Meet The Hot Cross Buns
We would like to introduce you to the Hot Cross Buns. Each and every one of them holds a special place in our hearts and in our breeding programs. We love color and lots of it, which is why you will see a wide variety of colors in our herd. Even more important than the color of their coats is the temperament they each exhibit. We love our Buns and want the very best for them. That means we need to know each of them from tip to tail, inside and out. We welcome your questions about our herd and their care.
The Hot Cross Bucks are the building block of our rabbitry. Without great sires, we can't breed great kits. Since we breed for sound temperament, our boys have to be sweet, curious, and loving. It would be impossible to choose a favorite out of these handsome boys.
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Wee Walter is a lovely squirrel buck. He is a bit nosy, sometimes rowdy, but always sweet enough to make us adore him. He is a comical little man and never fails to get a laugh out of us. He has a very luxurious coat and a solid build. He has sired some gorgeous babies with us. Excellent with his litter box and always up for playtime, Wee Walter is very fond of the ladies and performs his job as sire very well. |
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Joshua is a very handsome chocolate buck who is gentle and loves the ladies. He is a compact little guy, with a bright outlook and inquisitive nature. He loves to scruffle up his towels and roll around on them as soon as he is placed in his freshly cleaned cage. Joshua may not win the rabbitry's Tidiest Bunny award, but he his loving and kind to everyone he meets, human and rabbit alike. |
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Little Boy Blue is a gorgeous solid blue buck who loves treats and head rubs. He is absolutely yummy with his fat head and chubby cheeks! Little Boy can be a bit shy around people and the does (which can be a turn-off for some of them) but we are hoping age and experience will help him become a more eager breeder. We really want to bring more of his correct Holland Lop type into our lines. |
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Luigi caught our attention a long time ago. Born and raised by the wonderful folks at Hook's Hollands, this gorgeous chestnut charlie buck came to live with us on his first birthday. We are so blessed to have this friendly, well-socialized little man in our lives. Tiny and of excellent type, Luigi is absolutely delightful and loves cuddles and attention. Because he is a charlie, every time he is bred to a solid colored doe, all of his kits will be broken patterned. |
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Albert is the son of Marilla and Wee Walter. He is a very nice little guy, active and playful, but never wild and crazy. We enjoy his fun side, but he also enjoys a quiet cuddle from time to time. He has a beautifully glossy blue coat which is very different from Little Boy Blue's fluffy, almost cotton-like fur. |
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Gulliver is the newest buck to be added to our rabbitry. Hailing from Cranberry Trails, he is a junior broken magpie who is already bringing much joy and laughter to Hot Cross Buns. He is going to give Wee Walter a run for the money on being the rabbitry Energizer Bun! During his first photo shoot, he has tried to climb UP the wall and has decided to try bonding with our laser printer several times, which makes getting some decent photographs very tricky. Gulliver is very sociable and friendly, when he takes the time to notice that there are people nearby.
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The Hot Cross Does are the ladies who do all the real work in the rabbitry. They have to deal with pregnancy hormones, build a nest, give birth, nurse multiple babies at once, deal with babies climbing all over them and eating all the food in their bowls, go through weaning...we get tired just thinking about it! We enjoy our special Hot Cross Does and provide them with lots of TLC.
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Plum Bun is the lady who opened the door to our Holland Lop loving life. She was our first bunny, purchased from our dear friends at Hook's Hollands. She has an amazing glossy coat and is a wonderful mother. She is not too fond of having her picture taken and prefers to spend her time playing and exploring. She is not a sit still and cuddle kind of a gal, but she has a big heart in her little body.
