# Breed Question (Lop or Half-Lop)



## maherwoman (Feb 27, 2006)

I posted this question in the main Rabbit Only Forum as well, but in reading around in this particular forum, realized that you guys might be able to answer my question more thoroughly...so here goes!


Hey guys. This is more a curiousity question than anything. My bunny is only about eight-weeks-old, and is my first, so I'm basically clueless (except if you count my cat- and gerbil-owning background).

Bunny (which she has decided is her name...lol) is the baby of a regular white domestic female and a gray lop-eared male. She got her daddy's color, and I've noticed that she seems to have a cross between their ears. But I'm not sure in the ear department. So, I ask the following questions, in hopes that someone will be able to give me answers.

Bunny's ears are fairly stiff, but rarely rest on her back. Most of the time they are up, and flop around quite a bit with every activity she does. They are not at all just stiff little ears that don't move. I am truly unaware if bunny ears move much at all when the bunny is just your regular domestic non-lop breed (and I don't mean regular in a bad way). Do bunny ears move around this much with non-lop breeds? Or is it that she's got traits exactly in-between both? I ask because I've seen Bunny many times rest her ears with both of them completely sideways, but not limp like a lop-eared bunny. Or she'll have one sideways, and one straight up.

Anyway, these may sound like goofy questions, but I really don't have much knowledge of bunnies, so you'll have to excuse that. Lol...

Thanks for your patience, guys!:bunnydance:


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## maherwoman (Mar 8, 2006)

Um...er...BUMP!!


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## pamnock (Mar 8, 2006)

Photos would really help 



Pam


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## TinysMom (Mar 8, 2006)

Sometimes my lionheads will have one ear up and one ear sideways....and they aren't lops. I hope someone else can answer your question better!

Peg


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## maherwoman (Mar 13, 2006)

New addition to my question...

I've noticed over the past couple days that Maisie's ears are slowly falling. When we first got her, they were a tight "v" shape when she was fully attentive to something, and they have now gotten to a much more open "v" shape when in the same pose. Another thing I've noticed is that she will grab her ear to clean it, and let it rest lop-ish for a few moments before popping it back up.I wonder...is this the first sign of her ears falling?

Obviously I'll fully know within a couple months, as she's about 2 1/2months old right now...I was just wondering if you guys could shed some light on this for me.

Does anyone have a website that has information about the gradual falling of a lop's ears? Maybe a lop site that has pictures of it??

Thanks, guys!!


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## pamnock (Mar 13, 2006)

Lop ears may fall at different rates depending on crown development -- or may never completely fall at all.On occasion, an erect earred rabbit's ears may lop due to injury or warm temperatures.

A kits ears may lop as early as 2 weeks, and ideally should be fully lopped by the time the kit is weaned although some may continue to show ear control.



Pam


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## maherwoman (Mar 17, 2006)

Ok, I have pictures now...let me see which ones show her ears well...



























Hope this helps!


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## rabbitgirl (Mar 19, 2006)

Your most adorable little friend doesn't appear to be a lop. (unless Pam thinks so, whereupon she is! ) Being able to pull the ear down to clean it is actually something all rabbits do--the ear is cartilage, just like yours, and therefore flexible.

Even rabbits with erect ears can get some "flop" when they move around.And illustration (This guy's ears grew so fast when he was younger that both fell over until the muscles and cartilage were stiff enough to keep them upright):

Uppy ears:






Same bun, in motion:






These two are full lop siblings, purebred Holland lop. The buck has one up, one down, and the doe has both down.

He can put that uppy ear almost straight up, but it's usually half-mast:











Sis has both ears down:











My Hollands average "ear fall" was about 5 wks. old. The little guy with airplane ears was later, though.

Does that help any? 

Rose


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## maherwoman (Mar 19, 2006)

Yeah, it helps a bit. Do you have any pictures of their ears before they fell? The only reason why I wonder, when she's 2 1/2 months old is because someone on the site said something about a lop's ears falling as late as three to four months. 

Ultimately, I dunno. Maybe if I can compare pictures with another bun (who's now a lop) before their ears fell? 

I'm not doubting your information, don't get me wrong. Like I said, I love my baby either way... The only reason I even posed the question to begin with is simply because her mom's a reg.eared bun, and her dad's a lop.


