There are four recognized varieties of angora rabbits, English, French, Satin and German. Each one of them has different physical and fiber characteristics as illustrated below.

All rabbits are nocturnal animals but that does not mean that they sleep all day long, nor does it mean that they are "noisy" all night. They are very curious and we have found that they are very interested in all of the activities within the rabbit room. They definitely know when it is time to be fed and have been known to remind us if we miss one. Each one of the rabbits that we have produced has a very different and distinctive personality. This includes their approach and reaction to people and their treat preferences.

The rabbits have hay and fresh water available at all times. We provide Timothy or Orchard Grass in the morning and Alfalfa in the evening.

We formulate a custom Angora blend that is fed to our rabbits. It is a high protein feed that is designed to produce the maximum yield of fiber. Each rabbit receives ¼ cup of Angora Food blend a day.

Since rabbits and especially angoras have a problem with ingested hair, one day a week the rabbits do not receive the normal ration of Angora blend. Instead they are given a ration of ¼ cup birdseed (the kind that you feed the wild birds). They are also given ¼ cup pineapple juice (the reconstituted frozen variety) as well as their separate drinking water. This is to assist in the digestion of the ingested hair. The rabbits know what a treat it is to have the juice bottle placed on their hutch.

Rabbits enjoy an occasional treat of ¼ apple, a carrot or alfalfa cubes. They also enjoy spinach, collard greens, kale, dandelion greens, strawberry leaves and violets, both the leaves and the flowers. If you have a garden, they are fond of carrot tops. We have found that they enjoy a strip of banana peel. They really delight in an occasional piece of banana.

Rabbits can be trained to use a litter box. Just place a litter pan with kitty litter in the corner of the hutch that you see the rabbit using. If you so desire, rabbits can learn to explore your home. Just show the rabbit where the litter box is and it will go there when necessary to urinate. Rabbit droppings are odorless and quite dry so they can be swept or picked up quite easily. They make a wonderful fertilizer for houseplants and gardens. Rabbits will chew on electrical wires, wood and whatever else appeals, so rabbit-proof, if you are going to have an "At-Liberty" trained rabbit. Bitter Lime is an excellent product to spray on areas that you don’t want bunny to enjoy. Bitter Apple is more readily available, but rabbits like apples so much that they don't seem to mind if it is bitter and therefore Bitter Apple is not very effective.

Our rabbits are housed in 30 x 36 x 18 wire cages that are equipped with urine guards. The cages have a wire floor to prevent the fiber from becoming matted from either urine or hay particles. We recycle our old newspapers into the trays under the cages. The cages have a large hayrack on the outside, as well as a water bottle and an untippable feed dish. The water bottles that we use are manufactured by LIXIT and the feed dishes are CROC-LOC. Inside the cage we provide the rabbits with a plastic acrylic cutting board (ala K-Mart) to give them a break from the wire floor. They seem to enjoy sitting on the board and they will move it around the cage to the place of their choice. We provide our rabbits with a small cat toy, which they will pick up and throw (~ 2 inches). Some people will give their rabbits an empty toilet tissue tube or flavored wood block to push around the cage.

The best temperature for the rabbits is between 58º and 68º F. Our rabbit room goes down to about 40º on some mornings, which is about as low as I would let the temperature drop. We do not have air conditioning, so when the temperature rises we provide fans for the rabbits. If there is a prolonged period of heat, we will freeze boxes or bottles of water and place them in the hutches. The rabbits will either lie on the box or next to it. We have also placed ice cubes in their drinking water.

We raise our Angoras for their fiber, so we strive to keep the fiber tangle and mat free. The rabbits are groomed on a weekly basis. At that time, they are brushed and

combed. Any mats are broken up or cut out of their wool. I use a wire pin brush, flea comb for their furnishings, metal comb with revolving teeth (Tangler-Wrangler) for combing and a slicker brush to finish. For cutting mats, I use Fiskars sewing scissors. Once a month their toenails are trimmed with pet nail clippers, I use the ones that look like scissors and have a safety bar to keep from cutting the nails too short. Quarterly, their coats are removed either by plucking or shearing with electric clippers or the small manual scissors. Most of the grooming tools are the same tools that would be used for a longhaired cat.

I hope that you find this information useful. Please do not hesitate to call or with any questions.

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