Housing and Excercise
Housing
Angora breeds, especially the EA, need to be kept in a climate controlled environment in areas with hot summers. They don’t tolerate the heat well as their wool is up to 7 times warmer than sheep’s wool. They don’t handle dew or rain well because their wool felts up if it gets wet. The best place for them is in an enclosed building where it’s cool and dry. In addition, they need wire floors to keep their coats clean and mat free. This is essential. Unfortunately, when left in an enclosure with a solid floor, they are usually subjected to stepping in their own urine. This can lead to painful urine scalding on their feet, which turns into even more painful sore hocks. In addition to the health risks, if in an enclosure with loose bedding, such as pine shavings, care fresh, and shredded paper, the bedding will tangle and mat into the wool, which is of course very uncomfortable for the rabbit. This is why we strongly recommend wire floors for Angoras. It is much safer for your rabbit and with all of the wool they grow on the bottom of their feet, they never feel the wire.
I've only seen 2 cases of sore hocks in English Angoras. Neither rabbit was owned by me, and both were housed with solid flooring.
Exercise
Rabbits really do need exercise, just like any other animal. Exercise recommendations vary widely, from 30 minutes a day twice a week, to 4 hours a day every day. Ultimately the decision comes down to you and your family. If your rabbit isn't let out for exercise, you might want to consider giving it a larger cage than minimum standards require. Exercise, family time and play time are one in the same – as long as your rabbit is able to move around outside of it’s cage, you can consider that part of it’s exercise time.
**Remember, rabbits are induced ovulators, and therefore do not go into heat like a dog or cat. They can get pregnant anytime, any day. Because of this, unaltered rabbits will need to be let out separately. Bucks are fertile as early as 10 weeks, and does can be fertile that young as well (not common, but possible.) Animals don't discriminate the difference between relatives and non-relatives either. So please keep your bucks and your does separated.**
Angora breeds, especially the EA, need to be kept in a climate controlled environment in areas with hot summers. They don’t tolerate the heat well as their wool is up to 7 times warmer than sheep’s wool. They don’t handle dew or rain well because their wool felts up if it gets wet. The best place for them is in an enclosed building where it’s cool and dry. In addition, they need wire floors to keep their coats clean and mat free. This is essential. Unfortunately, when left in an enclosure with a solid floor, they are usually subjected to stepping in their own urine. This can lead to painful urine scalding on their feet, which turns into even more painful sore hocks. In addition to the health risks, if in an enclosure with loose bedding, such as pine shavings, care fresh, and shredded paper, the bedding will tangle and mat into the wool, which is of course very uncomfortable for the rabbit. This is why we strongly recommend wire floors for Angoras. It is much safer for your rabbit and with all of the wool they grow on the bottom of their feet, they never feel the wire.
I've only seen 2 cases of sore hocks in English Angoras. Neither rabbit was owned by me, and both were housed with solid flooring.
Exercise
Rabbits really do need exercise, just like any other animal. Exercise recommendations vary widely, from 30 minutes a day twice a week, to 4 hours a day every day. Ultimately the decision comes down to you and your family. If your rabbit isn't let out for exercise, you might want to consider giving it a larger cage than minimum standards require. Exercise, family time and play time are one in the same – as long as your rabbit is able to move around outside of it’s cage, you can consider that part of it’s exercise time.
**Remember, rabbits are induced ovulators, and therefore do not go into heat like a dog or cat. They can get pregnant anytime, any day. Because of this, unaltered rabbits will need to be let out separately. Bucks are fertile as early as 10 weeks, and does can be fertile that young as well (not common, but possible.) Animals don't discriminate the difference between relatives and non-relatives either. So please keep your bucks and your does separated.**