My Lucky Charms

Everything is good in the rabbitry. Enjoying some warmer weather finally. Still expecting one more litter of English Lops next week. Currently, there are only going to be English Lops available in the future as all the Velveteen Lop babies are spoken for currently. I only have a young buck for sale (Tracy). I will be sending a few English Lops to the Rhinebeck show at the end of the month and the big plan is to go the Velveteen Lop Specialty Show in Ohio. I’ll be competing against the COD holder herself (the working standard for Velveteen Lops until they get officially recognized as an ARBA breed) as well as some other great breeders. I need to put my babies up against some well-developed lines!!! That show is the beginning of May. I will be offering transport from NY to Ohio (or back) to anyone that may need it. Everyone got wormed (except for the pregnant/nursing does) and their nails trimmed today. Here are some pictures of RBB’s Collins (broken black) x Darabella’s Domino (tri) litter. They were born on St. Patty’s Day if you were wondering about their names. I’m still debating on one whether it is a boy or girl!!!

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Bella’s Bunnies Guinness

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Bella’s Bunnies Clover

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Bella’s Bunnies Patty (or Pat, lol)

Baby Easter Bunnies

Whew. Updated for sale pages and the velveteen lop buck & doe pages as well. The Velveteen Lop babies are all spoken for. I only currently have (plenty) English Lop babies…but boy are they cute. They won’t be ready for their new homes till mid-May at the earliest. Feel free to let me know if you have an eye on any particular rabbit. I won’t be accepting deposits until a few more weeks in which I will let you know. I love the (below) pic of Pokerface completely zonked out with her babies all snuggled in the corner. I absolutely love the 2-5 week baby stage…adorable! And have a great Easter this coming weekend!

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17 Kits & Counting

Expecting two more litters which will be Collins x Domino (velveteen lops) and Penny x Mr. Cleo (english lops). Both of these ladies had litters that they lost so they were rebred. Penny had hers this morning and they didn’t make it, for a new mom this is typical. She had 6 total with a mix of broken and solid opals. I just missed the window of opportunity to save them unfortunately  Pokerface (pictured making her nest below) is a good momma once again, and kindled 7 babies but lost 1. There is a mix of solids and brokens of torts, oranges and possibly cream or frost. The other English Lop babies are at another local breeder, Barnes’ Bunny Barn, as it was a co-breeding between their doe and our buck, Mr. Cleo. Tiger’s little guys are doing well still and their cuteness kills me everyday. We got quite a bit of snow the other day but it is all gone now! Been warming hope lately…we’re all ready for spring here!

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Tiger’s Last Litter

Tiger (Velveteen Lop) kindled yesterday with no complications. She had 6 kits, looks like 2 REW (maybe?), 1 harlequin,  2 brokens (not sure of color, possibly black, opal or blue) and 1 broken tort possibly. Hard to tell at this stage. I will post a picture in a few days with some more updates. Lots of pretty babies either way :) Fingers-crossed she gets them all to adulthood but she has yet to disappoint me. This will be her last litter as long as I get a doe that I can use as her replacement. I want to retire her to a life of spoiledness just as she deserves.

Sales Policy

We have updated our sales policy to ensure those purchasing our offspring hold similar standards of responsible ownership as Bella’s Bunnies. We also are requiring that our buyers sign a purchase agreement basically verifying they understand and accept this sales policy and with basic contact information of the buyer if we ever need to get ahold of you. We have also increased the age at which we are allowing our babies to leave our care from 8 weeks to 12 weeks at least with the required ear length. This will help us better determine show quality versus pet quality rabbits. Special considerations may be made but in general these are the rules we will follow. Bella’s now accepts major credit cards on top of money orders, checks, cash and paypal as payment forms.

I hope no one is deterred by our stricter standards but we are trying our best to make sure our rabbits are cared for properly and we seek to protect that basic right in any way possible.

You can read our updated Sales Policy here.

 

And so goes the raising of rabbits…

Even though the recent cold snap had nothing to do with it we are down to zero English Lop babies. On a lighter note, I should be overrun with youngsters in February through March. Two Velveteens and three English ladies are/will be bred. I still have my reserves from the waiting lists from these past litters that were unfulfilled who will get first choice with these next litters.  I’m getting more and more excited each day for the PA state rabbit convention! Should be great fun and lots of competition. I’ve itched to get some of my youngsters on the tables. Bella’s Bunnies River (from my last English litter) will also be there at her first competition! I’m leaning towards going to very big shows instead of small ones this year. I would love to attend Lop Nationals and the Velveteen Lop Specialty show (which are both in Ohio). A distance for sure, but definitely doable. We will be checking in after the show to let you all know how we fared and as always to keep you updated on the coming litters.

Stay warm!!!!

Pokerface x Boom Litter

If you are a fan of Bella’s Bunnies on Facebook then you have already heard the news that Pokerface (English lop) kindled 5 kits yesterday around 5pm.  All healthy and happy even in the cold weather! Looks like we have opals, chestnut agoutis or chinchillas. Hard to tell who is who right now and next week will bring the final roll call. The bunny barn is kept above freezing so they should all make it but the first week or two are always uncertain. One of my velveteen lops, Collins, should as well be popping out a litter tomorrow or Wednesday as well but time will tell. Palpation of her stomach does not reveal to much so I hope she is bred to begin with. We are expecting tri’s, blacks and among others with this litter. There still are 2 velveteen lop babies from the last litter that are developing very nicely. It has been very hard to narrow down the best out of that litter and their personalities are very sweet. This is no surprise as their mother is a therapy rabbit and their father is the sweetest buck I own.

5 healthy English Lop kits.

A very pregnant Pokerface

 

Recent updates

Updated almost every page on the site! Check out the for sale, litter, and show pages :) Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. We got lots of snow here which the bunnies enjoyed romping in this morning. I should be getting lots of new year surprises so there is plenty show stock this year and for convention.

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Cold morning treats

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Rolled oats mixed with warm water and topped with raisins and apples.

Two weeks ago we had a short spell of really cold weather (about 25 degrees!) So that frosty morning I prepared some rolled oats in warm water with raisins and apples for the bunnies to warm their tums. It’s an occasional treat I prepare for them on really cold days or for something like Christmas :-) I officially named the baby velveteen lops and although I think I have them all sexed right there may still be some name changes! I named them all after people born in the month of September right around the 25th (the day they were born). The babies are very active now and are starting to munch on food. Unfortunately, we did lose one of the babies (#2). I believe he got sick from being handled by some visitors. Even with antibiotics he didn’t make it. This is common in rabbits, especially in babies as they have very delicate systems. It is very important to wash your hands before handling young animals as their immune systems are still developing. Even with this precaution sometimes they can still get sick. Due to this, I’m not allowing anyone (visitor) around the rabbits when I have babies under 6 weeks. There are only 2 velveteen lop babies available for sale after the waiting list is fulfilled.  In other news Fred (black/white velveteen lop) is off to his new pet home in Pennsylvania tomorrow. He was neutered this week and he will be missed. He is such a sweetheart but I know Melanie is looking forward to spoiling him!

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‘Mr. Waffles’ enjoying his warm oats!

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Aldin enjoying them too!

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Babies enjoying their hot meal.

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Difference between a dark agouti and a lighter one.