New Website!

It's finally launched! I'm still adding a lot of information onto the website, but most of the general information is up and running. Let me know what you think!

www.LolliLops.com

Enjoy!

Promise to Desa

[These pictures were taken a month after she came home with us.]

Meet Desa - the unfortunate product of irresponsible breeders. When I first saw that this breeder (who will remain unnamed) had a blue-eyed white doe for sale, I was excited to pick up Desa from their rabbitry. Unfortunately, I had no idea what kind of breeder and what living conditions Desa had been in, before I decided to take her home with me. I had no idea what kind of breeder I was about to buy from, and was not aware of her breeding history and reputation of unreliability. Sadly, I'd have to learn about this, and the existence of Bunny Mills the hard way.

The Bunny Mill:
When I first met Desa, she was living in a cramped cage with 2 other rabbits - much like many of the other rabbits around her in the rabbitry. This was my first encounter with what is known as a 'Bunny Mill'. I initially meant to buy her sister, who is listed on my page as 'Darla' - but the breeder offered Desa to me for free, as the woman needed cage space (which was very evident). Fortunately for Desa, I couldn't leave her in those living conditions, and decided to take her home with me, in hopes of providing them a better home.

Desa's Condition:
Desa chews the fur on her feet, including the comb over that is needed to protect her heels. When I asked the breeder of this issue, she responded 'That's just a Holland Lop thing that they do.'

Again, unfortunately, some breeders just don't pay enough attention to their rabbits' living conditions to maintain a healthy living standard for their rabbits. No matter how many of your rabbits chew their fur - it is NOT normal. Desa most likely chewed her fur in anxiety from living in such cramped and dirty living conditions. In addition, as I took a closer look at her feet, I noticed that her nails were curling in massive length. Obviously, if a rabbit's feet are not trimmed, their toes can be extremely uncomfortable and get caught in the holes of a wired bottom cage. With that said - two of her toes are visibly growing abnormally sideways, which I noticed as I was clipping her nails. I refuse to believe that this is 'just something that Holland Lops do', especially when I have had several healthy ones that have never succumbed to such self mutilating behavior.

Not only was Desa's feet bald and contorted, but she was also very thin. Visibly, her spine portruded, and the lines of her muscles were visible through her fur - unlike a normal rabbit who should look healthily round. I decided not to take pictures of her at that time, because of how disturbing the image of her body was. Luckily, in the pictures above (taken recently), it is evident that she is now gaining more and more weight, which I am very happy about.

This breeder had accepted Desa's 'bad habits', and allowed for it to continue. However, with enough attention and care - I know that Desa can be a normal, healthy bunny again.

Desa's spirit:
After considering Desa's condition, and not even receiving a pedigree or explanation from this breeder - I decided to keep Desa to try and rehabilitate her physically and emotionally, by cleaning her, grooming her, providing her a more spacious home, and giving her ample socialization time. I imagined Desa to be a very shy and afraid, knowing that she lived her life in a cramped cage with two other rabbits in obviously uncomfortable living conditions - but after days of socialization, she seems to have warmed up quite a bit. She lacks energy, but loves to be scratched behind her ears, and pet on her nose. On a daily basis, I pet her and hold her to give her the affection that she most likely lacked in her previous 'home'. She is the reason why I strive for a better standard of breeding in the world of domesticated rabbits.

Our PROMISE:
With that said, although my first experience with a Bunny Mill was a very sad and frustrating experience - I have learned a lot about the rabbit breeding world, including the ways that I can try and improve the standards of breeding. Rabbits are wonderful animals that I believe make unique and therapeutic pets - but the standards in which they are bred, must be improved.

Lolli Lops Rabbitry has made a Promise to Desa, that all rabbits bred at our rabbitry will:

1) Have their OWN spacious, clean and suitable cage, and will NEVER be housed together.
2) Always be groomed, with their nails trimmed, fur brushed and cleaned if necessary to maintain a healthy and comfortable living condition.
3) Be fed enough to maintain a healthy weight, no matter what.
4) Have an equal amount of ample socialization time to encourage friendly and affectionate personalities.
5) Always have monthly health exams, to ensure that they are in the best health and most comfortable living condition that they can be in.