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## rabbitgirl (Mar 19, 2006)

*maherwoman wrote:*


> Yeah, it helps a bit. Do you have any pictures of their ears before they fell? The only reason why I wonder,when she's 2 1/2 months old is because someone on the site said something about a lop's ears falling as late as three to four months.
> 
> Ultimately, I dunno. Maybe if I can compare pictures with another bun (who's now a lop) before their ears fell?
> 
> I'm not doubting your information, don't get me wrong. Like I said, I love my baby either way... The only reason I even posed the question to begin with is simply because her mom's a reg.eared bun, and her dad's a lop.




Wish I did! Didn't have a digital camera then, and I think there are only really tiny baby pics of them. 

I should have said, your rabbit is a half-lop in that one of the parents is a lop, but in a mixed-breed litter (and purebred too, for that matter), it's often the case that some of the offspring take after the erect-eared parent, and some the lop-eared parent. Fergi, a member on the board, had a Flemish that mated with a lop, and the babies all had really long loppy ears! So it's hard to say. Although it appears that your baby takes after her mother, it's possible that her ears could fall late, especially if they are small, but what I remember is that the lop ears were longer and heavier-looking at that age. 

So the upshot of it is, I guess we'll all wait and see!The outcome ought to be cute either way.

Rose


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## maherwoman (Mar 19, 2006)

*Oh definitely. She's adorable whether her ears lop or not. 

Thanks for the information! 

rabbitgirl wrote:*


> *maherwoman wrote: *
> 
> 
> > Yeah, it helps a bit. Do you have any pictures of their ears before they fell? The only reason why I wonder, when she's 2 1/2months old is because someone on the site said something about a lop's ears falling as late as three to four months.
> ...


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## ~BYNDI~ (Mar 22, 2006)

Hello i would just like to tell you that a friend has a rabbit that is two years (or one) and its ears just started to fall a little while ago so just thought i would let you know!


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## maherwoman (Mar 22, 2006)

*Ok...thank you! I guess only time will tell for sure. 

~BYNDI~ wrote: *


> Hello i would just like totell you that a friend has a rabbit that is two years (or one) and itsears just started to fall a little while ago sojust thought i would letyou know!


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## ~BYNDI~ (Mar 22, 2006)

No Problem!


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## naturestee (Mar 23, 2006)

*~BYNDI~ wrote:*


> Hello i would just like to tell you that a friend has a rabbit that is two years (or one) and its ears just started to fall a little while ago so just thought i would let you know!


Rabbit ears do sometimesfall from injury or problems like mites or ear infections. Since the rabbit is an adult, you might want to tell your friend to have it checked out.


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## ~BYNDI~ (Mar 23, 2006)

Hello she did take it to the vet and he/she said it was nothing


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## Spring (Mar 26, 2006)

My friends holland lopx has sort of half half ears too. One ear goes almost compeltely down when she's resting and are sort of flopped over when she hops. You can play with her ears and press on when and it goes down and the other one goes up and pet the other ear and it goes down and the other one comes up. It's so adorable! 

I've heard some holland lops take up to 3 years for their ears to completely lop? Hm.


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## maherwoman (Mar 26, 2006)

*Though I haven't tried the pushing-on-the-ears thing (and might now, just to see what happens...lol), your friend's bunny's ears sound just like Maisie's. It's really cute to watch them flopping around while she runs around or does anything.

Spring wrote: *


> My friends holland lopx has sort of half half ears too. One ear goes almost compeltely down when she's resting and are sort of flopped over when she hops. You can play with her ears and press on when and it goes down and the other one goes up and pet the other ear and it goes down and the other one comes up.It's so adorable!
> 
> I've heard some holland lops take up to 3 years for their ears to completely lop? Hm.


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## BB (Jan 2, 2010)

Butterball is a month old Lop and his ears are still up.
When is it supposed to fall?
Or will it never fall at all??


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## SweetSassy (Jan 2, 2010)

OMG...your bunny looks just like my Rascal.Rascal is lighter color grey though.

Your bunny'sears are a little bigger but the face is just the same. Lol. wow. 






Not a very good pic but you can look atmy blog.


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## fuzz16 (Jan 2, 2010)

most lop mixes never fall completely...i see a lot that have helicopter ears, or one up one down


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## Blaze_Amita (Jan 2, 2010)

I would guess that his ears are not going to fully lop, I've raised my fair share of lop litters and even in the case where I got a helicopter ear carriage, were the ears ever that closely put on the head. I think he's cute with his little ears up, i wouldn't want them to lop! 
Rose: your doe is gorgeous!!! My helicopter doe was Sable Point, but not quite that gorgeous!


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