English Lop Rabbits

[mikie3ars]

Hi. New to this forum and I'm hoping that someone can answer some questions for me. Or point me in the right direction.

My g/f and I are looking at getting an English Lop, but I have some general concerns. We would not be adopting a baby, but one that is trained already. I'm sure it differs from rabbit to rabbit, but how were they with furniture? Such as wooden coffee tables, chairs etc, do they chew on any of this? Electric cords, carpet?

We would be out of the house at work for 8 hrs a day. from 7am till 3-4 ish. Would making a pen for it be ok? Or keeping it in a specific room with the door closed, with a litter box and food?

Also any health concerns we should know about, such as they are prone to certain ailments or diseases? Do they need to be spayed / neutered if they are just house bunnys?

Thank you in advance. We are novices to this world and if we do this we want to do it properly.

 

[Dood]

Welcome to Rabbit Talk.

I'm sure it differs from rabbit to rabbit, but how were they with furniture? Such as wooden coffee tables, chairs etc, do they chew on any of this? Electric cords, carpet?

Each rabbit is unique and has their own personality. There can be generalizations made about breeds such as Satins are nasty and English Lops easy going but there are exceptions. All rabbits like to 'nibble' and are very good at it hence you should 'rabbit proof' your home as best as you can and ALWAYS supervise them when they are loose. My Netherland Dwarf loves to chew wires and has cost me over $300 in repairs and replacement cost - because she jumped up onto the kitchen counter and had a field day with all the appliances she also enjoys 'digging' through carpet and has mangled quite a few over the years.

We would be out of the house at work for 8 hrs a day. from 7am till 3-4 ish. Would making a pen for it be ok? Or keeping it in a specific room with the door closed, with a litter box and food?

your rabbit should be safely caged when you are not home. Drywall and wooden flooring are not reliable barriers to contain rabbits. As English Lops are quite big and pet store rabbit cages can be very expensive, I recommend an extra large wire dog cage (48 x 30 x 36) that has a partial second level to add extra room and give him plenty of toys to toss and chew to keep him entertained while your at work.

Also any health concerns we should know about, such as they are prone to certain ailments or diseases?

Rabbits are prone to upper respitory infections AKA snuffles and pasturella. Rabbits teeth grow continuously and they must wear them down by gnawing, sometimes they do not line up properly (called Malocclusion) and will grow into their tongue or roof of mouth so be sure your rabbit doesn't come with this problem.

Do they need to be spayed / neutered if they are just house bunnys?

It depends. I do recommend spaying or neutering, especially if you are new to rabbits. The procedure will make your pet easier to live with as bucks are less likey mark territory by spraying urine or become possessive of you or your girlfriend if they are neutered. Female rabbits can become VERY frustrated if not bred and have mood swings that can make them mildly grumpy to down right vicious once their hormones kick in.

I also recommend you get a buck. Even with spaying, female rabbits tend to be more aloof and less cuddly than males.

We would not be adopting a baby, but one that is trained already

Could you elaborate on what the rabbit will be trained for?

 

[mikie3ars]

Thank you for that info.

By trained, I mainly meant litter box trained. I don't know why I didn't type it.

Is there a network that people use to find breeders? I find none in the western NY area and few in Penn

 

[luvabunny]

Dood has done a good job in answering your questions in general.
I raise and show English lops and will try to pertain to specific issues.

English lops are a large breed of rabbit. I have tried keeping them in the house and even with daily cleaning, the urine smell can become quite strong. I have 2 dozen outdoors in an open air rabbitry and can still smell them occasionally.

English lop ears require some extra care. Mainly in that you need to keep the rear toenails cut so that they do not damage the ears. Cleaning is something that should be done on every rabbit. I've not found it more or less so with E-Lops.

As a general rule, E-lops have a fun, outgoing, enjoy-to-be-petted personality. They don't enjoy being held so much, probably due to their weight and size, but they will sit with you on the couch for petting. They seem to greatly enjoy being petted between the eyes, on the cheeks, and having their ears messed with.

Besides their ears, E-lops also have the longest tail of any rabbits. E-lop ears are measured tip to tip, across the top of their heads. To show, the minimum measurement is 21". Many reach 24" with a few getting to 28". They will normally reach an age of 7-10 years. Average show size is between 9-12 lbs. Adult brood does will generally be larger.

E-lops are klutzy and I wouldn't recommend shelves or such in their cage. They step on their ears quite regularly. Baby e-lops will literally fall down when turned loose for the first few times. They just don't know how to handle their ears.

E-lops also do the E-lop flop and the dead rabbit sleep. New owners are often horrified that their new bunny has passed out and died, when in reality, this is normal for this breed.

Try rabbitbreeder.us in looking for a breeder near you, but don't expect an already housebroken rabbit. Most breeders keep rabbits on wire and don't litter box train them.

I'm prejudiced, but I don't think there is a better pet rabbit than an E-lop.
Below is a picture of one of my up-and-coming show bucks.