Frequently Asked Questions
DO RABBITS MAKE GOOD PETS...
Absolutely! Rabbits make very fun and unique pets! Rabbits can be very social and trained to do several tricks, however, they also enjoy their own time to snooze, play, and be king of the house!
DO RABBITS DO GOOD WITH KIDS...
Rabbit do well with kids as long as the kids know the rules of how to properly care and handle their rabbit. Rabbits are best suited for children no younger than 6-7 years of age. Parents should always follow behind and monitor their kids when playing or caring for their rabbit.
WILL I GET SCRATCHED...
Scratches happen. If you carried around your dog or cat all day, you would get a scratch here and there too! I highly encourage wearing long sleeves or wrapping your rabbit in a towel to protect your arms if you aren't comfortable holding your rabbit. You need to be firm and confident when you hold a rabbit.
HOW BIG DOES A MINI LOP GET...
The standard calls for the Mini Lop to weigh between 5-6 1/2lbs. They are a small-medium breed.
Please be aware of people selling Mini Hollands, Mini Lop Hollands, etc. They likely are not purebreds of either breed!
This Mini Lop is not a Holland Lop.
DO RABBITS NEED SHOTS...
No! Rabbits in countries, such as Australia, do require vaccinations as they introduced a lethal virus to control their feral rabbit population that unfortunately crosses over to their domestic rabbits.
CAN YOU LITTERBOX TRAIN A RABBIT...
Yes! Rabbits are actually very clean creatures and prefer to not be dirty. You need to start small and establish their potty place.
We have had people ask: No, we do not offer litter box trained babies. They are babies!
DOES MY RABBIT NEED A FRIEND...
We have had a lot of people ask us this question. People fear they will be lonely. From my experiece, we have had rabbits tear chunks out of their neighbors, ruined teeth, chew them bald,etc when we tried to go without dividers or paired personal pet rabbits. We find that rabbits are actually social with their humans, however, tend to express aggressive behavior with other rabbits. It's in their nature to be territorial. They also enjoy their own time to sleep, eat, and relax.
Observing cottontails, we see that they express the same behaviors. They are interested in breeding and maintaining their territory.
We will not sell pairs, as we will not risk the chance of our rabbits giving/recieving life threatening injuries on our account. We feel this is unethical and our primary concern is not to double our profit. We have had phone calls before when the pet owner has frantically called me because they purchased Foo Foo from some unknown breeder and a fight has/is breaking lose and they can not understand why they are fighting. Of course, we are always on call for our rabbits, but we are not responsible if the owner chooses to go out of their way to purchase an additional rabbit and unsuccessfully bond despite what they have read on the internet.
Always have toys and hay for them to play with, but you will find your rabbit to be most playful in the early morning and evenings. Rabbits generally snooze and nap throughout the day!
HOW LONG DOES A RABBIT LIVE...
Normally, rabbits live 5-7 years. 8-10 is very old for a rabbit, but no unheard of!
WHAT IS THE TEMPERMENT OF THE MINI LOP...
Mini Lops tend to be a very mellow breed and adore their owners. Usually very friendly, especially if you have their favorite treat in hand! The Mini Lop is quite intelligent and enjoys to romp around the house to get into some mischief. They are playful, but they also appreciate their food and naps!
TRUTH ABOUT SORE HOCKS...
There is a lot of poor information provided on the internet. There are many people that have jumped on the band wagon, rather than have information backed up on proper research. Rescue & Non-Breeder friendly websites tend to see rabbits of unknown backgrounds. Reptuable and responsible breeders will not allow this GENETIC issue to be bred into the herd. Rabbits that are prone tend to lack in BONE and PROPER FURRING of the feet. Animals that display sore hocks are generally are or should be removed from programs. We cannot show rabbits displaying sore hocks, as they are poor examples of their breed. It basically makes no sense to breed this into a quality show herd.
We recommend WIRE bottoms for rabbits. Why?
It is overall a more sanitary cage for your rabbit and easier regularly clean and disinfect. Wire bottom cages do not cause sore hocks.
However, poor quality wire, genetics, or poor husbandry does (or a combination) ! So please don't put your rabbits on wire cloth from the hardware store. And yes, I have known prone rabbits to achieve sore hocks on solid flooring.
Occasionally, sore hocks are caused by fungus, so feel free to treat, but if they succumb again, please do not use them in any breeding program.
We hope we can provide some insight on the big sore hocks debate from the perspective of a breeder that has zero-tolerance for preventable genetic issues. I have visited shelters and cannot say I have ever seen a rabbit with a breeders tattoo. (If you see a rabbit that does, please notify your local breed clubs. Many breeders are happy to have their rabbits returned!)
WHAT FEED DO YOU RECOMMEND AND HOW MUCH?
We feed Pen Pals 15% formula and are very happy with the results. We generally feed 2/3 cup per day, once a day. We will increase or decrease upon each of our rabbits individual needs.
We do not recommend any pet store feeds, since most of them are "junk" food for rabbits. We also do not support Manna Pro feeds as we had horrible issues (ie.Weight loss, poor coats)with the feed along with several other breeders (Some lost serveral rabbits aswell) . We will recommend Purina, if PenPals is not able to be purchased in your location.
TREATS & OTHER FOODS...
We personally will only offer cheerios and plain quaker oats as treats. These are very safe and do not upset their stomachs!
