Russian village's hairless rabbit is a gentle monster

“Meet our hairless rabbit Dobby. My daughter named him — she«s been a Harry Potter fan since childhood,” introduces her pet Galina Bazhaikina. She, along with her husband and children, has been raising rabbits for 15 years. But the family has never seen a skinny rabbit in all this time. The leathery and floppy-eared one is actually the only such one in the whole country and the second in the world. How does the exclusive pet live? Why was he nursed by a Soviet chinchilla? And why has the offspring of the nu-rabbit already been nicknamed labubu? Read in the material from our colleagues at 63.RU.

Now Dobby has grown to 5 kilograms (11 pounds), acquired a family, a funny wardrobe, a separate room in the house, and even his own Telegram channel, but in the autumn of 2024, the baby was an orphan: his mother rabbit died after giving birth.

“Dobby was born on 1 November 2024. His parents are ordinary rabbits of the White Pannon breed. The little one was nursed by a foster mother: at the same time, a female of the Soviet chinchilla breed gave birth, and we placed the orphan with her,” says Galina Bazhaikina. “All baby rabbits are born without fur, by 10 days they grow fuzz, and by a month they become fluffy. Dobby also initially had skin on time, but then he molted. It turned out that all two-week-old baby rabbits are sitting fluffy, and he alone is a bald poor thing. To prevent him from freezing, we took him into the house.”

The little nudist “went out” of the house only in Galina«s bosom and only to go to the farm — to drink milk from the foster mother rabbit.

“Baby rabbits undergo several molts as they grow. After the first molt, Dobby was bald until three months. Then from three to seven months, he had fur, but it didn«t cover his whole body, only his back, like a fur vest, you could say. The last molt in rabbits happens before adulthood — from seven to ten months. During this period, Dobby lost his fur and it never grew back at all,” explains the owner.

Initially, the Bazhaikins tried to find at least some mention of sphinx or skinny rabbits on the internet. Who knows — perhaps some “naked” gene from distant foreign ancestors sneaked into Dobby«s lineage? But a thorough search showed: there are no such breeds. Such a bald rabbit exists only here and in Australia. But the floppy-eared one on the distant continent has a bit of fur on its face, tail, and paws. Our unique one is completely naked.

“No one has registered a hairless breed of rabbits, no one even tried to breed it. So, you could say that we just had a miracle happen. The veterinarian when he saw it, said: ‘Maybe you«ll become famous,’” smiles the owner of the unique animal.

Galina pampers and cherishes her pet: indulges him with treats and bathes him with baby soap. In the Bazhaikin house, the rabbit has a separate room with a litter box, water bottle, and food bowl. The floor is covered with straw, and a special lamp maintains the necessary temperature.

“Dobby is comfortable at a temperature of +26 degrees Celsius (79°F), at +20 degrees Celsius (68°F) he freezes. His pink skin becomes white, he curls up into a ball and sits motionless. His ears are literally icy to the touch. Therefore, when I let the rabbit out of the warm room to run around the house, I dress him in little suits. In the wardrobe, there is custom-knitted clothing, outfits bought in stores for cats and dogs. But the rabbit is most comfortable in bodysuits that were left from my grandson,” says Galina.

The Bazhaikins« grandson and all the friends» children scatter with screams at the sight of the floppy-eared monster. Even teenagers reach out to pet and immediately pull their hands back in fear. But this doesn«t upset Dobby at all. The only one from whom he wants hugs and who he allows to handle him is Galina.

“He is our monster, but a gentle one. His skin is warm, velvety. He never scratches or bites. I sit on the sofa, call: ‘Bunny, come here.’ He understands and jumps on my lap, he would sit like that and not get down, just to be petted. Generally, Dobby«s intelligence is higher than that of other rabbits of his breed. He distinguishes my voice and responds specifically to it. If my husband, son, or daughter calls, he doesn»t react,” Bazhaikina is amazed by the abilities of the exclusive animal. “In the summer heat, we go out with him for a walk. Our house is at the end of the street and there«s a meadow nearby. He is without a leash. He follows me. He doesn»t lag behind more than two meters.”

Six months ago, Dobby became the father of three daughters at once. They were born to a rabbit of the White Pannon breed. From the union of a mother in a fur coat and a naked father, half-bald baby rabbits were born. Their faces, ears, paws, and tails are without fur, but their bodies are fluffy.

“Friends« children, when they saw them, said: ‘Oh, these are labubu!’ So it stuck, we call them labubusi. They really do resemble those toys. But they have their own names: Winky, Linky, and Tinky. In the Harry Potter books, the friend of the elf Dobby was called Winky. Well, and Linky and Tinky — we just named them for the rhyme,” explains Bazhaikina.

The last molt before sexual maturity hasn«t happened yet for the labubusi. So whether they will remain half-dressed like this, completely bald, or, on the contrary, fully grow fur, is unclear. 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 he will gnaw it right where it was placed. 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 one did the same. Now the third one, the smallest labubusya, carries treats in her teeth to avoid sharing with others. That is, they also learn from each other. I have never observed such a thing in rabbits at all. Imagine, they steal crackers, carrots, or even something untasty from each other, hide, and eat. For now, they live together with Dobby, and he doesn«t have such behavior. But their brains work like that.”

Recently, the rabbit that strolls around the village in his birthday suit became known even at the Moscow Scientific Research Institute of Fur Farming. They offered to buy him along with his family.

“I refused immediately, the conversation didn«t even get to the price. I myself am terribly interested to see what will happen next,” admits Galina.