Continental Giants

2005 was the year when we discovered Continental Giants. Having seen a friend's Continental Giant, Sampson, we felt we NEEDED one!   Fortunately we had the space, time and finance available to give a rabbit this size a permanent home with a good quality of life - unlike so many which were then being purchased on a whim following the recent films or news items starring Giant Rabbits.  Too many of these ended up in rescue centre.

Continental Giants were to become part of our lives - a part which commenced with heart-break.

Sampson came to visit us in April 2005. But we couldn't keep him...

Arrangements were made, and in due course Maxwell was due to arrive.  This entailed major alterations to caging in order to construct a home which was large enough to accommodate a rabbit that would become considerably larger than anything we had ever had before.

We enquired about sizes and decided that 12 feet long and 3ft 6" height were appropriate dimensions for the new residence.  Fortunately our largest shed was able to house this.  But first, existing unused cages needed to be demolished and a rebuild was to follow.

Click below to enlarge these pictures

DEMOLITION DAY!

LET CONSTRUCTION COMMENCE!

Maxwell touched our hearts as soon as we saw him. But we were not to know that the mucoid enteritis which had almost cost him his life as a tiny baby would come back with a vengeance and would take him after he had been with us a short while. Despite careful feeding and supportive medication, even radical surgery was insufficient to give him the chance that he needed and we lost him within a couple of weeks after he entered our lives. We were stunned and heart broken.

Within hours of having lost him our friends Roy and Gina had made arrangements for a replacement bunny to come.  So came Wallace to fill the gap.

Wallace was an older rabbit who had not had the dodgy start in life of young Max.  He had an air of superiority about him and became the apple of his dad's eye.  But despite the appearance of good health and things going well, behind the scenes unusual problems with his ability to handle calcium were developing. Unexpectedly he suddenly went off his food, became lethargic and obviously seriously unwell.  Rushed to the vet, it turned out that he had a massive presence of stones in both kidneys, and one had begun to migrate causing a blockage.  He was in kidney failure and surgery to remove the 'problem' kidney was not an option because the second kidney was full of stones.  We had no option at that point other than to let him go.

Losing a personality like Wallace is a shattering experience and for a while the whole world stopped.  Again Gina and Roy came to the rescue and Daisy arrived - the only bunny they could let us have.  She had come to the Rescue from a person who, because of ill health, was having to give up her bunnies.  A young agouti doe Daisy was such a contrast to the headstrong bucks we had loved.  She demanded attention and was not interested in grieving and heartbreak.  She wanted fuss and she wanted it now.  She forced her way into our hearts and was the best way to help heal the sadness which had enveloped us.

The start of our time with the Contis had been so hard. It was devastating never to see young Maxwell grow into the stunning adult that was promised.  But we had been bitten by the 'bug' and had fallen head over heels in love with Wallace.  Before we knew that he was ill we had the opportunity to have a pair which were related to him and on April 9th 2006 our two new Continental Giants arrived safely at their new home.  Brought along to us once again by our friends Gina and Roy Hart  our new babies tumbled into our lives! 

At 12 weeks old they were tiny compared to Wallace, however we were overwhelmed by how friendly and inquisitive they were. They lived together in a converted 8ft square shed rather than a cage and became a real team. In due course Marcus visited the vet, the reason why remaining a mystery to him! After the problems with Wallace became evident we were concerned about these two and whether they would have inherited any similar problems with calcium.  As a matter of urgency we took them to the vet for X-Rays.  The kidneys were clear, but a spinal deformity showed up on both sets of plates - identical in both rabbits.

Today we still have the 3 Contis and daily rejoice in their glowing good health and appetite for life!

To find out more about Wallace click here.

To meet Marcus and Connie click here

To meet Daisy click here