Click here for a safe & unsafe list of treats (Credited to Three Ladies Rabbitry)
Absolutely! Rabbits make very fun and unique pets! Rabbits can be very social and trained to do several tricks, however, they also enjoy their own time to snooze, play, and be king of the house!
DO RABBITS DO GOOD WITH KIDS...
Rabbit do well with kids as long as the kids know the rules of how to properly care and handle their rabbit. Rabbits are best suited for children no younger than 6-7 years of age. Parents should always follow behind and monitor their kids when playing or caring for their rabbit.
WILL I GET SCRATCHED...
Scratches happen. If you carried around your dog or cat all day, you would get a scratch here and there too! I highly encourage wearing long sleeves or wrapping your rabbit in a towel to protect your arms if you aren't comfortable holding your rabbit. You need to be firm and confident when you hold a rabbit.
HOW BIG DOES A MINI LOP GET...
The standard calls for the Mini Lop to weigh between 5-6 1/2lbs. They are a small-medium breed.
Please be aware of people selling Mini Hollands, Mini Lop Hollands, etc. They likely are not purebreds of either breed!
This Mini Lop is not a Holland Lop.
DO RABBITS NEED SHOTS...
No! Rabbits in countries, such as Australia, do require vaccinations as they introduced a lethal virus to control their feral rabbit population that unfortunately crosses over to their domestic rabbits.
CAN YOU LITTERBOX TRAIN A RABBIT...
Yes! Rabbits are actually very clean creatures and prefer to not be dirty. You need to start small and establish their potty place.
We have had people ask: No, we do not offer litter box trained babies. They are babies!
DOES MY RABBIT NEED A FRIEND...
We have had a lot of people ask us this question. People fear they will be lonely. From my experiece, we have had rabbits tear chunks out of their neighbors, ruined teeth, chew them bald,etc when we tried to go without dividers or paired personal pet rabbits. We find that rabbits are actually social with their humans, however, tend to express aggressive behavior with other rabbits. It's in their nature to be territorial. They also enjoy their own time to sleep, eat, and relax.
Observing cottontails, we see that they express the same behaviors. They are interested in breeding and maintaining their territory.
We will not sell pairs, as we will not risk the chance of our rabbits giving/recieving life threatening injuries on our account. We feel this is unethical and our primary concern is not to double our profit. We have had phone calls before when the pet owner has frantically called me because they purchased Foo Foo from some unknown breeder and a fight has/is breaking lose and they can not understand why they are fighting. Of course, we are always on call for our rabbits, but we are not responsible if the owner chooses to go out of their way to purchase an additional rabbit and unsuccessfully bond despite what they have read on the internet.
Always have toys and hay for them to play with, but you will find your rabbit to be most playful in the early morning and evenings. Rabbits generally snooze and nap throughout the day!
HOW LONG DOES A RABBIT LIVE...
Normally, rabbits live 5-7 years. 8-10 is very old for a rabbit, but no unheard of!
WHAT IS THE TEMPERMENT OF THE MINI LOP...
Mini Lops tend to be a very mellow breed and adore their owners. Usually very friendly, especially if you have their favorite treat in hand! The Mini Lop is quite intelligent and enjoys to romp around the house to get into some mischief. They are playful, but they also appreciate their food and naps!
TRUTH ABOUT SORE HOCKS...
There is a lot of poor information provided on the internet. There are many people that have jumped on the band wagon, rather than have information backed up on proper research. Rescue & Non-Breeder friendly websites tend to see rabbits of unknown backgrounds. Reptuable and responsible breeders will not allow this GENETIC issue to be bred into the herd. Rabbits that are prone tend to lack in BONE and PROPER FURRING of the feet. Animals that display sore hocks are generally are or should be removed from programs. We cannot show rabbits displaying sore hocks, as they are poor examples of their breed. It basically makes no sense to breed this into a quality show herd.
We recommend WIRE bottoms for rabbits. Why?
It is overall a more sanitary cage for your rabbit and easier regularly clean and disinfect. Wire bottom cages do not cause sore hocks.
However, poor quality wire, genetics, or poor husbandry does (or a combination) ! So please don't put your rabbits on wire cloth from the hardware store. And yes, I have known prone rabbits to achieve sore hocks on solid flooring.
Occasionally, sore hocks are caused by fungus, so feel free to treat, but if they succumb again, please do not use them in any breeding program.
We hope we can provide some insight on the big sore hocks debate from the perspective of a breeder that has zero-tolerance for preventable genetic issues. I have visited shelters and cannot say I have ever seen a rabbit with a breeders tattoo. (If you see a rabbit that does, please notify your local breed clubs. Many breeders are happy to have their rabbits returned!)
WHAT FEED DO YOU RECOMMEND AND HOW MUCH?
We feed Pen Pals 15% formula and are very happy with the results. We generally feed 2/3 cup per day, once a day. We will increase or decrease upon each of our rabbits individual needs.
We do not recommend any pet store feeds, since most of them are "junk" food for rabbits. We also do not support Manna Pro feeds as we had horrible issues (ie.Weight loss, poor coats)with the feed along with several other breeders (Some lost serveral rabbits aswell) . We will recommend Purina, if PenPals is not able to be purchased in your location.
TREATS & OTHER FOODS...
We personally will only offer cheerios and plain quaker oats as treats. These are very safe and do not upset their stomachs!
Click here for a safe & unsafe list of treats (Credited to Three Ladies Rabbitry)