New rabbit... Lots of fur or a lion head!

[bhoffman]

Here is the new lion head I picked up today. She has soo much fur!! Maybe she is double mained?

She has been taken care of very well. She may not be show quality but I really like her. She is also very calm.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

She almost looks like a Jersey Wooly. Lionheads should not have that much fur over the back, it should be more like normal rabbit fur. Single manned lionheads have the mane around the face and double manned have it around the hips as well.
Assuming she is an adult, her coat probably won't change much. She is not really one you would want to breed as she doesn't meet the breed standard. She is cute though and it sounds like she will make a nice pet.

 

[woahlookitsme]

Agree with Kate. I didnt think lionhead maybe a lionhead and jersey wooly mix? Jersey woolys can have tassels like Angoras but they form at the ear base and are a DQ from show. She is some kind of wool breed mix but I wouldn't say just this or just that.

Unless you have a pedigree but if she did I might question her lineage and I dont think I would breed her.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

She appears to be a "teddy Lionhead." I don't know enough about the genetics of Lionheads to explain how the teddies happen, but basically it's just a term I've seen used to describe Lionheads that are excessively wooly. They appear to have a full coat like Jersey Woolies, but you can definitely see a mane around her head and the wool is not as dense, long or even as a JW coat would be.

I wouldn't doubt that she is full Lionhead because she has the right features, but am not sure what is best to breed to her in order to produce regular double-maned kits.

 

[woahlookitsme]

Oh yea I forgot about teddy lionheads. Here is one for comparison. I see the resemblance

EDIT: this one is double mane according to the owner

Here is a teddy:

I still dont know. Lionheads have fluffy wool like angoras and woolys always have very slick wool that lays better.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

Her head is too narrow for a Jersey Wooly though, and they don't have the long "waterfall" bangs, just a wool cap and occasionally a tuft that sticks up between the ears. Her wool would be too short for a wooly too. That doesn't mean she couldn't be a mix, but I'd lean more toward purebred (but teddy) Lionhead. I could be wrong!

 

[bhoffman]

Thanks everyone. I wasn't sure as I had never seen such a furry lion head. We love her though and am not sure about breeding we yet. She i already 9 months old so if I am going to I have to do it right away.

 

[cerigirl]

She is beautiful!

 

[RoyalLions18]

She does appear to me to be all lionhead. But does not look teady, as they have more of a angora hair that mats really bad. She just is a Double mane who did not shed out. And i would not breed a lion who does not shed out. She looks like she would make a good pet, as she is not breeding quality. She has a long thin ear,and and her head looks narrow. She also looks to be on the bigger side too.

 

[bhoffman]

She only weighs about 4lbs max. That's what I originally thought was a double mained lion head. I do not breed for show or anything. I am gonna go ahead and see if anyone in my area is interested in a bunny from her. Mine are all sold as pets.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Wow, that is one cute ball of fluff!

 

[DUSTBUNNY-CLYDE]

congrats! she's so cute!!!

 

[TinysMom]

She looks a lot like the teddy lionheads from the earlier gene pool that most folks have tried to breed out. I had several teddies with that much fur (and the face and ears look right too) a few years ago - thinking 6 maybe?

Here's the thing about lionheads though - they are still such a "breed in progress" and I don't mean that by ARBA standards and passing at convention, etc.

What I mean is - the first lionheads that came to the states were much larger than they are now. They had longer heads that were more narrow than they are today - and longer ears - often with wool all the way up the ears.

To get them to be smaller - breeder bred in Netherland Dwarfs....and some breeders bred in holland lops (not as much as netherlands) to bring in better bone structure/larger bones.

The lionheads that are out now are more "cat-like" in look - at least when it comes to the ears.

If you go to the North American Lionhead Rabbit club website and look at old photos - you can see how they changed.

For example - 2005: http://www.lionhead.us/showinfoandphoto/2005arba album.htm

Take a look at the BOB (chestnut buck) who might well be laughed off the table now.

You can see them becoming more "upright" in 2007: http://www.lionhead.us/showinfoandphoto/2007arbaresults.htm

Now look at 2009 where they winners are more upright in the way they stand: http://www.lionhead.us/showinfoandphoto/2009arbaresults.html

You can go year by year at this page:

http://www.lionhead.us/showinfoandphoto/album.htm


Now this is PERSONAL OPINION only....most of the rabbits through the time Gail Gibbons was COD holder - including her rabbits- were longer in body and ears....it was after Theresa Mueller took over (and through Theresa's lines and those who used her lines) that you started to see the upright body. I think Dawn Gunther also did a lot of breeding of this "style" of lionhead. I know a lot of nice rabbits came from PA and OH along with the Northwest area of the country too.

Hope this helps.