Bunny Tattoo on Ear

[Ashley]

Does anyone know where I can research the tattoo that my bunny has on her right ear?  It appears to read “BTDS” but I’m not sure (and don’t really remember, I don’t pay attention to it much anymore!). 

She is a white bunny with blue eyes, not sure what kind of breed.  My grandfather bought her at a livestock auction for $1.00 because the little girl whose family brought her there was upset and wanted her to go to a good home.  Apparently they were moving out of state and the parents wouldn’t let them take her.  SO..my grandfather bought her and gave her to me.  That’s all I know about her background.  Anyone else out there have bunnies with ear tattoos?

Another thing – I was NOT the one who did the tattoo, so please don’t give me a ration of crap because of it   Thanks!

 

Ashley

[Sarita]

Most breeders have their own tattoos and I think unless you are the breeder you won’t know what it is. Usually it’s numbers and letters but yours is all letters.

I have a rabbit with a tattoo that says “H37” and have no idea whatsoever what it could mean.

The rescue I help at does tattoo with an S (Spay) or an N (Neuter) and the year they are altered (ie S07) but the vet does that when they are altered and under anaesthsia.

I know that the breeders for Petco and some other breeders do dots – 2 mean female and 1 means male if I remember correctly and you really have to look at those ears to find them.

I’ve also had a Netherland Dwarf that I adopted out that came to me with a tattoo and I had no idea what it meant – I could barely see it either since she was black and she had those little netherland dwarf ears.

[TARM]

Ferrets get tattoos too. The millers do one or two dots to distinguish male from female (but I don’t know which is which) and then they put a dot in between two toes to indicate where the speuter was done. Female ferrets HAVE to be altered because they can die of anemia if they go into heat and don’t get pregnant. Males don’t have to be altered for any medical reason other than the usual ones we name for rabbits, but they most likely be very aggressive if they aren’t. Not to mention their hormones activate their scent glands and you entire house will smell like stinky ferret.

My boys aren’t tattooed but if they were I wouldn’t mind. It would give me a way to identify them as mine if they were to ever get lost, which they won’t because they will never leave the inside of my house.

[Sarita]

Other than the dots done by Marshall Farms which is where the ferrets come from and I believe the rabbits I’m not really sure that there is a universal tattoo used by breeders but I could be wrong.

[Sarita]

http://www.lopsandcavies.com/Tattooing_rabbits/rabbitry_pedigree_tattoo.htm

I found this on a breeders website about thier tattooing. 

[TARM]

OMG. I didn’t know Marshall Farms milled rabbits. I thought they only did ferrets. (Yes, I bury my head in the sand.) Whatever you do…DO NO google Marshall Farms. I made this mistake and I think I may be sick.

[bunnytowne]

There is a website called ARBA   American Rabbit breeders Association.  Go to that site and you can email the judge in your state. Or the state you got the bun from. You may find out about who owned and bred the particular tattoos your bun has. If it has a tattoo most likely the rabbit is registered.  Then you can find out what you need to know. And the breed too.  Hope that helps.

[bunnytowne]

Sarita.. Where I live it is 1 dot for female and 2 dots for male.  Maybe you got it wrong. NO offense meant.  Maybe it is done different in your state.

[bunnytowne]

The only breeds of white rabbits I know of are new zealand white and florida white.  They have red eyes tho.  Also I know that some breeders are working on a blue eyed white.  I went and looked up under rabbit breeds and didn’t see anything about BEW’s.  But my searching around I have read on certain breeders sites they were working on BEW’s.  Hopefully at ARBA you can figure out everything.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Wow bunnytowne-I think you solved the tattoo problem!! That’s neato you can just email ARBA for that info!

Agonyaw-Welcome to binkybunny!!! Hope you find out about the tattoo -your bunny sounds gorgeous!!

[ScooterandAnnette]

I don’t know what the tattoo would mean either, but on the blue eyed white bunny…  we have one.  She’s from the shelter so don’t for exactly what breed she is but she’s a lionhead mix.  It’s hard to get a picture of the blue eyes though!  We were able to get one that kind of shows it although the iris still looks reddish in the pic, and another where it just looks black.

