Now a growing number of pet lovers want to settle at home something – exotic. Someone chooses reptiles or amphibians creatures, others are more like rare species of fish, and someone wants to have in the apartment such cute fuzzies like rabbits.
There are many kinds, among which are a decorative breed dwarf Lop-eared sheep.
Rabbit Lop-eared RAM: description
This kind of rabbit appeared in the 1950’s of the last century.
The breed was developed in Holland by the breeders, who decided to create a miniature copy of the larger breeds of lop-eared rabbits – French sheep.
It is this kind of rabbits are crossed with dwarf rabbits, and gave birth to a new breed dwarf lop-eared sheep.
Why are rabbits called sheep? Of course, these little ushastik have nothing to do with a flock of sheep, but massive and short head with a broad slightly bulging forehead gives them a view of the little lambs. The breed gained huge popularity all over the world for its good temperament and incredibly pretty look of these animals.
These sheep are consists of 19 species, but the development of new types of lop-eared rabbits do not stop to this day.
Rabbit dwarfish RAM: characteristic of the breed
The main distinguishing feature of these animals are thick, incredibly long (up to 26-28 cm), tightly adjacent to the large heavy head and rounded at the ends of the ears, in shape resembling a horseshoe.
Lop-eared rabbit has cylindrophiidae body covered with soft, silky, shiny hair. The hair may be medium to long with a dense poduska.
Decorative lop-eared rabbit can have almost any color (black, blue, white with different combinations, yellow, chinchilla, opal, sable, etc.).
The life expectancy of ushastik is about seven years.
Dwarf sheep have a relatively high fecundity, on average, once the female brings six rabbits. At the age of three months, the animals reach sexual maturity, however, the willingness of females to bear children comes a little later – in four months.
The nature of the lop-eared rabbit
Fold the lambs are characterized by a peaceful calm disposition. They love to play with children, very friendly, quickly find common language with people and get used to the new owner. In addition, lop-eared sheep in comparison with other canines with erect ears are less fearful because they can hear other sounds a little subdued.
They get along well with a person – with great pleasure bask on the hands and allowed to pet. These are loyal, playful and quite active creatures, so they need space. Lop-eared rabbit needs human attention and love, otherwise the animal may become aggressive.
Fold decorative rabbits sheep have some intelligence, so easy to remember its name and respond to the call of the master.
Types lop-eared rabbits
Among rabbits sheep are found as large (meat) weighing up to 4 kg, and the dwarf. Some species have two, or even three varieties (for example, Kashmiri fold). However, Kashmiri big RAM there is almost no information.
Among the big-eared dwarf popular are listed below.
English sheep
Belongs to the group of large lop-eared sheep. Considered one of the largest varieties. The weight of an adult is 4.5 kg, while the length of the ears about 65-70 see Breeders in the UK are working to increase those figures to 75 cm Color of an Englishman is quite rich, can be any color. Wool from English sheep fold short.
American long-haired sheep
Is a descendant of a Dutch lop-eared dwarf, so they have similar characteristics. Initially, this kind of rabbit had only solid colors. To achieve a variety of colors breeders have carried out the crossbreeding with the English Butterfly, with the result that the light appeared spotted the lop-eared rabbits. However, it deteriorated the quality of the fur and to fix this Dutch Volohov crossed with the Angora rabbit, eventually getting lop-eared dwarf rabbit, having long hair.
But the standard Dutch sheep does not offer such long hair, so longhaired offspring were used for breeding, although today in litters of standard Dutch meet the bunnies with long hair. The weight of this rabbit up to two kg is considered ideal body weight is 1.6 kg.
Kashmiri lop-eared rabbit
This kind of dwarf rabbits is different from its larger counterpart only weight. Body mass of the dwarf reaches only 1.6 kg, while the giant fold weighs 2.8 kg. as for the rest – exterior, color, country of launch, they are identical. However, it is considered that the dwarf breeds are animals weighing up to three kg, so both of these varieties belong to the miniature.
Cachemire have about 20 colors – almost all shades from albino to black. Coat length – medium, head is shortened. According to the standard, the rabbit ears should hang down on the sides, but in any case not drag on the ground.
French sheep
This kind of Volokhov is the ancestor of English sheep, so has similar characteristics. The only difference is the ears – the Frenchman they are shorter. The color can be any.
German RAM
It is the smallest representative of the family of large sheep. Its weight varies from 3 to 4 kg. the Ears of a German all too short – just 28-35. 5 cm. The breed was developed by crossing a Dutch dwarf and French lop.
In their homeland, in Germany, the German lop was officially recognized in 1970, and only 20 years later (1990) recognized breed British Association of rabbit production.
