Red-colored rabbits are far from uncommon today. They are found among different breeds. Due to its bright color, the red rabbit is popular as an ornamental species, but agricultural specimens are also found.
Red rabbits
Under natural conditions, they live in rocky areas. The main location is the mountain slopes in the south of the African continent. Sometimes they can be found in bushes or grass near the mountains, where males, females and their cubs rest and sleep.
These animals lead the most active lifestyle at night. The diet mainly consists of insects, cereals, leaves, and some fruits. They usually lead a solitary lifestyle, hiding in shelters during the day. Sometimes it was possible to see groups of red rabbits, which consisted of a female and her offspring.
Burgundy breed
Brought out by crossing Californian and New Zealand red breeds. Light brown color with a yellowish tint. The fur is short and quite hard to the touch. The red Burgundy rabbit is endowed with an elongated body and head, a wide chest and a short neck. The ears are small, straight, ending in a spoon. The muscles of the hind legs are especially developed in the area of the sacrum and lower back.
Representatives of the Burgundy species have excellent immunity. The average life expectancy is 10 years.
The Burgundy rabbit breed is one of the meat breeds. The average weight of one rabbit is 4-4.5 kg, and can reach 5 kg. The female gives birth to 8-12 rabbits, which grow quickly and by 4-5 months already have the weight of an adult.
Burgundy breed
Rules of maintenance and care
Animals need to be provided with comfortable and peaceful living conditions. The absence of high humidity and drafts is important for them. Housing should be warm and safe. Cleanliness is the main condition for animal health. Cages need to be cleaned regularly. Feeding on a schedule is also important because rabbits need frequent feeding.
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Animals are given balanced feed, always hard food (branches, grain, juicy root vegetables), and constant access to clean water.
If the rabbit will live in the house as a pet, it should have its own place away from open windows. Wires, valuables, and plants need to be removed from the apartment. The animal needs to be provided with water and food, limit contact with small children and create a calm environment, because rabbits are nervous creatures, and stress causes them to develop depression and illness.
New Zealand red rabbit
Appeared due to the crossing of Flanders with representatives of other breeds. They have a bright color: from yellow-red to red-brown. The body is cylindrical, the head is wide and short, the chest is also wide, the legs are short and thick.
Reaches 5 kg of weight, usually females are larger than males. Animals of the New Zealand species are prolific and not picky about growing conditions, so they are found on different continents. A distinctive feature of individuals is their resistance to extraneous noise and physical activity. The character is calm and friendly.
Tips for choosing
Regardless of color, rabbits are selected according to the same criteria:
- The animal must be strong and healthy, not show signs of disease, and not refuse food and water.
- If a purebred rabbit is purchased, it must have documents issued by a responsible breeder.
- It is worth purchasing pets from trusted people who professionally breed rabbits.
- A domestic rabbit should have a good character, a calm disposition, and no aggression. This is important if there is a small child or other pets in the house.
- You should not take large breed rabbits into a small apartment.
Compliance with the rules will help you purchase a healthy and cheerful rabbit, which will become a pet or bring strong offspring - a source of income.
Red ram
The peculiarity of this breed of rabbits is their hanging ears, the length of which reaches 55-70 cm with a width of 10-16 cm. They have thick, smooth fur of medium length, the legs are thick and short, and the chest is wide.
The Red Sheep species is unpretentious in cultivation and adapts to almost all climatic conditions. The weight of an adult animal varies from 5 to 8 kg, sometimes even reaching 10 kg. The meat is high quality and tasty.
Rabbit red ram
What name can you come up with for a red rabbit?
Choosing a name for your pet is a personal matter for the owner of the animal. He can name it based on his own preferences. However, more often a name is chosen based on external characteristics, for example:
- By coat color.
- Dimensions.
- Distinctive features.
- Behavior.
- Character.
Given these features, rabbits can receive the following nicknames:
- Ryzhik.
- Sun.
- Sunny.
- Bunny.
- Rudy.
- Lucky.
- Paw.
- Fluffy.
- Ushastik.
- Manyunya.
- Redhead.
- Baby.
- Hercules.
