Californian Rabbit appearance: The Californian rabbit is a medium sized rabbit with a pleasing rounded body.
The standard Californian rabbit is white, and is characterized by black on the ears, nose, legs, feet and tail. It almost looks as if some one has painted these parts of a white rabbit with a black paint.
It has pink or red eyes.
Its fur is short and thick and lies close against the body. While males generally weigh between 8 and 10 pounds, the female is only slightly heavier by about half a pound. Although generally white in color, rare cases of lilac, blue, chocolate or even black have been occasionally found.
Californian rabbits have a fairly calm, pleasing and friendly temperament.
Californian Rabbits Temperament
Californian rabbits are often preferred as pets because of their non-aggressive, mild-mannered and friendly nature, and also because of their cute looks. While they can be sometimes quiet and reserved, they are usually social, fun-loving and even tempered creatures. An added advantage is that they are sturdy and healthy, and easy to feed on commercial rabbit foods or natural vegetable-oriented foods.
These rabbits are generally bred in large numbers in breeding farms, for their meat, which is a great favorite with meat processors. Their fur is also often used as lining for gloves and hats. As its name suggests, the Californian rabbit is found mostly in California, but it has also spread to many other countries across the world. According to California rabbit information, it was first bred by a gentleman called George West, who spent many years trying to cross various breeds. His aim was a rabbit with better fur and meat. He first exhibited the Californian rabbit in 1928, five years after he first began his experiments of cross breeding rabbits. He achieved a successful combination by crossing a Standard Chinchilla with a Himalayan rabbit and then crossing the result with New Zealand does. This gave him the current Californian rabbit with its distinctive black or dark brown markings on its nose, face and paws.
It’s important to be aware at least of the basics of Californian rabbit information. Californian rabbits are sturdy and hardy creatures, and generally keep good health, without needing very special attention. However, they have a tendency to sore hocks, if they are kept in wire-bottomed pens. So, it is best to avoid this kind of pen. As with most rabbits, Californian rabbits too, are prolific breeders, breeding round the year. The female usually produces a litter of 6 to 7 hairless babies and feeds them on milk for a couple of weeks.