Jersey Wooly Rabbit

Facts about Jersey Wooly Rabbits. The Jersey Wooly Rabbit is a small, furry critter. Their fur is not satiny smooth but woolen. The Jersey Wooly Rabbit breed was introduced in 1984 and recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders Association in 1988. Like many other dwarf rabbit breeds, the Jersey Wooly Rabbit breed was developed exclusively for the pet trade.

Appearance of Jersey Wooly Rabbit

The Jersey Wooly Rabbit rabbits are named for their thick, wooly coat. In fact, their wooly non-satin coat has led to the nickname for the breed “woolies”. The Jersey Wooly Rabbit come in many different colors such as tan, black, white, shaded, and agouti. Many of the Jersey Wooly Rabbit come in two or more colors. The guard hairs may have a different color, typically a lighter color than the undercoat. The Jersey Wooly Rabbit fur is similar to the American Fuzzy Lop.

"Scientific name for Jersey Wooly Rabbit is Oryctolagus cuniculus". "Fear of Rabbits Leporiphobia"

Physical Characteristics of Jersey Wooly Rabbit

The Jersey Wooly Rabbit is a cross of the French Angora Rabbit and Netherland Dwarf rabbit, resulting in a small, docile and wooly rabbit. The Jersey Wooly Rabbit retain the oblong body shape of the Angora breed but are a smaller size through the dwarf gene from the Netherland Dwarf breed. How small are the Jersey Wooly Rabbit? They weigh two and a half (1.2 kg) to three and a half pounds (1.6 kg)full grown, with three pounds (1.3 kg) being ideal for show animals.

The Jersey Wooly Rabbit have square heads, also leading to the nickname “mug head” rabbits. The Jersey Wooly Rabbit have small, upright ears. The ears are typically less than three inches long and always erect.

The Jersey Wooly Rabbit breed standard calls for coats at least one and a half inches thick, but two to three inches long is considered ideal. The Jersey Wooly Rabbit is the long guard hairs relative to the shorter undercoat that creates the trademark “wool”. However, the wool is only on the body. When the Jersey Wooly Rabbit is found on the ears or feet, the critter is disqualified for show and rarely bred.

Behavior of Jersey Wooly Rabbit

The Jersey Wooly Rabbit is very docile and likes peoples attention and affection. The Jersey Wooly Rabbit are gentle and rarely aggressive, and neutered ones are never aggressive. Some rabbits are curious explorers while others will prefer to chill out. Neutered rabbits in general are more docile, less aggressive and tend to live long in general. However, never-bred rabbits that aren’t spayed and neutered live just as long as those that had litters. In short, breeding them won’t shorten life expectancy but neutering typically improves behavior.

Care and Up keep

Long hair needs some brushing. Fortunately, the Jersey Wooly Rabbit enjoy being brushed. Babies need more brushing than adults. Don’t shear the fur, since this removes the long guard hairs that keep the under-layer low maintenance. Wool block is worse when the Jersey Wooly Rabbit are shedding.

While the Jersey Wooly Rabbits have thick fur and are thus more cold-tolerant than many other dwarf breeds, the Jersey Wooly Rabbit still need at least a shed or sheltered hutch if kept outdoors. The Jersey Wooly Rabbit can be allowed to stay inside if there are no electric cords and no wood furniture because they could chew on them.

Trivia about Jersey Wooly Rabbit

The Jersey Wooly comes in so many colors that the categories for show are agouti, self, shaded, tan pattern and “any other variety” or AOV.

The Jersey Wooly Rabbit breed is not common outside of the United States.

The male Jersey Wooly Rabbit is called a buck and a female is called a doe. A young rabbit is called a kit "kitten". Jersey Wooly Rabbits are herbivores (a herbivore, eats leaves, grass, hay and furns (plant eaters) and also mammals.

Jersey Wooly Rabbits are born without fur and its eyes are closed. Half of the rabbits in the world live in North America. Jersey Wooly Rabbits are comfortable living in groups. Cottontail Rabbits are the only rabbit that does not live under ground and "Warren" is known as group of burrows.

Jersey Wooly Rabbits have an outstanding sense of vision, smell and hearing. Having eyes on the side of the Jersey Wooly Rabbits head that are so big, it gives them nearly 360 degrees vision, allowing them to see predators from all directions. The Jersey Wooly Rabbit can see everything behind and in front of them and have just a small blind-spot in front of their nose.

Pet Jersey Wooly Rabbits should be kept in pairs for Companionship, its important for a rabbits happiness and it can live longer with a companion. In the wild, Jersey Wooly Rabbits are very social. Female Jersey Wooly Rabbits can produce about 2 to 4 litters of bunnies per year with 4 to 6 babies.

Rabbits love to run and can reach speeds of 30 to 40 mph. The average lifespan of a Jersey Wooly Rabbit is around 5 to 8 years and in captivity can live up to 10 years. Jersey Wooly Rabbits have 28 teeth and an incredible fact, a Jersey Wooly Rabbit teeth never stop growing throughout its life.
Rabbits can jump up to 36 inches (91.4 cm) and sometimes higher.

Jersey Wooly Rabbits are very clean animals and will groom themselves and also each other. Jersey Wooly Rabbits are crepuscular-(meaning the are most active at morning and evening) and do most of there feeding in the evening. Jersey Wooly Rabbits on average sleep about 8 hours.

Jersey Wooly Rabbits as pets enjoy wet food, carrots, hay or lettuce, dark leaf lettuce is a good one. (Iceberg lettuce contains too much water and too little fiber to be suitable.) Limit giving them fruit with sugar in it. Alfalfa provides the high caloric content necessary for baby bunnies development. Once Jersey Wooly Rabbits reach seven months of age, gradually switch them over to timothy hay, oat hay, or orchard grass. Avoid giving them yard clippings, since grass is often sprayed with fertilizer, insecticides, pesticides, and other chemicals rabbits should not be eating. The Jersey Wooly Rabbit diet should consist of 70% of Hay and make sure they have fresh water every day.

For bedding, give Jersey Wooly Rabbits wood pellets or aspen. You can use pelleted horse bedding. Do not give them pine or cedar. Clean the cage with either white vinegar or a cage safe cleaner; don’t use bathroom cleaner or other. De-worming is a major concern and should be done in the spring and fall. A pea sized amount of de-worming paste in the rabbit’s mouth is sufficient for the Jersey Wooly Rabbit.