One of the unfortunate things about raising rabbits is that it can make you blasé towards some really cute animals. Any breeder who has been out in public with rabbits (especially at airports) and hears, “Oh, what a cute bunny!” first thinks something like, “Cute? That’s a mismark brood doe I’m only using because she’s so typey,” and then, “Please, please, don’t come over and ask me to get them out so you can pet them…” Not that most of us don’t like sharing our hobby with interested people, but we’re well aware of the domino effect that a bunny can have on the public, and in turn, our progress toward wherever we’re going!
But even those of us who have seen tens of thousands of rabbits in our day can occasionally be sucked in by the charm that a few certain animals possess. Such was the case at Mini Rex Nationals this weekend. I wasn’t really shopping, but I was keeping my eye out for a nice Chinchilla to add to the herd when I saw this chubby-cheeked little face up against the wire and a “For Sale” sign on his cage. It was kind of hard to look him over, since he was more interested in hanging his head out of the cage for attention than being posed up, but when I did I saw that he had just the sort of short, thick frame that I’d needed to balance out some longer, taller does. I convinced my mom to go in half with me to take him home, and even gave up one of my cages for him.
We located the breeders, the LaRue family from Oregon, and sealed the deal. He was obviously used to attention, and we watched him give their daughter kisses on the hand. He wasn’t named, so we settled on LaRue’s Casanova.
He’s now home and just as friendly, refusing to accept dinner until he’s petted on the head and scratched under the chin. Hopefully our does will find him just as irresistible as we did!
[...] had one last litter due by a chinchilla buck (Casanova) and a broken chin doe, and was crossing my fingers for a solid chin. Once more, no luck. A [...]