Anyone working on mini rex X holland lops?

[mommaofmany]

I know velveteen lops are English Lops and rexes, but is there a small version?

Would it be bad for my does ( like with dogs they often aren't considered purebred once they breed with a different.......breed. lol)

 

[MamaMandy]

I believe someone has done this and calls it the Plush Lop. I've not seen any available around here though, so I don't know where you'd go about getting them but you can google it!

No, your does would be fine.

 

[mommaofmany]

I have mini rex and holland lops and I considering breeding them, but I don't know what that would do for me ya know? lol

 

[MamaMandy]

I believe it would take a few generations to get it right. The gene for rex fur is recessive and so is the lop gene! If you have the time and space for a project like that I'd say go for it! I think they would make a great breed.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I have been working on "Leonis Rex"- maned, Rex furred rabbits. They are probably a bit large to ever sell well in the pet market, so are just a fun little side project for me.

I am trying to get my F2 doe bred to my F2 buck. He has the mane and Rex fur, but she has a mane and the LH fur.

The project does eat up some space, but my turnover is pretty quick. I still have my F1 doe Queen, but we ate the F1 buck.

Queen just had her second litter yesterday and I am hoping for a DM Rex doe out of her.

You could probably sell yours easily as pets, but if not, do you have a contingency plan? Since I raise rabbits primarily for meat, there is always somewhere for them to go. :dinner:

 

[skysthelimit]

That's what I was going to ask.As long as you have space, are good with keeping up with the crosses, and have an outlet for the ones that aren't needed, have fun.

(no dogs are still considered pure bred even if they have mixed bred litters. It doesn't affect their genetics to be bred to a different breed, only the pup aren't pure bred).

 

[Birds Buns N Bees]

As mentioned, there was a project that some breeders were working on several years ago, which people called Mini Plush Lops (or just Plush Lops), which basically amounted to a small Mini lop or a Holland lop with Rex fur. The ARBA stated clearly that such a breed would not ever be eligible for acceptance by the organization, because adding Rex fur to a Holland or Mini lop is not enough to make a unique new breed. In order to possibly gain acceptance as a breed by the ARBA, the new breed would have to have some other feature(s) in addition to the Rex fur to differentiate it from Holland or Mini lops; a different body type, for example.

For that reason, I think a lot of the interest in developing the Mini Plush Lop faded. Certainly to me, it would be harder to justify spending a lot of time and effort creating a new breed if there's no hope of it ever being accepted by the ARBA.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

If you are just interested in a unique rabbit for the pet market, and no plans to get really serious with show rabbits, I say go ahead with it. With a caveat that applies to ANY rabbit bred... what if you can't find pet homes for all of them? Are you comfortable with the idea of selling them for snake food or to raw feeders, or eating them yourself?

In the first few generations you are going to have a lot of rabbits with poor crowns and random ear sets. You wont get Rex fur until your F2 generation, but once you have two Rexed rabbits you will continue to get Rex fur. It wont be the best quality at first- my buck has long guard hairs that stick up- but it is recognizably Rex. Just poor quality Rex, lol!

I think the ears (crown) will be your biggest challenge, because Rex and Lops have very different head shapes.

Certainly to me, it would be harder to justify spending a lot of time and effort creating a new breed if there's no hope of it ever being accepted by the ARBA.

That is a valid point, but not one that worries me personally at this time. In my case, my main reason for raising rabbits is for meat for my family. My Leonis Rex just come in fancy packaging! :mrgreen:

I can see at some point as I get more serious with my show rabbits scrapping the project due to cage space, and pure economics. Top of the line show rabbits sell for significantly more money than pet quality, and it costs the same amount of money to raise them.

Once my purebred lines are to the point that I can ask $200- $300 per head (which is not unheard of, especially at Convention and other big shows), the Leonis Rex project will be a significant loss of resources, even though they occupy only three holes currently. As BBnBees mentioned, they will never be anything more than a novelty rabbit that has no hope of becoming a recognized breed.

That said, the pure fun of my Leonis Rex project trumps economics, at least for now.

 

[skysthelimit]

I can see at some point as I get more serious with my show rabbits scrapping the project due to cage space, and pure economics. Top of the line show rabbits sell for significantly more money than pet quality, and it costs the same amount of money to raise them.

