American Fuzzy Lop Rabbit – Everything You Need to Know

The American Fuzzy Lop breed is a wool breed of rabbit that’s wool is similar to that of the Angora rabbit breeds fur. The American Fuzzy Lop breed resembles that Holland Lop but it has wool and not fur as the Holland Lop does. These rabbits display a desire to have fun as they are active, playful and rather inquisitive bunnies. If treated right they will at times seek out their human(s) to get much coveted attention from as these bunnies love the limelight and cuddles.

BREED PROFILE OVERVIEW
Breed Name:	American Fuzzy Lop
Other Names:	AFL or Fuzzy Lop
Country of Origin:	United States of America
Breed Purpose:	Exhibition and pets
Breed Size:	Small
Breed Weight:	Female/Doe: 3.75 lbs. Male/Buck: 3.5 lbs
Breed Color(s):	The American Fuzzy Lop comes in different color patterns being the solid variety and the broke variety. All the pure white color Fuzzy Lops are of the solid patterning and broken down into Ruby Eyed White and Blue-Eyed White varieties. There are a few color varieties and most of them are recognized by the ARBA. The Agouti coloring is mainly white with any other color markings. Their body is white with various colors that will mark their nose and nose area, their ears and around their eyes (round eye patches). The pointed white has a white body with various different color markings on their ears, feet, nose, and tail. Their color markings that mark the white can range from black, blue, lilac or chocolate.
Physical Appearance:	The American Fuzzy lop has a small proportional body that is quite muscular and compact. They have a flat short muzzle that very much resembles that of a cat. They have a long slightly curved spine that is flat from the neck and rounds off gently at their rump to their little tails. They have strong back legs and can deliver quite a kick. They have lopped ears that are medium length and hand down by the side of their heads.
Temperament:	They are quite a sociable breed of rabbit. American Fuzzy lop rabbits enjoy attention from their owners. They are also very active and love to play so it is good to get them a few toys. Obstacles to navigate around and play on, etc. They love to play with things like an old glove, stuffed sock, plastic ball, a soft piece of wood or pine cones.

BREED CHARACTERISTICS

American Lop Rabbits are fuzzier than they are smooth, and they usually have a splotch of wool on their foreheads much like a mop.
They are very inquisitive and do quite well in rabbit sports as they tend to love activity. As attention seekers they love the attention they get from their owners whilst training and playing with them.
They are shown in two classes by the ARBA and this is based on their color pattern which is either broken or solid.

Good Pets?	They make excellent pets as they love attention. As with most smaller rabbit breeds they are more suited to elderly, singles, couples without kids who want a nice easy pet or to breed rabbits or families with older children.
Child Friendly?	Children should be supervised around animals and properly taught how to look after them and handle them. Rabbits can bite and scratch
Ideal Climate:	All climates – rabbits should never be left outside without proper shelter and housing that must be raised off the ground and predator safe.
Conservation Status:	Not listed by the *ALC Status/Rarity: Not at risk
Recognized by the ARBA?	Yes – It became a recognized breed in around 1989
Rabbit Associations/Clubs:	American Fuzzy Lop Rabbit club
Where to buy them?	Please refer to the “Associations/Clubs” section of this article for more information on the American Fuzzy Lop Rabbit and where to buy them from.
Note: *ALC stands for American Livestock Conservancy

GENERAL INFORMATION

The American Fuzzy lop is a small rabbit breed that, as its names indicate, is a very fuzzy rabbit. They are very sweet rabbits with a broad chest, short shoulders and well-rounded hindquarters that are well muscled.

They are mainly kept for exhibition, fur and make the greatest of pets. Especially for those who are unable to keep conventional pets such as cats or dogs they are sometimes allowed to keep rabbits.

The American Fuzzy Lops coat is wool and not fur so it can be spun into yarn even though it is only 2 inches long. Their wool is rather popular and known as “The Head of Fancy”.

The American Fuzzy Lops wool is coarse much like that of the Angora rabbit’s wool. Their coats are not prone to matting or tangling except for around the tail area due to the way the rabbit sits. When grooming an American Fuzzy Lop it is best to include trimming and brush their tail area.

HISTORY

The American Fuzzy Lops history pretty much starts with the introduction of the Holland Lop rabbit breed to the United States of America in the mid-1970s.
The Holland Lop breed was a breed that only came in solid color patterns and some breeders wanted to introduce a broken pattern to the breed.

In order to create a Holland Lop rabbit breed with a broken pattern, breeders bred their English Spots to the Holland Lop breed. The breeders were successful in producing rabbits with a broken color pattern the fur of this off-spring was not the rollback fur required of the Holland Lop rabbit breed. Instead, off-springs fur was the flyback spur the same as that of the English Spot rabbit breeds fur.

In order to get the rollback fur breeders then started to breed their Holland Lop with the French Angora rabbit breed. The French Angora rabbit breed is known for their very gentle rollback coat. The results were promising but the wool gene of the Angora rabbit was introduced into the Holland Lop gene pool in these off-spring and so some litters would occasionally have a bunny or two with long wool such as that of the Angora rabbits wool. These offsprings were sold off to people who were very fascinated by this aspect of the Holland Lop/Angora rabbit cross.

Patty Greene-Karl of the East Coast of America is credited with recognizing the “fuzzy” gene of the Fuzzy Lop rabbit as a recessive gene. Along with Gary Fellers, Kim Landry and Margaret Miller in the United States of America became the pioneers of the American Fuzzy Lop rabbit breed.

Patty realized that breeding two Holland Lops with this “fuzzy” gene there would be at least 25% of the offspring from the pairing that would have wool.
Patty decided to develop the offspring with the wool as a new breed called the American Fuzzy Lop.

After four years of developing the breed, she presented them for their first showing to the American Rabbit Breeders Association. She showed them as a new breed in 1985 for the first time at the convention in Houston, Texas. However, the breed, due to not meeting the uniformity requirements of the American Rabbit Breeders Association the breed was not approved until 1988 after a revised standard had been written.