Holland Lop Rabbit – Everything You Need to Know

The little Holland Lop is one of the cutest little rabbit breeds around. They are great little pets and are quite feisty, lively and can be little bundles of fun.
They are not really suitable for smaller children and the females can get a bit grumpy and snippy at certain times.

BREED PROFILE OVERVIEW
Breed Name:	Holland Lop
Other Names:	None
Country of Origin:	Netherlands
Breed Purpose:	Exhibition and pet
Breed Size:	Small
Breed Weight:	Female/Doe: 4 lbs. Male/Buck: 4 lbs.
Breed Color(s):	Agouti group, Broken Group, Pointed White Group, Self Group, Shaded Group, Tan Pattern Group, Ticked Group, and the Wide Band Group. For more information on all the accepted colors within each group go to the Holland Lop Specialty Club
Physical Appearance:	The Holland Lop is one of the smaller Lop breeds of rabbit. They have small semi-arched bodies with soft easy manageable fur. Their faces are small and semi-snubbed with small lop ears that hand to the sides of their little head.
Temperament:	They are friendly, docile and calm rabbits but some of the females can be aggressive.

BREED CHARACTERISTICS

They have a decent sized litter and the females make very good mothers. Most rabbits have good maternal instincts and some breeds can be a bit testy and protective when they have young. They can also be uncharacteristically moody during mating season.
Their young open their eyes around 7 to 14 days with an average of 10 days after birth. When their eyes have opened, they can start to be introduced to food such as alfa pellets and water.
Even when the young start to eat it does not mean they are quite ready to be weaned from their mothers. The mothers will know when it is time to wean her young. It is important for the baby rabbit’s health, growth, immune system and development of a proper digestive system that they do not be removed from their mother for at least 8 weeks. They usually require her milk for a minimum of 8 weeks after birth.
Their average lifespan is 5 to 8 years although there have been some breeds that have lived to 10 years with the proper care.

Good Pets?	They make good pets for families with children, elderly, singles and fanciers. They can be both indoor or outdoor pets.
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: They are not listed by the American Livestock Conservancy
Recognized by the ARBA?	Yes, there are quite a few color groups and colors accepted by the American Rabbit Breeders Association. Please see the section on the color of the breed in this article for more information. They were recognized in 1979 by the American Rabbit Breeders Association.
Rabbit Associations/Clubs:	Holland Lop Specialty Club
Where to buy them?	Please refer to the Holland Lop Specialty Club for more information on breeders. The USA Rabbit Breeders Directory is a useful resource to find breeders, clubs, and information about the breed.
Note: *ALC stands for American Livestock Conservancy

GENERAL INFORMATION

For a slicker more glossy or shiny pelt, it is advisable to groom them every two to three weeks. During the molting season, it is advisable to groom rabbits every week to remove stray hairs.

Rabbits can be quite lively and energetic and need quite a bit of exercise and stimulation. It is a good idea to have a nice safe and secure run for them to play in and stretch their legs.

Toys, tubes and various obstacle courses for them is a good way to help them expend some of their energy and they are really fun to watch at play.

They are also sociable animals that do like to have a friend or two to play with.

Regular health and critter check once a week or every second week should become a habit. This will help to keep your rabbit(s) in excellent condition and health. Grooming does not require a lot if their coats are low maintenance. But it is a good idea to give them a nice gentle brushing to help remove any excess hairs regardless of the length of their coats.

It is also a good idea to check on the state of their teeth to ensure that they are not too long and causing the rabbit any discomfort.
Rabbits teeth never stop growing and getting fresh hay on a regular basis helps to control the growth of their teeth.

Rabbits need a good diet of quality pellets that are filled with their daily nutritional requirements. They do love dandelions, cabbage and various fruits as a nice tasty treat.

Rabbits that have quite a short coat are not really at risk for most of the digestive problems long fur seem to cause rabbits. They can still get other ailments such as flystrike, ear mites or overgrown teeth. These can all be controlled/maintained or avoided altogether with the proper health and grooming care of the rabbit(s).

If you have two rabbits and do not want to breed them it is possible to spay female rabbits and neuter male rabbits.
The females can be spayed as young as four months old, but vets prefer to wait until they are at least six months old before doing so.
The young males can be neutered as young as found months old.

Rabbits, just like any other pet, should be dewormed on a regular basis. Check with your local vet for proper guidance on the administering of worm medication to your animals.

HISTORY

The Holland Lop owes its development to Adriann de Cock who through a lot of trial and error, cross-breeding and selective breeding for various litters of his attempts to improve on the French Lop.

He managed to have a few specimens ready for presentation in 1955 and these rabbits weighed between 2.5 to 3kgs.
He presented another four specimens for acceptance in 1964 and these four specimens weighed a lot less than the previous ones he had presented. These new specimens weighed around 2 kgs. The breed was a big hit and they soon become very popular throughout Europe and orders for the breed started to mount up.

De Cock along with some other breeders founded a Holland Lop Specialty Club and together they managed to get the breed’s weight down to 1.5 kgs as we know the Holland lop to be today.

The breed was first sent to England in 1969 and then to the United States of America.