they wont leave the tattoo along argh!

[clawskitty]

OK,so we got the tattoo outfit with correct size letters/numbers and the green ink. Its the clamp style. We tatted our buck, no issues there, we tatted 2 females that have produced for us (keepers) but when waiting for that dried ink to come off, we've left the ears alone so not to bother the does. Well, the ink was peeling, so we looked at all the rabbits. The buck (first rabbit done) was perfect, nice all the way around, can see everything, even managed to cover up his old tat from a 4h show. The does on the other hand, they literally scratched out the tat! We cant find any trace of it, except some scabs that are falling off that have green ink on them. There's no infection, pus, swelling nothing. Well, we are going to wait a little while until the ears are completely healed, and try again. How do we keep the does from scratching the tats off? Any advice would be awesome! We just started our rabbitry, and we are tatting them for our records, as i see this expanding very quickly, so they need to be marked, otherwise i wouldnt stress it

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Hi clawskitty,

I'm pretty new to rabbits myself- I started my rabbitry last April. I had trouble getting dark tats with my clamp too, but I have never heard of them scratching the tats out! How strange. :shock: Did the pins go all the way through the ear? Are you certain that you got good ink penetration? The ink should be in the tissue itself, so unless they scratched off all the flesh in the ears, I don't see how it is possible to erase the tats.

In a post on tattooing, one recommendation was to use Orajel on the ears to numb them prior to doing the tat. I bought some yesterday, and almost bought some pain relieving creme to apply after, but I had trouble with ink absorption when I used Neosporin, so I nixed that idea- but you may want to try it.

Once you start production, I would recommend tattooing everyone, just for the practice. That is what I have been doing, and what I intend to keep doing, and doing, and doing... until maybe, just maybe I will get good at it! :lol:

Good luck with your rabbits! Post some pics- we love pictures!

 

[Random Rabbit]

We've never used oregel. Just clean the ear good with alcohol first. Clamp... ( remove clamp) rub in the ink... i usually will fold the ear and rub the sides together to help force the ink in... then...i take a clean cotten ball and put Prep H on it. Make a Single swipe across the tatoo with that. Only ONE swipe. If further cleaning is needed... use another Clean cottonball. if You can read the tatoo... see the ink in it... then leave it alone. The Prep H will sooth the punctures. then we just set the rabbit back in its home and go on to other things...
So far... it has worked every time...( now i have jinxed myself ! lol)

What You describe as the tatoo dots coming off...'usually' means the needles did not pierce all the way into the ear. Usually...but not always...

 

[OneAcreFarm]

If you leave the excess ink to dry on the ear, it can adhere to the ink in the holes and pull it out as it dries....at least, that is what I have been told, so I always wipe the excess before putting any cream on. I use a swipe of bag balm.

 

[clawskitty]

on the flip side of the coin, my hubby and I do human tattoo's so, getting the needle in deep enough isnt the problem, and we didnt go through the whole ear to the other side. Just down into the tissue. But this was the first time using the clamp one, we liked the idea of the uniformity of the tat verses a jumpy rabbit that was freaking out, even if it were in a box/bag, while trying to "write" the tat on the ear. We had gotten the recommended ink that came w/the clamps, but i just might pick some black ink up from tractor supply, it might even show better then the green ink.

This was our bucks right after some of the green ink rubbed off
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hp ... 4722_n.jpg

I should mention, the CR is ontop of the JH tattoo that he had come with

I didnt get a pic of the girls ears, but i dont want to mess with them much. one is preggo, and the other just had 6 babies yesterday (happy dance) and she's a protective little mother!

 

[Rustina]

If you do human tattoos, why don't you just use a tattoo machine and a #5 needle this is what i have done in the past and is the basis of the tattoo pen made for use on rabbits ,I found my rabbits were less jumpy than when i used the clamp tattooer and you can get a few more characters in than you can with the clap method.....

and i agree with the others make sure extra ink is wiped out, then use a swipe of vasaline or bag balm, for either method.