rabbit age/ angora question...

[ems_chick]

so i went to the feed store today and they had a beautiful angora rabbit... of course im thinking about bringing it home because i have no self restraint sometimes

im still saying no at this time but the visit did bring some good questions:

how can you judge a rabbit's age?

any helpful tips for angoras?

i have been researching them for a while but would love to have some extra advice from around here

 

[ems_chick]

anybody???

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Are you sure it is an Anogra rabbit and not a Lionhead?
They are both floofy but the Lion Heads are much smaller.

I personally don't know of a way to tell age, teeth maybe?
I would ask the store and then take it with a grain of salt, give or take a few weeks. I would also where they got him/her, from a private breeder or what...
Angoras are sort of unusual on the store front scene. They are generally expensive rabbits. My buck ran $180 but he is pedigreed and tattooed.

Another way to get a general idea of age would be size.

Here are the average weights for the different types:

English Angora-
The English Angora is the only breed of angoras to have facial furnishings. An English Angora is to have
dense bangs and side trimmings. The head should be broad and flat across the nostrils. The ears are to be
somewhat short and fringed/tasseled abundantly. The short, coupled, compact body will resemble a ‘round
ball of fluff’ when posed properly.
The wool will have a silky texture and should be alive, healthy, and fall free. A good distribution of guard
hair should be evident to assist in supporting the crimped underwool. The wool should not part over the
back of the English Angora and fall to the sides as if to give a flat ‘pancake’ appearance.
The junior buck and junior doe have a minimum weight of 2 ¾ pounds. The junior buck may not weigh
over 5 ½ pounds and the junior doe may not weigh over 6 pounds. The minimum weight for a senior buck
and senior doe is 5 pounds. A senior buck may not weigh more than 7 pounds and a senior doe may not
weigh more than 7 ½ pounds. The ideal weight for senior bucks and senior does is 6 to 6 ½ pounds.

Here is a picture of an adult English Angora:

French Angora-
The French Angora does not have any wool furnishings on its head, face, ears, or front feet. The ears may
be plain or tufted, with the tufting restricted to the tips of the ears. The head should be oval shaped and
balanced with the size and shape of the body. The head also has some side trimmings. A profile view of
the French Angora will give the appearance of an oval shape. In viewing down on the animal it should
present an oblong shape.
The wool on the French Angora will have an abundance of guard hair that should protrude above the
underwool. There should be a good balance of guard hair and underwool with the underwool being heavily
crimped. The wool should be full of life, strong, and fall free.
The junior buck and doe are not to weigh over 7 ½ pounds with a minimum weight of 3 ¾ pounds. The
senior buck and doe may weigh from 7 ½ pounds to 10 ½ pounds. The ideal weigh is 8 ½ pounds.

Here are some pictures of French Angoras-

My buck looks exactly like this

Giant Angora-
The Giant Angora is the only 6-Class animal in the breed. It is to have a commercial type body with a very
dense coat of wool. The head will be oval in appearance that is broad across the forehead and slightly
narrower at the muzzle. The Giant Angora will have forehead tufts (head trimmings) and cheek
furnishings. The head trimmings are to be noticeable, however, does are not as heavy in trimmings as the
bucks. The ears should be lightly fringed and well tasseled.
The Giant Angora is also the only breed of angora that is only shown as a ruby-eyed white.
The Giant Angora coat contains three fiber types for its texture. The underwool is to be the most dominant
over the other two types of hair. It should be medium fine, soft, delicately waved and have a gentle shine.
The Awn Fluff has a guard hair tip and is a stronger, wavy wool. The Awn Fluff is found between the
Underwool and Awn Hair. The Awn Hair, also known as guard hair, is the third type of fiber. The Awn
Hair is a straight, strong hair that protrudes above the wool and must be present and evident.
The classification of the Giant Angora is different than the other three breeds due to the fact it is a 6-Class
animal. The junior buck and junior doe must be under 6 months of age and have a minimum weight of 4 ¾
pounds. The intermediate buck and intermediate doe are 6-8 months of age. The senior buck and senior
doe are 8 months of age or over. The senior buck must weigh at least 9 ½ pounds. The senior doe must
weigh at least 10 pounds.

