The history of the origin and homeland of the Angora rabbits, features of the exterior, the main subspecies, maintenance and care of the rabbit at home, the cost. The Angora rabbit is not only a valuable fur, but a cute and funny pet. Every year these pussies are more and more often taken as pets. With some effort in caring for this cute little animal, you will end up with a cute, handsome and bouncy friend who will delight you for many years.
The origin of the Angora rabbit breed and its native lands
If not everyone knows the Angora rabbit by sight, then everybody had some soft wardrobe items from the so-called "Angora". All these products are made just from this little animal, but you should not be afraid, the process of creating things from the fur of this cutie is more humane and less dangerous for him than when it comes to, for example, mink or chinchilla coats. When harvesting materials, the animals themselves do not suffer in any way, unless, of course, they are greedy by nature and they are simply not sorry to give their valuable fur into the wrong hands. So the expression that rabbits are not only dietary meat, but also valuable fur is very important for Angora beauties as well.
"Why are they Angora?" The thing is that hundreds of years ago this breed was first bred in Turkey, whose capital is called Ankara, but at that time this main city of the country was called Angora, hence such a patriotic name.
In 1723, sailors from Europe, while staying in Turkey, had the opportunity to admire this little animal, it was they who considered it their duty to acquaint the European people with such a pretty miracle of nature. Having acquired several specimens of "Angora", the sailors brought them to France, where people were delighted with them. Since that time, these representatives of the world fauna began to gain more and more popularity not only on the territory of the European continent, but their fame spread further and further. A few years later, China took over the place of the leading country in the processing of angora rabbit fur; to this day, no other country in the world shows such high results. Countries such as Hungary, the Czech Republic and France are already in second place.
Some countries did not become so selflessly engaged in the furs of this animal, they set themselves the goal of breeding more and more new varieties of this wonderful animal. And so it happened. Today, "Angora rabbit" is a prefabricated concept that includes many different subspecies. The latter vary in size, appearance, characteristics of the fur coat and coat color.
Description of the appearance of the Angora rabbit
Looking for the first time at this living ball of fur, and if there is also a white angora rabbit in front of you, then you might think that this is a small round cloud or a soft ball wrapped in a woolen fur coat. In the event that the rabbit has not yet had time to cut and there is a lot of wool, then it is unlikely that you will be able to see any other parts of his body, sometimes the fur grows so much that it is not like the legs, even the eyes are hidden.
In principle, the general characteristics of this breed is that it is a medium-sized animal. Its body is slightly shortened, for this reason it seems that it even has a slightly rounded shape. The head is large in relation to the whole body, not devoid of so-called adornments, which are beautiful, long ears, each of which ends with a small tassel. The nose of the Angora rabbit is slightly flattened.
All this airy and shaggy body with all its weight rests on, though short, but rather strong limbs, which are also, as it were, immersed in the thick thickness of rabbit fluff.
A kind of "visiting card" of the Angora rabbit deserves special attention - it is its fur. In length, it grows to about 12-15 cm, in addition to wool, the body of a cute animal from Turkey also has fluff, which makes up most of all fur. Although this down is much shorter than the base wool, it is very high quality in terms of its properties, it is very light, delicate, soft and warm. Thanks to these characteristics, neither rabbits, nor those people who wear products from "angora" are cold.
Within one year, one adult Angora rabbit is able to donate from 500 to 1500 grams of down.
The colors of these representatives of the world fauna can vary, there are in nature individuals of both black and red, and gray and even bluish colors, but most often snow-white Angora rabbits are found.
The average body weight of this fluffy ranges from three to six kilograms.
Description of the varieties of the Angora rabbit
- English rabbits. The body weight of an adult of this fluffy "Englishman" is approximately 3–3, 5 kg. The head is wide, the muzzle is slightly flattened. The entire surface of the body is wrapped in an air coat, only some areas on the legs and in the area of the nose are devoid of such downy vegetation.
