Hairless rabbit Dobby: born, survived, became father
«Meet our hairless rabbit Dobby. Our daughter named him — she«s been a Harry Potter fan since childhood,» introduces her pet Galina Bazhaykina. She and her husband and children have been rabbit breeding for 15 years. But in all that time the family had never seen a hairless rabbit. The leathery, flop-eared one is the only one of its kind in the whole country and the second in the world. How does this exclusive pet live? Why was he nursed by a Soviet Chinchilla? And why has the offspring of the hairless rabbit already been nicknamed labubu?
Now Dobby has grown to 5 kilograms (11 lb), acquired a family, a funny wardrobe, his own room in the house, and even his own Telegram channel, but in autumn 2024 the baby was an orphan: his mother rabbit died after giving birth.
«Dobby was born on 1 November 2024. His parents were ordinary White Pannon rabbits. A foster mother nursed the little one: at the same time a Soviet Chinchilla female gave birth, and we placed the orphan with her,» recalls Galina Bazhaykina. «All baby rabbits are born hairless, by 10 days they grow fluff, and by a month they become fluffy. Dobby also initially got a coat on time, but then he molted. It turned out that all two-week-old rabbits were fluffy, and he alone was a poor bald thing. To keep him from freezing, we took him into the house.»
The naked baby left the house only in Galina«s bosom and only to go to the farm — to drink milk from the nursing rabbit.
«Rabbits go through several molts as they grow. After the first molt, Dobby was bald until three months. Then from three to seven months he grew fur, but it covered not the whole body, only his back — a fur vest, so to speak. The last molt in rabbits occurs before adulthood — from seven to ten months. It was during this period that Dobby«s fur fell out and never came back at all,» explains the owner.
At first, the Bazhaykins tried to find any mention of sphinx or skinny rabbits on the internet. You never know — maybe some «naked» gene from distant foreign ancestors had crept into Dobby«s lineage? But a thorough search showed: no such breed exists. A hairless rabbit like this exists only here and in Australia. But the long-eared one on that distant continent has a little fur on its face, tail, and paws. Our unique one is completely naked.
«No one has registered a hairless breed of rabbit, no one even tried to breed it. So we can say that a miracle simply happened. When the vet saw him, he said: «Maybe you»ll become famous,«» smiles the owner of the unique animal.
Galina pampers and cherishes her pet: spoils him with treats and bathes him with baby soap. In the Bazhaykins« house, the rabbit has his own room with a litter box, water bowl, and food bowl. The floor is covered with straw, and a special lamp maintains the required temperature.
«Dobby is comfortable at +26°C (79°F), at +20°C (68°F) he freezes. His pink skin turns white, he curls into a ball and sits motionless. His ears are literally icy to the touch. So when I let the rabbit out of the warm room to run around the house, I dress him in little suits. The wardrobe includes custom-knitted clothing and outfits bought from pet stores for cats and dogs. But the rabbit is most comfortable in the bodysuits left over from my grandson,» says Galina.
The Bazhaykins« grandson and even the children of all acquaintances run away screaming at the sight of the flop-eared monster. Even teenagers reach out to pet him and immediately pull back in fear. But Dobby is not upset by this at all. The only one from whom he wants hugs and to whom he allows himself to be handled is Galina.
«He is a monster, but a kind one. His skin is warm and velvety. He never scratches or bites. I sit on the couch, call: «Bunny, come here.» He understands and jumps onto my lap, would sit there forever as long as he«s petted. In general, Dobby»s intelligence is higher than that of other rabbits of his breed. He recognizes my voice and responds specifically to it. If my husband, son, or daughter calls, he doesn«t react,» Bazhaykina marvels at the abilities of her exclusive animal. «In summer heat we go for walks. Our house is the last on the street and next to a meadow. He goes without a leash. He follows me. He never lags more than two meters behind.»
Half a year ago, Dobby became a father to three daughters at once. They were born to a White Pannon female. From the union of a furry mother and a naked father came partially hairless kittens. Their faces, ears, paws, and tails are hairless, but their bodies are fluffy.
«When friends« children saw them, they said: »Oh, it«s a labubu!» That stuck, we call them labubusy. They really do look like those toys. But they also have their own names: Winky, Linky, and Tinky. In the Harry Potter books, the elf Dobby«s friend was named Winky. As for Linky and Tinky, we just named them by sound,» explains Bazhaykina.
The labubusy have not yet had their last molt before puberty. So it is unclear whether they will remain half-dressed, go completely bald, or, conversely, grow full fur. But the intelligence of the triplets, according to the owner«s observations, is definitely higher than that of other rabbits.
«They have developed such an interesting ability that I have never observed in rabbits before. They learned to carry food in their teeth. Usually, you put a piece of carrot for a rabbit, and it will gnaw it right where you placed it. But here, first one learned to take a piece of carrot in her teeth, drag it to a corner, and eat it there. Then the second did the same. Now the third, the smallest labubu, also steals treats in her teeth so as not to share with the others. So they even learn from each other. I have never observed this in rabbits. Can you imagine, they steal crackers, carrots, or even something not tasty from each other, hide, and eat. While they live with Dobby, and he doesn«t have this behavior. But their brains work like that.»
Recently, the Moscow Research Institute of Fur Animal Breeding also learned about the rabbit that struts around the village in his birthday suit. They offered to buy him together with his family.
«I immediately refused, the conversation never even got to the price. I myself am terribly interested to see what happens next,» admits Galina.