– Annette

 

[Sarita]

We’ve had some blue-eyed whites at the sanctuary. Also I’ve seen tons of Dutches with blue eyes and Kralspace has a blue-eyed Rex named Lola.

Bunnytowne – thanks for the confirmation about the tattoo’s – I could not remember what was what. I’m pretty sure that is the same for all the rabbits from Marshall Farms.

[kralspace]

Here’s my Lola, I haven’t gotten a photo that shows her blue eyes either, but they are very striking when she gives the stinkeye. Sarita told me she was a rex, don’t know if she has anything else mixed in there or not, but she’s a beauty and as soft as a plushie.

She follows me all around the house and has a large box of hay by my feet at the computer where she hangs out when she’s not guarding the wood stove.  She’s the anti-Pringles,  she’s as sweet as Pringles is cantankerous….lol

Kathy

[Ashley]

I e-mailed the ARBA with a description of the tattoo and my bunny to see if maybe they could locate a breeder in my area.  She was young when I got her, or I assume so since she has grown quite a bit since, so I doubt she traveled far from breeder to little ol’ Vermont!

My bunny is extremely soft too – more so than the typical bunny.  It’s like no fur I’ve ever felt before!  And I don’t particularly care for the red/pink eyed bunnies, so I especially like Daisy’s blue eyes!  They match mine!  She is a real sweetheart too!

 

Kathy – my bunny looks EXACTLY like your bunny!

[Sarita]

Sounds like your bunny is a rex too then.

[MarkBun]

Kral and Scooter,

I can see the blue eyes just fine.   Always a cutie.  I am amazed at the one that was at Save A Bunny.  A lionhead with Dutch markings and blue eyes.  Needless to say, she didn’t stay long – got her forever home!

Chandra

[kralspace]

awwwwww, don’t they look human with those blue eyes! I’m going to have to try some without the flash. That’s a beautiful bunny.

[osprey]

My foster bunny Cali is a large Blue Eyed White, and we have one at one of our shelters now who is also a large Blue Eyed White.  They have the body shape of a New Zealand white, but blue eyes instead of pink.  We do see them from time to time, I don’t know if these are mutations or intentionally bred that way.

Gravehearted has a bunny who is a dutch with eyes that are half blue and half brown. 

[skunklionshow]

I have an ear tattoo on my bunny.  She’s a netherland dwarf and has a “tux” tattoo.  I couldn’t locate what that meant and/or where it came from.

[kimberleyanddarren]

i have seen white lionheads with blue eyes, they are usualy bred over and over again for show quality because judges apparently like to see blue eyed lionheads.. ugh…

[Ashley]

I e-mailed the ARBA a few weeks ago about my bunny’s tattoo.  They looked in their database and do not have her tattoo “BTDS” listed.  So I guess its possible she could have been registered but never was?  Otherwise, they’d have information on that tattoo number.  But why else would someone tattoo a bunny?  The only thing I can think of is to register them, and this one isnt’ registered, so maybe the papers just never got sent in?

Thoughts on this anybody?

[Sarita]

Some breeders do this for their own records. If the rabbit is not a show rabbit (perhaps being bred for other purposes) then there is not need to register the rabbit.

[Ashley]

According to my response from ARBA, rabbits need tattoos to be shown but they dont’ necessarily need to be registered.

Many people tattoo an ear number in the ear for showing. In our association (ARBA) if you wish to show an animal in one of our ARBA sanctioned shows, you must permanently tattoo the ear number in the ear prior to the judging. The ear number is to be placed in the left ear of the rabbit.”

So maybe she was a show bunny!

[Ashley]

I heard back from the ARBA again on my bun’s breed – they are positive that she is a blue eyed white mini-rex.  I googled the breed and found images…this is definitely what she is! 

[bunnytowne]

I was wondering what had come of that. Too bad they didn’t have a registration on bunny. At least you found out his breed.

[kimberleyanddarren]

ah thats nice at least you know what she is

[Author]

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