Holland Lop questions

[MeketatenBun]

Hello everyone!

It’s been a while since I’ve been on the forums. Little Meketaten is doing very well for a 7 1/2 year old baby, but her age has me thinking about what I will do someday in the (hopefully far, far) future when she’s gone, and I’ve been starting to look into the Holland Lop breed. Having only ever had Havanas, I have a lot of questions that I get little or mixed answers on from google, so I thought it best to ask people who own or have owned them!

1. Because of the lop ears, do they get dirty more often than upright ears? I know this is generally the case with dogs, but I don’t know if it pertains to rabbits. If so, what is a general ear maintenance routine?

2. I’ve heard that since they are a dwarf breed, they can get dental problems. What does this mean? Tooth spurs mostly, or something else? And is this a guarantee for a dwarf breed or just a higher occurance? 

3. Does the flat face of the Holland Lop lead to other problems like breathing? I never realized how flat they were until now as I’ve started research into the breed.

4. Any other advice or fun or naughty stories about the breed?

5. And lastly, why are their front feetsies so stumpy? What is that? That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen, I squeal when I look at their feets.

Okay the last one maybe not so much.

Like I said, I don’t plan on getting a new rabbit until my little Princess is no longer with me, but Holland Lops caught my eye and I figured getting information about them now seemed like a better idea than when I’m heartbroken and desperate for bunny love.

Included is a recent picture of Meki living her hard life as a rabbit:

[GarfyTheLop]

Hello! I thought I’d reply the best I could, I have a mini lop which is similar!

He’s only 2.5lbs so very small for his breed so similar to a weight of a holland. 

1. Because of the lop ears, do they get dirty more often than upright ears? I know this is generally the case with dogs, but I don’t know if it pertains to rabbits. If so, what is a general ear maintenance routine?

I haven’t found mine to get too dirty ears but I do check them every day

2. I’ve heard that since they are a dwarf breed, they can get dental problems. What does this mean? Tooth spurs mostly, or something else? And is this a guarantee for a dwarf breed or just a higher occurance? 

Our little one did have dental issues yes, these seem to have sorted themselves out now he’s had them filed down once and eats hay like a crazy. I wouldn’t let it put you off the breed though!

3. Does the flat face of the Holland Lop lead to other problems like breathing? I never realized how flat they were until now as I’ve started research into the breed.

Can’t comment on this as our guys face isn’t flat – hopefully someone with a holland can comment. 

4. Any other advice or fun or naughty stories about the breed?

From what I can say about my lop, he’s the friendliest and out going little thing. Isn’t scared of anything and always wants to know what’s going on. This can change bunny to bunny not just breed to breed, but that’s my experience!

5. And lastly, why are their front feetsies so stumpy? What is that? That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen, I squeal when I look at their feets.

SO stumpy!!! But their back feets are HUGE. 

[Deleted User]

Is a Holland Lop a Mini Lop?
I have a flat faced Mini Lop and it can cause teeth issues. Mine needed his front teeth out due to lack of space.

[GarfyTheLop]

Posted By Emma on 1/30/2018 3:10 AM

Is a Holland Lop a Mini Lop?
I have a flat faced Mini Lop and it can cause teeth issues. Mine needed his front teeth out due to lack of space.

Holland lops are usually smaller – with flat faces  

[Bam]

Hi Mekateten! Lovely to hear from you and Meki! It certainly looks like she’s leading a rough life =D =D =D

I have a mini lop, his ears don’t get dirty. It’s the squishy face that makes mini lops and Holland lops and Nethies prone to dental and sinus-issues. There’s simply not enough room in there. That said, my pointy-faced bun Yohio had dental issues and needed molar burrs, so it’s not sth that’s unique for the flat-faced dogs, only a lot more common.

I have no idea why their forefeet are so stumpy =) 

Bam has a very pleasant personality. 

[Sirius&Luna]

I think Holland Lop is the American term for what we call a mini-lop in the UK

[Bam]

S&L, I think so too. Bam is a mini lop but he’s called a dwarf lop here. The names of the breeds varies a lot between countries.

