Rabbit Poll, Please look :)

i have all the above and others,

i bread and kept rabbits for the last 25 years now

i voted LionHead

this is because i think they are lovly rabbits and a fairly new bread

I voted Holland Lop, though I've never had them. My mother has and encourages me to get them. She prefers them, because they are small and friendly, and oh-so-cute with their floppy ears!

I own Mini Lops and, though they are pleasant to raise, are not as good for pets as you might think. Mine are too large and scratchy to hold.

Still, I'm not sure what you're going for.

For show purposes, the ideal weight of a Holland Lop is about 3 pounds. The Mini Lop's ideal weight is 5 1/2 - 6 lbs, so yes, the Holland is much smaller. 

In my rabbitry, I have Holland Lops, Mini Rex, Netherland Dwarfs, Jersey Woolies, and Harlequins. While the personality of a rabbit is partly who its parents were, and partly how it was raised, I find that the HL's and MR's seem to be more likely to be friendly than the ND's. Don't get me wrong, I have had some really sweet Dwarf's over the years, but they frequently are a bit more hyper than the slightly larger breeds.

I'm sorry, but I have a long-established prejudice against Lionheads. The ones you see on the websites are adorable, I agree, but IME the vast majority don't look like that. As has happened with a lot of breeds, the early popularity has vastly outpaced the ability to breed quality, so an awful lot of people are breeding poor quality animals because that's all they can get (or they don't know/don't care what the breed should really look like). Perhaps it's the local breeder(s), but 9 times out of 10, when I get a call from someone who has a rabbit with a health problem, the sick rabbit is a Lionhead. (Most of the local vets don't see rabbits; those that do charge an arm and a leg. Breeders and the rabbit rescue group field quite a few calls from people who don't know what else to do). Other people have told me they don't have that problem, IDK. If you have a source for quality stock of sound health, great, but don't get suckered into buying something just because "it's a Lionhead!" or whatever. 

My advice would be, do your research first. Figure out what your market is, and what is available. Get to know people who have the breeds you are looking into, and pick their brains on what breeds or even bloodlines will work for you. I have a friend that breeds nothing but fall-out-in-your-arms friendly rabbits of 4 different breeds. Anything of hers that isn't show quality still makes a quality pet; just saying an animal comes from her lines carries weight with breeders in this state!

Quote:

Originally Posted by chloezoebob101 

 

 

I thought that the mini lops were smaller than the holland lops. shows how much i know. 

What do you mean by 'scratchy to hold'? is it their nails, or fur?

We are breeding them to sell for pets. :)

I meant their nails are scratchy -- their fur is normal and soft. And yes, the Mini Lops are bigger.

I've heard that although Holland Lops are sweet and friendly, they are also active and don't really like to be hugged; so it sounds like they would not be a good pet for a very small child, though they may well be good house rabbits.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chloezoebob101 

@Dutch- aren't you supposed to clip their nails? I clip all of ours weekly, and their nails do not scratch. 

There's no way I could possibly clip their nails without having my arms bleeding all over and some terrified rabbits. Unfortunately, I don't think my rabbits were handled well by their previous owners.