Off to NY...new addition

[wendymac]

This is Spaz, my newest addition. French Lop young sr buck, and hopefully a good cross with Rosa. Headed to NY now to pick him up. While not a fan of long drives, knowing there's a bun at the other end is pretty good incentive.

 

[ZRabbits]

Tell me about a long drive. And yes, the end result (a good bunny) is definitely a prize at the end of the rainbow.

Love the name. Can't wait to be introduced. Please, lots of pics when he gets home.

Wishing you a safe journey to and fro.

K

 

[wendymac]

Finally made it back. I won't be traveling for any more rabbits, except at shows. haha

Spaz, unfortunately, definitely lives up to his name. He's a fruit cake. He's not mean, but he does NOT want touched. Period. The breeder tried posing him, and he about killed himself trying to get away. I don't think working with him is going to help much, but I'm going to try.

I think he was living in a 24x24 cage (he was in a carrier when I went to get him), so not much room. I'm going to give him some out time, in the Xpen, and see if that calms him down a bit.

If his babies come out with that spastic attitude, I'll resell him. But he has the bone and width I need for Rosa (where she lacks the most), so hopefully it was a case of not being handled and not some genetic thing. The breeder said his babies weren't like that, but time will tell. His litter (which is just now being weaned) were all bucks, and huddled in the back of their cage when we were there. Not one came toward the front, to see if we were going to have any treats or not.

So the good news is, he has what I'm looking for. Bad news is, he may never be shown nor have his bloodlines in my herd.

We should have picked Holland Lops. They're a dime a dozen, and found everywhere. LOL

 

[ZRabbits]

Hoping he's not a disappointment. Sounds like if all of them were in the back of the cage, it might be not much handling. Hoping it's nothing genetic.

If he's got the bone structure you need, maybe no showing but be a brood buck. Giving you showable babies?

Like you said, time will tell.

K

BTW, love Holland Lops myself, but there are so many of them. I think that's why I really went with Lion Heads. Unique. Different, and not a dime a dozen.

 

[woahlookitsme]

Good luck with him. Don't get too discouraged he might turn around with the right handling. Make sure to handle the babies he provides as soon as they're born. If brit people can do it so can you!

 

[wendymac]

I really think it's a case of not much handling. As long as he gives me good babies, all will be good.

And get this...he and Rosa share the same genetics, way back. Kind of worried, because she's not exactly Miss Congeniality. LOL Although, in all fairness, she has improved greatly since I bought her. She wouldn't even make that grunting sound when I opened her cage, to show my Mom. She just sat there, looking all cute and innocent, making me out to be a liar. haha

 

[MiniLopHop]

Handling can make a huge difference. I have seen it in my buns. They tend to start out all wild and not wanting to be held, but with consistant reinforcement (bribes? who said bribes?) they come around. Hyper little Gary is finally content to be held and he would wimper when I picked him up at first. He learned that snuggle times = treats! Now I have to start teaching Sophie the same thing. She is in love with Houdini but still scared of us. Bunnies teach me patience.

Good luck with Spaz, he's very cute.

 

[wendymac]

Thanks, Brandy. Because he's already a year old, and so huge, handling now might not make a difference. He's petrified the second you try to touch him. And when she was trying to pose him for me, he was literally flinging his body around, trying to get free. And he would have gotten free, if she hadn't been quick to grab him by the scruff of the neck.

Now that it's warming up a bit, I'm going to let him out of his cage for a bit. To my knowledge, he's NEVER been allowed to run around and be a rabbit. Hopefully between the exercise and the "reinforcements", he'll be happier. Just hope the bribes...err, I mean, reinforcements...are to his liking. haha

 

[LakeCondo]

Sounds good, Brandy.

 

[MiniLopHop]

Wendy, have hope. Cinderella was 5 when she came to our house. The first several months she was so skittish, but she turned out to be the loveliest kissy bun ever once she decided to trust.

Spaz just doesn't know what it's like to be a spoiled, loved bunny. With your help I'm sure he will come around :hug:

 

[CCWelch]

There is hope, if he feels loved, he will settle down. It really sounds like the breeder is just that, a breeder. They don't care for their rabbits except to show certain ones and breed the others, I am a breeder but I handle and love all my bunnies. All babies get handled from day 1 around here by both my husband and myself. The babies almost always want to see us when we walk by the cages and the adults come to the front for scratching and petting too.

 

[wendymac]

well, I got him out earlier today. He didn't scream when I picked him up, but it did take quite a while to get him cornered to even touch him. I put him on the makeshift grooming table (old cabinet, marble top, with a piece of carpeting ton top). Well, his feet immediately began going 150 mph when I put him down. I still had a hold of him, but the carpet went flying. At first I was going to try to fetch it, but then thought, "No, let's wait this out." He figured out that he couldn't go anywhere, because when he tried it looked like he was on a treadmill. After quite a while, he finally stopped trying to escape. I just kept talking to him and running my hands over him. While he was NOT happy, he at least wasn't trying to get away. But he was shaking and quivering the entire time. Not sure what his story really is, but I don't think it was a very good first year for him.

I figure he won't be ready to breed for quite a while, if ever. So I went ahead and bred my black Rosa doe (who was running out of time to get bred) with my Cali buck (who was more than ready to get it done. LOL). I didn't want to breed "just pets", but didn't really have an alternative.

No more breeding for us, until April, when Kitty will breed her Cals for 4-H meat pens and fair entries.

Poor Spaz...I feel so sorry for him. :-(

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Time and patience--some of our rescues came to us with no socialization at all, but now are model citizens.

 

[wendymac]

Watching him the last few days, I think he's used to someone just plucking him up out of his cage by the scruff of the neck. My daughter spent quite a bit of the day down with him. He runs like a lunatic at first, then eventually stops running and lets her pet him. As long as you stay away from his neck area, he's okay. Still scared and everything, but stops running. Once he figures out we aren't going to hurt him, he might just come around.

It's really quite sad to see a rabbit that scared of people.

 

[ZRabbits]

It is truly sad for him to be that scared. Any bunny I should say. So glad your daughter is working with him as well.

In time, hoping you can show this poor little guy that he doesn't need to be scared of you.

K