Plush Lops

[cattlecait]

Here's my formal introduction for the newest breed to grab my interest. I'm picking up a few on my way back to Michigan next summer and a friend of mine in Michigan is developing some himself.

The concept is a lop-eared, rex-furred rabbit, but not like a Velveteen. The Holland Lop and Mini Lop are used to get the lopped ears. They are very popular in Australia and gaining popularity in the UK, but because of importation issues a couple of breeders here have decided to make them themselves.

They are only on their 3rd and 4th generations of breeding, so they aren't quite up to what they are potentially going to be. They probably will not be able to be recognized by ARBA because they are so similar to a Holland Lop, but my friend in Michigan is aiming to tweak them enough to be accepted as a seperate breed.

I've attached a photo from this website - www.krittrs.com - which is the breeder in Wisconsin that I'm getting some of my stock from. This rabbit is Blue Bunny and I picked this picture because I think he exemplifies what we're going for and he's adorable!

 

[Bunnylady]

Cute rabbit!

I wish your friend luck trying to get them accepted. Since ARBA decided it wouldn't even consider anything that looked like an existing breed in a different coat or color, it has made even breeds established in other countries difficult to introduce here. This would be especially true if your friend is set on working with harlequins/tris. Harlequins (the breed) have gotten pretty rough treatment by the standards committee in recent years (I refuse to spread the rumors I've heard about why); I'm afraid that any breed with that pattern could probably expect similar treatment.

 

[ChickenPotPie]

I know what you mean by "interesting feedback". lol Some people get ruffled by projects like this.

And, yes, it'll need to be tweaked because of ARBA rules stating change in coat does not constitute a new breed. It's a start, though. Just let your imagination flow to change it up a bit and give yourself plenty of time to work on it. I do like the rabbit in the photo, too.

When I saw your thread title, my heart leaped a little. I thought you might have had a fuzzy French Lop. I was given one once and oh, how I LOVED that boy! He was sweetly tempered, puppy-dog-friendly, and so squooshy - just like a Gund stuffed animal I tell you! He passed prematurely but oh, I'll never forget him. That would be quite something to develop a fluffy (2 inch non-matting wooled coat), armful of a rag-doll-like rabbit. Ah, but I digress.

The plush lops look pretty cool. What other changes beside coat do you have in mind? You don't have to say. It might not be a good idea to share all your secrets.

Keep records though - not just breeding ones but names and interesting developments and personal stories during your work. That Mini Lop was developed the next town over from me here in CA. I met one of the ladies who'd helped the fellow, credited for the breed, develop them. She said there were about 6 - 9 local breeders helping by breeding his stock in their barns for him. She said a lot of people think they used a Lop rabbit to develop the Mini Lop but they didn't! They actually bred out the ear control. I forget what breeds they used (at least three) but I do remember that they were not what you'd expect and that one of them was a rabbit breed I'd never heard of. I think it was from Germany. Anyway, interesting stuff so do keep records to share 10 yrs down the road!

Good luck with them. Looks like it could be a fun and challenging project.

 

[cattlecait]

I don't mind sharing what we're doing, if someone REALLY wanted to steal my idea and run with it, they're more than entitled!

We're considering making them bigger and more compact size, but then that'd be too Mini Lop-ish, so I'm not sure. Someone else suggested that since most of them are "airplane-eared" then we should just leave them looking like that, but I think ARBA would laugh at us!

Another thought was to somehow get them in brown-eyed white color, since no other breed comes in that color. I think its called ermine, but that could be something else.

A fluffy French Lop would be adorable!!! I've never heard of such a thing.

I didn't know that about the Mini Lops, that's very interesting. I could imagine that getting very frustrating lol.

 

[ChickenPotPie]

Going with the ear thing, can you imagine that massive Holland head and body type, Rex fur, with a very open, short Nethie ear that was wide set (from HL ear set) like a cat? It'd be the rabbit version of an Exotic cat!

I call Woolies the "Persian of the rabbit world" for their coats, flat faces, and sweet temperements so why not a Exotic rabbit?! lol

Check it out:
http://www.cfa.org/Client/breedExotic.aspx
http://www.cfa.org/Client/exotic.aspx

Can you picture it? I can especiallly make the leap in my mind when I look at the Blue cat on the second link - same color as your photo rabbit, That cat has tons of bone. He's massive. And the coat looks not all that off from your photo, either. That would be awesome! A cat bunny.... drool

eta: Or, heck. Put a short, open, wide set ear on an AFL, with Self, Himi, Shaded, Frosted, BEWs, varieties accepted and you'd really have a cat bunny - just like Persians.

Frosteds:
http://www.cfa.org/Client/persiansilver.aspx
Himi/Pointeds:
http://www.cfa.org/Client/persianhimalayan.aspx (2nd and 4th photos)
Shadeds:
http://www.cfa.org/Client/articlepersiansmoke.aspx (1st and 4th photos)
Self and BEW:
http://www.cfa.org/Client/articlepersiansolid.aspx


LOL I'm having fun with this.

 

[cattlecait]

Hahahaha!

Would you rather I just abandon the whole project and start raising cats? LOL

 

[Bunnylady]

Another thought was to somehow get them in brown-eyed white color, since no other breed comes in that color. I think its called ermine

Yep, called an Ermine.

Excerpt from the Lop Color Guide in the ARBA Standards of Perfection:

"WHITE - Color is to be a pure white and uniform throughout. Eyes: Pink, Blue or Brown."

Sorry, it looks like almost all of the Lop breeds already include Ermine in their standard colors.

 

[cattlecait]

Does anyone know anyone who has an Ermine colored lop of any sort?

 

[ChickenPotPie]

Hahahaha!

Would you rather I just abandon the whole project and start raising cats? LOL

I thought you'd like the cat bunny idea.

 

[Bunnylady]

I don't know anyone currently, but I had a friend a few years ago who was just gaga over Blue-Eyed Whites. She was looking at a litter of bunnies that this one fella was selling, some had just the lightest ticking on thier coats, the others were pure white. All had blue-grey eyes. He was trying his hardest to sell these buns to my friend as BEW's, or something close to it. As soon as I could get her outside the range of his hearing, I explained to her that these were all Frosteds and Ermines, not the BEW's she was craving. Ermine is A_B_cchdcD_ee, plus a little bit of good luck to get the brown eyes (rather than mottled or blue-gray), and get all the ticking off the coat. BEW, of course, is Vienna, a completely different ball game. (Eventually, she did find a breeder with genuine BEW's). You don't find a lot of the completely white Ermines, they usually wind up with at least a little bit of the ticking in the coat, which makes them Frosted (somethings).