funinthesunwithbun
Member
Hello everybody! This forum came to me highly recommended by a fellow rabbitlover (hi minilops!)and I am glad I joined. My name isLuke and I am 25.
I have read a lot of the rabbit 101's but still have a few questions that I hope you can help me with, in particular from breeders/showers. I used to own dutch rabbits when I was younger and really enjoyed it, but had to change my lifestyle when I got married as my wife had a job that required constant travel. Now that we have parted ways and I have a settled lifestyle I would love to get back into the rabbit scene. I am living in New Zealand and would like to buy a young mini lop rabbit. They used to be called Holland lops here although I think the breed is partly different to the American type. It has longer ears and slightly different face but still very very similar. It has changed due to a lot of breeding in of dwarf lops, a very similar but longer faced breed. It did used to look more like American Hollands from what I have seen in older pictures.
Anyway, I have almost decided on a baby mini lop that hasn't even been born yet. the parents are pedigree and friendly, the dam is very small (1.2kg) and the buck is nice as well. When the litter is born what are some things I should look out for that would indicate good and bad points about the young? I would like to choose one that would appear to be small and with a good body shape, with good eyes and strong legs and willing to play. Is it difficult to tell any of this on a rabbit that is under 8 weeks old? Also how do I tell if the ears will hang nicely? Base it on standards for Hollands please if that is what you have experience of as I want a rabbit with a look as close to that as I can get. The breeder also has a doe she will be mating in the next month to the same buck but this doe is more compact and has a better face. Should I wait for that litter?
Thanks so much.
Edit: This is what a good mini lop adult face should look like.
I have read a lot of the rabbit 101's but still have a few questions that I hope you can help me with, in particular from breeders/showers. I used to own dutch rabbits when I was younger and really enjoyed it, but had to change my lifestyle when I got married as my wife had a job that required constant travel. Now that we have parted ways and I have a settled lifestyle I would love to get back into the rabbit scene. I am living in New Zealand and would like to buy a young mini lop rabbit. They used to be called Holland lops here although I think the breed is partly different to the American type. It has longer ears and slightly different face but still very very similar. It has changed due to a lot of breeding in of dwarf lops, a very similar but longer faced breed. It did used to look more like American Hollands from what I have seen in older pictures.
Anyway, I have almost decided on a baby mini lop that hasn't even been born yet. the parents are pedigree and friendly, the dam is very small (1.2kg) and the buck is nice as well. When the litter is born what are some things I should look out for that would indicate good and bad points about the young? I would like to choose one that would appear to be small and with a good body shape, with good eyes and strong legs and willing to play. Is it difficult to tell any of this on a rabbit that is under 8 weeks old? Also how do I tell if the ears will hang nicely? Base it on standards for Hollands please if that is what you have experience of as I want a rabbit with a look as close to that as I can get. The breeder also has a doe she will be mating in the next month to the same buck but this doe is more compact and has a better face. Should I wait for that litter?
Thanks so much.
Edit: This is what a good mini lop adult face should look like.