- Pooh and so on.
Before giving a name, you need to think about it, because the animal quickly gets used to the nickname and begins to react to it. It will be difficult to retrain, and besides, such changes traumatize the animal and cause discomfort.
Angora saffron milk caps
There are similarities with downy Angora goats. The fur is long and airy, similar to fluff. Such a “fur coat” requires careful care; regular combing is indispensable. The fur hanging over the eyes should be trimmed periodically to avoid vision problems.
Angora saffron milk rabbits
The presented collection contains the most common types of eared saffron milk caps. The red rabbit has an attractive appearance, so it has become widespread. He settled in houses near people solely because of his good-natured and flexible nature.
What is special about red rabbits?
These charming animals received extraordinary colors after their ancestors were crossed with wild English hares. The red color is not common, but can be found in several breeds. It is decorative, bright and light, smooth or spotted, and the fur can be short, “plush” or long, fluffy. Also among the sunny-colored animals there are both fold-eared varieties and animals with straight ears.
The opinion that rabbits of this color live shorter lives is unproven.
Features of breeding for sale
Decorative rabbits give birth approximately 8 times a year, but this number may be less. Small breeds begin to reproduce at approximately 6-7 months.
The behavior of a female rabbit that is ready to breed changes dramatically - she rakes the litter into one place and begins to build a nest. For mating, the female is placed next to the rabbit (strictly - the opposite cannot be done).
It is recommended to leave her in the male’s cage for some more time for repeated matings, and then return her back to her house.
If the female is not ready to mate, she will thump her hind legs and simply behave aggressively. In this case, the animals are seated and wait for a more favorable moment.
After mating, a pregnant female, after a couple of weeks, when she joins the male, begins to behave unkindly and fights off. This is how they determine whether it is covered or not. The method is not 100%, since some pregnant females also like to mate.
You can carefully palpate the rabbit's body - small rabbits feel like balls. Under no circumstances put pressure on your stomach, especially not too much. Also, pregnant females often develop a voracious appetite. Birth occurs on average 31 days after covering. The baby rabbits are left in the cage with the mother - she feeds and licks them.
Rex
Rex was the result of a mutation of the Belgian giants, which gave birth to offspring with short hair. The name comes from the Latin word meaning "king". Rexes have short but thick plush fur. The body is elongated, the neck is strong. The head is elongated, with a wide forehead. The animals' ears are straight, stick up, and reach a length of 11–12 cm. The peculiarity of these animals is their short, curled mustache.
Thanks to thin bones, Rexes have low weight and high meat yield. The weight of an adult is 3–5 kg. Rexes can easily tolerate temperatures down to -30°C.
The disadvantages of Rex include:
- intolerance to high (from 25 degrees) temperature;
- slow growth and late maturation of cubs;
- low fertility (5–6 rabbits).
Meet this redhead - very redhead! - handsome - Risen (gelb)
. We brought a young man from Holland to add the magnificent qualities of a male to the herd.
Flemish Giant, or Flanders, Risen,
- one of the especially favorite breeds. Huge rabbits have good - dense and glossy - fur, high vitality, and amazing character. Watch (below) the video in which the young Risen looks more like a cat - that’s how he likes to be petted! Calm, affectionate Risen are so benevolent towards people that in the USA they were included in the N-4 program - a program for raising children and adolescents. It is at Risen that young Americans learn to care for animals.
However, the breed has gained popularity in the world not for its feline affection. Giant rabbits grow up to 10 and sometimes more kilograms
!
From the photographs below you can see how our guy grew and matured, reaching almost 5 kilograms in live weight by 3 months, and more than 9 kilograms by 9 months!
However, he didn’t stop there: watch the weigh-in video, where in front of you is
a weight of more than 10 kilograms!
On the same page you will see photos of the offspring. There were 10 red ones in the litter, and the caring and well-fed mother was able to feed them all at the same weight!
The breed standard recognizes several different colors for Risen - black, blue, chinchilla, red, agouti, ferruginous, blue-gray, red-brown, white
. Everyone is beautiful, of course, but redheads are just that: redheads: it’s simply impossible to resist them!
