Ears didn’t lop

[Bad Bunny]

We bought what we thought were mini Holland Lop ear bunnies, but their ears have not “lopped”.  They are broken tortoise in color.  They weighed about 1 lb when we got them and they have doubled in size.  We went to buy hay yesterday at specialty pet store and we were told they were probably meat bunnies.  How do I know what kind of bunnies I have?

[tanlover14]

Can you post a picture of the them? And where did you buy your bunnies from? A lot of pet stores sell bunnies labeled as one breed when really they are mixes. How old are they?

[Bad Bunny]

Pictures will be posted shortly.  We bought one male and then a few days later went back a got his brother.  They are about 3.5 months old.  We bought them from Zamzow’s in Boise ID.  We are attached to them and don’t want to get rid of them, but I don’t want 10 lb. piglets either!

[Bad Bunny]

 This was taken right after we got them.  Don’t let the droopy ear fool you.

 

[tanlover14]

If they are about 2-3 lbs now and about 3.5 months old – I think they’ll probably be a smaller-medium sized rabbits. Three of my buns were about that big when they were 3 months old and they only grew to about 4.5 pounds. If they were going to be bigger buns, they would probably be bigger than this after 3 months.

This will only be a guess until you post pictures, then it will be much easier to determine!

[Hokankai]

The picture isn’t working for me :\

[tanlover14]

It isn’t working for me either.

[LoveChaCha]

Tanlover is right — pet stores will definitely label rabbits so people can buy them. What if they end up being big bunnies? There is nothing wrong with big rabbits All are adorable if you ask me

The term mini lops usually means the opposite. Mini lops tend to be around 5-6 pounds, where as Hollands tend to be the smallest.

[Elrohwen]

The size they are at now is pretty normal for a holland lop. My holland boy was 1.5lbs at 8 weeks and is 4lbs fully grown. The broken tort color is very common in hollands which also makes me think they are what the store said they are.

Mini lops are actually larger than hollands, but top out around 6lbs which is still small. They generally don’t come in tort though.

Even if they were big, big bunnies are wonderful!

[IsabellaRobyn]

Some lops ears don’t lop due to poor breeding. It depends on the shape and development of the bunnies skull that’s why sometimes you get bunnies that have one lop ear and one uppy ear! ! They might still be holland lops just without the lop! !

[Bad Bunny]

Hi all,  Thank you for your input.  I am not experienced with posting pictures – but I will figure it out.  We are very bummed.  We took the bunnies back to Zamzows this morning.  My wife was crying and I almost threw up.  With the research have done, we belive the breed is Rex.  bad day

[zoologist]

… why did you take them back?

[Deleted User]

I don’t understand why you took the rabbits back. Rexes are also great rabbits that make wonderful bunchildren.

[LBJ10]

Why on earth would you take them back to the pet store? Just because they don’t have lop ears is no reason to throw them away. And I agree with the others, rexes are wonderful buns.

[Hazel]

If you couldn’t or didn’t wanna keep them, you should have found them a suitable home, or at least taken them to a no kill shelter to give them a chance at a proper home. Now they’ll most likely end up as Easter presents for some kids.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

You took them back because their ears didn’t lop???? Is this a joke?

[tanlover14]

I also don’t really understand why you took them back either. Hope to hear from you soon. Rexs are great and if you took them back because of the “size” you mentioned earlier, considering the size you made them sound like… they are most likely Mini Rex’s. Which are small bunnies. Most pet stores only sell the small sizes anyway so I’m pretty sure they are Mini Rexs and won’t get much bigger than 4-5 lbs.

[Roberta]

It sounds like you were upset at taking them back… Maybe that is a sign you need to call the place and get them back, I imagine they have left an empty place in your heart and home…

[Bam]

Posted By Elrohwen on 02/25/2013 11:55 AM

The size they are at now is pretty normal for a holland lop. My holland boy was 1.5lbs at 8 weeks and is 4lbs fully grown. The broken tort color is very common in hollands which also makes me think they are what the store said they are.

Mini lops are actually larger than hollands, but top out around 6lbs which is still small. They generally don’t come in tort though.

Even if they were big, big bunnies are wonderful!

 

Goodness, this reminds me of a story a woman told me this summer: She’d picked out a baby-rabbit for her daughter’s birthday, but when the birthday came, the breeder called and said the bunny was sick so they couldn’t sell it. The mother panicked, the daughetr knew she was getting a rabbit and she was so excited. So the mother had to find another bunny a.s.a.p and found another breeder who had a baby-rabbit she could pick up that same day. And all was fine, the bunny was adorable, daughter happy, bunny was healthy and had a good appetite. And of course, since it was a baby, it grew. The thing was just that it didn’t stop growing. It actually seemed to grow bigger every day, until it finally weighed about 25 pounds.The daughter loved her rabbit. Rest of the family were afraid of the huge animal.The rabbit’s favourite place was stretched out in front of the fire-place, but of course the daughter had to have help carrying the rabbit into the house.

They had the rabbit for a couple of years until it died of some sort of stomach-problem. The mother said she felt kind of relieved, but the daughter was devastated, of course. Then they got a dog instead.

 

[RabbitPam]

OK, everyone. Bad Bunny has come here for support and advice, and is obviously already upset about this situation. Please do not berate them further. It’s not helpful, even if you feel strongly. Take a breath, and if you can’t comment in a positive, proactive way, or be understanding, then please pause your own reply button until you know what’s going on in more detail. Thanks.

Bad Bunny, as is stated by the others here more or less kindly, we don’t exactly understand the circumstances that have caused you to return the bunnies. Would you mind telling us more about the problem that precipitated their return? Some of the members may have already clarified the details about rexes that might have brought you relief about what these bunnies would grow up to be. Despite bam’s colorful story about someone else, I want to say that it is very rare to have a (probably) Flemish Giant bunny on your hands that grows to a great size and weight. A rex or more commonly, a mini rex, is usually 5-8 lbs at the most. Not a noticeably difference in lifestyle from a smaller bunny breed. I hope that helps.

[Bam]

Yes of course, sorry if I made it seem like it was a common thing, being sold a Flemish giant instead of a dwarf, it was of course the woman’s own fault for not checking up what kind of rabbits the breeder was breeding, she just bought the first bunny available, not realizing that such huge rabbits even existed.

Again, I’m very sorry. This is certainly not sth that just happens if you buy a bunny in a pet-store or from a breeder of dwarf rabbits. And it’s absolutely nothing to do with the subject-matter, either.

Couldn’t lop ears be a while before they lop? Like in dogs of certain breeds?

[Sam and Lady's Human]

It wouldn’t be a flemmie, my flemmie was 6lbs by 2 months.

[RabbitPam]

That’s OK, bam. Yes, lop eared bunnies take a few weeks to have their ears come down. For a while one or both can stick straight out sideways, or one stays up and the other drops. It’s sometimes called Helicopter ears, and is kinda cute. Occasionally a bunny will never have both ears down, just one, for life.

[LBJ10]

I hope you come back and help us understand what happened. I agree with Roberta, it sounded like you were upset about taking them back so that would mean you had grown attached to them. Perhaps you can get them back from the pet store?

[Author]

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