Teeth

Ensure you check your angora rabbits teeth regularly and a good time to do this is every time you clip them. Teeth troubles are very common and if left untreated can cause your angora discomfort and potentially more harmful complaints.

Key symptoms of teeth problems include drooling, weight loss, eating greens on one side of the mouth. Overgrown front teeth may indicate bad back teeth too. If the back teeth grow very quickly this can lead to significant discomfort for your Angora and needs to be addressed quickly.

Angora rabbits needs to eat hay or grass for the correct wear of molars so it is important to ensure a balanced diet and always provide access to hay. If they are not keen on hay try dust free hay or dried readigrass. It can be useful to provide them with other forms of fibre to gnaw on like apple branches if their teeth grow very quickly. 

Rabbits need sunlight also to stop calcium leaching from bones as in just 2 weeks without natural light, up to 40% bone density can be lost, usually from jaws first, making them soft and liable to teeth problems.

The best way to identify a serious issue is with a CT scan as a normal oral exam will not see beneath the gum line.

Snuffles or respiratory problems may be secondary to dental issues but a white discharge or runny eye may be caused by teeth (often incisors) growing through the upper jaw to block tear duct drain.

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Natural angora rabbit products

This years woolfest was a great success and the National Angora Club was there with a whole range of natural Angora rabbit products from their members. A few images below of the stand and a thank you to Leslie and Sandra for all their work on the stand.

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Keeping cool this summer

You will need to take extra care this summer with your Angora rabbits due to the continued good weather we are having in parts of the UK. High summer temperatures can cause severe dehydration, over heating and health problems for animals especially woolly ones.

Top 10 approaches to keeping your Angora rabbits cool in hot weather:

  1. Clip them to remove the large long coats
  2. Use frozen bottles of water or frozen pads so they can sit by them to cool down
  3. Hang a wet towel in front of their cage or cover part of the hutch with a wet towel
  4. Ensure they are in a shaded location or add additional shade netting to the area and if necessary move hutches into the shade area if possible
  5. Ensure good ventilation and use additional fans to aid with moving air if possible
  6. Put them in larger more open cages
  7. Reduce the bedding down
  8. Provide a cooler surface for them to lie on like wire
  9. Provide more water bottles and you could put a ceramic bowl in as well
  10. Refresh water bottles with cold water throughout the day

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Winners at Coventry Stock Show

Yvonne Hobbs Fothergill with her under 4 month old White doe

Yvonne Hobbs Fothergill with her under 4 month old White doe, Best in Show in the 1* show judged by Rob Banks.

Grindey and Banks with their under 5 month White doe Hermione

Grindey and Banks with their under 5 month White doe, Best in Show in the Open and also in the 3* stock show judged by Christine Hamilton.

Wool@J13 Show 2019

National Angora Club Stand at C9

Visitors to Staffordshire’s Wool @ J13 festival on 18 & 19 May 2019 can expect heaps of wool and yarn-related fun this year – including challenges aimed at getting visitors to pick up some needles and give knitting a try. 

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Don’t Panic

Lopped ear on young English Angora rabbit

When faced with a baby such as the one in the picture, you immediately think the worst. This will never make a show quality rabbit, it is in its genes, therefore useless for breeding. 


Well, don’t panic, this is not the case. Usually it is the result of too big a litter all jostling one another for space, and damaging the cartilage of the ear, excessive heat when the babies are young causing the ears to get longer and encouraging them to fall over.

The solution that usually works is to put a small amount of powdered gelatine on the food as soon as you notice it. Continue with this until the baby is about 12 weeks old. Massage the base of the ear regularly.

If you just want the rabbit for breeding, clipping will help as a lot of energy goes into growing the coat. However, by the time they are 16 weeks old the ear should be up in its normal position. You could add some calcium to the water for a week.