Do Tattoos Have to be Black?

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Bad Habit

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So, invested in a tattoo pen, anxiously awaiting the arrival. Figure, I've got quite a number of kits here/expected, that are all going to be pet quality, might as well use them as test subjects.

I know that, to show, every rabbit needs an ear number. It has to be in a specific ear, and readable, and I'm assuming black.

To show, do that tattoos have to be black? And if so, why do people not tattoo their pet/brood animals in a different colour?
 
Black is the colour that comes with the kit
it is the cheapest if you buy a new bottle
and shows up the best in the whitish skin inside the ear.
 
I'm not sure, but maybe black is also traditional. When I first started showing, a number of people told me black only, all the judges perfer black. I never really asked why so just went along with it.

I think as long as you can read it at almost quick glance, then why not use other colors if you wanted.

I noticed that if a judge cannot read a tattoo, sometimes they will take the best guess, and the writer looks at the letters or numbers and matches it with the show card. Some judges get annoyed, others just brush it off.
 
Ive seen some blue ones.

But black was the cheapest color, so I bought it.

I also wonder if it's a longer lasting pigment.
 
See, my hope was that the tattoos had to be a specific colour for showing, and one could do, say, a red tattoo for non-show quality rabbits.
 
Bad Habit":jgvp1mbl said:
See, my hope was that the tattoos had to be a specific colour for showing, and one could do, say, a red tattoo for non-show quality rabbits.
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Do your own that way. I doubt anyone would mind.
 
lol well I know that, but I meant, i was hoping that a rabbit showing up with a tattoo in red would be disqualified.
 
Peach":3092ba8n said:
I'm sure if you put it in hot pink that won't be easy to read and get DQed!
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What about neon orange? :lol:

tm_bunnyloft":3092ba8n said:
Put the tattoo in the wrong ear. Or tattoo the word "PET" in the ear of non show babies.
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So if they have a tattoo in the wrong ear, that's a DQ?
 
They would put just an R in the right ear if registered. So you could put Pet in either ear really or both then they would get a DQ, because the only thing allowed in the right ear is the R or I suppose number if they got one; but all mine just got a R. But someone could easily still show them with the left ear tat, and just say the ear number is PET and not standing for an actual pet.
 
say you get your first pair that are not numbered an you breed them could you just make the tattoo ex. FFR010201 Rabbitry initials and first kit from first pair that are 01 and 02? So second kit might be FFR010202?

I'm just not sure what should be in the tattoo
 
What ever you want. Mines are BR01, BR02, and the new ones are RH1, RH2.... I like to keep it simple, but others have a bit more advanced system. I only tatt show buns and breeders.
 
First off you can only have 5 letters/numbers as otherwise they are too small to read unless you put them in on an adult, and in a tatoo press they usually only come with 5 letter slots.

Each person has their own system. I am new to tattooing too, but here is what is working for me...
B2A01 < mother's name was Hardway Bonnie (B), was bon's first litter of 2012 (2)(A), and first kit I tatooed in that litter (01). This works for me because if I can remember which litter it was for the mother I can remember the sire of that litter without having to go inside and look at the paperwork.

You could just put like 00001 and 00002 and 00003 or even just 1, 2, 3 or a, b, c or FRED, FRIDA, BONNI, etc. whatever works for you.<br /><br />__________ Mon Feb 11, 2013 2:11 pm __________<br /><br />To the original subject I have thought of this as well, thought of putting something like "--DQ--" in both ears ?
 
My Cals are "O" for One Acre Farm, "D/B" for doe or buck and a number, like OD1 or OB4. Rex would be ORD1, NZW would be OND1, crosses would be OXD1.
 
I haven't yet had cause to tattoo anybody (haven't had a pure litter of Champagnes yet, LOL, and never bothered on my meat mutts) but my plans for tattoos are thus:

For my Champagnes:
H for Heathertoft if "homebred," or A (for "acquired") for a rabbit bred by someone else who did not come with a tattoo...13 for year born in (short for 2013...obviously next year it will be 14) and then a number for litter (each litter in a year gets it's own number...for example, my first litter of Champagnes will be 1), a number for which in the litter (for example, if that first litter has three kits, they will be H1311, H1312 and H1313, respectively) and if I later decide one is "show worthy" I will add K (for "keep") at the end. :) That way when I go to dispatch the others, I won't accidentally mistake a show-quality junior with a cull. :)

For my "broken" side project:
G then a number to designate which generation (i.e., the first litter will all be G1, for generation first), the year (as above), a number for litter and a number for within the litter as above, and either K or C at the end (designating "keep" or "cull" respectively).

As that is all a lot of numbers/letters, I will definitely be investing in a pen. ;) However this way I can easily tell all my kits apart at a glance, even if they all end up in the same grow-out pen. :D

I don't forsee selling any of my critters that aren't show quality, but if I am convinced to do so I will in large letters write "PET" in the other/wrong ear. :)
 
Kyle@theHeathertoft":1rn5pbvl said:
I haven't yet had cause to tattoo anybody (haven't had a pure litter of Champagnes yet, LOL, and never bothered on my meat mutts) but my plans for tattoos are thus:

For my Champagnes:
H for Heathertoft if "homebred," or A (for "acquired") for a rabbit bred by someone else who did not come with a tattoo...13 for year born in (short for 2013...obviously next year it will be 14) and then a number for litter (each litter in a year gets it's own number...for example, my first litter of Champagnes will be 1), a number for which in the litter (for example, if that first litter has three kits, they will be H1311, H1312 and H1313, respectively) and if I later decide one is "show worthy" I will add K (for "keep") at the end. :) That way when I go to dispatch the others, I won't accidentally mistake a show-quality junior with a cull. :)
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Instead of doing 13 for you you might just do 3 - as that 1 is taking up one more number slot in your tatoo.

This system could be a problem for you if you have more than 9 litters a year, or more than 9 bunnies in a litter. Maybe use a letter for the litter (so litter a, b, c). If you took out the 1 in the year number you would have an extra slot so you could do 01, 02, 03 for the rabbit number instead of just single digit.

Also I have clerked for several judges they all have told me it's frustrating when you have too many letters in the ear for them to read out and check with the clerk it adds more time to each class, something to think of.<br /><br />__________ Tue Feb 12, 2013 7:59 am __________<br /><br />
OneAcreFarm":1rn5pbvl said:
My Cals are "O" for One Acre Farm, "D/B" for doe or buck and a number, like OD1 or OB4. Rex would be ORD1, NZW would be OND1, crosses would be OXD1.
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Don't you get a lot of repeat numbers?

I am giving all this feedback and asking all these questions because I'm open to changing my system, if someone has found one better :D
 

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