The Holland Lop is the smallest and the most popular of the lop-eared rabbits. Both the Holland Lop and the Mini Lop are miniature versions of the Lop-eared Rabbit. It is named after its home country, Holland where this breeds development started in 1949. The final breed as we know it today was finalized in the 1960’s. It was brought into the United States in 1976, and it’s popularity as a favorite pet continues to grow.

These are very mellow smaller rabbits that are easy for beginners to handle and care for. This is a very sweet and affectionate animal. They love to play and hop around. Holland Lops don’t require a lot of space and they eat less than bigger bunnies!

Scientific Classification

Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:Lagomorpha
Family:Leporidae
Genus:Oryctolagus
Species:cuniculus

Background

   Adrian DeCock, of the Netherlands started developing the Holland Lop in 1949. He bred Netherland Dwarfs with French Lops in an attempt to produce a miniature French Lop but instead ended up with what is known today as the Holland lop.
   The Hollands were brought to the United States in 1976 by Aleck Brooks III who is the founder of the Holland Lop Rabbit Specialty Club. They were given breed status in the United States in 1979.

holland lop in the cage
Image Credit: Leiada Krozjhen, Unsplash

Description

   Holland Lops are a small loveable bunny who have wide long ears, which hang down near their cheeks. Their bone structure is supposed to look large and massive but they actually have a fine bone structure and they don’t weigh that much. They have broad shoulders, deep chests, and short thick legs. Being the smallest lop-eared rabbit, their maximum adult size is 4.0 pounds but for showing they should be about 3.5 lbs.

Color differences

   Holland Lops come in many colors though they are especially seen in fawn, white, fawn and white, black and white, and tortoise shell colors. 


Featured Image Credit: Kaewmanee jiangsihui, Shutterstock