Once my purebred lines are to the point that I can ask $200- $300 per head (which is not unheard of, especially at Convention and other big shows), the Leonis Rex project will be a significant loss of resources, even though they occupy only three holes currently. As BBnBees mentioned, they will never be anything more than a novelty rabbit that has no hope of becoming a recognized breed.

That said, the pure fun of my Leonis Rex project trumps economics, at least for now.

Interestingly, that pretty much still applies to breeding purebred rabbits. I had Mini Rex and hollands with the Rex before the other breeds. Hollands take a lot of work, and even with the nice stock I had, I could not get consistent crowns and half the does would not have live litters. Mini rex are super competitive on the table. As the Rex program grew, and the Jersey Woolies took center stage, both the hollands and MR projects went out the door. They were a waste of resources compared to the other breeds. Hollands sold as pets, but pets aren't my goal, and one well bred Rex, SF or Angora would be worth three pet hollands.

 

[ChildLostInChina]

I have mini rex and holland lops and I considering breeding them, but I don't know what that would do for me ya know? lol

I have a male mini rexi (brown) and got him to breed with my holland lop and mini lop mix female (white and brindle). She made 4 browns with slightly brindle. And 5 white with brindle coloring. Half of them are mini lops ears and the other half are up ears. Cutest bunnies you can breed.

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

I saw a "Plush Lop" at a rabbit show over the weekend. Are those just lops with Rex fur?

 

[jaxmarblebuns]

I saw a "Plush Lop" at a rabbit show over the weekend. Are those just lops with Rex fur?

The "plush lop" specifically is supposed to look like Holland Lops with Rex coats, this is most often achieved by crossing Mini Rex and Holland Lop lines. This breed is not in the ARBA standard or working standard.

The "valentine lop" is supposed to look like an English Lop with Rex fur, this is most often achieved be crossing an English Lop with a Rex. This breed is not in the ARBA standard but is in the working standard (and is extreamly close to being recognized ).

 

[Alaska Satin]

The "plush lop" specifically is supposed to look like Holland Lops with Rex coats, this is most often achieved by crossing Mini Rex and Holland Lop lines. This breed is not in the ARBA standard or working standard.

The "valentine lop" is supposed to look like an English Lop with Rex fur, this is most often achieved be crossing an English Lop with a Rex. This breed is not in the ARBA standard but is in the working standard (and is extreamly close to being recognized ).

I think you mean the Velveteen Lop, though they're so sweet that might make a great name for them too... I can imagine those long ears curved into a heart shape around their face...

Anyway, they're similar to an English Lop with its mandolin body type but not nearly as big (Velveteen = 5-7lbs, English =10lbs and over). Velveteen ears are minimum 14 inches in length from tip to tip for seniors, while English Lops must all have an ear span of 21 inches across, minimum.

Here's a link to the ARBA Velveteen Lop working standard:
https://arba.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/VelveteenLop.pdf

As for the Plush Lop, you're right, there's no ARBA COD out on them, but there are breeders working on them pretty seriously, both a mini and a standard size, in Europe, Australia, Canada and the US. The mini is not exactly a rexed Holland, though. Devie D’Anniballe of Ohio started developing the breed in the mid-1990's, including importing European Plush Lops from Luxembourg.

Here's some more information from https://www.elliesrabbitry.com/about-mini-plush-lops:

Mini Plush Lops are not simply a cross between a Mini Rex and Holland Lop like many believe, a true Mini Plush Lop has a total of 4 combined breeds including one of the smallest rabbit breeds, the Netherland Dwarf. The Mini Plush lop got its small size from D’Anniballe introducing some high-quality Netherland Dwarfs dozens of generations back when the breed was in its first stages of development. Carefully planned percentages of three other breeds were selectively bred over a 12-year period of time from only the highest quality stock of each breed to inherit their small size, plush velvet coat, floppy ears and laid back and friendly personality.

 

[tambayo]

Floppy eared rex coat dwarf/mini rabbits are plenty around here. I need to really weed out the offers on the marketsite for solid, big in the size dwarf/mini rex with Normal! ears. Problem when liking a breed that is also popular for the pet market.
And not a fan of things that make birthing risky, after all there is nothing that we can do if the doe can't get the kits out other than cull. And wide heads is one of those risks. Sometimes i wonder if humanity will ever learn to not select for bodyconfirmation that hampers the animal. Distinctly different breeds are one thing, but if they come with problems/risks?

 

[MsTemeraire]

Plush Lops are a recognised breed in Australia and the UK.