Tattooing.,..... I hate it.

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

Ok, I thought today was a good day to tattoo some rabbits. They are 6 weeks old now. But this is the first time using a Ez tatt tattoo pen. I hate it. It didnt work on the rabbit at all. It screamed. And i said enough of that. I couldnt get the ink to come out on the ear.I sucked up the ink in the pen. I am ok with the clamp­ ...they just jump a bit. But that is it. Am i doing something wrong.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I have my daughter hold the rabbits on her lap wrapped in a towel with their heads covered and just the left ear sticking out. I shine a flashlight through the back of the ear and use a Sharpie to draw a line where the major vein is (OAF's idea!) because there seem to be more nerves in that area. When you use the pen, write as you normally would. You are not trying to force the needle into the skin. I usually go over the same stroke several times. Once the tattoo is finished, I wipe the ear with alcohol to remove the surface ink and check the results. Most of the time there are some areas that aren't dark enough, so I retouch those spots.

I have never had a rabbit scream when using the pen. Some of them will twitch a little, but most don't seem to notice. I used to numb the ears with ice and Orajel, but have found that it really isn't necessary.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

I did the towel thing and just the left ear out. Ect. But my complaint is the ink wasnt coming out of the pen. I think i was to close to the tip of the ear. That is why it screamed .. plus i kept going over the same area more than once because it wasnt getting any ink to come out.

I should try the flashlight idea. So this way i am not hitting any nerves.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I don't know why the ink wouldn't come out- I just dip the needles in the ink, and it gets wicked up between them.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

wait a minute .. You say dip the needles in the ink. I only have one needle in the pen.Maybe this is why. Can you show me a picture of yours please.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Ok, I thought today was a good day to tattoo some rabbits. They are 6 weeks old now. But this is the first time using a Ez tatt tattoo pen. I hate it. It didnt work on the rabbit at all. It screamed. And i said enough of that. I couldnt get the ink to come out on the ear.I sucked up the ink in the pen. I am ok with the clamp­ ...they just jump a bit. But that is it. Am i doing something wrong.

This was the experience I had with the Equa-Tat pen....horrible! If I had not tried my Sistah MSD's Inkinator, I may never have tried it again!

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

Ok. i think i am missing something. So you dont like this type of tattoo or you tried it again. :?

 

[MamaSheepdog]

When OAF visited, she used my Inkinator pen which she liked so much better than her Equa Tat that she ordered an Inkinator when she got home. The Inkinator has several needles bundled together (it looks like one needle unless your eyes are really good), so when I dip the tip in the ink it gets sucked up between the needles.

 

[garden lady]

I have tattooed hundreds of puppies. They had litter number in one ear and date of birth with each pup having a letter like A for first one tattooed, B, etc. I looked up rabbit tattooing and it looks a lot like what we used. We held the puppy, looked for the right spot because there was a place that seemed to hurt more and bleed more. You put it where you wanted and you squeezed very firm and the puppy would either yelp or flinch and then you had a bottle of ink that had to be shook up VERY GOOD and then it had a roller ball and you pressed firmly and rolled it over the spot you tattooed back and forth to get the ink in good. Is this what is used?

 

[MamaSheepdog]

That is the "Clamp Style" tattoo kit. I have one of those too. There are also "pens" available which are modified battery-powered tooth brushes, with a needle instead of a bristled head.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

garden lady. I am not new to tattooing. Just new to the pen type. I have the clamp style. Thanks anyways.<br /><br />__________ Thu Oct 11, 2012 4:10 pm __________<br /><br />

When OAF visited, she used my Inkinator pen which she liked so much better than her Equa Tat that she ordered an Inkinator when she got home. The Inkinator has several needles bundled together (it looks like one needle unless your eyes are really good), so when I dip the tip in the ink it gets sucked up between the needles.

Ok, that explains it. I am going to look for a inkinator. If not,back to the clamp style.

 

[garden lady]

That is the "Clamp Style" tattoo kit. I have one of those too. There are also "pens" available which are modified battery-powered tooth brushes, with a needle instead of a bristled head.

The pen sounds neat.

 

[ladysown]

i have a rabbi-tat and it just has one needle and works just fine. Stick it into the ink to suck up and put it on the ear. Really easy to do.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

i have a rabbi-tat and it just has one needle and works just fine. Stick it into the ink to suck up and put it on the ear. Really easy to do.

I am going to try again. And see how it goes.

 

[caroline]

I used to tattoo animals 30+ year ago before there was any such thing as a tattoo pen. I still had that old kit when I got rabbits again a couple of years ago but I'd read so many raves about this new "pen thing" that I asked for a pen for my Bday & got [after a I figured out that what I thought was a trade deal --where I sent all my old automatic water emitters to a lady that was supposed to send me a tattoo pen in exchange but never did--turned out to be a "donation"].
I worked hard to get good at the pen but I never did. It just seemed like I was counting on the bunny staying still too long and then getting a total scribble when it didn't. For me it not only took a lot longer than the clamp but then the result would often be illegible
I'm back to using my 30 year old clamp kit [with a couple of additional sets of letters/numbers that I got on ebay] and finding it Sooooo much quicker and easier!
I have done as many as 60 kits in a setting all by my self. I have every thing set out on the table with a stool for me to sit at. I have an assembly line with a basket filled with each litter. I weigh, photograph, note color & weight for later entry into my computer program [or sometimes I have had the computer on the table next to me so I can do it right then]and then hold each kit on my lap where I wipe the left ear with alcohol. Then I turn the kit to the left on my lap facing the light so I can see the vein when I look through the back of the ear. I hold the clamp in my left hand, position it on the ear to avoid the vein, and then squeeze the kit against my belly as I clamp HARD. Some kits jump but most are just fine. Then I roll the kit's ear back over my index finger and use a Q-tip to rub the ink into the holes and another Q-tip to cover that with generic Preparation H. Then I place the kit into the "doe" or "buck" basket with the others of its sex. When I'm done with that litter I take the baskets to the kits' new cage and go get the next litter.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

oh wow Caroline, you had a good system going on there. I am going to try the pen one more time as it is expensive to buy. THen if it dosnt goes well. Back to the clamp. Thanks for the info

 

[Secuono]

I have the Equa-tat, they have 1, 3 and 5 needle heads to pick from. I have three, getting the ink to NOT dry is the hardest thing to do for me. And when the ink is not drying, it is overly leaking to the point I can't see what I'm doing.
My rabbits both flinched and screamed. You need to get the needles in those ears or you are wasting your time. Mine only screamed when I ran into any vein, so avoid those.

 

[grumpy]

Tattooing isn't my favorite thing to do. But, I've got about 18 or 19 does and 4 bucks that are all juniors and ready to be seperated. I use the clamp style with a tattooing box for the rabbit.

I can think of about 20 other things I'd rather do than tattoo.

grumpy.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

One of the things I learned to do from MSD was to hold it like a pen, at angle, and just write like you would with a pen....seems simple enough, but at first I was holding it up and down and really pushing into the ear, which makes them scream.

 

[Demamma]

at what age do you tattoo? I borrowed my friends tattoo kit as some of my rabbits are not tattood. I have 4 week old kits and wonder when to do them.