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A breeding question

William

Wise Old Thumper
I;m wondering, for people who are against any breeding of rabbits while theres already so many in rescues, what do you think about breeding rare breeds? Is it bad to breed them?
 
I;m wondering, for people who are against any breeding of rabbits while theres already so many in rescues, what do you think about breeding rare breeds? Is it bad to breed them?

What is a rare breed rabbit?
Most breeders of any animal aim to breed in certain traits and accentuate their features. This has happened in dogs to the point where many 'breeds' now have known inbred problems, this is also a feature of certain breeds of rabbits such as lionheads, lops and nethies all have a higher risk of developing dental problems.

If you are talking about soemthing like an English lop with the enourmous ears that often ends up walking on its ears and they get ripped, I would actually suggest that it is cruel to breed these rabbits so that they injure themselves or others.

Whilst there are so many rabbits who are in homes where they are not wanted or in rescue there is no need to breed any more rabbits whether a cross breed or a rare breed.

Once there are more homes than rabbits I will review my stand on this.
 
what's a 'rare breed'? do you mean a rabbit with particular qualities and features?

my general impression is that all rabbits are basically the same rabbit, adapted to their environment. they have some genetic blips - like the agouti wild rabbits sometimes throw out a black self. particular features, like my minilops' droopy ears, would have been bred and bred from rabbits that had droopy ears as a mutation.

i could of course, be quite wrong!

anyway, if that is the case, why do it? i know i wanted my minis because they are so beautiful - but is that a good reason to breed an creature who might have trouble with his or her breathing, or teeth? its like the show-dogs argument - i think cavalier king charles spaniels are beautiful but if their brains are too big for their skulls then it is cruel to breed them.

so no, i wouldn't breed a fancy rabbit, if that's what you mean by a rare breed.

on the other hand, if you mean should we breed to conserve natural variations, like the stripey rabbit spotted in its natural environment recently, i think i could make a case in favour.

eta: cross-posted with janice but seemingly thinking on similar lines!
 
I;m wondering, for people who are against any breeding of rabbits while theres already so many in rescues, what do you think about breeding rare breeds? Is it bad to breed them?

Rare breeds don't matter in the slightest. It's different if it's a rare breed being preserved because it serves some purpose (e.g. Highland cattle being bred in Scotland as other breeds can't tolerate the cold). Pet rabbits don't really serve much of a purpose and one breed is as good as another if they're only being bred as pets (though like janice I'd argue that too many breeds have health issues and should be allowed to die out).
 
There is no excuse to breed and yes it's bad to breed 'rare' rabbits while there are sooo many in rescues needing homes.
 
Rare breeds like thrianta, rhinelander, giant papillion, meissner lop, and rare fur types like sallander, sussex, squirrel, etc.

I don't consider english lop to be very rare. I had one once and her ears were fine, other than sometimes dipping them in the water bowl or getting pee on them.

I like all breeds of rabbits and it just doesn't seem right to let rare breeds die out. other than very unhealthy ones, like I personally wouldn't ever own a cavalier king charles spaniels because I wouldn't want to deal with all the health problems and the dog dying young but there aren't any breeds of rabbits that are really unhealthy like that, are there?
 
Rare breeds like thrianta, rhinelander, giant papillion, meissner lop, and rare fur types like sallander, sussex, squirrel, etc.

I don't consider english lop to be very rare. I had one once and her ears were fine, other than sometimes dipping them in the water bowl or getting pee on them.

I like all breeds of rabbits and it just doesn't seem right to let rare breeds die out. other than very unhealthy ones, like I personally wouldn't ever own a cavalier king charles spaniels because I wouldn't want to deal with all the health problems and the dog dying young but there aren't any breeds of rabbits that are really unhealthy like that, are there?

Rare breeds are no different to other breeds aside from the fact they're rare, if there were any that could be proved to suffer from less health problems than the average rabbit that's the only thing that'd make them worth preserving. However breeders would likely ruin them anyway in a bid to breed animals to win shows rather than breeding for health an temprement like they should.
 
I would agree with breeding if it were to breed out health issues.
If it were to breed jaws that were perfectly in line, rabbits who were less likely to get abscesses, sore hocks, overgrown roots, pasteurella and all the other health issues that are so common.

But really, I don't see a way to do that as a breeder, only as a scientist, with frequent trips to the vets and with rabbits not breeding until they were older so as to be sure there really were no heath issues. There would be no money in it. There would only be a few litters to begin with, to see if it really was working. There would be a lot of record taking. So no breeder would really do it, unless they had funding.
 
i guess its true they're no different from any other rabbit but it still seems wrong to let them die out :? Not exactly sure how to explain it. I'm glad there are people breeding them. I do imagine the rare breeds are healthier in general. They haven't been bred as much and people who are breeding them probably went to a lot of trouble to find them so they likely are aware of how to properly breed and because there's so few of them they wouldn't risk breeding unhealthy rabbits for fear of giving the breed genetic health problems.