Initially, the rabbit had only the coat color gene agouti. However, plant breeders worked on breeding big-eared variety of color and the result was individuals shades such as chocolate, blue, harlequin, silver marten, otter, spotted with a large part of the color of the surface. However, these shades are still not recognized by the standard.
The following types of standard colors in rabbits breed German fold:
- Agouti: opal, chocolate agouti, chinchilla.
- Solid: blue, chocolate, black, lilac, blue eyed white, albino.
- Peg: the main color is white with a small amount of colored spots.
- Striped: yellow, Auburn, red, cream.
- Valely: black, silver, Golden, pearly, smoky, chocolate, blue, tinged with purple on the tips of the hairs, sable, silver.
German fold is the owner of wide thick ears with a powerful cartilage. The auricle should be turned in to the head, and the ears hanging over the eyes. Coat length is normal.
Fold linography
This is a relatively new breed that was registered in 2007.
Livingonlove fold have the following colours:
- Agouti;
- steel;
- opal;
- white (blue – or red-eyed);
- blue;
- black;
- red;
- deer;
- pale yellow;
- chocolate;
- black-brown;
- butterfly;
- sable: from dark to light.
Content decorative fold sheep
Before you bring that adorable creature home, you should take care of its security. The fact that rabbits love to chew on anything, so you need to remove from their sight all the wires. Otherwise the baby could get an electric shock.
You should also purchase a special cage or to make it independently.
House rabbit needs to meet the following requirements:
- Cage should be spacious, approximately 0.7*0.5 m.
- Since rabbits live in burrows, inside the cell needs to make a house. This is especially necessary for the first time, while the animal will get used to people and new place of residence. The ideal option would be the cell in which part of the area will be divided into two floors. to select.
- The cage should be placed in bright, obscure and protected from drafts place.
- The tray can be put in one of the corners as a decorative fold is usually used to defecate in a particular place. With this, you can buy a special angled tray that attaches to the bars of the cage or use a regular cat.
- To maintain order in the cell, it is recommended to use a heavy ceramic feeders, which rabbit teeth will slide out, while drinkers should be hung on the wall.
- Rabbits, like most animals, need a walk. Therefore, they must be released from the cells at least 2-2,5 hours/day. If you don’t want your pet running around the room, you can make a special enclosure with the floor: and wire cleaning is not necessary, and feces clean up is easier.
Powered rabbit lop-eared RAM
For the rabbit properly composed diet is of great importance. Babies under 6 months should not receive fresh greens and raw vegetables and fruits. When fold grows, these products can be added to food, but only in small quantities. The basis of the diet decorative rabbit are mixed grain and hay, which can also be bought in a specialty store.
In the menu it is necessary to consider that the hay is the main component of the diet of the animal, so it should always be available. In addition, be sure to buy mineral stone, and fix it on the bars of the cage.
The domestication of rabbit lop-eared RAM
Although dwarf rabbits quickly get used to humans and are considered to be manual, at first their presence in your home is necessary to help babies adapt more quickly.
There are several recommendations that should be followed.
- Since rabbit – animal, very independent and proud, it is not necessary to forcibly get him out of the cage that he considered his safe haven.
- Closer to the home fold to slowly, so as not to scare the sheep.
- Opening the cage, better to wait when the baby he wants to get out.
- And, of course, an important factor is the tasty treat that plays a positive role in the process of domestication.
- In some cases, fold the lamb can behave aggressively. This behavior may be caused by several reasons – fear of anything to simple sexual arousal.
In General, chat with Eeyore follows the principle of communicating with the child, that is when conversation is not to raise your voice, not to show his emotions, not to hover over the animal, and squat.
If the pet tries to bite you, you should show his superiority, very gently pressing it to the floor. So rabbits in nature show the supremacy by jumping to the rival on the back.
Lop-eared sheep, be sure to trim nails, using a special kogterezki. The procedure should be carried out very carefully, so as not to hurt the vessel.
If you notice that the behavior of the pet changed, his hair became dull, he refuses treats, you need to show it to the vet since such signs could indicate the development of the disease.
Measure the temperature. Its slight increase can talk about the stress. The normal body temperature of a rabbit is 38.3−39.5 degrees.
If a strong increase (above 40 degrees) you should see a doctor. But first, you need to try just a little to bring the temperature down, using ice packs. They briefly applied to the abdomen and the ears of the dwarf sheep.
Fold decorative rabbits sheep have a unique appearance, and thus are very popular. Touching these animals, with proper maintenance and care will delight you with their presence and funny children’s games almost every day.
