HELP! What type of bunnies do I have??

[Coco and Louis]

My husband and I did not know much about bunny breeders or any of that, so when we were looking for a pet bunny to buy we started looking through pet stores. The girls at the pet store were probably between 19-21 years old and could barely tell the males from the females, and then they told us our bunny (Coco Chanel) was a mini lop, but her ears do not droop down at all like the pictures of mini lops that I have seen. We bought her a male companian (Louis) and they bonded INSTANTLY, so me and my husband assume they are the same type of bunny because they look alike (except the male is a month younger and still looks like a baby)

So how can I tell what kind of bunny I have?? Here are some pics of Coco and Louis

Coco is the one with the slight gray color in her ears, Louis is the other with peanut butter colored ears

 

 

 

 

 

[Beka27]

Welcome to BB. Your bunnies are adorable. Is this your first time having rabbits?

A few things I wanted to mention after reading your post. First of all, as far as two rabbits getting along, it doesn’t matter what breed or size they are. Your rabbits are getting along right now because they are both pre-puberty. This will change when they mature (starting at about 3 months). Are you prepared right now with a second cage to separate them? The male can impregnate the female starting at about 12 weeks, so we recommend separating them by 10 weeks at the latest. Both will need to be spay/neutered in order to introduce them again at a later time. Do you have plans to have this done? The male can be neutered between 3-4 months, the female can be spayed at 6 months.

Coco looks like a lop, despite the fact that her ears have not fallen yet. The shape of her ears and body make me think that she is, at least in part, a lop. The second bunny might be a dwarf/lop mix of some type. But as I said, the breed doesn’t matter really. They could even be siblings or distant relations (from different litters) if the petstore gets their buns from the same person.

Your first step, along with separating them within the next couple weeks, is to get them into a rabbti-savvy vet for a baseline exam and info regarding spay/neuter. At this time, they will also be properly sexed. Petstores are notorious for giving wrong info, so they could be male/female, two females, or two males. The vet will be able to tell you.

[Eepster]

Occasionally a minilop’s ears just don’t drop fully or even at all. This is especially true for pet store bunnies who just aren’t breed very carefully. The petstore doesn’t care about pedigrees in bunnies. Many petstore bunnies are just lovable mutts. We’re pretty sure Porky is just a mutt (though we don’t know if he came from a pet store, since he was just left outside the animal shelter with no information.)

It takes some time for the ears to drop, though so they may still drop. Going simply by appearance, she looks a bit old for the ears to still be that upright. Do you know the ages of your bunnies?

They are definitely going to need a larger place to live as they grow, and feel less like their cage is their den. So you might want to look around at directions for making a decent sized condo (you can make one that is much better than any of the even vaguely affordable ones at the pet shop. If you can afford to spend a lot on it, there are some nice wood ones, but they are expensive.

[LoveChaCha]

Also, finding a good experienced vet that has a lot of knowledge of rabbits is a good thing to have. You will have to take them in for a wellness check and schedule a time for spay or neuter. It is never too early to schedule it for the upcoming months.

[jerseygirl]

Welcome : ) They are both completely cute! But SO young! Pet stores have them from too young an age sadly.
I think they are both lops and you may see one or both ears lop yet. Or they may have on up, one down for life. Helicopter ears

Coco’s colouration is lovely. You will probably see the shading will get darker over time. Louis might be a holland lop. He could be younger but keep in mind, if a holland lop, this is smaller then the mini lops. So I agree, absolutely get a vet to assess age and sex.

I hope you find this site useful. Many of us here also got petshop bunnies and have found this site a great resource. The pet shop provided me with a cardboard box to carry my 1st rabbit to the car. That was all. No information what so ever. At the end of the day, it’s really up to us to learn what we can and provide these precious animals our best care.

