A New Rabbit Breed
In December 2013 the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) recognized a new rabbit breed in the United States, the Lionhead breed. Within the United Kingdom the breed was accepted in 2002. This breed differs a lot from other familiar rabbit breeds and has one feature that makes them unique and spectacular to see, a mane.
The Lionhead Rabbit is a small and tiny rabbit that is covered with a mane. These rabbits owe their name to the fact that their manes are somewhat similar to the mane of a lion. However, not all of these rabbits have incredible manes. Based upon the fact whether they have one or two mane genes they will have either a regular mane (one mane gene) or a mane that covers their body more extensive (double mane gene). Similar to other rabbit breeds the Lionhead is available in a lot of different colors and varieties such as Agouti, Lilac, Blue and Red Eyed White and Fawn. There exists more than 30 different colors.
Caring for them is almost the same as for others, make sure to provide enough quality hay and a make sure they have unlimited access to fresh water. You can also choose to add pellets to their diet. For young lionheads it is recommended to give them Alfalfa hay and you should feed adults with Timothy hay. It is essential to vaccinate them against Myxomatosis and the Viral Haemorrhagic Disease (VHD), these horrible diseases are in almost all cases fatal and can easily be transmitted.
If you are planning to buy a lionhead it is important that you don't buy it from a regular person, by doing so you will never know if your rabbit has some diseases or a bad temperament. Therefore it is wise to buy directly from a breeder who is specialized in breeding lionheads. If you are interested in breeding a lionhead rabbit yourself you should visit the website of the ARBA or the BRC, which is the British Rabbit Council. If you become a member there you will get a lot of guidance from other breeders and you will receive educational documents.
