Ooo I didn't know that! Will be interesting to see if that happensBeautiful girlies Interesting sleeping position on that last photo [emoji38] A little fun fact if you didn't know, the markings on Californian rabbits tend to get darker the colder it gets, so by winter you might find that their ears and nose have gone darker and they might even have dark feet too
He actually might be... [emoji38][emoji38]Tobys in danger of loosing his sploof crown. That last photo is superb.
Beautiful girlies Interesting sleeping position on that last photo :lol: A little fun fact if you didn't know, the markings on Californian rabbits tend to get darker the colder it gets, so by winter you might find that their ears and nose have gone darker and they might even have dark feet too
He actually might be... [emoji38][emoji38]
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I love them. They look like they have really big characters.
Does the marking thing apply to himilayans too cos Boo's changes alot. Not that I know shes himalayan
I know it applies to any breed of rabbit that has himalayan markings (Himalayan is a breed itself but also the name of the colouring, so you can get lops, lionheads, rexes etc that have himalayan markings) Apparently it's likely to be an evolutionary thing, as it gets colder the rabbits extremities (coldest parts of their body) would turn black so that they would absorb more heat from the sunlight.
Fascinating, thank you. So Boo is likely a lop with himilayan markings but doesn't necessarily have himalayan in her?
I guess the colouring thing is similar in principle to artic hares
Yep so rabbits with these markings are rarely Himalayan cross breeds.
Back many many years generations ago someone will have thought 'a lop would look good with himalayan markings' and bred a lop to a Himalayan breed rabbit (or another breed that has Himalayan markings already). The early cross breeds would not have looked like a purebred lop at all, so the cross breeds would get bred back to a purebred lop, and their babies again bred back to a purebred and so on until you get a rabbit that looks like a purebred lop but still has the markings of a Himalayan. These first gen cross breeds would be 50% Himalayan(breed), every time the offspring are bred back to a purebred lop then the 'amount' of Himalayan(breed) halves so six generations later the rabbits would be less than 1% Himalayan(breed). It would only take a breeder a few years to breed six generations of rabbits and rabbits with these markings have been around for quite a while so these days rex/mini lop/lionhead/netherland dwarf etc that have those markings are probably less than 0.1% Himalayan(breed).
It's really confusing especially when there's a colour/marking pattern with the same name as a breed of rabbit. Chinchilla and Lilac are other examples that are both a breed and a name for a colour. Something else I see a lot is people thinking that because their rabbit has spots, they must be an English spot crossbreed
First two are of Penelope, the picture of them together - Apricot is at the front, then the last three are of Apricot... She's a funny bun [emoji38]
And we've had some binkys
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I love their little hidey box Grace. Where did you get it?
Amazing photos. I bet they must think they are in heaven now
That last photo is just incredible. Is she cooling herself down? [emoji38]
Oh it's just from pets at home, was cheap if I remember correctly, and I just painted all the pieces in some waterproof outdoor paint that's bunny safe and slotted it together
Is it normal for them to be very floppy? I know this may sound weird but they can't stand up on their back legs (meerkat pose) without falling backwards... And they slip so much... And at the vets on the rubber mat which my other two have no issues with, they ended up completely flat with their legs out to the side like that were being a starfish... When they get up in the hutch they often slip too.... Maybe this is normal..? Idk to me it's weird.
Yes in the last picture she laid down, had a drink then inched forwards and put her paws in, minutes later she got in more... [emoji38]
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No it's not at all normal, but it says to me that they were confined previously to a hutch that wasn't big enough for them to stand on their back legs. They haven't been able to exercise and therefore have lost muscle tone.
The wonderful photos show how you will be building that up now, and they will gain confidence. I think you've no idea what you've saved them from, because even if they were adopted out, many people just don't understand how much space these big and growing rabbits require
Gosh yea they are very floppy and weak I feared that may be why
Ah well, their hutch now is massive - I've noticed them trying to stand up in the hutch a lot actually it's more than high enough for them and they have access to masses of space so hopefully they will start to get stronger etc they didn't really run about like my other two do, maybe they'll get more used to charging about as they settle in
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