I agree with responsible breeding though (actually responsible breeding...not just people that think they're breeding responsibly) because they're actually bettering the breed and giving people a way to buy healthy babies. Because let's face it, not everyone wants to rescue, even if they are aware of rescues. People who show aren't going to stop showing, people that have had unhealthy rabbits might want to better their chances of having a healthy rabbit, and people that don't want to wait for a rescue to get babies in would just go to a pet shop if there wasn't a breeder they could go to.
 
I'm torn on this subject. I am totally anti breeding in every way - however conservation of rare species is also something I am interested in (mainly in other species such as Great Pandas, Black Rhino's, etc etc).

I know letting rare species of rabbits die out isn't the same as letting the Giant Pandas die out, but species like the Amur Leopard are just a different 'type' of all other leopards yet I'm concerned about them dying out.

Although I guess they're all natural and wild animals so I guess that whole argument is irrelevant :lol:

I think all types of bunnies (not just the rare ones) that have serious health problems from breeding to a standard shouldn't be bred anymore. And in this I am including the giant breeds who's hearts aren't strong enough to cope with the extra strain of their size....

Although I also think that nobody should breed more bunnies until this dire rescue situation is sorted out and we can be sure that most bunnies in the country have loving, caring homes. :thumb:
 
The world of cat breeding is very different. Lines have to be strengthened and the health of the cat has to come first before the breed standards and colour. I know someone who breeds Siamese cats so I found out a bit about this. Anyone who is breeding irresponsibly or is breeding from ill cats or bad lines is completely shunned from the community. I still technically don't agree with it; I volunteer for the RSPCA and we are overrun with unwanted cats. But she sold one of her cats to a family and he turned out to have a digestive problem. The family locked him in a room and hadn't taken him to the vet. Bare in mind they paid something like £1000 for the cat, but couldn't even for out £30 for a vet. :? The breeder was so angry when she found out (she always checks up on her cats) she took the cat off them and has kept him. I used to see her at the vets all the time with him when I was there every other week with Grim.

But I have never seen this in the rabbit world.
 
Endangered species are a whole different ball game, nature doesn't value "breeds" unless they're more suited to their environment. All the different breeds we have as pets are exactly the same species and they can all inter-breed.
 
Yeah, it seems rabbits are seen as more disposable than cats :? :(

I can't really justify buying a cat since cats are even more overrun than rabbits, but I do like there being different breeds. Luckily you can find most breeds in rescues. I want to adopt a savannah, bengal, siamese, and ginger persian :love: I love all cats though, mine are all adopted moggies.

I'm torn on this subject. I am totally anti breeding in every way - however conservation of rare species is also something I am interested in (mainly in other species such as Great Pandas, Black Rhino's, etc etc).

Even species which aren't overpopulated? I'm all for breeding as long as it's responsible and isn't a dog, cat, or rabbit. Since they're mainly the overpopulated ones. I'd like to breed certain species one day. I love watching animals grow up, babies are so much fun!
 
I can't really justify buying a cat since cats are even more overrun than rabbits, but I do like there being different breeds. Luckily you can find most breeds in rescues. I want to adopt a savannah, bengal, siamese, and ginger persian :love: I love all cats though, mine are all adopted moggies.

This is very true. I have a rescued BSH and had always wanted a Devon Rex. they dont come into rescue often but after waiting patiently and travelling a bit I now have a lovely rescue alien :D
 
This is very true. I have a rescued BSH and had always wanted a Devon Rex. they dont come into rescue often but after waiting patiently and travelling a bit I now have a lovely rescue alien :D

That's awesome :D Gives me hope one day I'll have a rescue savannah. Bengals, siamese, and persian are easy to find but I can't remember ever seeing a sanvannah for adoption.
 
William, are you a troll? I cant make my mind up if you are for real or just bored and trolling here??
 
Yeah, it seems rabbits are seen as more disposable than cats :? :(

I can't really justify buying a cat since cats are even more overrun than rabbits, but I do like there being different breeds. Luckily you can find most breeds in rescues. I want to adopt a savannah, bengal, siamese, and ginger persian :love: I love all cats though, mine are all adopted moggies.



Even species which aren't overpopulated? I'm all for breeding as long as it's responsible and isn't a dog, cat, or rabbit. Since they're mainly the overpopulated ones. I'd like to breed certain species one day. I love watching animals grow up, babies are so much fun!

Hi, I was talking specifically about rabbits in that statement, but it also applies to cats, dogs etc as all rescues are over run with these animals
 
William, are you a troll? I cant make my mind up if you are for real or just bored and trolling here??

No :lol: I've been a member here since Sep. '08 and most of my posts aren't controversial. I will admit I get a laugh out of some replies, like the heely discussion, but what I was saying was for real :)

Hi, I was talking specifically about rabbits in that statement, but it also applies to cats, dogs etc as all rescues are over run with these animals

Ah, I see. I agree!
 
I'm all for rare species breeding, you will actually find most people who breed for this reason are doing it to keep the species gong they don't tend to sell on as much as normal breeders do
 
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