Picture of a Giant Angora-

Satin-
The Satin Angora is to have a medium length body with good width and depth. The sides should have a
slight taper from the hindquarters to the shoulders. The head is to be oval with a broad forehead and
somewhat narrow at the muzzle. The head should balance with the rest of the body. The ears are to be
plain or slightly tufted, however tufting is restricted to the tips of the ears.
The wool of the Satin Angora is finer than the wool of the other Angora breeds. The wool is to be fine, soft
and silky. There is to be a good crimp to the underwool. The Satin Angora wool appears to be ‘shiny’,
which is known as sheen. The smaller diameter and clarity of the hair shaft provides a reflection of light
that gives the hair a shining richness of color. The sheen is to be evident over the entire body from nose to
tail.
The junior buck and junior doe are not to weigh over 6 ½ pounds and have a minimum weight of 3 ¾
pounds. The senior buck and senior doe may weigh from 6 ½ to 9 ½ pounds with 8 pounds being the ideal
weight.

Picture of Satin Angora-

German-
German
Weight: 2.0–5.5 kg (4.4–12 lb).
IAGARB-accepted varieties: all (not subject to ARBA standards)
This breed, while not ARBA recognized, is common in the United States and Canada. It looks much like the Giant Angora, except it almost always comes in ruby-eyed white or albino. Many spinners breed the German Angora with another Angora breed for the bountiful German Angora wool in many beautiful colors. These Angora crosses are called hybrids.


Picture-

Lionhead-
The Lionhead makes a lovely pet as well as a show rabbit , and is very well
tempered & friendly, enjoying plenty of attention and fuss, but not requiring
a massive amount of grooming, as the mane does not tend to matt up nearly as much as normal long hair in a rabbit.
The coats of the Lionhead should be short and roll back with little or no long hair on the flanks. short well furred ears, but not at all furnished (i.e. no long hair on the ears).
The Mane should be long and pronounced as this is the most important part, and should NOT be short and wool like. The body and type short and cobby, weight is around 3Lb up to 3Lb.12 ounces.

Lionhead rabbits are very common in stores....

Pics:

The following picture is a great showing of the "lion mane":

ALL of these breeds require grooming, but if by some chance this is a true Angora it will need extensive grooming it's entire life. Angoras are bred for their fiber production capabilities. A couple times of year they will naturally shed and you will need to hand pluck the loose fiber from the rabbit. Some people who don't use the fiber shear the bunnies down with electric clippers or scissors. Extreme care needs to be used with rabbits with using scissors. Rabbit skin is very thin and runs like pantyhose, one little nick can quickly open into a large tear.
Most people who have Angoras blow the coat out with a high powered blower used for dog or horse grooming to blow out any vegetable matter in the coat and dead skin cells from the fiber. I personally groom my French Anogra buck several times a week. It cannot be skipped.
When I got my boy he had sat in his hutch for a year without being touched. His front and back legs were literally matted together. I cried my eyes out grooming him down and was fuming mad. The truth is they can go from nice looking to horribly matted in a quick amount of time, like 2-3 months. I cannot stress how important grooming is for these guys.
Hand plucking the fiber DOES NOT hurt the rabbit, mine enjoys it and he sprawls out and takes a nap while I do my thing. It is IMPERATIVE that you handle the rabbit regularly since you will be grooming so often. I use a blower, a slicker brush, a comb, and small dog nail clippers.

Angoras are more prone to Wool Block due to their mass of fur. I now feed my buck canned pumpkin once a week to keep things moving. Other people swear by pineapple, my buck will not eat it. Plain canned pumpkin is the way to go.
Look up and read about common rabbit illness and disease. Off the top of my head you'll want to read and learn about Fly Strike, GI Stasis, Snuffles, and Pnemonia. I just had a run in with GI Stasis with my Angora Buck and I almost lost him. I was terrified. He is the best rabbit I have ever had. I was sure I would going to lose him. Hay, canned pumpkin, massaging his abdomen, and baby gas drops saved his life. I will never go without having Baby Gas Drops on hand again (Mylicon).
There are no rabbit specific vaccines or antiobiotics on the market. Just FYI. You can avoid most all problems with proper care from day one.

