I was wondering if anyone close to my area had angora bunnies? My daughter wants one. We have mini lops but my oldest girl wants an angora. Thanks
I just got one at an Auction from someone who didn't have a clue on how to tend to an Angoras needs. I've spent weeks with the little fella cutting the mats out. I almost cut his tail off! I couldn't see it in the mat, I had to feel for it. No he didn't like that either. They are sweet but require A LOT of grooming. Wool block is always a danger with them as well, invest in Petromalt (for hairballs) and a lot of timothy hay. I hope you find just the animal you want, mine is a sweet boy! Good Luck!
Rockyhill, I don't have any experience with angoras, but am a spinner and am planning on getting some in the coming year. I've just done a lot of research, reading online mostly (including ALL 25 pages of this forum! ) and am still learning, so if someone with experience disagrees with what I'm about to tell you, please believe them instead of me. There are four breeds recognized by the ARBA ~ French, Satin, English and Giant. Another breed, German, isn't recognized yet. The English angora is the one that looks like a puff ball without a head, like a stuffed animal instead of a REAL rabbit for sure! They are the softest, supposedly, but take the most care. This is the smallest of the three breeds and comes in many colors. The French and Satin angoras are actually almost the same rabbit with the exception of the shiny hair of the Satin ~ Satins being a cross of a French and a regular short-haired Satin rabbit to introduce the sheen to the hair of the French angora. These rabbits have long hair on their bodies, but their heads, ears and feet have shorter hair. I would think this alone would make them much easier to care for than the English. They come in many colors. Germans and Giants are similar like the French and Satins ~ Giants being a German crossed with other types of rabbits (if I remember right, the woman who did this was aiming to get a bigger rabbit that produced more wool). The differences are better explained on this site: http://iagarb.spinnersflock.com/germangiant.html These are the biggest of the angora rabbits, but take the least care. If I read right, these rabbits don't shed, so need to be sheared to harvest the wool. Mostly they come in white only (purebreds), but are being hybridized for colors so you'll probably find a lot of pet-quality colored Giant and German hybrids. What I've also found is that the different breeds of angora rabbits have different amounts of grooming needs, with the English being by far the one that needs the most ~ once a day or every other day to keep the matts at bay. English angoras also have hair EVERYWHERE, including the face and feet (if I remember right), so for obvious reasons are harder to keep clean and matt free. The Giants and Germans seem to need the least grooming care ~ once a month minimum, more to keep the rabbit tame and handleable is better. Most of what I've found says that the English angoras are best groomed by blowing their coat with a hair dryer set on cool, working the matts out that way. The Giants and Germans seem to do okay with brushing their coat with one of those dog combs, the metal ones with the loooong teeth. I can't remember if the French and Satin angoras need as much care as the English, but I think they fall somewhere in between the two examples above. They seem to be much more prone to wool block and the more you groom them to remove loose hairs the less you'll have problems with it. I don't know if short haired rabbits get wool block so don't know if you're familiar with it, but if you aren't, you would do well to read up on it a lot. Atleast half of he angora sites I've seen have some sort of link to information on it, so it seems it comes up a lot with angoras. The other main difference, from what I've been reading, between angoras and standard short-haired rabbit breeds is that that long coat makes them much more sensitive to the heat. This has been stressed so much on the sites I've been reading that I've talked DH out of his extra storage shed and window a/c unit. Actually, I've showed him pictures of the adorable things enough that he's apparently looking forward to them himself ~ is starting to talk about building me a brand new "Hare Hilton" complete with bigger window unit. I don't know if all that will be needed, but it does get awful hot here in Texas! And I sure would hate to have severely uncomfortable rabbits, or worse ~ dead ones. So, where to get them? Here's the member links page of the National Angora Rabbit Breeders: http://narbc.tripod.com/memberlinks.htm And here's the Angora Rabbit Guidebook: http://www.angorarabbit.com/angora-guide/index.htm And the Angora Rabbit Online Techincal Manual: http://www.angorarabbit.com/angora-rabbit-manual/
What part of AR are you in? My m-i-l has some rabbits that she would like to sell. She was injured and just cannot take care of them any longer.
Moonleaf, what types of angoras are they and how many does she have? Can there be breeding pairs made up in the bunch? If there are any left after Rockyhill gets what (s)he wants, would you let me know? And how much does she want for them? I'm having trouble finding any angoras in Texas except French. I would really like Giants or Germans and Satins, but the closest I can find them is Georgia, maybe Tennessee, so was planning on getting them next spring. The drive to Arkansas would be more doable for me. I'll have to talk it over with DH and we'll have to know what she wants for them before we can decide for sure. But please do let us know if you would! I'd appreciate it so much.
Oh I am glad that someone has some that is close. My daughter has just about given up on finding any. Thank you for the info. my daughter has been doing research and saving it up. Thank you moonleaf, and Wingnut.
Hi: I riaise all 5 breeds of Angoras - located in Ontario Canada but can and do ship or answer any questions on Angora in general Will be travelling through NY on the 24th delivering bunnies. Also sell or trade the fiber if anybody is interested Website can be found at: Http://www.angelfire.com/biz2/cornerstonefibres.rabstart.html BFN Kim Glad to see there is an interest in these wonderful rabbits
Tried to get to your web site but got just to angelfire. I'm interested in more Angoras. I'm in NH. I have a few males that were badly matted and given to me. I'm starting to handspin again and would like more fleece. Thanks, Lana ragtimedog@yahoo.com Hi: I riaise all 5 breeds of Angoras - located in Ontario Canada but can and do ship or answer any questions on Angora in general Will be travelling through NY on the 24th delivering bunnies. Also sell or trade the fiber if anybody is interested Website can be found at: Http://www.angelfire.com/biz2/cornerstonefibres.rabstart.html
Hi: Angelfire has decided to mixup my website again: http://www.angelfire.com/biz2/cornerstonefibres.spinstart.html should work right now I have: German Angoras 4 Bucks - 2 Does French Angoras: a year old Blue Doe (cannot be shown - has a white toenail) and a broken 4 month old buck English Angoras: 3 REW Bucks 2 REW Does 1 Tort Doe 1 Broken Blue Doe - no nose spot 1 Broken Opal Buck - 1/2 nose spot 1 Black Buck 2 Tort Bucks BFN Kim
Javert, you need to replace the period after cornerstonefibres with a "/". Http://www.angelfire.com/biz2/cornerstonefibres/rabstart.html http://www.angelfire.com/biz2/cornerstonefibres/spinstart.html
HELP!!!!! I can't handle it anymore!!! Spent $800 on these guys.. they don't come any better. But need a GREAT home with grooming freaks!! Check out the site of the lady who bred these little mutant wool producers: http://home.pacbell.net/bettychu/ All reasonable offers accepted. I am in NE Texas. Could deliver if not toooooo far? I need a vacation anyway!!
