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4H show rabbit

2166 Views 2 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  Dragonrain
I have been looking around to find a rabbit that i can use as a 4h/FFA project and also a pet. Im not sure where to look because i dont know what the 4h standards and rules for rabbits are. I was wondering if I could get a rabbit from the pet store or adopt one? or is it best to buy from a breeder? I have no clue what to look for. please help me with any information that you may have.
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If you want to show it, DO NOT get it from a pet store. Mill bred, over bred, cross bred- no body will take it in the ring. You will be lucky to find an unaltered rabbit in a rescue and as far as I know the show ring requires intact rabbits (?) Correct me if I'm wrong.
I would scrap the whole show thing because I think it's pretentious and unnecessary with hundreds of thousands of unwanted rabbits already looking for homes, without the help of the breeders.
Maybe I'm just biased because I do work with the small animal rescue here, many people just don't know what they're getting into with rabbits. And since you don't even know what the 4H is looking for, I would wait a while and do some research.
I haven't owned a male before but I have seen my roommate's male spray pee everywhere (unneutered) and I have experience with an unaltered female and a spayed female and the two were totally different pets. Breed is important only if you want a particular breed. Otherwise, they make pretty similar pets with similar health problems. Dwarfs have tooth problems, rexes have hock problems, lops have ear problems etc.... So look into that.
What else...
Oh yes, If you want to make a difference in your own life and the life of your future pet, RESCUE!!! It's the kindest option. Most small animal rescues spay-neuter before adoption and have them assessed for health and behavioural problems. It also is a better feeling to know your money has gone to save a life rather than take one because honestly (IMO) breeders take homes from unwanted pets :/
Best of luck to you :)
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If you have your heart set on showing I'd say your best bet would be to look into breeders. Make sure you do plenty of research on a breeder before choosing one.

Like Purple-Hops said, pet store rabbits wouldn't be good. There's no way to tell for sure if they are even pure bred and most of them come from breeding mills or back yard breeders.

Rescues usually only have spayed/neutered rabbits and even the ones that don't should at least make you sign a contract that you will get the rabbit fixed yourself and/or not breed it. I think you'd be pretty hard pressed to find a rescue that would support showing. Also again, there's no way to tell for sure if a rabbit coming from a shelter is not a mixed breed.

I think before you progress further you really need to contact someone from the 4H group and find out exactly what there specifications are. They may also be able to point you in the right direction as far as where to get a rabbit from. Don't 4H groups breed rabbits? They might even have rabbits you can purchase from them.

If you decide not to do 4H and just want a pet rabbit then I'd highly suggest you adopt from a rescue :) Just make sure you do plenty of research first, because rabbits aren't really the cuddly easy to care for pets that most people think of them as.
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