False Nertherland Dwarf or?

[boogerbun]

Hey guys,

I got my bunny 8 weeks old back in November, he’s now almost 4 months old. I noticed over the nearly 2 months that we have had him that he’s gotten pretty big fast; I’m a new bunny owner and just curious of what you guys think!

He was sold to us as a Netherland dwarf, we went for this breed for size as we live in a smaller apartment (He’s free roam, we just wanted to look for a relatively small bunny since our app is roughly 600 square feet) He’s about grown twice his size as to when we first got him, and every day we are stunned by how big we are noticing that he is getting. I am assuming he’s a false just cause he doesn’t carry those typical “dwarf” characteristics that express when they’re a true.

My partner seems to think he is some sort of mix, he’s already about 15″ when he’s laying down from head to feet. We don’t own a pet scale though we are thinking he’s already about 2lbs-2.5lbs – We tried to do some research about false Netherland dwarfs and their prospect size however there is very limited insight on the matter.

So I went to people who know best (other bunny owners!) Does anyone here have a false nethie? How big did your bun get? Thank you in advance for all your insight!!

[Wick & Fable]

“Show standards” for Netherland dwarfs (which are arguably arbitrarily decided) clocks a nethie at max 2.5lb, though in reality some nethies can be larger due to natural genetics.

Weight aside, he does like look a mix– his snout is longer than what I expect from a nethie and the ears are also longer than expected. It is not unusual for people to advertise rabbits as Netherland Dwarfs since they tend to garner more interest as opposed to a “regular” rabbit.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[boogerbun]

Thank you & yes! He’s got a really boxy long snout 😆  Regardless he’s still super cute; The breeder I got him from also breeds New Zealand bunnies (for meat unfortunately) and the majority of the Netherland babies they are selling are majority white. Though, I don’t believe a black otter coat would be possible to achieve mixing those two breeds.. 😕

[RabbitMom2020]

SUPER adorable bun bun

Mango and Kiwi

[DanaNM]

Nothing add just wanted to say WOW what a beautiful bunny!

Also just to make you less worried about how large he’ll get, smaller buns don’t really need less space than larger ones (at least in terms of exercise space). My smaller bunnies have all been more active than my larger ones. 🙂

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[boogerbun]

Thank you! 🙂

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Hot damn, what a handsome little devil! Oh my, he’s already dressed for the opera and just needs a lady on his side. Does he enjoy Wagner by any chance? 😳 😉

He’s definitely a dwarf mix: we’ve had a false dwarf pureblood Nethie and we have 2 Nethie mixes now, and he looks like a mix. His ears aren’t the signature triangular shape, and the head isn’t round either.

Our bridge bunny Breintje was a pureblood Nethie, he just didn’t inherit the dwarf gene, making him a false dwarf. He weighed around 1,3 kg at adult age which is +/-300 g more than a true dwarf would weigh. A while ago there was a topic about typical Nethie traits, so I made a picture collage. False dwarfs can still have all of these, they’re just a bit larger and have a slightly longer body.

We have 2 mixed blood bunnies now, and it’s nice to see dwarf genetics at play here as well. Even though they’re mixes you can clearly see who inherited the gene: our girl Molly is a true dwarf at +/- 0,85 kg and our boy Owen is a false dwarf at +/- 1,2 kg. They both have rounded ears, much like your bunny has. They’re cute and small, but they don’t have that triangle shape and they stand out to the side of the head, which shows that at least one parent was not a Nethie. You can also see it in his face: even false dwarf Nethies have a round face with huge eyes. Both our buns’ heads aren’t rounded. Molly’s is quite small, but she still has a slight point to her nose.

Our super tiny girl Molly:

Our big hunk Owen:

 

So I’d say: No, not all Nethie, but yes all handsome! Hope this helps ^_^

[boogerbun]

Thank you so much! This was so informative~ 😀

Molly and Owen are beyond cute!! I actually completely agree not a Nethie at all – I ended up looking more into the breeder’s listing and I found some more bunnies (that are from the same mom and dad as our little Booger) and I came across a little baby listed as a Purebred Nertherland with the exact same markings as a Californian (some color and ruby eyes) and I noticed a lot of the babies are mostly all white with red eyes have black markings on their face or are otter 💡  makes me wonder hmmm

and though Booger is super small compared to a Californian he has the same bulky head as they do however he’s otter so I don’t know how the coat genetics would work there unless one parent is a mix and the other is a true nethie?

