Lop Rabbit Care Essentials

1 Choose a Healthy Lop

Buy a 2 to 3 month old, the age that bonds easily and is past weaning, so it is easier to raise.

Avoid unhealthy signs: bad or crooked teeth, runny nose, heavy eye or nose discharge, dirty or foul-smelling ears, rough coarse coat, hair loss, or loose smelly stools. Check for these when picking.

2 Correct Feeding

Principles: pellets and hay as staples, plus some vegetables and fruit; no meat or spicy food; keep the cage tidy. Daily feed pellets and hay for calcium, protein, and roughage; add a little produce but not too much or diarrhea and enteritis follow, so treat produce only as snacks. Never feed meat or stimulants like garlic, chili, onion, or ginger, or frozen food.

Feed around 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.; give pet pellets up to 3% of body weight and hay free-choice. Note: rabbits under 6 months must not have vegetables or fruit, only pellets; from 6 months, feed 300 g vegetables and 60 g fruit per 3 kg body weight.

3 Care Notes

Do not house lops with cats, or the rabbit may catch the cat’s Toxoplasma parasite and die, and cats can also scratch or bite it.

Litter-train early: dab a tissue with the rabbit’s droppings or urine into the cage toilet to guide it.

When walking it, avoid busy, polluted streets and lawns where pesticide-sprayed grass may be eaten; walk at dusk, about 5 to 6 p.m.

Comfort zone is 18 to 25°C, so cool it in summer and warm it in winter.

4 Daily Care

Brush regularly to clear old dander and keep the coat clean.

Baths invite colds, so bathe no more than once a month, then towel-dry and blow-dry at once.

Trim the nails regularly as they grow.