A few questions about teeth and tattoos

Sorry for the totally unrelated questions:

Tattoos:
Is there a way to practice tattooing before giving it a go on a live rabbit? I just got our new Inkinator tattoo pen, but I would much rather get the feel of using it on something inanimate if possible before messing up a bunny ear. The first couple of rabbits I am planning on tattooing are destined to be pets, so if I totally botch their ears, it won't be a huge tragedy I guess; but I would still like for it to be a decent tattoo.

Which leads to the next question about tattooing a pet-quality rabbit:
I know show rabbits have to have an alpha-numeric tattoo in their left ear. Our buns are pure-bred Netherland Dwarfs, but there are a few I know we will be selling as pet quality, due to poor conformation and one due to malocclusion. I was thinking of tattooing these rabbits with a star (symbol) and a number. This would allow me to keep a record identifying them but the symbol would hopefully indicate to someone that they were not show-quality. I would of course make sure the buyer understood this reasoning as well. Can you give your opinion on whether this is a good idea or no?

Now about that malocclusion:
I have a six week old kit that has a pretty severe malocclusion on one top tooth. She is a super-sweetie and one I was on the fence about as far as quality goes but was going to grow her out before deciding what to do with her - before we discovered the problem tooth. Now, she will be removed from our show and breeding program for sure, but I was considering offering her to a friend considering a rabbit for a pet once she is old enough, with full disclosure that her tooth will need to be trimmed regularly. But this is my first experience with malocclusion; how often does it have to be trimmed? I want to be sure I give my friend a clear picture of the bunny's needs before they agree to take her.

BTW, one reason I was considering giving this one to the friend is because she was wanting a dwarf but the only others I will have available any time soon for pets are going to be big uglies/false dwarfs. The bunny with the bad tooth is a true dwarf and other than the tooth, not a bad rabbit conformation-wise. They are the type that can easily have the rabbit's tooth taken care of by a vet on a regular basis if they choose not to do it themselves; I am not concerned about the malocclusion being ignored if they do decide to take her.

Thanks!!

You can practice tattooing on a banana. I also hold a wad of cotton make-up removal pads on the back of the ear so I dont accidentally ink myself if the bunny jerks suddenly.

I dont believe there is any rule about what a tattoo looks like or if it has to be black ink but if you tattoo the right ear then the rabbit cannot be shown because that is the ear ARBA uses for registered rabbits.

Personally I terminally cull for bad teeth - I saw WAY to many rabbits suffer from this disorder in my 9 years as a vet tech.

not a bad rabbit conformation-wise.

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And I would constantly worry that the rabbit might be bred in its 10 years of life and pass the disorder on to its offspring. It is possible it was caused by trauma in this kit but if this crops up in your next litter you might want to remove these bloodlines from your breeding program.

A kits teeth must be monitored weekly since their bones are growing rather quickly, once they are 6 months old you can get away with monthly timmings or longer if they are given lots of roughage to maintain it themselves.

fhjmom":23igt7ui said:

was thinking of tattooing these rabbits with a star (symbol) and a number.

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Dood":23igt7ui said:

I dont believe there is any rule about what a tattoo looks like or if it has to be black ink but if you tattoo the right ear then the rabbit cannot be shown because that is the ear ARBA uses for registered rabbits.

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Symbols are a DQ now, and can't be considered offensive. No swear words, racial epithets, etc.

Dood":23igt7ui said:

if you tattoo the right ear then the rabbit cannot be shown

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I was talking to my friend and a judge about this- and they said "How many times have you seen a judge look in the right ear?" to which I answered... "Never." We came to the consensus to use a symbol in the left ear (of pet quality rabbits) instead.

fhjmom":23igt7ui said:

Now about that malocclusion:

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The tooth can be clipped with wire cutters or even a dog nail clipper, and is very easy to do. However, it is up to the owner to make certain it is done regularly... and so many people don't even maintain the nails on their dogs paws, so it is a judgement call as to whether you think they would be responsible enough to do it.

I finally got the nerve to try my tattoo pen. Thought I would share the results! It could be a bit darker but I thought it wasn't too bad for my first attempt.

Looks awesome!

I know nothing about tattooing, but when we got Frank tattooed, she went over each letter to darken them. Next time I would try going over each letter, or even re-tattoo. It looks awesome though, esp for a first attempt. also, LOOK AT THE CUTE WITTLE EARS!!!

Yeah, the ears on a ten-eleven week old Netherland Dwarf are tiny when you start trying to tattoo! This was a pet-quality bun with "big" ears. I am really nervous about trying to do the ears of our show keepers! I have two more pets going to new homes next weekend so I have a couple more practice runs, thankfully! LOL!!

I still haven't quite got the hang of exactly where the needle will land so once I start a letter I am afraid to pick it up and place it down again. I considered trying to trace over it but was worried I would make a mess of it! I may try it next time to darken it up though.

Take an extra fine point sharpie and write your tattoo in the ear for a stencil to tattoo by. That way, you'll know where to place your needle if or when you lift up and need to start again. Nothing at all wrong with your initial tattoo by the way. :up:

I'm thinking that I'm going to use the clamp to tattoo because I asked a breeder that I got 3 of my rabbits from to tattoo a couple of my rabbits and she uses the pen and like 3-4 days later the tattoos were GONE. The scars were there but the ink was GONE :evil:

If there are scars then the pen went in deep enough but her ink might have been a lesser quality and faded.

I use a tattoo pen and my rabbits still have lovely tattoos that have not been re-touched since I inked them 3 years ago. As per suggestions on this forum I bought a bottle of tattoo ink from a local tattoo shop when the bottle that came with my kit starred to separate after a month

Lastfling":2p6aku4c said:

Take an extra fine point sharpie and write your tattoo in the ear for a stencil to tattoo by. That way, you'll know where to place your needle if or when you lift up and need to start again. Nothing at all wrong with your initial tattoo by the way. :up:

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I did use a Sharpie to make a stencil. My issue is learning exactly where the needle comes out of the end of the pen because there is a larger tube surrounding the needle. I know where I want to place it; I am just afraid I won't get the tip of the needle exactly on the existing line, if that makes sense. I think I just need more practice. (And my reading glasses, as much as I hate to admit that! ).

Thanks for the comment!!