[DanaNM]

My understanding is that the otter coat color can be bred into a range of different breeds, but I’m not 100% on that!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Thank you, and you’re welcome ^_^

It’s likely that one of his parents is a Nethie, because of his small size. Besides pygmy rabbits there are few breeds that are below 1,5 kg, so there is some Nethie in there. It does happen that mixes don’t show much of one parent. Owen and Molly are definitely descended from a Nethie mother, but only Molly is showing that a little.

Black otter is an official colour for Nethies and Nethie mixes, so that’s not an issue I’d worry about.

It’s a shame that he was sold as a Netherland Dwarf, that’s false advertising. At least we knew that Owen and Molly were from a litter that didn’t get the genes that the breeder was aiming for. He was aiming for the rare cinnamon colouring that Breintje had.

Now that shows are cancelled some breeders do bloodline maintenance: exchanging rabbits with each other to prevent inbreeding. The breeder where Owen and Molly came from had just gotten a buck from a colleague in Germany. This buck was a Nethie mix, but it was more important to get some fresh genes than to produce full dwarfs. It’s beautiful to see how this club of hobby breeders loves the breed and tries to breed healthy and friendly rabbits ^_^ They also aim for a healthy weight and a healthy jawline instead of extremely flattened noses.

We’re glad that we found this good breeder, because I got a surprisingly nasty experience at local shelters. Breintje had been a solo rabbit because he had jealousy issues: he considered me his bonded mate and got very angry if I smelt like another rabbit. Lucky for him I’m home all day because of my disability, so he got almost continuous human attention.

We were looking to adopt after his death, so we asked the local shelters if they had any rabbits that would benefit from being a solo rabbit. If someone has the time to rehabilitate them, it’s us. We might have well have asked if they were nicely fattened for Christmas yet 🙁 They have the idea that no rabbit can be happy alone, and won’t see nuances. We just got angry “one rabbit is not a rabbit” lectures, and they didn’t even want to place rabbits who were born there behind bars :'(

It just goes to show that there are all sorts in this world: bad breeders, good breeders, bad shelters and good shelters. In the end it matters that you get the bun that’s right for your family 🙂

[Bladesmith]

Definitely a mix or false dwarf.  Still a handsome, handsome fellow.  This is what a full grown black otter Nethie looks like:

[Cinnamon Bun]

OMG, what an adorable little smooshie! He makes me want to give him the longest cuddle in the world. I don’t think he looks like a Nethie, but he sure is so cute. He’s on my list for bun-napping! ♡

 

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

I have a purebred netherland dwarf, and what is believed to be a false netherland dwarf. My false netherland dwarf had a lot of the same body features. He weighs around 3 pounds. My purebred weights about 2.6. Features of false netherland dwarfs are longer ears, less round heads, and not as compact bodies. I believe he is a false netherland dwarf. In my profile pic, you can see both my bunnies, the white one is the false dwarf and the harlequin one is purebred.

[RabbitMom2020]

I think my Mango might be part Netherland Dwarf.  She is a beautiful blue dutch coloring but with gray eyes but as you can see from the photo with 3 other normal size buns (the two white ones unfortunately have passed since) she is quite tiny. I would have to look at her vet records to remember how big she is but I think her last vet appointment had her down as 1.5 lbs.  The personality fits as well – VERY high energy (hates to be put back in her x pen during the day) and nips if you aren’t petting her JUST the way she likes it OR if she wants you to stop – both feel like the same nip but she gets offended if you don’t understand which one it is.  Right now she looks almost the same size as Kiwi (Black) but only because she has winter floof and Kiwi doesn’t fluff out as much.

 

Mango and Kiwi

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