English lops

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Whipple

Whipple

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2009
Messages
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Location
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
I wanted to breed rabbits years ago, but for purposes other than pets and show. Anyhow, this time I would love to get into English lops. I used to breed pet mice, I had some absolutely gorgeous creatures. Unfortunately they dont have that long of a lifespan.

Anyhow, I was thinking English Lops. I just can't get enough of those ears! So anyone wanna give me general info, pointers, ect?

Oh, and how would I go about finding animals suitable for breeding? Im so used to dogs and mice. Are rabbits registered? I notice lots of people breeds crosses. Are their certain health tests I should have done?
 
English lops are LARGE.... very cute, but eh, not something I'd get a child as a pet, but thats my opinion there.

And please don't cross breed rabbits.

The english need to be watched in the winter because of the ears.


I'll look up more info on the english. And if you have a location of where you're at, I'll give you some breeders (u.s.) they were something I was very very interested in a few years ago, and I've still got al ot of contacts, or websites I'll be glad to send you



edit, and i just saw other then pets and show... so ignore my first sentence lol
 
Hmm, maybe Ill rethink E Lops for now. I only have a 2 bedroom apartment. I just love those ears though!

Is there a smaller breed with huge ears? I see mini lops and whatnot but their ears just look....small.

Do harliquins come with lp ears at all?
 
Agree with Crystal, my ELop is huge and we can only fit one in our 2-bedroom apartment. She has a whole bathroom to herself as she needs a lot of room to move around. They are also incredibly formidable jumpers.

I would say they would be good for a well-behaved older child. They have a nice temperament, but their ears are incredibly fragile and they don't favor being picked up, but coming to you when they are ready to lay down.

What about French Lops? They have fairly formidable ears. I loved my Holland Lops! They had a very sweet, timid personality that I really adored and they didn't get big at all. I always found them quite endearing, they look like little floppy-eared dogs. :hearts

Why don't you check out ARBA's Breed Page?
 
there are harlequin colored lops...but in an apartment i would look into smaller breeds
 
SilverBirchRabbitry wrote:
What do you want to use them for ?
Click to expand...

:yeahthat:

If you're not going to use them for show or pet, then what are you going to use tem for?

Breeding rabbits in an apartment is going to be pretty tricky. First of all, will your manager/landlord allow you to get rabbits and breed them? Secondly, you're going to need a lot of space to house the parents, and then any future babies. ;)

I think the breed of rabbit really depends on what you're wanting to do with them. You said you're not going to use them for show/pet so what will you use them for? Lops aren't a meat breed, so if that's what you're looking for, lops probably aren't the best choice. ;) And meat breeds are really large, so once again it goes back to the fact you live in an apartment with minimal space. ;)

Emily
 
Whipple wrote:
I wanted to breed rabbits years ago, but for purposes other than pets and show. Anyhow, this time I would love to get into English lops.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I should've clarified. I want to get a rabbit to show and possibly breed. Years ago I was planning on breeding meat rabbits, but that was then. I would never eat a pet rabbit. (Actually I dont eat rabbit anyhow, it was just a thought as we lived on a farm and wanted to raise rabbits since we didnt have enough room for anything bigger)

Ok, so I guess E lops are out of the question for now. I will keep searching.

Thanks everyone for your input.
 
Look into the new velveteen lops. They're smaller, and have large ears. Whoever said french lops, they're even BIGGER then the Elops.

Honestly, I dunno if I'd try to show rabbits, that are just kept in the house. You're really not having the space needed to further help to acheive great show stock and improve the breed. And the constant in and outside I don't personally think is the greatest idea with rabbits.

and having a buck that is used for breeding, thatrs in the house, you're taking a HUGE chance of him constantly marking his territory. Which is such a horrid smell.
 
To be honest, it doesn't sound like you have enough space to raise rabbits. Mature rabbits do smell pretty bad, would your landlord be happy with that? Have you got a room you could dedicate totally to the rabbits, where there is no noise? Does need a peaceful place to raise their babies, loud noise can stress out some does. It takes a lot of work to breed good animals that will win in shows, so just having one, two or even three rabbits is not going to be enough unless you are lucky enough to find top notch rabbits.

What about all the kits? They will all need to be separated when they reach about ten weeks, and the whole point of breeding is to put two good quality rabbits together to try and create even better ones, so to be successful you do need to keep some kits, and sell others.

With kits and parents, you often will have at least 10+ rabbits, which, mostly, will all need their own cages.

So, ten rabbits and ten cages, if not more, in a small apartment?
 
Hmm, you've all given me something to think about. I don't plan on breeding anything until I move into a house, in March. Then I should have the room.

Would it still be reasonable to have a rabbit just to show? Or is it rather pointless if Im not going to breed right now? Oh, and how old can a buck be used until? What about a doe? Thanks for all the help!
 
Just one rabbit? eh, you could... But chances are you'll never really do that great. And you'll be at the table for about 20 seconds and wait hours and hours until show 2 or what not if it is a 2 or 3show event. I had one rabbit to show the other day. And it was fun, BUT I was no compition, and yeah I sat there for 10 hours of showing it seemed watching everyone else, and my rabbit was on the table for like 40 seconds and thats it. Not very fun in the end.

It depends on the health of your rabbits. Some people retire them early, or find better stock and move the old out. I used to have OLD OLD does because they were still extremely healthy, still producing large HEALTHY litters. But I didnt breed my does every time possible. I managed the number of litters they had a year. And its just all about the health of the rabbit, and the number of kits she produces and how they turn out.
 
The next show in the Edmonton area isWetaskiwin (Feb. 14/ 2010). Come out to the show and meet the different breeders and see what rabbits are been shown. There may be an English Lop or some French Lops at the show. Holland Lops and Polish do very well here.
 
in an apartment even a pair of V-Lops might be big. I've got a pair of them and the buck is 7 pounds the doe is 7.5 pounds, that's still a big bunny to keep a pair of them in an apartment and breed them. my doe's biggest litter was 5 kits. I've got photos of them if you want to see their ears. Just let me know, i've got four different ones to see pictures of.
PM me what ever!
 
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