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I'm new & so is my rabbit

Kiwibunny

Banned
Hi, I'm a new rabbit owner, having adopted the bunny I was fostering for the SPCA. I'm happy to have found this forum which looks nice and friendly. My rabbit is a doe (I think!), is a lovely fawn agouti, very friendly and loves to play. I'm Anna, my rabbit is named Tweed, and we live in New Zealand.
8)
 
Hi Anna,

welcome to the forum! :)

New Zealand... such a long way away from most of us here! I love the sound of Tweed.... good name! Any pics of her?

There are quite a few mailing lists and forums for the Aussie rabbit owners but I've not seen any NZ ones yet. Are they popular pets there? I know they are banned from some states in Aus!

Oh and have you ever heard of Enderby Island Rabbits? They are New Zealand's very own unique rabbit breed. Centuries ago, sailors used to keep rabbits on board ship for food... some escaped onto a small island where they multiplied and developed into a unique colour and shape. Their ancestors were English Silvers (one of the oldest breeds in the world) and other breeds that are now extinct.

Not long ago ecologists decided to eliminate the rabbits from the island to protect the indigenous species, but some Enderby rabbits were saved and tamed and are a really unique "natural" breed.... We don't have any yet in the UK but they are in the USA where people are trying to preserve this amazing bit of rabbit - and New Zealand's - history.

I don't have any links to hand but if you type "Enderby Island" +rabbits into Google, you will find some photos :)
 
Thanks for the warm welcome! Am I really the first kiwi member? I hope my friend here will soon join too. She has two rescue bunnies, one a feral and another of unknown breed. Yes rabbits are a fairly popular pet now, but were only allowed as pets recently. Before that the only bunnies were the wild ones, much hated by all, as NZ is primarily an agricultural country and, like Australia, the rabbits have boomed in population since they were introduced by early settlers, and compete for grazing with sheep and cattle. In the NZ psyche, rabbits are pests (or pie) not pets! There is a loverly Enderby Island Rabbit sanctuary in Christchurch, I'll post the link up here, it's a nice site. NZ breeders have been quick to make up for lost time and rabbits of various breeds are now widely available and quite cheap. Inevitably, as a result, shelters always have unwanted/abandoned rabbits needing homes. I work for the SPCA in my area and was fostering Tweed, who was unclaimed. I called her tweed cos agouti looks sort of tweedy! Re her breed, she MAY be a feral (wild) which someone has hand-raised maybe, as she's very tame. I'll put her photo up here and see if any of you can guess her possible breeding. Re rabbit forums, I have not located any Australian ones. There is a NZ (e-mail list) which is very good and the folks there are very nice, but they tend to be the breeding/showing set (which is fine), but not much for me to relate to, as I'm not interested in breeding, and showing only as fun. All I gotta do now is work out how to post a pic!
 
Waves Hello Anna, Kiwi # 2 here!


Hi everyone
Thanks for sending the link to this site!
Wells, I`m off to fill in my profole etc and I will add a photo of each of my house bunnies, Shadow and Bugzee:)

Looking forward to having heaps of fun here and learn heaps.

bronie
 
OOOOOOOOOOOO NEW bunnies to look at.........can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hiya
20.gif
and welcome!!!!
 
Hello Anna!

Cool! A Kiwi bunny lover!

Whereabouts in NZ do you live? Caroline and I went there earlier this year as we were seriously considering emmigrating to your beautful country. The move is on hold for a few years now for various reasons, but we absolutely loved it over there - so green! We didn't get very far though, the furthest south we ventured was Lake Taupo! :oops: Too much to see :D

One thing we did notice is that pet shops seem a lot more common over there, and they didn't seem particularly regulated either :( Maybe that was just the ones we noticed though, as the fact that rabbits were banned until recently would suggest they do have some regulations.

Also noticed a similar abundance of vets! They were everywhere! :shock: You guys must like your pets over there, or maybe there is just more livestock to look after?
 
:wave: Hi Anna and Tweed (what a lovely name) and Welcome to
the mad bunny Clan.

How lovely to have folks from distant shores - hope you enjoy all the
rabbiting..
 
Hi everyone and thanks for continuing welcomes! Jeremy, by co-incidence I live very close to Taupo, a 45 minute drive to the lake from here and the same distance to the mountains (the 3 volcanoes situated at the south end of lake Taupo). We live up on a hill overlooking the Whanganui River. yesterday was supposed to be the first day of spring, but it's cold again today. We get a mountain climate here, so it's always green. Very hot and sunny in the summer and cold and wet in the winter. Bronie on this forum, also lives in NZ, but she's up in the big bad city of Auckland, I guess you spent some time there? Hi to Caroline and the bunnies.
Anna
 
Waves hello :wave:

ps anna you have a message from me. Look up to where you sign in and out :lol: Just say mes thinks me is stirring again :wink:

bronie
 
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