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Apple Jane was the second rabbit to join our rabbitry. A broken squirrel doe, she was originally sexed as a buck and named Apple Jack. The error was discovered a couple of months after we brought her home and she has been Apple Jane ever since. Although tiny, she has been a wonderful mother to her kits. Wee Walter is her one true love and she refuses all other bucks but him. |
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Tootsie is a sable point doe who joins our family from Phoenix Hollands. Because of her pretty dark chocolaty tootsies, we asked her if she would like to be named "Tootsie." She promptly did a binky and, with that, she had her name. She is a fun combination of cuddliness and playfulness, with just enough determination thrown in to keep us on our toes. She is quite a tidy little girl and has been making good progress with her litter box. |
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Cake Pop is the daughter of Sweet Tart and Coconut Cream. A beautifully typed broken sable point, Cake Pop won Reserve Champion at our county fair in August 2017 when she was three months of age. She has only gotten better with time. In 2018 she won Best of Breed at the same fair. From her parents she inherits a sunny, joyful disposition and loves to give kissy licks to her favorite people...who seem to be just about everyone. She has enough spunk to keep her from being boring, but is filled the rest of the way with love to give to every person she meets. |
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Matilda (formally named Bunny Blue Eyes' Dirty Snow) should be a familiar face if you regularly visit the Hook's Hollands website. As they were downsizing, we had expressed interest in working with the Vienna gene and this little girl was offered to us. We are so excited to have her in our rabbitry and hope to have some Vienna marked Buns to offer in the not-too-distant future. Matilda is settling in nicely and has already won us over with her expressive face and love of cardboard boxes. She has a healthy appetite and seems to prefer dried apples to fresh ones. Silly bunny. :)
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Sweet Tart is a broken sable point senior doe. She is a sweet, loving false dwarf girl who is a born mother. Ever attentive and affectionate, she has produced some beautiful, winning kits, including our own Cake Pop. Sweet Tart officially belongs to our youngest son, so all decisions regarding breeding and placing her kits rest with him, although he is always open to help and suggestions. |
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This lovely Blue-Eyed White doe has earned herself the name Mrs. Rachel Lynde, after the beloved character in the Anne of Green Gables series. Mrs Lynde is a kind-hearted busy-body who must stick her nose into everything, whether her advice and opinion is wanted or not. Mrs. Lynde the bunny is the Holland Lop equivalent of the character and, as soon as we had an inkling of her temperament, no other name would suit her. She is lively, opinionated, and as inquisitive as a rabbit could possibly be, and we love her for it! Taking photos of such a busy bunny is never easy, but we did the best we could! LOL
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Lucy is a broken black tort doe with a quiet, unassuming nature. She is a content soul who enjoys nose rubs and the occasional treat, but isn't demanding about her desires. She enjoys hanging out with us, but is just as happy lounging in her cage. Fairly low energy, Lucy is very much like her mother Tootsie. She is a possible Vienna gene carrier, so she could potentially bring a lot to our Vienna program. Lucy is the litter mate of Dulcie, Molly, and Tabitha. |
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Dulcie (short for Dulcinea) is a spunky, sassy solid frosty doe who is a possible Vienna gene carrier. She is the daughter of Tootsie and the late Hamlet, a VM (Vienna-marked buck). At birth, Tootsie got slightly carried away when cleaning Dulcie up and accidentally nibbled the tip of her ear off. We think her ear adds a dramatic flair to this drama queen of a tiny doe. She is a beautiful little Bun, we just hope she mellows with age because Dulcie wears us out. LOL |
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Molly is another doe out of Tootsie and Hamlet's litter. Sister of Dulcie, Lucy, and Tabitha, Molly appears to be a broken frosty, but is possibly Vienna Marked.*** Usually broken patterned rabbits have solid-colored ears, but Molly has a streak of white on her right ear that leads me to suspect that she may carry the Vienna gene (the gene that presents blue eyes in rabbits). She is more reserved and slower to warm up to people than her sisters, but is curious enough to stick her nose out to see what's going on. When she has playtime in the exercise pen, she most frequently hunkers down, muffin-style, and enjoys watching the goings-on around her. She is definitely an observant bunny!
***Vienna carriers are not supposed to be bred to a broken patterned rabbit because it makes it difficult to tell which rabbits are true Vienna Marked rabbits as opposed to non-vienna carriers who are simply broken patterned. Molly, Lucy, and Tabitha prove this point. Their sire, Hamlet, was a beautiful broken blue-eyed buck, so it was easy to tell that he carried the Vienna gene. |
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Tabitha is a broken frosty doe with very nice type. She has a warm, loving temperament, although can be a bit hesitant to try to new things. Tabitha is Lucy, Molly, and Dulcie's sister and is most like their mother Tootsie. We will be working on getting some new photos of her as the current ones don't do her justice. |
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Beatrix (Trixie, for short) is a lovely little harlequin girl, with a gentle nature. She can be a bit shy, but she is curious and wants to be kept in the loop. She hops to the front of her cage every time the door is opened, ready and waiting for love, nose rubs, and playtime. Trixie is a possible VC, so we will be very careful about always placing her kits in pet-only homes, so as not to throw any breeders a Vienna gene curve ball. Her head is on the narrow side, but we will pair her with a buck who will bring the potential for more width to their kits' crowns. This little girl loves to eat and munches her hay and pellets with gusto. We are already quite fond of this wee girl. :)
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Isla (pronounced EYE' luh ) is another darling junior harlequin doe we added to our our rabbitry from Cranberry Trails. She is a gentle, quiet girl with a temperament very similar to Trixie's, but Isla has more of a quiet dignity about her, while Trixie is a bit of a clown. We have all fallen in love with this little girl and her lovely symmetrical facial markings and honeybee stripes.
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