Kima The Rabbit
September 17, 2008
About 3 weeks ago, on the 30th of August I bought a pet rabbit in a pet store called Het Natuurhuis (The Nature House). I called her Kima because it suits her. She is funny, looks wild with all that hair and spots.
Kima is a Lionhead Dwarf Rabbit crossbreed with a Polish Rabbit. The Lionhead Rabbit is first bred in 1996 in Belgium. Then it was imported into the UK were it was crossbred with other small rabbit breeds to develop what we call today the European Lionhead Rabbit. There is a lot of speculating about what’s the origin of the Lionhead Rabbit. Some think it’s crossbred with a Swiss Fox and a Belgian Dwarf, while others think with the Dwarf Angora.
The Lionhead Rabbit is a small rabbit with a mane it’s unique to other new breeds of rabbits. It has a mutation that’s the first in rabbits since Satin Fur first appeared in the early 1900’s. Different to other mutations that are recessive genes, the Lionhead Rabbit has a dominant mutation that causes the mane. So you need only one parent that’s a Lionhead Rabbit to produce more Lionhead Rabbits. The mane and other Lionhead Rabbit features cannot be recreated using other breeds. The Lionhead Rabbit come in all colors and patterns varieties. Sixty colors are approved for showing in the UK.
The Polish Rabbit is crossbred in the UK from the common white Hutch Rabbit. In 1884 they were first exhibited in the UK. Some think it was developed from the Himalayan and Dutch Rabbits in the 1860’s. The Polish Rabbit was developed for it’s meat and were larger than the Polish Rabbit we know today. In the 1900’s they came to the US and were crossbred with Rabbits that carry the dwarf gene.
The Polish Rabbit are small rabbits with short ears that touch all the way to the tips of the ears. The Polish Rabbit is often confused with the Dutch Dwarf rabbit because of its size. But the Dutch Dwarf has a rounded head and the Polish Rabbit hasn’t. The Polish Rabbit is between 2 and 3,5 pounds. The ideal weight is 2.5 ponds. Until the 1950’s most Polish Rabbits were white with ruby-red eyes or blue eyes. The blue eyed white has the Vienna white gene and its no true Albino. Since the 50’s, colored Polish breeds have been recognized by rabbit clubs. In 1957, the American Rabbit Breeder’s Association approved the black and chocolate Polish. In 1982, the blue variety was approved and in 1998 the broken variety was allowed. In the UK, the National Polish Rabbit Club accepts any color of Polish rabbit as long as it is accepted by another breed in it’s standard.
Rabbits make great pets because they’re so gentle and friendly. They don’t need a lot of space so they’re great as an apartment pet. Before you buy a rabbit it’s best you all ready have a hutch and a traveling container. If building a cage or rabbit hutch avoid wire bottoms. Rabbit feet are delicate and wire bottom cages can be painful. Consider using a solid bottom cage (like a litter box). This style cage will be more comfortable for the rabbit and it’s easy to clean. Bigger is better for rabbits but the cage should be a minimum 4 times bigger then the rabbit. Also, avoid forcing your rabbit into or out of the cage. Instead let the rabbit hop out on its own and hop back in on its own. If it is time for bunny to go back in its cage then try to herd the rabbit in the direction of its cage and finally into the cage where treats and a clean litter box await, this way the cage is not a punishment and you are not invading the space doing clean up while the rabbit is in the cage. Clean the cage while the rabbit is out exploring the house and having exercise time. The traveling container comes in handy when you need to move the rabbit or when you need to take it to the vet.
Rabbits eat great varieties of food hay, vegetables and solid commercial food. Kima is to young for vegetables, so up to 3 months she only gets hay and commercial food. I use Hope Farms Rabbit Balance because that’s what the pet store advised me. Everything is in it what she needs, to grow into an adult. Rabbits love to chew, you can buy lots of treats for your rabbit. But you can you use a apple tree brench so the rabbit can chew on it, easy and cheap. Here are the 4 basics of a rabbits diet.
- Unlimited grass hay
- Minimum of 1 cup of fresh leafy greens
- Other vegetables and fruits in limited amounts
- Fresh water daily
We give our older rabbit Snoebie a popular titbit called Vitakraft Drops. They contain yogurt, natural whey protein and essential lecithin. I give him 1-3 a day. He loves it so it’s a great treat.
I bought Kima a few toys to keep her busy. A ball with a hole in it, were you can put treats. Every time the ball rolls a treat falls out. This keeps her stimulated. I also bought a ball with a bell she loves to trough it around her hutch. Rabbits love things that make some kind of sound. Rabbits need a lot of exercising 1 hour of running every day best is to let them run free to explore in a palisaded piece of your garden or living room. It should be at least 2 square meters by 1 square meter in size. Put it on a solid underground like stone or wood. Rabbits dig holes and do this very fast, so they can dig themselves under the palisade in less then 5 minutes.
See also:
- Lionhead Rabbit
- Polish Rabbit
it’s addorable !
now it’s a bigger rabbit but still sweet!
Comment by manon — February 4, 2009 @ 4:45 pm
Hey! What a cutie. This is great information about the diet. The apple tree branch idea had never occurred to me before about my rabbit! Thanks for the inspiration there
Comment by Home exchange — June 19, 2009 @ 4:35 pm