Quick Question about Lops

[Mikoli]

Hi,

I wasn't sure where to put this, so moderators may move this if it isn't the correct place. When people talk about lops of any kind as a showing animal, they talk about the rabbit having no ear control. As far as I know, this means that the rabbit's ears basically lop, because the rabbit cannot move it's ears or hold them up. Basically the rabbit shouldn't be able to do much with it's ears.

But, my question is, is the rabbit able to move it's ears slightly? My rabbit Ollie is a mixed bred Dwarf Lop type, and his ears are lopped, yet he still does have some amount of control over them. He isn't able to hold them up straight, but he can lift them to almost horizontal, about a 60 degree angle or so. Is this normal for a lopped rabbit, or does he still have 'ear control'?

Either way, it doesn't really matter, since he's a mixed bred and I don't plan on showing him, but I was just wondering about how much is allowed.

Below is a picture of Ollie with his ears slightly up. He can pull them up a bit higher than this, but this is all I have in a picture. You'll have to click on the link, since the image is a little big and I don't want to stretch the board.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c41/mikoli1201/Ollie/SitinFront.jpg

Thank you,
Rachel.

 

[XxMontanaxX]

Macey is a holland lop, she can move her ears forward when she's listening, but not up. So she has some control of them.

 

[clarzoo]

Yes, even lops have some control over their ears. They are able to rotate them from the base, which will move them forwards or backwards. The smaller lop breed (fuzzies and hollands) usually have at least some ability to lift them up a bit- and the judges allow for this on the show table. But breeders usually refer to 'ear control' when a lop rabbit has a greater amount of control and the ears lift up from the body. The less ear control, the better. Ear control is based on the width and placement of the rabbits crown.

Here are some pictures of littermate fuzzy lops of mine:

Mokey has no ear control:

Wimbley, when relaxed holds his ears nicely, but when excited (like in the pic), shows a bit of ear control:

 

[hopntailrabbitry]

I'm probably wrong about this, which everybody sometimes corrects me on Holland Lops anyways, but in my own opinion. Well anyways, I have 2 Holland Lops who have ear control and it is kinda really bad to where the point is of course I can't show them but however there ears are also up mine have never gone down.

Your rabbit is kinda of a different story I don't think they will go down fully because your bunny is a mix.

But for my 2 mine will never go down. And since I have the rabbits with ear control I have to breed them to a rabbit who has good ears and crown. But don't forget about the other standards to you know. hehe

Well who knows if I was right about that anyways but someone will probably correct me on that anyways. I was just trying my best to see if that is right, because all I know my 2 haven't gone down at all. The only time when there ears were fully down was when they were 2 months old and they went back up and never came down after that.

 

[clarzoo]

You are right. Ear control can be so severe that the ears stand straight up. Once a rabbit is a few months old, if the ears are still up, it is unlikely that they will ever go down. Crown in lops seems to be highly inheritable, so it is best to be careful when breeding rabbits with less than ideal crown and ears into your herd. Like you said- you wouldn't breed two rabbits together with tight crowns.

 

[JadeIcing]

Where is Gobo?:grumpy:

Dallas has no control.

 

[clarzoo]

No Gobo pics here But.... I did get some new ones last night! I will try to get them up this evening. :biggrin2:You won't recognize her, she's all grown up. Still super cute, though!

 

[Mikoli]

Thank you everyone. I'm beginning to understand the whole concept of 'ear control' now. Ollie probably wouldn't meet any standards anyway, since he's probably a mixed bred. He's pet store rabbit, so you never know. We bought him as a dwarf, and that obviously didn't work out.

Wimbley is gorgeous by the way. :hearts

Rachel.

 

[Celestial Wind]

Welp if your bunn is a Holland Lop I belive Hollands are Dwarfs (Please correct me if I am wrong) cause they can have peanuts.

 

[Mikoli]

Celestial Wind wrote:

Welp if your bunn is a Holland Lop I belive Hollands are Dwarfs (Please correct me if I am wrong) cause they can have peanuts.

No, I think you misunderstood me. I bought him from the pet store as a dwarf, like a Netherland Dwarf sort of type, not a lop at all. His type is closest to that of a UK Dwarf Lop.

Rachel.

 

[tundrakatiebean]

There was a bun on here named Georgie (haven't seen him in a while...) who first had two uppity ears, then one lop one up and then both lopped. I don't remember if he was a specific breed or a mix, but I think maybe it's just the muscles around the ears are able to move, but in a less exagerated fashion than uppity ears...

This is a good question!