A Holland Lop was my first rabbit, so this breed is close to my heart. In this guide, I will now teach you everything you need to know about them, what food they should eat how to take care of them.
In This Article
- Information About Holland Lop
- Holland Lop’s Diet
- How To Care For a Holland Lop
- Holland Lop’s Living Environment
- FAQ
Information About Holland Lop
| Weight | 2 – 4 lb |
| Lifespan | 9 – 13 |
| Characteristic | Short, Broad Head, Ears Lopped |
| Emotions | Contentment, Sweet, Joyful |
| Coat | Dense, Medium Length, Variety of Colors |
| Related Breeds | French Lop, Netherland Dwarf, English Lop |
This small, cute dwarf breed is perfect as the first rabbit for children. Holland Lop is a calm breed with a big heart for love and cuddles.
Their rollback fur makes them fluffy and soft to the touch, and their ears are what give them that unique lop-rabbit look.
Holland Lop’s Diet
Holland Lop’s primary diet should mainly consist of these types of foods:
- Hay
- Green leaves
- Vegetables
- Trees (twigs and bark)
- Rabbit pellets
Hay: The Most Important Food for a Holland Lop
Hay is the primary food source for Holland Lop and should consist of around 80-90% of their daily diet. Because of their particular herbivorous diet, timothy hay is the best hay I can recommend.
You might ask why Thimothy hay is the best.
Timothy hay provides a lot of beneficial nutrients and is a coarse type of hay. In addition, a coarse Hay like timothy plays an essential role in maintaining their teeth by grinding them down so they don’t grow too large.
However – meadow, orchard, ryegrass, and bluegrass are excellent replacements if you can’t get your hands on some timothy.
Continuing downwards, you will find a table with everything you can feed your Holland Lop.
Green Leaves, Vegetables, and Trees
The primary green leaves, vegetables, and fruits to feed you Holland Lop:
Giving your rabbit a maximum of 1 cup of veggies and half a cup of fruits is the best practice for an adult Holland Lop.
Rabbit Pellets: Great Supplement
Pellets are the third-best option for dwarf rabbits. Pellets should be a supplement in a rabbit’s diet but are an excellent source of nutrients, minerals, and vitamins.
Ask your local professionals at the farmers’ market or check online for quality pellets based on Timothy Hay. Pellets should not include seeds or dried corn.
Daily, it would be best if you gave your adult Holland Lop a maximum of one-fourth of a cup of pellets as a supplement to their hay-based diet.
Fresh Water
Thanks to rabbits’ heavy fiber intake, water is one of the most crucial in a Holland Lop’s diet. Since you most likely feed them hay 80% of the time, they don’t get enough liquid through their food. Check the water bottle or bowl every day and clean it thoroughly once a week. You will develop a habit of how much water your cute little dwarf rabbit needs after a while.
How To Care For a Holland Lop
These small-bred rabbits are easy to handle and require little maintenance. The only focus point you need to consider is ensuring their teeth don’t grow too large and keeping their nails at a reasonable length.
Keep Rabbits’ Teeth at Optimal Length
Make sure they have optimal teeth length to give you a happy and comfortable rabbit. Dwarf breeds like Holland Lop have round faces and are more prone to dental problems.
Many hours of their day go to eating, so optimal teeth length should be in focus. To ensure they stay at optimal size, they need to eat coarse hay, which grinds them down.
Willow twig is another superfood that helps rabbits grind their teeth and enjoy eating nutrient-rich bark. Not always accessible. Thus, depending on where you live in the world. It can be found in more northern places in North America and Europe, groLop’swild.
The Grooming of A Holland Lop
You can regularly groom them with a brush, depending on how thick the coat is. Old genes from when the rabbit was wild make them change from summer coats to winter coats – and in this transition, you have to groom more frequently.
Rabbits do some grooming themself, but this increases the risk of hairballs stuck in their throat. Help them with grooming at least once a week. This reduces the chance of skin infections and diseases like flystrike.
Maximize Holland Lop’s Health and Lifespan
Holland Lop is a healthy rabbit breed that is not affected by any hereditary issues. Most importantly, a bunny with a nutritious diet is a healthy rabbit.
Introduce new food in small quantities. Holland Lop, like most rabbits, has a sensitive digestive system. Therefore, make sure to introduce new foods in small quantities to avoid health problems.
Make sure the rabbit is socialized. Nothing is as boring as staying alone in a cage all day, right? Well, rabbits are very social rodents that need mental stimulation from a social group.
Vitamin deficiency. If you suspect your bunny might lack vitamins from its diet, you can supplement it with vitamin drops in the water.
A bottle or a bowl of water for the rabbit? If you want to be extra careful, you can ensure your rabbit drinks out of a bowl and not a water bottle. This is because water bottles are not made for their natural head position. They both have pros and cons, so either is just fine.
Having your rabbit indoors will help your bunny live longer. There are, of course, benefits with both, since if you have them outside, they more likely have a lot more space to roam, and the quality of the shorter life is better. Rabbits live longer indoors because of the following:
- Less stress on the body because of fluctuating temperatures.
- No exposure to cold winds
- They don’t get wet
Here you can learn about different Rabbit Breeds Gestation Periods
Now, I will get more into having the rabbit inside in a cage or outside in a pen.
Holland Lop’s Living Environment
An excellent rule for a proper cage is ‘bigger the better’ when choosing the living environment for the Holland Lop Rabbit breed. They might look small but have a big drive to explore and run around like most rabbits.
Indoor Cage For Holland Lop
Thanks to their small size. It is more comfortable for rabbits to stay inside the house than bigger breeds. Keep in mind that a Holland Lop’s cage should not be smaller than 40x20x20 inches (long, wide, and high). This way, you ensure they have enough sleeping space, food-area, and a designated pooping corner.
Make sure their sleeping spot is clean and filled with hay – even though they usually don’t poop there anyways.
Outdoor Pen For Holland Lop
Holland Lop can also live outside in freezing temperatures thanks to its dense coat. Just make sure they have cover from the wind with a windproof house if you keep the rabbit outside. Fill the house with tons of hay to ensure it stays warm for the Holland Lop.
- The Holland Lop is a great excavator, so ensure you have a wire-bottomed surface below the pen. You can also put a layer of sawdust on top of the wires. This sawdust breaks down after a while and creates new soil.
A great tip: When it is time to clean the pen, you save the super-fertilized soil rabbit crate and then use it to grow fresh green leaves for the rabbit in the future.
FAQ
What Colors Does Holland Lop Rabbit Come In?
The Holland Lop comes in an extensive variety of different colors and combinations. The most common ones are brown, orange, cream, frosty, chocolate, dark blue-gray, white & brown, and white & black.
What is The Lifespan of a Holland Lop?
A Holland Lop has a lifespan of up to 13 years. With a lot of love, care, and the right environment, you can expect your Holland Lop to live up to 9 to 13 years.
Are Holland Lop Bunnies Cuddly?
Holland Lop is a cuddly rabbit breed, thanks to its calm and loving temperament. If you have two in the same cage, you will spot them snuggling up on each other with their soft coat.
Do Holland Lops Like To Be Held?
Like most rabbits, Holland Lops prefer their feet on the ground. But that does not mean your bunny doesn’t like cuddles. Sitting on the ground with your Holland Lop in your lap is the best practice if you want to hold your bunny.