In order for a giant rabbit to develop normally, it requires significantly more space than normal-sized rabbits. These animals can also suffer from obesity: they eat willingly and are capable of overeating, so they need to be given strictly the norm.
Good representatives of the breed are ready for procreation by about 9 months. Some foreign breeders allow females to mate and produce offspring up to 8 years of age, although this, of course, is risky and in vain. Typically, a Flanders litter contains from 6 to 12 rabbits.
When young animals grow, in the first months they only gain bone mass. Because as a commercial breed, Risen is not used for breeding on an industrial scale. But in a small household, he is, of course, a source of pride and great joy. Please yourself with such beauties!
This male was brought from Holland, has a very rich coat color.
The male was 3 months and 10 days old at the time of photography.
Flanders is a male. Age 9 months.
He's a little later
A couple more recent photos of rabbits - one of the Dutch selection, the other of the German one.
The rabbits are currently 2 months 8 days old, weight 2,600. There were 10 rabbits in the litter, the female pulled out all of them with the same weight.
Purpose of decorative rabbits
The name itself contains the purpose of these cute animals. They are not raised for production needs - meat or fur - but are pets. Quite often, families with children get decorative rabbits, since it is impossible to pass by such a cutie in a pet store. In addition, they have a calm disposition, are not as active as cats and do not make as much noise as dogs. This type of rabbit differs from dwarf rabbits in that it does not have specific size standards.
Decorative species are characterized by different breeds, parameters and shades of wool.
Diseases
Decorative rabbits can suffer from infectious and viral diseases. The main ones are rhinitis, stomatitis, staphylococcosis, otitis, conjunctivitis. The animals suffer from intestinal disorders, and the active growth of teeth causes them severe inconvenience. A complete list of diseases of decorative rabbits is presented in this material.
It is recommended that decorative rabbits receive vaccinations - and, believe me, they will cost you much less than further treatment.
Competent care and proper feeding will help to avoid diseases. Make sure that the animal’s diet is balanced, otherwise constant diarrhea cannot be avoided.
Stomach upset is caused by weevil-infected dry food, excess fruits and vegetables, moldy bread, sudden changes in feed, gastrointestinal diseases, unsanitary conditions, and viruses. A common occurrence is constipation. Read what to do if your rabbit is constipated here.
In case of diarrhea, you need to disinfect the cage and give the animal a decoction of chamomile. If it doesn't go away for a long time, contact your veterinarian.
general characteristics
Today there are 3 breeds, the main feature of which is the red color of their coat. They differ from each other in origin, size and position of the ears. This:
- Burgundy red rabbits;
- representatives of the New Zealand breed;
- red rabbit mini-ram (the main color of the breed is bright fiery).
Some veterinarians believe that red rabbits have a shorter life expectancy than any other breed, but this fact has not yet been scientifically confirmed.
Features of the view
Decorative rabbits were bred for indoor use. It is best to buy them in nurseries or from trusted breeders - stores rarely follow the rules for caring for the animal and do not give any guarantees that you will buy a healthy animal.
On sale you can find different types of decorative rabbits - with erect ears, ram rabbits, with red eyes, and so on. The most beautiful breeds are those with long hair, but keep in mind that they require careful care (the fur is combed daily).
Ornamental rabbits can also be raised for meat and fur. In this case, fairly large specimens are used.
The life expectancy and health of your pet largely depends on you, or rather on how carefully you comply with the conditions of its maintenance. In general, a decorative rabbit is a breed for the soul; such an animal will become a true friend for the whole family.
Pygmy fox
Bred in Austria in 1992 using downy Angoras. Dwarf foxes are one of the smallest. Their weight does not exceed 1.5 kg. The breed is characterized by soft, thick hair that evenly covers the body on all sides. The length of the hairs is 3.5–7 cm. The body is small but strong, with a wide chest and shortened front legs. The neck is short and almost invisible, the ears are straight and stick up.
These red decorative rabbits have beautiful skin, but are unprofitable for industrial breeding due to low fertility and small body size. Dwarf foxes often participate in shows where white and havana are the recognized colors.
