Regarding cuddling, I think that’s different with every rabbit, no matter what breed they are. It sounds like Oreo is a bunny who doesn’t mind a bit of cuddling. About not reacting to noises as much, I have a lop and we noticed last year that he was not reacting to sound much at all, so we think that he may be deaf or partially deaf. I have seen some posts here from people who have lops and they have stated that their bunny is deaf.

Cuddling really varies from rabbit to rabbit – my holland lop *hates* cuddles, but my mini lop loves them. Neither like to be picked up, but my mini lop is in heaven if you will rub her head while she’s on the ground.

My mini lop is very sensitive to noise and always on alert, but my holland really isn’t and will even go up to the running vacuum cleaner. I have wondered if he’s partially deaf, though I know he can hear things to some extent. We actually get a ton of people with hollands asking if their bunny is deaf, so I think it’s either that they don’t mind noises, or that many of them are somewhat deaf.

Oreo sounds a bit like my Bandit. She’ll snuggle and cuddle so long as you’re on the ground, but she doesn’t like getting picked up. At all.

In regards to noises, maybe it’s “selective hearing’? Like when kids/teens hear only what they want to hear? Bandit seems tolerant of a lot of different noises. Where I live, people set off fireworks for anything ranging from opening a new store to getting married, and none of this bothers her, she actually tries to climb so she can see.

I’ve had several lops and I find they are more cuddly and easy going. Of course, each rabbit is an individual. This is just my experience. My lop, Bindi loves to cuddle and watch tv and will sit beside me for hours, as long as I’m petting him. Lops in general are more lazy.

Leopold is a Holland lop. He seems to tolerate being held fairly well, but I think it may only be because we bribe him with treats every time. We bribe Wooly too, but he doesn’t act in the same way. Leopold just gives up, I guess you could say, when you pick him up. He’s doesn’t struggle or try to get away. When he thinks you’ve held him for too long though, he will let you know by biting. Yes, he’s a biter.

As for the deaf thing, I think Holland lops have a higher rate of deafness than other rabbits. We are pretty certain that Leopold is deaf. At the very least, he has to be mostly deaf. We have tried just about everything noise-wise to get a reaction out of him. He will be dead asleep and he will not stir to even a really loud noise.

Someone on BB suggested we do the treat bag test with him. I removed Wooly from the room (since Leopold takes visual cues from him). Then I stood in the doorway and I held the treat bag up so it was behind the wall (a few inches over from the doorway). I crinkled the bag as loudly as I could. Leopold seemed oblivious. Wooly, on the other hand, heard me from the living room. He came down off the couch and came down the hallway to beg for a treat.