[Deleted User]

Posted By GarfyTheLop on 1/30/2018 3:16 AM

Posted By Emma on 1/30/2018 3:10 AM

Is a Holland Lop a Mini Lop?
I have a flat faced Mini Lop and it can cause teeth issues. Mine needed his front teeth out due to lack of space.

Holland lops are usually smaller – with flat faces  

Oooh! Because I have loved the sound of a Holland Lop and really wanted one. Sounds like i already have one 

[Deleted User]

Holland Lops here in the US are 3-5 pounds fully grown, and Mini Lops are 6-7 pounds. The rounder face isn’t indicative of all Holland Lops. It depends on if they have a copy of the dwarf gene. Asriel doesn’t have the dwarf gene, so he has a pointed face. Bombur has a copy of the dwarf gene, so he has a very smooshed face. A true dwarf has one copy of the dwarf gene, it will have a wide brow, their faces will look very smooshed, and they will be between 3-4 pounds.

[joea64]

Posted By Asriel and Bombur on 1/30/2018 7:58 AM

Holland Lops here in the US are 3-5 pounds fully grown, and Mini Lops are 6-7 pounds. The rounder face isn’t indicative of all Holland Lops. It depends on if they have a copy of the dwarf gene. Asriel doesn’t have the dwarf gene, so he has a pointed face. Bombur has a copy of the dwarf gene, so he has a very smooshed face. A true dwarf has one copy of the dwarf gene, it will have a wide brow, their faces will look very smooshed, and they will be between 3-4 pounds.

Now that’s interesting. Panda has a flatter, wider face than her son, so she might have the dwarfing gene but not have passed it on to Fernando, who has a classically pointy rabbit head.

[Sirius&Luna]

So a UK Mini lop has a maximum weight of 1.6kg (3.5 pounds) according to the British Rabbit council, so they must be the same as US Hollands. (this swapping between pounds and kilos is only adding to my confusion)

Actually, Wikipedia says that it is the same as a US Holland Lop.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniature_Lop

But what a US mini lop is…. I have no idea. Anyone?

[Deleted User]

I’ve often wondered that too! Like is it some cross between a French and Holland Lop? I never really noticed the difference until I went to the county fair this year, and there were Hollands next to Minis and there was a definite size difference. The Minis were twice the size of my boys and their back paws were huge.

[Sirius&Luna]

French lops in the UK tend to have huge ears though. A US mini lop just looks like a bigger version of a UK mini lop. Maybe we just don’t have them here…

Sorry, I’ve totally derailed the original post here!

[Deleted User]

The UK must think a Holland Lop is a Mini Lop. It is very confusing! When I search Holland Lops I just get Mini Lops come up. 

Sorry, we have gone off topic here 

[GarfyTheLop]

http://animals.mom.me/differences-between-holland-lop-mini-lop-7679.html

This is what I thought, Holland lops have flatter faces

[Sirius&Luna]

That’s still talking about American mini-lops though. So if you have an English mini-lop, he’s the same as an American Holland. The flat faces are just dependent on breeding.

Actually, having done some research, I think a UK Dwarf lop is the same as an American mini.

[Deleted User]

In the UK you guys have Mini Lops, which are our Holland Lops here in the US. Like I said, not all of them have smooshed and flat faces. Here’s both of my boys. Bombur (orange) has the classic smoosh cause he has that dwarf gene and weighs 4 pounds. Asriel (broken tort) has a much more pointed face and weighs around 5 pounds. He doesn’t have the dwarf gene. It’s more for like showing. The breeder explained the differences to me when I got them, and so did the people at the fair that were showing Hollands. Asriel isn’t considered show quality because he doesn’t exhibit those classic Holland Lop features. It really depends on genetics with them. 

[Deleted User]

When I got a mini lop I thought they were supposed to stay quite small, but I think they are actually classified as a medium size breed here in the U.S. I think he was actually fatter than Ophelia and he was a good 4-5 months younger than her! But she is just a dainty little beauty <3

[MeketatenBun]

Woooow I didn’t realize the smooshed face was because of the dwarf gene and that some have it and some don’t until looking at more pictures. But so basically tooth spurs and possible teeth removal are possible side effects of that gene.

