Questions about English Lops!

[Seras]

Well I have the time/space/and money for 4 rabbits and 4 only. I finnally decided if i ever ever get another rabbit that 4th rabbit I wanted a English Lop. I Love LOPS! and ive always loved the long ears on the English. This weekend I will be picking her up. Her color is a surprise it will be one of the 4: Opal, Broken Opal, Cream, Broken Cream. If anyone has pics of elops it these colors id love to see them. Well I just have a couple of questions.

1. How do I clean her ears?

2. What size cage doesshe need full grown?

3. Is she big enough when full grown to be bonded with my flemish?

4. How are their personality tipically? CouldIfree-roam train hereasily?

If anyone has any advice on this breed i would love to hear it.

Thanks!

 

[loppalove]

Hi, i just started raising elops, but will take a stab at your questions:

In my very humble opionion...the Elops have the most amazing personalities. They are very goofy for the most part and have a very "aloof" kind of attitude. Especially since you are getting one as a baby. I mean each individual can vary of course, but in general they are known to be almost "dog-like" in their demeanor, much like your flemmish most likely.

Mine are all rotated inside the house, within a dog style x-pen, that has a litter box in it, and each one seems to know naturally where to eliminate, so as far as litter training, it has been easy in my experience. However, they will mark once they are older, so be aware of this if you arent planning on spaying/neutering. I would advise fixing your bunny if you just want it for the purposes of a pet, and also if you have another bun that you want yours bonded to.

As far as the size with regard to your flemmie, Elops should be in the 9-10 pound range, so it will be smaller than your flemish, but large enough that the two should be fine together in terms of size.

As far as ears are concerned, you can use baby oil with a cotton ball to remove excess build up, but for the most part (other than mites--YUCK) their ears do not need anymore cleaning than the next bun. They are prone to scratching their ears though, while they walk and move around (their giant ears drag on the ground behind them and get walked on) so be careful to keep their nails trimmed.

I hope this helps Congrats on your bunny. inkelepht:

 

[katt]

1. How do I clean her ears?

no different then any other rabbit, they generally take care of their own ears. you just need to make sure that you check them over weekly for any cuts. keep her nails cut so that she can't snag her own ears. and i have found it best to keep a water bottle with english lops instead of a bowl as that way they can't get their ears wet

2. What size cage doesshe need full grown?

well, herman (my old english lop) was bonded with a mini lop and their cage was made out of NIC panels, i kept it 2 deep, 3 wide, and 3 levels high and that was lots of room for them as they weren't caged very much

3. Is she big enough when full grown to be bonded with my flemish?

oh yeah, that wouldn't be an issue at all. EL's will be around 10 pounds as an adult

4. How are their personality tipically? CouldIfree-roam train hereasily?

clowns. that's the best way to describe them. it will be up to the rabbit on how easily she is trained. in my past experiance with the breed they like to look for trouble, so just expect to find some wacky things happy with an english lop around. you will NEVER be short on funny bunny stories with one.

 

[TinysMom]

I've had lionheads at 3 pounds bonded to flemmies...so I don't think size will matter- personality is what matters.

 

[Seras]

Yea but i wouldl like them to be around the same size to be safe.

 

[TinysMom]

Seras wrote:

Yea but i wouldl like them to be around the same size to be safe.

That was what I wanted when I adopted a french lop to be friend with my first flemish giant...

They HATED each other - both of them hated the other one - and I never could make it work out.

But Tiny (and Zeus) loved the smaller girls and got along just fine with them...its like they loved having someone smaller to cuddle with.

 

[wabbitmom12]

TinysMom wrote:

But Tiny (and Zeus) loved the smaller girls and got along just fine with them...its like they loved having someone smaller to cuddle with.

Personally, I think both of those big boys are/were a couple of Casanovas! (Helllooo, lay-deez!!!)

 

[Seras]

Lol well if they dont bond not matter how much i try i can keep them seperated. I also have Sally who i can try to bond with him later on. Jack is extremely agressive towards other animals even with sally through his cage and for all rabbits safety i am going to keep him a single. He has even started to attack me. I would feel comfortable trying to bond him if he doesnt imrpove. Sally and Zues have very mellow attitudes. I have to also see the Elops attitude when she arrives.

 

[TinysMom]

wabbitmom12 wrote:

TinysMom wrote:

But Tiny (and Zeus) loved the smaller girls and got along just fine with them...its like they loved having someone smaller to cuddle with.

Personally, I think both of those big boys are/were a couple of Casanovas! (Helllooo, lay-deez!!!)

Oh yeah....and I think Mercury is following in the same footsteps.....he tries to stand up on tippy toes so he can say hello to the lionhead girls in cages up above his level....he loves to stick his nose in their cage too now that he's bigger.

Fortunately - they seem to like him....but I've told him he has to stop that so he doesn't get bit and become non-showable.

Zeus actually seems happy to be doe-free as long as he has ME now...

 

[Seras]

My Zues is very happy but when he was being bonded to Hera he loved interaction with another bunny. Not once did i see him become agressive towards he even if she was towards him. He has seemed a little sad after Hera passed so while letting him heal and letting the Elop girl grow i will later try and bond them.

 

[wabbitmom12]

TinysMom wrote:

Zeus actually seems happy to be doe-free as long as he has ME now...

Yep...but I hope he doesn't start treating the object of his affection (you) like two of our bucks used to treat me. Mr. S'mores LOVED ME...and pooped on me constantly. Nobody else...just me. And Muffin Man did the other: He pee peed on me quite regularly. They were just saying, "Mom, I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU! YOU ARE MINE...AND I LOVE YOU!"

Art wouldn't like all of that in your bed.

Well, you wouldn't either.