Show rabbit

[Lewis]

Is this English Angora show or quality or fiber pet? He is a chocolate torte currently 10 weeks. Is that white one his nose?

 

[Mckatie]

He Sure is pretty! Out of my range of knowledge though. I say take him to a show! Then you will have an honest professional opinion.

 

[judymac]

Is this English Angora show or quality or fiber pet? He is a chocolate torte currently 10 weeks. Is that white one his nose?

The nose does look suspicious. If he has Vienna BEW (which often causes white mismarks when it is a recessive gene combined with the more dominant not-Vienna) in his background, there may be other white spots. Check the toenails, especially the front toes. Torts should have colored toenails

He appears to have adequate furnishings (the word for the fuzzy forehead, ears and cheeks of an English Angora). At 10 weeks he still has a lot of growing to do. He won't have a full coat for another couple of months. To judge coat density at that point, a thin coat will part down the middle of the back. A very dense coat will stuck up everywhere, there won't be any room for the fiber to part and fall.

Blow into the coat, and see how far down the hairshaft the fawn color goes. Ideally, you want the yellowish color (called fawn in English Angoras) to go as far down the hair as possible. Eventually, torts tend to have a white base color.

I'm not an expert on posing English Angora rabbits, so perhaps others can comment on what to look for as far as body type, width & leg placement goes. However, getting the rabbit used to being handled will go a long way in showing it off to its best potential.

I agree, the best way to determine showability, is to show the rabbit. Let the judges tell you about its good and bad points.

 

[judymac]

English Angoras come in two main varieties: the original version that goes through a molt every 3-4 months (12-16 weeks), and the Betty Chu show lines that were bred from a non-molting doe, which molt either much later, like 7 months, only during pregnancy, or not at all. Generally, the non-molting English have their coats maintained with regular use of a grooming blower.

If you have a traditional English Angora, your rabbit will be due for a molt soon. I judge the quality of a new rabbit by the condition of their coat at this first molt. Often, the first coat will be matted due to the kits playing all over each other. When the first coat can maintain its quality despite that, and yet not be too coarse, its a keeper here.

After this assessment, I then check for color, two checks: one is for how far the color goes down the hairshaft, and the other is for how rich the color is. You can have dilute colors with rich color, and dense colors with pale coats.

Other things to check are temperament (its no fun for owner or rabbit if the bunny doesn't enjoy or at least tolerate grooming), fiber texture (if you love the high spike of French Angora, you might like a coat with more guard hair; but if you prefer the softness of cashmere, you might choose a finer coat), good hair coverage of the bottoms of the feet to prevent sore hocks, good body conformation, the ability to keep themselves clean (rabbits with urine scald in a full coat are prone to fly strike), good appetite.

 

[Lewis]

The nose does look suspicious. If he has Vienna BEW (which often causes white mismarks when it is a recessive gene combined with the more dominant not-Vienna) in his background, there may be other white spots. Check the toenails, especially the front toes. Torts should have colored toenails

He appears to have adequate furnishings (the word for the fuzzy forehead, ears and cheeks of an English Angora). At 10 weeks he still has a lot of growing to do. He won't have a full coat for another couple of months. To judge coat density at that point, a thin coat will part down the middle of the back. A very dense coat will stuck up everywhere, there won't be any room for the fiber to part and fall.

Blow into the coat, and see how far down the hairshaft the fawn color goes. Ideally, you want the yellowish color (called fawn in English Angoras) to go as far down the hair as possible. Eventually, torts tend to have a white base color.

I'm not an expert on posing English Angora rabbits, so perhaps others can comment on what to look for as far as body type, width & leg placement goes. However, getting the rabbit used to being handled will go a long way in showing it off to its best potential.

I agree, the best way to determine showability, is to show the rabbit. Let the judges tell you about its good and bad points.

Thank you for your reply. I did end up talk to his breeder about the white on his nose and she said all torts have what is called little white fangs. And his nails are all the same color (I didn’t ask what color- turns out they are white…). She did say he is a show quality rabbit and she does not see anything that would disqualify him or lose points. I am not too sure how accurate this all is. Hopefully sometime in the future I can show him.

 

[Lewis]

English Angoras come in two main varieties: the original version that goes through a molt every 3-4 months (12-16 weeks), and the Betty Chu show lines that were bred from a non-molting doe, which molt either much later, like 7 months, only during pregnancy, or not at all. Generally, the non-molting English have their coats maintained with regular use of a grooming blower.

If you have a traditional English Angora, your rabbit will be due for a molt soon. I judge the quality of a new rabbit by the condition of their coat at this first molt. Often, the first coat will be matted due to the kits playing all over each other. When the first coat can maintain its quality despite that, and yet not be too coarse, its a keeper here.

After this assessment, I then check for color, two checks: one is for how far the color goes down the hairshaft, and the other is for how rich the color is. You can have dilute colors with rich color, and dense colors with pale coats.

Other things to check are temperament (its no fun for owner or rabbit if the bunny doesn't enjoy or at least tolerate grooming), fiber texture (if you love the high spike of French Angora, you might like a coat with more guard hair; but if you prefer the softness of cashmere, you might choose a finer coat), good hair coverage of the bottoms of the feet to prevent sore hocks, good body conformation, the ability to keep themselves clean (rabbits with urine scald in a full coat are prone to fly strike), good appetite.

I read a lot from Betty Chu and she did say chocolate torts often carry the non molting gene so I’m crossing all fingers and toes

 

[Alaska Satin]

I did end up talk to his breeder about the white on his nose and she said all torts have what is called little white fangs.

Hmmm...must be an angora thing. A look at the Northern California Angora Guild page shows several tort English Angoras, chocolate torts in particular, most having those same white lips. There's nothing in the SOP angora color section about it.

In most breeds, torts are disqualified for white spots, unless of course they're broken colored. I've bred torts in Mini Rex, Holland Lops (and Satins, though they're not a recognized variety) and none of them had "white fangs." Possibly there's something about the angora fur type that causes that fading.

And his nails are all the same color (I didn’t ask what color- turns out they are white…). She did say he is a show quality rabbit and she does not see anything that would disqualify him or lose points. I am not too sure how accurate this all is. Hopefully sometime in the future I can show him.

If his toenails are actually white, that's a DQ according to both the English Angora SOP and ARBA General Disqualifications section; both state that colored and pointed rabbits must have colored toenails. However, your rabbit may just have very pale nails - look at the very base of the nail, right as it exits the skin. If there's any color there at all, as long as they are matching on that foot and on the corresponding foot, they'll pass muster. White nails are almost bright white, with a very prominently pink quick. Pale nails have a faint color wash right at the base.

If you ever do show him and his nails are extremely pale, you can minimize the chance of a DQ by keeping the nails quite short. Very short nails will cause judges to really look at the nails, and they are more likely to see the faint color at the base of the nail if the nail is short. Keeping the nails closely trimmed also minimizes the appearance of slight variations in color that might provoke a DQ for mismatched nails.

 

[hotzcatz]

for show rabbits, I start at one end and go to the other. A nice wide nose, wide head, upright and as tight together ears as possible. Face and ear "furnishings". The shoulders should fill up your hand if you arch your hand over them. The back arches up into a half sphere starting from the shoulders and then going down to the ground at the tail. Not undercut at the tail. Can't feel the hip bones sticking out of the half sphere of the body. Back legs parallel to each other when held up. The 'wool' should be dense as possible yet free flowing and not cottony. A silky feeling is best. I forget the minimum length, several inches at least, but most of the points are in the wool so the best wool possible.