Garfy, how old is your lop if you don’t mind me asking? And how long ago were the spurs filed down? I have Meki eating Oxbow Orchard Grass hay most of the day and about 1/4 cup of pellets in the morning, would switching to Timothy for a lop be better because it’s courser?

There’s a rabbit show coming up near me in April that I might go to to talk with local breeders about health issues in their herds and whatnot. Once I’m ready I’m thinking of keeping my eye on the humane society, though just to see what pops up.

My vet also just adopted an American Mini Lop (the big ones, lol) for himself, so I’ll talk with him more about lop buns at Meki’s next appointment.

Keep the answers and stories coming, I know each rabbit is different, but it’s fun to hear how rabbits of a certain breed may or may not act!

[Wick & Fable]

Tooth removals are much more uncommon. The most common trait dwarves have, if any ailments from the gene, is needing more routine teeth grinding to deal with molar spurs. There are still plenty of dwarf rabbits that develop fine and do not have any dental ailments.

Wick is a runt Netherland Dwarf with malocclusion (imperfect teeth alignment) and an underbite (bottom incisors on top of front), so he needs molar grindings about every 5 weeks. His chewing also grinds his bottom incisors to come to a drastic slant, which gets grinded down as low as possible each time he has a molar grinding. In an every day circumstances though, Wick eats perfectly fine with his weird chewing mouth movement.

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.

[Deleted User]

Finn is a smooch face and his front teeth had to come out at 5 months. 

So I assume his a Holland Lop in the US.

[Deleted User]

OMG… DYING AT HOW FRIGGEN CUTE HE IS!

and yes

[Deleted User]

Haha yes his a babe. My vet loves him. But that cuteness cost him his incisors. I love his buttoned face anyway 🙂

His new nick name is smoothy face  

[GarfyTheLop]

This has actually been a super interesting read thanks guys!

@A&B Garf is 100% more like Asriel, but only a third of the size for now. The vet told us yesterday he’s probably going to stay under 2lbs foever! Little baby 

[Deleted User]

lil peanut he’s basically a baby panda bear.

Honestly, I’m jealous. I saw all these year old Hollands at the fair that were so dinky at like 2.5-3 pounds as adults… then I went home to my chubby little nuggets. They’re still small in comparison to others, but next to a 2.5 pounder these guys seem so huge. They haven’t been that size since I brought them home 

[Wick & Fable]

Wick feels it’s only right to intrude on this lop parade and say he’s reppin’ 2lbs proudly. Though he understands that Holland lops -may- be as cute as him.

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.

[Rookie]

Sprocket is 10 months and weighing in at a solid 2.4kg at his last vet check a month ago.

He is a Holland lop from a breeder (yes I’m Sorry he is a breeder bunny).

Rookie was adopted and I think he was more mini than holland as he was waaay bigger than Sprocket. Rookie is in my profile pic when he was a few months old. He was about almost double Sprocket’s size. And he had very severe dental problems worse that the vet has ever seen in a bunny his age just 2 years old. Sprocket goes to the vet for teeth checks every 2 months at the latest to have his teeth checked just to be safe. But from what I hear with bunnies teeth and other problems are all un-luck of the draw.

Also rookie was a serious and in the grumpy bunny category…while sprocket is super funny, playful, curious and innocent bunny category.

I’m on my phone so can’t add photos but you can check him out in all his cuteness on Instagram @sprocketbb9

[Rookie]

2.4 kg seems like a lot for his size and when I lift him he is super light…the vet bills say kg but being Canada I wouldn’t be surprised if they meant lb.
On his Instagram you can see his size relative to other house hold items.

[Deleted User]

Wick, I really want a Nethie next time. Not that I’m wishing my boys crosses the bridge, obviously. But I’m just hooked on buns and think Nethies are so precious. I also thought about a Flemish or an English Lop, but Nethies have my heart at the moment… aside from my boys

[Author]

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