I got Felony from a woman who showed rabbits. She was closing up her rabbitry because she was moving and the place she was moving to didn’t have a space for all of them in her new home. She was rehoming as many as she could. Her show lionhead had just had a litter, and I saw her ad in the paper about rehoming. I got Felony when he was 4 weeks old. I can’t really tell you how they compare to other bunnies. I had a New Zealand white, but had to rehome her when I went to college. Felony isn’t very skittish, but he doesn’t really like new people. It takes him a while to warm up to them, and he gets a little pissy because he doesn’t like to share his woman, house keeping and cook (me) with anyone. He’s pretty lovey with me, and he’s really starting to warm up to my boyfriend. I really lucked up. Felony is an unaltered male, and I’ve never seen him hump anything, and he isn’t aggressive or territorial. I don’t know if this is a common trait with lionheads, but its how he is. Also….. the fur! I’m slightly allergic to him, and he molts 2 times a year, and dear lord….. The fur is awful!! Just a heads up if you might have some bunny allergies.

I got Yuuki from a breeder an hour from me, and I got Kibou from a breeder in Prince Edward Island, Canada. So one from New Brunswick and one from PEI.

The thing I have found with Lionheads is how god-darned SKITTISH they are. SO skittish. Kibou and Yuuki FREAK out at stuff my lops and the other buns don’t blink an eye at.

Otherwise, they shed out their baby fluff around 4-8 months and grow normal fur on their faces and backs, and then maintain the mane and skirt. I have found that Yuuki and Kibou tend to lose mane/grow mane randomly, so they never look quite the same.

I got Cotton from pet store  and Ruby from a breeder.   she is very very calm.    Cotton is very inquisitive.  HE only likes me.  HE is slowly getting curiuos about hubby.  Hubby hasn’t really tried to be friends with him.

Ruby is just so darn calm.   Cotton is very good when I take him places.  He is very affectionate with me only. Ruby loves to be petted too.  They just haven’t taken to Fouad.

I think Felony being the way he is is good breeding Like with Ruby.    They are very healthy  I love them they are so adorable.

I thought Ruby was an angora?

Turns out Ruby might be a Teddy/Wooly Lionhead. Is that right BT? Very cool!

There are actually lionheads in my local(ish) rabbit shelter… Maybe you could keep checking? If you don’t have to get a 2nd bun right this instant, you know shelters get their buns from bunny death-row, so one might turn up any time…

We got our lionhead “twins”, Keelie and Kylie, from the shelter too.

in some cases, it might be easier to bond a baby and adult INITIALLY, but once the baby reaches puberty, that bond can break very easily and then you are at square one again after the spay/neuter. i would recommend you try and adopt an altered, adult bun. the benefit to this is you can begin the bonding process right away, rather than having to wait weeks or months for the bun to get older and then be altered. also, you don’t incur the cost of speutering yourself, and you are saving two lives.

i wonder if you contact all of the rescues within a reasonable distance (in MY mind, up to 2 hours away) and tell them that you are looking for a lionhead, and if they can keep a note of your name and number/email. would you be okay with a mixed lionhead breed? the other issue comes in that it might not be a full-blooded lionhead, which you would probably need to go to a breeder to be sure of or if you want any kind of papers…

you say those babies are 12 weeks now?  that’s a tricky age b/c some of them may begin showing puberty behaviors as soon as this month.  on the plus side, if you got a boy (Tonks is a girl, right?) you could neuter at 3.5-4 months.

Well, I got my lionhead from a pet store, so that doesn’t help. I don’t recommend pet stores at all.  However I can say that my Winston is definitely a “one person” type rabbit.  I’m the only human he isn’t scared of.  He’s sweet but a bit skiddish now…from what I know smaller breeds tend to be more nervous, like little dogs.  He’s got such a cute and unique personality though that I love!

I’ve read that many lionheads are becomming inbred, because of their huge popularity.  I heard their tempraments and health are suffering because of this.  Possibly a mix wouldn’t be so bad?  If you happen to go with a breeder I would look into this. 

About 5 years ago I saw Lionhead bunnies at our petstore for $100 each- I am not kidding.  And they were not speutered.  So some rabbit fancier/breeder obviously brought them into the area when they were a lot more uncommon.  Now most pet stores only do adoptions and I see ads on the pet store bulletin boards and Craigslist for sometimes as low as $5 per baby bunny. 

So once they get into your area- backyard rabbit breeders seem to breed them pure and mix them with everything too.  It does not help that the county I am in Michigan is bordered by 2 “farming” type counties either.  Between that and 4H, my blood pressure raised every time I dare to look on Craigslist.

We have a lionhead at our shelter (the one who just had babies) We found her in a backyard

I got Kahlua from a breeder too, I could not find a shelter in driving distance (12 or less hours) that had one, and Dave said if we got a ‘second’ bunny it had to be a lionhead

Lionheads are very comical and easy to pick up and hold. Kahlua likes everybunny she meets, and she’s a cool cookie-I can take her on car rides and meet people and she just chills. I’ve taken her to work and in stores, (one small pet store I left her at the counter with the clerks while I shopped as a crowd drew when I walked in). She even lets my friend’s daughter pick her up and cuddle her. All those pluses….minus? She’s probably the dumbest rabbit I’ve ever met-ok slow might be a nicer term. She never figures anything out lol Aw well, she’s cute!

Ruby is a pedigreed lionhead.  However she turned out having 3 inch long hair all over her whole body.   She is a throwback.  The lionhead being a new breed they dont’ always come out like the show bunnies look on those show bunny websites.  Thats ok though.  I still love her since I had wanted an angora for so long but can’t find many in florida.   I have Ruby with her supermane.  Her breeder calls her a supermane and yes I have seen the term teddy bear lionhead on some sites once I started looking into it.  Someone had told me of it. 

Cotton is really cool about going places.  I have to bring a litterbox when we are gone for a couple of hours though.  He will hold it all day til he gets home and then he runs to his litterbox to go.  Not that I haven’t given him chances to go while we were out he just wants his litterbox.

I love them both.  Wouldn’t trade them for anything.

She looks like a jersey wooley except for the hair on her face. 

I haven’t met a ton of Lionheads but they are cute.

The first one I met was about 8 years ago when they first came out – I helped transport one from Kansas to a lady in Natchez, Mississippi – I met her in Shreveport and handed the little darling over. She also had a rescued Flemish Giant as well. This little Lionhead was from the shelter – he went to a great home. She had adopter her Flemmie from North Texas Rabbit Sanctuary when they did a big Flemmie rescue.

They do show up more and more often in shelters just like any other rabbit. I’ve seen angora’s, Flemmies, Jersey’s, you name it, they show up in shelters.