German greys? question

[Sinnfox]

~hope I posted in the right section~

Anyway...I'm wondering if there are any special permits a person would need to own a German grey in America...is it considered an exotic animal or is it just a rabbit and they are only rare due to the huge cost of importing enough to have viable lines? >.> There is a slim/tiny chance that I could get some in the future but I want to be sure I would have whatever paperwork ready before hand.

 

[Dood]

German giants are not rare in Europe but due to feed costs and lack of demand, it is likely they will be rare in the future.

They are just a very large rabbit, like a Flemish giant on steroids, so there should be no wildlife permit required.

 

[trinityoaks]

Importation costs can be quite prohibitive. As I understand it, the meat to bone ratio isn't very good, so they aren't particularly desirable as meat rabbits.

 

[Devon's Mom Lauren]

The meat ratio is not good for fryer age,when they are developing their bone as opposed to their muscle mass, however after that for roasters they are very good. No need to import when there are a huge number of breeders here with 20 pound plus rabbits.

 

[BlueLove16]

They may not be good meat rabbits, but the market for them as pets in the US is big...their the "dream rabbit" for pet rabbit enthusiats lol

 

[Dood]

I hope they do they don't become popular over here! How are humane societies and shelters suppose to house them? They take up more room than cats and small dogs. These German giants my become a fad, but big bunnies in general are not in demand, I often see Flemish giants being given away for free and even in Europe the giant breeds are not popular as pets.

But I am curious about how many kits are born in a litter.

 

[Sinnfox]

I have no idea...If I did get any I'd get a pair most likely and only breed them rarely...and charge a ridiculous amount for the kits just to keep them from going to the pound...people rarely put a $1000 dog in the pound I think they be as hesitant for a ~random number~ $500 rabbit?...mainly I'd use them to cross into my Flemish line to get them a bit bigger (none of mine are pedigreed...every one of mine is a color mutt I got from people selling them as feeders for reptiles) get them a lil bigger so they are better for meat producing then they are currently.

 

[Dood]

Actually they are not a good choice to improve meat qualities. They don't convert feed to flesh as well as some breeds and look like they have alot of bone compared to muscle. Think of them as very big dairy breed like a Holstein, boney and not much meat, and you want a beef breed like the small but mighty Angus, or Belgian Blue! You should add a dedicated meat breed like a New Zealand or Florida White to get more muscle per pound of food fed.

 

[BlueLove16]

rays sells them for 200 or 300 each i think...but their contis not german grays. i would love to have one running around the house personally

 

[Sinnfox]

well even at that price I wouldn't think someone would up and abandon it...granted Id try to be real careful to be sure people knew before hand what they were getting into...i have flemishes so I am trying to go under a working assumption of bare minimum of twice everything for them...cage space food hay...I figure if I assume that as a minimum and plan for more then I should have their needs covered barring me being way off @.@ ...only commercial meat bred I really have are calis...two of them...a boy thats crazy that I plan to get rid of and a girl that wants to rip the faces off of any other rabbit she sees so >.> so I don't want to risk my flemishes teddy bear temperaments by breeding them with the nutters i got for calis (have had sane sweet calis in the past its just these two that are bonkers)

~last I had heard there were only 2 or 3 breeders total in the us and they weren't selling pure breeds at all because they were trying to establish lines first...so if there are sellers here I'd love to know...be cheaper then importing them

 

[ZRabbits]

Wishing you luck on finding your German Greys. Don't know much about them. Hope you find one that is as sweet as a Flemish. I have a Flemish boy who is an absolute pleasure, so sweet and loves lots of affection and attention. Definitely as you call them "Teddy Bears". Complete blast having a Big bunny running around the house.


Karen