Feed unlimited high quality hay in a MANGER with Angoras. If you just toss it in you will have a heck of a lot more work to do come grooming time as you will have a fluff ball covered in hay bits to pick out, NOT FUN.
Feed a small amount of high quality rabbit pellets. I can't give you an amount or type because I don't know the weight/type/sex of the rabbit you are considering.

If you have any other questions PM me.

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

My bottom line advice is this:

If this is a Angora rabbit, unless you are planning to use the fiber I would not buy it. If you are looking for a pet rabbit, you can get some great breeds that do not require the grooming. That pretty fluffy bunny will need to be groomed several times a week if not daily for up to 7 or more years. DO NOT buy it if you cannot fully commit to that. To do so would be cruel to the bunny.
If you are fully sure this is what you want and you have time for him or her than by all means go ahead. They have great personalities. This is the poodle or pekinese of the rabbit world. I adore my buck and I am buying myself a doe for my birthday coming up

 

[ems_chick]

your buck is absolutely gorgeous! this rabbit is definitely an angora... maybe not pure angora but he really looks like a french angora. he is full grown (his length lying down is about equal to the length from my fingers to elbow) and is the same color as the little french one on the right in the french babies pic.

when i stopped at the feed store i was in a super hurry and was just able to grab my stuff, spot him, stop and pet enough to give him a quick run over and leave. i dont know if he is still there but im going mon to check him out if he's still there and get the whole story. he does have some mats going on right now from lack of care... not to the extent that your little guy had but definitely needs groomed.

i would love to learn how to spin one day and do have enough time to groom this little guy. i have felt angora made products before but his coat felt absolutely amazing...

he's still there monday, i do believe i will bring him home...

... and most of all thank you for answering, i thought i was going to stay in the dark here

 

[amyc]

Be careful... Rabbits are just about as addictive as chicks! I started with two, and last weekend just HAD to buy a few more (got a breeding pair of broken colored mini-rex - at only 8 weeks they're already beautiful!). And today we drove and got an 8 hole rabbit cage - my DS said to me, you know what this means.... we have room for four more!

DS is my enabler - but he helps with chores, so its not all bad.

 

[Hoosiermomma]

I have four english angora's and can vouch that they are alot of work. I agree with the previous post that unless you plan on using their wool for spinning or want to show then I would go with a rabbit that isn't such high maintenence.

As far as the age, you can tell by their teeth but I can't tell you the specifics regarding that. You could probably google the info.

If you decide to get him, please post pics.....Here are my babies...

 

[tay26]

the one you were looking at may also be a jersey wooly. They have the angora type fur all over too and it will get matted if not brushed. Most Jersey Woolies are also smaller than any of the others talked about here and their ears are shorter and straight up. They come in many colors with very sweet personalities.
Hope you enjoy it if you decide to get it!!

 

[ems_chick]

ill be going either tomorrow or monday to look... right now i get to go back to town, the joys of working on an ambulance on holiday nights!

i hate mean drunks lol maybe a sweet little buny will make tomorrow better

 

[TammyTX]

I have a Jersey Wooly, six years old.

You live in Georgia? Here in Texas I have to keep him in an airconditioned garage. I have heard they shouldn't be in temps above 90 and even then they need shade. So Fuzz stays inside but he does get to romp with the chickens in the chicken yard.

I will admit I am not the best at keeping him brushed and the mats are heck to cut out because you have to be sooooo careful not to tear their delicate flesh.

I sent someone in the Spinning section some of his fur because I save it when I brush him.

My bunny is very friendly, though. I had a plain white rabbit once (female) that would growl and attack every time I tried to feed her.

ETA: Mine is littler box trained...no "training" to it, I put a pan with cat litter (I use the corn cob type from Arm/Hammer) and he started using right away.