- French rabbits. As for these representatives of this breed, they have already surpassed their English relatives in size, although not much, nevertheless. Their body weight can already reach 4.5–5 kg. In its shape, the body of this rabbit is a bit like an oval, everything is covered with down, only on the muzzle and on the limbs it is not observed. There are beautiful tassels on the auricles, which gives this living creation of nature an even more original and cute appearance. This subspecies of cute "Angora" has one significant positive feature. In the event that you have brought a French rabbit as a pet, you can consider that you have won some kind of lottery, because their coat does not require particularly reverent attention. The coat of this crawl has no tendency to curl or bunch up too much.
- Giant rabbit. Probably, it is not at all difficult to guess that these are the most dimensional representatives of their relatives, their weight category exceeds 5 kg, sometimes much. Their "highlight" is that if you have a purebred Angora giant in front of you, then it should only be white, if the color of the fur coat is some other, you can safely suspect - either some mistake or a blatant deception.
- White and colored downy rabbits. These are animals weighing no more than 4 kg, nature has endowed them with a very strong body, a well-developed skeleton and pretty short ears, with tassels at the end. We can say that the inhabitants of our country can rightfully be proud of this breed, as these animals were bred here. This species is good to keep as pets, for the reason that the animals are already accustomed to the local microclimate. In addition, and there are quite a few benefits from them, this is one of the leading Angora fluffy breeds in terms of fluff output. People engaged in breeding new breeds are also working on the colors of new animals, so satin rabbits have a fairly wide color spectrum. Therefore, products from the fur of this subspecies of rabbits do not have to be dyed.
Breeding Angora rabbits
These animals reach sexual maturity only at the age of one year, their pregnancy lasts about 28–31 days. Usually there are 5–8 babies in a litter, which open their eyes on the 12th day.
Features of the content of the Angora rabbit, home care
- Cell. A spacious cage is suitable as a rabbit residence. There are two basic rules that apply to your angora rabbit's house: firstly, his house should always be dry, and secondly, its inhabitant should not suffer from a lack of fresh air, so make sure that your friend's cage is well ventilated … As for the size of the rabbit cage, a dwelling with parameters 75x60x50 centimeters will be enough for one adult individual. Dry hay or soft, medium-sized sawdust can be used as flooring. Small sawdust and shavings should not be used, as they often stick to the paws of animals and then they begin to feel some discomfort, trying to clean their limbs, the animal can eat a certain amount of filler. So that you do not put your pet on the floor, remember that you will have to clean it regularly. It is only in beautiful pictures that domestic rabbits are cute and tidy creatures, in real life things are completely different. Feeding its need on this very litter, the rabbit does not think about the fact that in an hour another will already eat this hay. Therefore, in order to avoid unnecessary health problems for your fluffy lodger, it is better to change the litter as often as possible, because eating such contaminated feed can lead not only to a deterioration in the health of the pet, but also directly to its death. If you want to simplify your life and make your angora rabbit safe, then it would be better to lay ordinary rubber, and most importantly, inedible rugs on the floor in a rabbit cage. So it will be easier to clean, and the beast will not eat too much.
- The furnishings of the cell. In addition to the floor, you still need to think about the interior of the home of the fluffy ball. Mandatory attributes that should always be in the house of the angora rabbit are a drinking bowl with clean drinking water, which should be attached in such a way that the animal cannot turn it over. Also, a container for food, no one knows at what moment a sudden outbreak of hunger will attack him, suddenly at this time you will not be at home. So that your pet does not get bored during your absence, you can equip his house with various rabbit entertainments, it can be various balls, ladders made of branches and trees and tunnels, these attributes are sold in almost every pet store. By their nature, all rabbits are accustomed to living in burrows in open nature, so we can conclude that they like to retire. In this regard, it would be nice to design a kind of shelter for the animal. To do this, you may well use a small cardboard box, in which you need to put some hay, so your pet will be more comfortable and softer to hide or just relax.