[KatnipCrzy]

You need to separate them ASAP until they are spayed and neutered- it is impossible to predict when aggression will break out between them (or mating) and you don’t want to come home to injured bunnies that need a vet visit. Your money would be better spent with a wellness exam, fecal checks and have the vet determine sexes for you.
Cocoa looks like she is probably a Mini Lop and her ears have not lopped yet- she looks like the bunny in my avatar- Cotton, my Mini Lop. I think Louis looks like a dwarf- his ears are much smaller and will most likely stay upright. I am not familiar with the smaller dwarfs- but maybe a Polish or a mix?
Either way- they are adorable! I have a soft spot for lops- all 3 of mine are Lops. And 2 of mine that I adopted are probably Mini Lops but I don’t know for sure- and they are so stinking cute and sweet that I don’t care if they are purebred or not- they are MINE and that is all that matters really.
Congrats on the cuties and welcome to bunny ownership! (No- they really own you now! LOL)

[Coco and Louis]

Oh no!  poor coco though, she is so much happier now that louis is there. We are going to buy another cage and make them an outdoor area and a bunny condo once we have the time (and MONEY &#160 . Louis is a baby, he cant even get on his legs and stretch to reach the water yet so I had to put it down low for him to be able to start drinking. (Bowls of water did not work, Coco is a fiesty bunny and she toppled it over somehow lol) I guess once I start to notice Louis growing a little I will separate them.

Another thing, Coco has never urinated outside of her cage, and she by herself picked a spot in her cage to make her potty area and always leaves her droppings there. When she is out of the cage and gets comfortable in an area (like our bed lol) she leaves some droppings (which is I guess her marking her territory) but Louis urinates everywhere when he gets out of the cage!! He does not even run or play he just sits in one area outside, moves around a little bit, then starts to urinate. He is pretty inactive too..Is that  all normal?

[LoveChaCha]

I would strongly advise you to seperate them ASAP. Not until they start growing. A litter of an unexpeced baby rabbits is something that is not easy to deal with.

[MagpieBunnies]

Welcome!

You’re bunnies are absolutely adorable!

As for the random droppings, Hemi used to do it all the time but as he’s become more adjusted to his surroundings (I’ve only had him just over a week now) he’s done it less and less. But from what I’ve been told, spaying and neutering will most likely eliminate that habit. Are you wanting to litterbox train them? Or have started to already?

[Elrohwen]

Definitely separate them now! They look quite young (younger than the 8 weeks they should be) but it’s always better safe than sorry. Once they are fixed they can be best friends again.

Coco does look like a lop to me – she has the lop face and her ears are lopped much more than an uppy eared rabbit would be. She looks very young and sometimes it takes a couple months for them to fall completely (or one may always stay up while the other lops). Louis appears to have ears that are lopping as well.

[KatnipCrzy]

Separating them now will prevent any future heartbreak. If Coco were to get pregnant so young it is common for young mom’s to not know how to take care of the litter and it is heartbreaking as their human to watch the babies struggle and die and it just plain is not fair for Coco to have babies while she is still a baby herself. You could put them in cages next to each other. Maybe search craigslist for a used rabbit cage and just clean it well with bleach as a temporary solution if you can’t build separate condos right away. Or you could try to find a used dog exercsie pen (x-pen) that you can always use later for exercise time/part of the condo/or blocking off an area of the house when they are out for exercise.

[RabbitPam]

First, welcome to you and your soooooo adorable new kids!

Everyone here has given the best advice already, so I just want to add another reason not to wait to get that second cage. Louis needs a little more help ajusting to the basics, and his own separate turf will speed that along. He will learn good litter habits in his own separate litter box, without any confusing scent from Coco. (And she will use it for pee, not also to mark it around him.)
He might respond well to a heavy crock of water on the floor. My Samantha didn’t take to a bottle. If Coco isn’t there to knock it over, he will drink what he needs and probably not be able to knock it over himself – or want to.
When you separate them, keep their cages more than an inch apart. The really can reach through the bars – it’s amazing, and pregnancy has resulted that way, too. Now is not too soon.
But they will see each other, and a few months go by quickly. Once they are seen by the vet, properly sexed and ready for one of them to be speutered, you can begin to bond them. If they are used to each others’ smell in the house, it may go well. They will be with you for years, so take your time to make a happy little family – two is good, a litter is too much.

[RabbitPam]

P.S. Bunnies and summer heat and winter cold do not get along. It’s highly recommended, on this site at least, to keep your bunnies indoors always. They like it, and actually are much more comfortable and safe. They live to be much older, too. Happy bunnies do binkies!

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