Another ear topic...

[Pekoe]

Hi everyone...hoping there are some lop breeders that are willing to answer my questions =).

I have a Holland Lop named Merlin. His ears aren't lopped... I don't think they will now, since he's two years old, but is there any chance? It doesn't matter too much to me, as he is a lovely rabbit anyways. I do love lop ears, though.

Both of his parents had nice crowns and lopped ears. How much of this is environmental, and how much is genetic? I would assume most of it would be genetic?

Also if I were ever to breed him, would breeding him to a doe with a good crown be enough to offset that feature of his?

Thanks in advance for any replies! This is my first topic on RO, and I'm loving the forum so far. Everybody is very friendly and respectful... that's hard to find in some places.

 

[murph72]

I used to have a Lionhead named Merlin.

You sound like you did a pretty good self-assessment of Merlin's ear carriage. Most likely he has a "pinched crown." If his crown is pinched enough his ears will likely never lop. If this were the winter, I'd say that it could be due to cold weather and ask to see a picture, but since we're in warm weather, it's been two years, and Merlin's still having ear control, I'd guess it's likely your assessment of his crown is correct.

The cold weather will sometimes cause bunnies' ears to stand up...even ones that were lopped a bit before that. However, it sounds like your Merlin just inherited his erect ear carriage.

If you were to breed Merlin to a doe that has a nice crown, you will find some of the babies will take after her and some will take after him. We usually do breed to "correct the faults" of our rabbits, so breeding for a better crown would be a good thing...however, not all the babies will necessarily get the better crown. Breeders then pick through the litter and keep the ones with the better traits for showing or breeding and would sell the ones with the narrower crowns as pets.

Hope that helps. By the way, I once had a mini lop who was a "half a lop" One ear was always down, while the other one fell precariously forward. Yes, she was not show worthy, but boy was she ever the best pet you'd ever want. And her ears, I think they just helped show off her personality. :biggrin2:

 

[Pekoe]

Thanks so much for the advice! Your mini lop sounds adorable... I suppose I'm lucky I didn't buy Merlin as a show bunny.

 

[Blaze_Amita]

I have a holland lop doe and though we haven't figured out where that ear carriage came from, we call her ears helicopter ears! We've tried to weight them down and everything, but nothing works. her father hasa good wide crown and longer ears than most hollands(I've met his parents they were the same way too) and her mother was just a 'run of the mill' doe that wasn't perfect but wasn't bad at the same time. Angie was the only baby from her mother who's ears didn't completely flop. Got to be something behind her.
If you do bred with him, just watch the babies, I try to encourage my lop's ears down once they reach two weeks and so far(Since Angie's litter) it has worked on helping them keep them down. Even the shorter ones,, but he's already two, and with Angie, I gave up trying to keep her ears down(Great type otherwise according to a judge!)
Nice assemsment though. Poor baby a very funkay looking loving bunny I'll bet.

 

[Karlie]

If you do breed him breed him to a doe with a nice wide crown and that should help to lop most of the babies. What Murph72 said about the pinched crown sounds correct.
He sounds very cute though,

Good luck with his ears!
Karlie

 

[Pekoe]

Thanks for the advice, Blaze_Amita. That is an interesting idea about weighing down the ears... I've heard of that in dogs. I have an Australian Shepherd and sometimes their ears, which are supposed to flop at the tip stand straight up!
How would I go about weighing those wayward ears down if I breed a doe to him? Pennies?

Karlie - thank you, I will definitely be looking for a doe with a wide crown when I get one (hopefully soon).

 

[Blaze_Amita]

We used quarters, 50 cents in each ear as she got older, but I think the smallest we used was a nickel. I can't remember terribly well. I know we didn't use pennies because they weren't heavy enough. Little bit of super glue since that cna be more easily removed without damaging skin or fur and good to go!

WIth the babies, as soon as mommy lets you and I waited until they were hopping around on their own too(Skye isn't known for her friendliest behavior) I would hold their ears against their heads for a minute, or longer if they let me once a day and so far that seems to have helped all my other babies with slightly shorter, more acceptable ears.

 

[Pekoe]

Thanks for the info. I have it filed away for later! =)

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

What?! Why in the world would you try to weigh down a rabbit's ears? That would only cause unnecessary stress on the rabbit.

Weighing down ears will not do anything for the ears. Ear placement depends completely on the structure and placement of the crown, which is the area between the ears.

In Holland Lops, the crown should sit on the very top of the head so that the ears fall directly behind the eye. Slipped crowns are a common problem and occur when the crown sits back further on the head and there is space between the eye and where the ear falls. Slipped crowns can cause the ear to fold.

A good crown will also have nice width. A crown that is too narrow is what causes helicopter ears. Trying to weigh down the ears doesn't make sense at all, because the crown is structurally faulted and determines whether or not the ears will lop. A rabbit with a wider crown will have the lopped ears.

Pekoe, please do not listen to anyone who tells you to try to alter your animals in this way. First of all, it will not work. And any knowledgable breeder will tell you the same. Rather than trying to alter the rabbits, it is always better to invest in quality breeding stock. You want to invest in the nicest breeding pair or trio you can find. One with nice width and depth to the crown, as well a correct crown placement. This will help you improve right off the bat and start breeding correct crowns into your rabbits. If you do this, you won't have to waste time trying to alter them.