or an abandoned animal.
I have often encouraged people especially starters to adopt hybrids because these are the animals that have gone through generations of “natural selection” and possess hybrid vigour – in short, stronger.
No doubt, pedigree rabbits make good pets and not everyone who have pets breed them (and some are even against breeding). For those who are aspired to be breeders, all I can say is that, know your animals well and well enough to be sure they will produce defect free offspring. You must always prepare and know the right thing to do when defect surfaces and in other words, be responsible not only as a pet owner but one who passes on animals to others.
Again, I invite you to read Ellen’s article here and to understand the extensive damage that can occur if animals are bred too fanatically “close” to “breed standards”:
A short snippet from the BBC’s Pedigree Dog Exposed Documentary:
And here is the full documentary:
The documentary also mentions “dwarf” breeds and we too have those in the rabbit world. The dwarf gene makes a rabbit cute and chubby.
The take away point in this video is one of the last quotes:
“There are those in the dog world who care passionately about health, who try to do the right thing. The problem is that they are trapped in a system that often rewards doing the wrong thing”
Let’s start off today’s post with a little quote I found on the Internet and here goes…
“I think it’s important to find the little things in everyday life that make you happy” ~ Paula Cole
We tend to have the desire to achieve great things but most of the time great things are accumulation of small efforts through time. This year marks the 7th year that I will be operating this weblog. Never thought I will get past the 5th year but here I am still enjoying this hobby. The thought of not having rabbits in my life seemed to be like contemplating suicide. I do not think I will ever live without rabbits. Perhaps there might be interval in between without rabbits but eventually they do come back somehow.
I sometimes wonder to myself how much one can actually write about his/her rabbits and keep a weblog such as this one updated frequently. In fact, I am not even going to talk about rabbits in this post today and I do not have any rabbit photo to share either.
It is about the little things in life.
I just want to reminisce through the years and try to recall the type of pets that are commonly kept.
Throughout the 80’s dogs are pretty common and most people kept mongrels. A Spitz can be seen as a pedigree back then. Fishes are very common too and I did grow up with a huge Koi pond in our garden. Ornamental fishes like the goldfish, tiger barb, sword tail and gourami are pretty common and I have kept them at certain point of time. I have always like cats too but Persian cats were very costly and they do not look anything like what we have today. Their muzzles are too sharp for my liking. I remembered that I requested my parents to get me one of those cute short muzzled Persian kittens but ended up adopting a spayed Siamese mixed from SPCA.
Pedigree dogs started to thrive in the early 90’s. I remember the Boxers, Shih Tzus, Dalmations and Golden Retrievers being some of the favourites.
And today, we have so many choices and varieties. Whatever the animal you like to keep as a pet, it can be found fairly easily. There are so many new breeds of dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters and fishes. And then there are the exotics like ferrets, civet cats, hedgehogs, sugar gliders, snakes and chameleons. Whatever that you want, name it and most probably you are able to keep one as pet.
I love to draw when I am absolutely free and today I tried drawing in 3D. I really like those 3D art that talented artists draw on the side walks. Here is my first attempt:
Sometimes I like to think the world is my wonderland and honestly speaking, the rabbit hobby has enabled me to a certain extend the opportunities to explore it.
Here are some photos of my adventure around and about.
It is quite similar with a past post I have written about selective breeding versus natural selection. Selective breeding seemed to be human’s way of tweaking nature into freaks and usually against natural selection where animals morph into hardier beings based on their adaptability towards the current environment that they are in. One thing that is for certain is that, animals with short nostrils or muzzles suffer more in warmer environment. They tend to overheat faster and we can see how this physical trait can change rather quickly. Changes to physical traits can be quite obvious in animals as they go down the food chain. Rabbits being animal of prey must adapt faster to survive when environment changes and we see that locally bred dwarf rabbit breeds lose their short muzzle as fast as just one generation. Well, maybe it could be a coincidence, maybe an obvious fact or even could be an inaccurate observation.
Like the dogs, physical characteristics of pedigree rabbits are also governed by the so called Breed Standards which are changed every few years depending on which standard one subscribes to. The different standards itself do raise doubts if there is really a true standard at all. It is a very contradicting argument at the end of the day and it is better be left to “agree to disagree”.
And so I wonder…
I wonder if physical characteristics or beauty ever equates to health and vigor. Based on my observation, I strongly believe that good looks almost never equates to health and vigor. By good looks I do not mean when the animals have beautiful and shiny fur because nice fur do tell us that the animal is rather healthy. On the contrary, if an animal have all the physical traits as suggested by the standard, it does not really mean that the animal in question is absolutely healthy and adaptable to harsh environment.
I also wonder when will the changes to the standard of perfection stop because my mind cannot stop asking why change what is called the standards? In other words why should the standard be changed when it is already perfect?
The problem lies in our human perception. Our perception of things changes all the time and with it so goes the standards that we set.
As per the article shared at the beginning of this article, the dog breeds mentioned has been pushed to the brink of destruction. It was because of what we humans perceive as “standard” that has brought about the destruction of the breeds. We keep on changing to suit our tastes. We keep on changing so that we do not lose followers. We keep on changing so that more will find the hobby more favorable. We keep on changing to stay ahead. We keep on changing to stay profitable. We keep on changing so that we can stay where we are while others follow. We change to suit ourselves like how we justify a wrong is right.
Just imagine that nature is moving ahead while we humans try to work towards a totally opposite direction. Many things can be said about why I am writing this article. I am neither for nor against the breeding and creation of pedigree animals. Everything must be done in moderation. And I am just “writing out loud” what I currently feel and think about the subject. I tend to ask questions rather than following blindly what others do.
The latest debate in the Holland Lop world is about changing the breed standards to cater for a more colorful range in the breed. If you have been following this blog since the beginning, you may have noticed how I was really gungho about achieving the “Standard of Perfection” in my rabbitry but after observing the many changes that has taken place and those changes that is going to take place, I started to question the main objectives as to why I should subscribe to the changes.
It is very simple for me regarding this color topic. A good rabbit remains as nothing but a good rabbit. Color has got no importance if a rabbit is healthy and represents the standard perfectly.
There is nothing wrong with the standard at the end of the day. If there is anything wrong at all, in my opinion it is the mechanism of judging! If a boat is found to have a hole, do we keep on scooping water out of it or do we patch the hole?
Changing the standard will not eliminate human errors, human weaknesses and human nature like favoritism, influence and politics. Just like how the standards are never perfect in the first place and that we find the need to change them.
It is high time we go back to basics and realize the objective of the standard – to produce not only (physically) beautiful animals but healthy ones as well. It is time to tell ourselves that nature decides and we are only stewards.
When Noah was asked to gather a pair of each species into the Ark, I wonder what was the criteria and what was the standard of perfection given. I believe that it was two of the healthiest he can find to help each species survive the great flood.
Noah sure did not choose two flat face lop ear rabbits to begin with…
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