I’m picking up this 9 week old English lop April 1. Her name will be ginger. Tips on this breed? I’m doing my own research but sometimes owners of the breed have the best tips.
by VexingFantasy
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As someone with experience with lops, make sure to keep her ears clean. Lops are at a higher risk for ear infections and dental disease. Make sure you watch her closely to see how well she is eating and try to become familiar with her habits, even take pictures of her litterbox daily so you can more easily tell if something changes.
Her poos will tell you if she’s having trouble eating, and may indicate problems like stress, pain, or dental disease. Prompt treatment of dental disease will lessen the need for future treatments. In Japan rabbits are fully anesthestitized for tooth trims, which is very taxing on the rabbit and expensive, so I do everything I can to prevent the need for surgery.
Of course, prevention is better than cure. How can you prevent dental issues? By feeding her unlimited hay. Growing bunnies will eat hay almost constantly. She should get a portion of hay *as big as she is* 2x a day. Hard hay, like 1st cut timothy is best, but some rabbits find it unpalatable. If she doesn’t like 1st cut “hard” hay, you can try a softer 2nd cut variety. It is paramount that she eats enough hay every day to maintain healthy teeth. Other types of hay, like oat or orchard grass are palatable, but they are very soft. You can mix them in with hard hay to stimulate her appetite, but this probably won’t be necessary.
Hay really is the most important thing she will eat, and ensuring she gets enough of it is the most important thing you can do to keep her healthy.