• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.
  • Please Note - Medical Advice

    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

    You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.

    We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.

    Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.

Breed rings

happybunny

Mama Doe
Hi,

I would just like to share Dylan's story.

On Saturday we went to the local pet shop to get some treats for the little ones and spotted the little white detherland dwarf I have had my eye on for a couple of weeks. For some reason the other half said we could have him if I really wanted (already have 4 unbonded but trying to bond).

I thought about it and on Sunday we went back to get him. The shop told us he had come from a breeder and had not quite come up to thier high standards (possibly because he has blue eyes) so he had a ring on his leg. They said each day they turned it around so it was not a worry.

We decided that after he had settled in we would try and remove it or would get it done when he is spayed in a couple of months.

Today we decided to try and get it off. After realising a) there was no room underneath to get at it and b) it was far to thick to even try and cut it off we booked a trip to the vet.

It took the vet (and me and my OH) 20 minutes to remove it using a dental drill only to find it had actually began to rub his leg sore. I dread to think how bad it could have been if we had left it any longer or if he had stayed in the shop. The vet gae us some cream to put on but it should heal up quickly.

If anyone get a bunny (or any other animal for that matter) with a ring please have it removed as soon as possible even if you think its fine.

I saw Animal hospital on Tuesday night (showing highlights of the past 10 years) and there was a budgie with a ring. The owner had left it too long before having it removed and the poor thing lost its leg.

Anyway other than that little Dylan is settling in and has already started to chew the wallpaper!
 
hi

this is BEW (blue eyed white and can be shown) but breeders r supposed to cut the rings off if sold to pet shops or pet owners. most of mine have rings on but thy r fine and cheack them regulary

i too watched animal hospital and so of the things brought tears to my eyes :cry:
beck[/code]
 
These days it's considered irresponsible for rabbits to be sold as pets with rings...

The rings have to be put on the rabbits at about 6-8 weeks before the hock joint grows. Providing the rabbit is an average example of its breed, the ring should not get too tight, because the hock joint thickens but the bone of the leg where the ring sits does not. The ring sizes have been carefully calculated and used for over 50 years, with different sizes for different breeds... and with strict weight limits for each breed. The weight limits keep the breeds to their ideal size as well as ensuring the ringing system does not cause problems with rabbits growing too big for the rings.

However, novices often ring all their young litters because it often needs to be done before an experienced eye can tell which are worth ringing for show. There are some people who mistakenly think a rung rabbit is worth more; there are also some pet shops who think a rabbit with a ring is something special and worth more!

My first rung rabbit, a Black English named Zoë, was given to me by a school friend when I was 14. She had a ring - but it wasn't even a proper BRC ring (it had no numbers on it, and was a strange shape) yet everyone thought she was valuable because she had one...

BRC rings are made of a very lightweight aluminium alloy, and they can be cut off with pliers providing the rabbit's leg bone hasn't grown too big (i.e. someone put a ring on a rabbit which more experienced people would know would end up too heavy boned) or the rabbit has become overweight by being overfed (not uncommon in pet rabbits unfortunately!!).

You need to be a BRC member to buy rings in the first place, but after that it's the breeder's responsibility as to which rabbit gets one slipped on over its leg when young. That is why most of my rabbits aren't rung.... they were not considered show quality and not given rings.

Rings are purely a show identification, nothing more.

I don't ring any rabbit I wouldn't want to show, and if I homed one later as a pet, I'd remove the ring before it ever left me... That's being responsible, because you never know what may happen after.

People being people.. I actually wouldn't put it past some backyard breeders to get hold of some old rings somehow and think it a good idea to stick them on a rabbit and sell it for more. Nobody usually checks up. Just think of the person who bred Zoë, who slipped a strange kind of non-official ring on her leg... She was lucky not to have ended up with gangrene from that!
 
Should happy bunny report the ring number to the BRC or is it more of a guideline than a rule?

Tam
 
Tamsin said:
Should happy bunny report the ring number to the BRC or is it more of a guideline than a rule?
Tam

It is a guidline rather than a rule. YES it should be reported if only to register that there is a problem with this ring size or breeder. Organisations cannot act upon heresay but if enough FACTS get back to them then they will act (albiet at the speed of a snail ROFL)

bob
(Who is no longer a BRC member and is going to stop defending them now!! - honest)
 
Back
Top