New Baby E-Lop Need to Knows

Finally I'm gonna get my own bun! His name is Barry Blue (not Barry White) and he's a Blue, will be 8 week old E-Lop next week when I pick him up. His personality is already so delightful. I'm so excited. My intention was to rescue, and I do still plan to rescue after I have him neutered, because I truly believe in bunny love company. I'm just smitten with the little man and I'm geeked completely out!

I have questions though from those with E-Lop experience. I've only experienced my grand-bun, a Holland Lop. Bun Jovi. She belongs to my son who lives a whole mile away.

#1 We gave Jovi Alfalfa hay for her first year as was suggested. Is this ok for an E-Lop which is a much larger, shorter lived bun?

#2 Because he's larger and male, when is the best time to have him neutered? Jovi was close to a year before her spay.

#3 He's only been eating a little clover and barn hay with pellets. How should I introduce to him a better hay without upsetting his tums? Which green should I give him first in small quantities? Parsley? He comes from a breeder so he's not near as spoiled yet as a house bun should be, but because he's going to be a big boy, I don't want to make him overweight.

#4 Up until I take him home, he's lived outside in a wire cage with his siblings with occasional play time out. He's a fast little booger and a climber! He will be a 100% house bun and of course he'll have outside play time. I have a large room for him, with a condo and base board guards lol.

I want nothing but the best for this little stinker. I want him healthy and long lived. I'm not familiar with male buns or E-Lops. I'm not familiar with any house bun but my grand girl Holland Lop Bun Jovi, so I'm reaching out to those of you who are.

Oh my gosh, he's adorable! I love elops giant ears! I can't wait to see more pics of your boy.

He is the cutest thing! Ahhhh! Now I want a blue elop!

Alfalfa hay will be fine as long as he's growing. Once his growth slows down, you can transition him to timothy. Hopefully you can get some of his previous hay and food from the breeder, so you can transition him onto alfalfa hay slowly! Alfalfa cannot be rushed into previously non-alfalfa diets. I wouldn't give him greens until you've got him eating only alfalfa hay with no problems. Always change foods one at a time, so if he gets bad poos you can pinpoint the problem food.

Males can be neutered anytime after the testicles drop. Unlike spays, neuters are less complicated and invasive - as long as the vet can locate his testicles, they can be removed no problem. From 3 months onward you can check for visible testicles, and book him in to be fixed once you see them.

What a cutie! He's the same color as one of my E-Lops, Inara.



I have 3 E-Lops and really you can feed them like any other bunny. I've had two of them since they were babies. I fed them Oxbow Young Rabbit, unlimited until they were 6 months old at which point I started slowly limiting pellets and switching them to an adult formula. I offered alfalfa hay at first but combined with the pellets it didn't agree with them/was too rich. They've been eating Orchard hay since they were about 13 weeks old. You generally don't have to worry about switching hay causing tummy upset.

Most any green can be their first veggie. I've always started with herbs because they're fragrant and enticing. I think all my bunnies started with cilantro/coriander.

The biggest differences I've noticed between taking care of an E-Lop vs a non-E-Lop is ear and nail care. You want to make sure to be vigilant about clipping their nails because it's easy for them to scratch up their own ears when they get too long. You also want to check their ears for wax build up/general dirtyness because they can't clean in there as well as shorter eared buns. I would suggest having your vet show you how to clean them when you take your bun in for it's first well visit so you can be comfortable doing it on your own.

Hope some of that helped!

Awww so cute

Thank you BunnyWabbit! Yes that does help. I've read about extra special nail care and ear care, so it would be a good idea to have him used to having his feets handled often and early. That's a great reminder for me. Inaru is beautibun! I love my blue critters. I have a blue cat, blue chickens and very soon a blue elop. now I need a blue mini pony and my critter collection will be complete! I kid lol I'm actually forfeiting my dire need for alpacas and the promise of horses just for this blue bunny. I can't wait to get my little Blue Barry's blog started.