- Toilet. Traying the Angora rabbit is not an easy task, but it often gives good results. As a restroom, you can use an ordinary cat litter box, only smaller in size, a few days of hard training and here's the result - cleaning needs to be done less often, and the cage inhabitant is happy, since he can be released from the cage for a longer time. Rabbits, like cats, are guided by the smell, if the animal at least a couple of times relieved the need in the intended place, then the next time it will go there.
- Walking. By their nature, angora downy rabbits are very active, funny and friendly animals. You shouldn't keep them locked in a cage all the time, he needs to throw out his energy somewhere, which sometimes just gushes. Let your furry companion take a walk around the apartment, he will rush around your apartment with great joy, only it is better that such walks take place under your personal careful supervision. In addition, from the field of view of the animal, it is necessary to remove all objects that may be to his taste, in particular, these are wires and small parts.
- Hair care. Looking at this miracle of nature, the question immediately arises in my head about how to care for his fur. And this is probably one of the most important moments, since this little creature itself is in no way able to cope with such a fluffy "fur coat". If the animal begins to comb out the hairballs on its own, there is a high probability that it will simply eat it up and thus suffocate. Therefore, it is better to help him in this. To make life easier for yourself and your Angora rabbit, you should comb it at least twice a week and trim it at least once a month, then you will not have any problems. Today there are many masters who make various fashionable hairstyles for such animals, it looks beautiful and interesting and is easier on your hands.
- Bathing. In general, you need to bathe these animals only when needed, these animals are very clean, so you shouldn't just do it like that, it's a lot of stress for them. But if the situation is critical, then there is really no escape. It is better to do this with someone's help, as this craftsman will easily break out of your hands. It is better to bathe in a basin, making sure that water and shampoo do not get into your ears or eyes. After bathing, the animal must be carefully wrapped in a soft towel, when you release it after washing, make sure that it does not blow out, it may just catch a cold.
- Feeding. As for the nutrition of rabbits, then you need to be very careful, since the digestive system of this animal is very vulnerable to all kinds of diseases and disorders.
The basis of rabbit nutrition is hay, for these animals it is not just food, it is a source of everything necessary and useful. By and large, you can give any type of hay and different fees, but nettle hay is not just a favorite delicacy of rabbits, but in terms of the content of nutrients it is not inferior to store feed.
You can sometimes give straw, although it is not so useful, but these animals love it, especially pea, which is tasty for them. Also, these animals love to chew the branches of trees and bushes. They can be given aspen, hazel, willow, linden, acacia, maple, raspberry, apple, cherry and currant. Nibbling the bark from the branches, they hone their teeth. You cannot give them poplar and walnut branches.
An equally important element in the diet of rabbits is succulent feed, these include greens and vegetables. They eat a variety of greens, it can be knotweed, young leaves of burdock, rhubarb, quinoa, wheatgrass, seeded herbs, young nettle, which must first be chopped or kneaded. Dandelions need to be given regularly, they have a beneficial effect on the digestive system, in the event that the pet has eaten, for example, bedding. Angora rabbits love the green part of carrots, turnips, Jerusalem artichoke leaves and strawberries.
During the transition to summer food, willow branches should be included in the diet, and at first, greens should be given in moderation, gradually increasing the portions.
Do not forget about vegetables such as carrots, zucchini, cucumbers, Jerusalem artichoke, turnips, tomatoes, beets, but you need to be careful with white cabbage - rabbits may experience intestinal motility disorders and many more health problems. After each meal, the remains of juicy food should be removed from the cage. Potatoes are best given rarely and boiled.
As for concentrated feed, they include different types of grains, for example, oats, corn, soybeans, wheat. It can also be bran, cereals, stale rye bread. In addition, you can buy food at pet stores, but usually animals quickly gain weight from such delicacies, and gradually refuse homemade food, so such food should be given approximately 20-30 grams per animal.
From time to time, do not forget additional vitamin and mineral supplements, this is especially important in the winter and in the postpartum period in females.
Angora rabbit price
The average cost of "Angora" varies from 500 to 5,500 rubles, depending on the subspecies and age of the animal.
For more information on keeping Angora rabbits, see below:
