Thank you for your replies, theres still a lot to think about
As for tatoos, show rabbits are allowed to be tatooed however I personally dont like it and wouldn't want to put 12 week old rabbits through a tatoo.
The ownership point is tricky, most of my new owners dont have a problem with keeping in touch, most of my rabbits have gone with rings on. The rings are registered in my name and the new owners are aware of this, I just put the ring number in my records along with their contact details, so if the rabbit ever came back to me through the ring I can get in touch with the owners. I would imagine I could run the ownership on the chip in the same way and write it into my contract. In terms of it someone wasnt happy with that, then I just wouldnt sell a rabbit. New owners have to agree to my terms and contract.
The issue with rings is obviously they can be removed easily if a rabbit is stolen (more my benefit than pet owners possibly, but with people offering large sums of money for some rabbits the thought of 'theft' does hang in the back of your mind.) and i've recently found out that even if someone found a rung rabbit apparently the BRC will not give out the breeders details unless the person is a BRC member, so they're useless in terms of contact details, which is why i'm now thinking about chips.
Its not really an issue most of the time, i'm in close contact with nearly all the rabbits that i've rehomed, but it doesnt stop me wanting to be traceable in the future. The rabbit in question was re-homed following the owners death by his daughter, she didnt have my contact details and didnt find out untill i got in touch a few days ago to find out how the rabbit was doing. It wouldnt have made any difference in this case I dont suppose, but if she had instead handed the bun into a rescue or taken it to a vet then my details could have been found.
And although its never been a problem in the past there is always the fact that if someone knows that their rabbit can be traced they are less likely to 'dump it', 'give it away' and return it to me.
Petrack sell the chips to rescues and breeders, when I last spoke with them they sold a box of 25 for £141. This would mean that you can register the dog under dual ownership for its life and can check up on the dog throughout its life. The initial address on the chip would be yours and is unchangable.
Basically each time you want a bunny chipping you take your own chip to your vets who will implant it for you for either free or minimal charge
Does that help?
I really like that idea, if it was possible to have the new owners as the main contact but with myself as a back up contact. I will look into that further, and thats much cheaper than i thought it would be.