Q. What can I do to decrease the number of abandoned/dumped rabbits?

A. Become a responsible owner or breeder. Make sure that you are prepared to own a rabbit in the first place, and that you really understand that 1 + 1 = anywhere from 1 to 27. Some ideas are these: Sell every animal with a return-for-any-cause guarantee. Assist your local shelter in sexing and maintaining the rabbits they get in; recommend that potential owners do their research and if they are seeking a pet, to try a rescued animal. Hold handling seminars at the pet stores.

Be creative, this can be fun!

Q. Where do I find good solid reference books on rabbits?

A. The key to getting good references on rabbits is to contact someone who is really serious on the same aspects as you are and ask them what books they have, then go to the library first and request the books they recommend. There are a ton of different opinions out there, and unfortunately some books just are not worth the money, so read first, and if you find that it suits your needs, order it from a bookseller such as amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, KW Cages...many places have the books we rely on; we just have to find them.

Q. What is a warble, and what do I do about it?

A. A warble is the larva of the Cuterebra bot fly, which lays its eggs on objects in the animal's normal habitat. The eggs are picked up by the animal as it passes by, ingested during grooming, and hatch when triggered by body heat of the host. The larvae then migrate to various sites in the skin of the animal and set up housekeeping in a fairly large swelling whose distinctive feature is a breathing pore, or hole. Should you see one of these, it's best to see a vet rather than try and remove the larva yourself, unless you are fairly experienced at minor surgery, as the pore should be enlarged with care and the larva removed in one piece. There is a possibility of extreme and fatal allergic reaction, called anaphylaxis, if the larvae is ruptured during this process.

Q. Are there herbal remedies for rabbits?

A. Certainly! Herbs work on most species in different ways; there are many homeopathic texts available. Caution should be used, as with any treatment, to make sure that the treatment is safe and the problem correctly identified.

Q. At what age should a female rabbit be spayed, or a male rabbit neutered?

A. A lot depends on what your vet is comfortable with on that particular breed; the generative organs on a Netherland Dwarf are so very small that the procedure approaches virtual microsurgery :). Five to six months on does is the norm; bucks may be 'done' as soon as the testicles are in evidence. There is no worry about urethral diameter as there is in cats.

Q. I'm planning on starting a small meat operation; what size rabbitry can and will make a profit?

A. A couple can handle six hundred working does, working full time, and make a living if they have a reliable market and processor. It has been said that the crucial number is 200 working does to make a profit; a lot depends on feed costs and your overhead. Exploiting every possible market available to you is absolutely necessary to make that profit work, as is providing each market with the highest quality, reliable supply of rabbits.

Q. I’ve realized I have no idea what most barns are like. Are large commercial setups like chickens?

A. No. To produce at their absolute top capacity, rabbits must be clean, healthy, and have sufficient space and ventilation. Dirty or unhealthy rabbits simply will not produce well enough to make that bottom line work, so it is very much in the interest of the producer to ensure the best possible conditions for their animals. Processors cannot and will not take unhealthy stock; the new farm-to-table regulations are also cracking down on cleanliness of the animals being sold for slaughter.

Q. Help! My pet rabbit has tusks; is this normal?

A. The 'tusks' you see on your animal are overgrown incisor teeth. They must be trimmed or removed to allow it to eat. See your vet promptly, and do not allow this animal to breed, as the condition is genetic and will be passed on.

Q. Will sheetrock hurt my animal? He just chewed a hole in the bathroom wall....

A. Quite likely not; but be aware that some types of sheetrock contain fibreglass or other harmful substances. Feed lots of grass hay to move things along, as it were, and remove the rabbit from areas with access to such things. Giving them something acceptable to chew, like apple or mulberry wood, is a good deterrent and distraction.

Q. How do I go about finding a market for Angora wool?

A. Find your local spinners' guild or hobby shop; some health food stores, craft shops, and farmers' markets will have a spinner/weaver or two in their clientele. Be persistent!

Q. There are so many different feeds; how do I find which one is right for my herd?

A. Start with a feed that is used by someone with a herd very similar in type, breed, size, and care to yours. Evaluate your animals regularly and keep good records of production and mortality. If the results are not satisfactory, gradually change over to a new feed and try it again. It may take several tries, but if you find a feed you like and that works for your herd, stick with it unless your records indicate a drop or loss of production.

Q. I know that in other meat species, they crossbreed to get better meat offspring. Is this done in rabbits?

A. Definitely; in Europe there is an entire hierarchy of barns that supply the breeding stock needed for a terminal crossbred fryer with very high yields. The practice is beginning to be more used in the US, although pure breeding is far more common. The Altex is an American-created terminal sire breed, not approved or accepted by ARBA for exhibition, but used in conjunction with New Zealand in the commercial industry to produce larger, faster-growing fryers with a better meat-to-bone ratio and better feed conversion ratios as well.