If you desire to show your rabbit, it is necessary that the animal be tattooed. The tattoo can consist of either numbers, letters, or a combination of the two. The decision of what the ear mark consists of is entirely at the discretion of the owner. The two requirements you should be aware of are the tattoo must appear in the left ear of the rabbit and it must be legible. This ear mark is what you will use when filling out an entry blank—not the rabbit’s name. Several equipment companies sell electric tattoo markers which function much like writing in the rabbit’s ear with a pen. These units self ink so you can readily check your handiwork as you proceed. You can also use clamp markers, which are also obtainable from equipment dealers. With this system, it is necessary to separately purchase the numbers or letters you desire to use. Most of these have a space limitation of 5 numbers in tattoo. If you do use this system, I advise you to purchase the metal inserts instead of the plastic numbers, they tattoo better and last longer. This system does not self ink, so you need to obtain a good quality tattoo ink or a very good quality India ink to insure a readable tattoo. After clamping the ear it is necessary that the ink be rubbed into the holes that have been penetrated in the ear. If this is not done, the tattoo is going to fade over time or not be legible after the ink wears off. Finally, if you only have a few rabbits needing tattooing, you can normally find a person at the show that will tattoo your rabbit for a couple of dollars. For very small operations, this may be the most economical way to get your animal show qualified, and offer you an opportunity to see the process first hand.
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