# Finding out the meaning of my rabbits ear tattoo...



## Dragonrain (Dec 18, 2007)

I got my rabbit Barnaby as a 'second hand' bunny. His original owner got him from a breeder, I think in the NY/NJ area (but I don't know for sure).

He has a tattoo in his left ear that says "LD34". I was wondering if there is anyway I can use that to figure out where he came from?? It's not a big deal, I'm just curous.

Thanks!


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## maherwoman (Dec 18, 2007)

What kind of bunny is he? You can try searching on the ARBA website under the breeders for his type of breed...see if any of them match the first two initials. For instance, I'm getting buns from Double L Rabbit Ranch today...and her tattoos start with a DL.

The ARBA Website

Let me know if you need anymore help finding it!


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## gentle giants (Dec 18, 2007)

Well, it's possible, but it would be difficult. Breeders all use their own tattos, there isn't any set system for it. For instance, my tatts all have the letter "K" first, for my last name. The breeder I got my breeding stock from has light grey and white Flemish, so his tatts start out with either L for light grey or W for white, and then a D or a B for buck or doe, then the # he assigned to that rabbit.


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## maherwoman (Dec 18, 2007)

Also...got this site from MyBabyBunnies. 

http://rabbitandcavydirectory.com/ARBA_District_States/New_Jersey_breeders.htm


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## maherwoman (Dec 18, 2007)

You can check out this site for Golden Ranch Rabbitry, maybe even email the lady and ask:
http://www.goldensunriseranch.com/default.htm

She does lionheads, which is what Barnaby looks like. AND...I noticed on her page that she's selling a bunch of her lionheads, due to being pregnant with her own baby...so it's a good chance that your bun could've come from that.

I'll continue looking around to see what I can find. 

Edited to add: http://geocities.com/hopntailrabbitry/
She's a member here, too, so you might try PM'ing her. 

Okay, those are from NJ...these ones below are from NY. 

http://www.geocities.com/americantailsfarming/rabbitbreeder.html

http://lopbuns.tripod.com/id11.html

http://www.jennsjumpinrabbittry.com/Lion-lops.html

http://www.freewebs.com/prbrooks/index.htm


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## BlueGiants (Dec 18, 2007)

What breed is the rabbit? Color?Sex? You can narrow the search by who breeds that kind of bunny in the area. 

Some breeders make up any combination of Numbers and letters to tattoo their rabbits, some use a system that they made up. It generally doesn't "mean" anything except to identify the rabbit on the show table or it's pedigree. Someone must have bred that rabbit to be show quality.


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## maherwoman (Dec 18, 2007)

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=27390&forum_id=6

Barnaby looks like a lionhead to me.


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## BlueGiants (Dec 18, 2007)

(Sorry, I missed the thread with Barnaby's photo!) 

The ARBA site no longer publishes Breeders names and addresses. And since the Lionhead is not yet a recognized breed it may be difficult to find a Lionhead breeder through ARBA. Best bet is by word of mouth at shows. Start asking breeders that are working on Lionheads if they know any one that uses those letters.


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## Korr_and_Sophie (Dec 18, 2007)

Maybe you could ask the orginal owner if they can tell you where they got him from.


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## TinysMom (Dec 18, 2007)

As a breeder, I do my tattoos different from some other breeders of the same breed. It really is up to each breeder.

I do two letters for the litter (AA was my 27th litter for example because I had gone through the alphabet once already). Then I do odd numbers for bucks and even numbers for does.

A friend of mine does the first initial of each parent...for instance if I was breeding Chaucer and Cocoa - it would be CC and then a number for the baby. IF there were 8 in the litter I'd have CC1 - CC8.

So its really hard to tell because each breeder is so different.

Peg

P.S. Cocoa's tattoo from her original breeder is "Cocoa" and she also had one she named "oops" and that was his tattoo.


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## Dragonrain (Dec 19, 2007)

Hmm...ok, thanks for the input everyone  

I'll look at all the sites everyone posted when I get a chance to later - I have a physics final in 15 mins :grumpy:

And yes, Barnaby is a lionhead, and a male. I know that, occording to his prevous owner, he was born on Nov. 26th, 2006 - so he's alittle over a year old now. I don't know if that makes a diffrence, but the breeder, whoever it was, must have sold him sometime last winter/spring.


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