Honestly, much of this was what I thought was common sense when it came to housing rabbits, so nonetheless - our Promise to Desa will be an everlasting one at our rabbitry.

Sincerely,
Jennie
Lolli Lops

P.S. The purpose of this post was to let rabbit lovers and enthusiasts know that although there are irresponsible breeders out there, there are still some who are inspired to improve the standard of breeding to maintain the health and friendly personalities of these lovely animals.

In regards to the rabbitry that I saved Desa from, I have very little respect for this rabbitry, and do feel the need to caution future potential rabbit owners from buying from this rabbitry - but as much as I'd like to post their name on my blog - I am here to let people know there is hope in improving the standard of the breeding of rabbits, and to hopefully inspire / remind breeders of this.. I am not here to put others down.

With that said, if you personally ask / email me about the rabbitry in this blog, I will have absolutely no problem with providing you the rabbitry's name and owner, as a warning to potential customers.

More Lolli Lops!

H4U's Brie DOB: February 11, 2009 Breed: Thrianta Color: Red Status: Junior Pedigree: Available Not For Sale

Brie is my very first Thrianta from Hares 4 U. She will help me start my line of Thriantas in the Fall, and RED Lionheads as well! Thriantas are very rare to find in the US, and I'm so thankful to have found her. She's just a baby right now, so she'll be getting lots of affection and love (: Thanks so much, Debbie!
[ http://haresforyou.webs.com/ ]

HH's Riot DOB: July 24, 2008 Breed: PB Lionhead Mane: Double Color: Tort Status: Proven Senior Pedigree: Available Not For Sale

Riot is a small, purebred double mane lionhead with a great personality (hence the name - RIOT!). He doesn't look like a DM lionhead here, because much of his mane has molted out :( but he will give his kits beautiful manes nonetheless, and will grow back his own in the next few months. Thanks Rhonda!
[ http://www.bragglionheadfarm.com/ ]

' Darla DOB: June 2, 2008 Breed: Holland Lop Color: Blue-Eyed White [BEW] Status: Proven Senior Due: 6/13/2009 Pedigree: Available Not For Sale

This pretty lady is my very first BEW Holland Lop (I didn't even know they existed, until recently.) who will be helping me start my BEW Lion Lop program - which I have yet to see happen anywhere else! These guys are going to be adorable, and I can't wait for her litter this Fall. For now, she is bred to Bubba for my very first VM/VC Holland lops.

More good news (:

I really don't want to jinx any of this right now, so I'll save the news for tomorrow... but Lolli Lops is developing another VERY exciting program. I haven't seen this type of rabbit bred anywhere near my area, so I'm extremely excited that I'm fortunate enough to have found these rabbits.

Stay tuned!


P.S. There's a couple of clues around the site, if you really want to know. (;

New Lionhead!

So I just picked up my very first Lionhead doe from Slatehill's Rabbitry in Manchester, MD (1.5 hr drive!) and I'm so excited! This friendly little girl comes from a very fluffy lionhead buck, and a netherland dwarf - meaning she will have a compact body and a fluffy single mane.

When she is of age, she will help me start my very first line of BEW f2 lionheads in the Summer, and I'm so excited!

Slatehill's Rae DOB: December 11, 2008 Breed: F1 Lionhead Mane: Single Color: Black Status: Junior Pedigree: Available Not For Sale

The picture really doesn't do her justice, but she's very pretty and gentle. She has a nice mane for an SM doe, and has a very small and compact body, as she comes from a fluffy DM lionhead and a netherland dwarf. Rae will be bred to Orlando/Emilio when she is of age (this June), for f2 BEW Lionheads, which will be my very first litter of Lionheads. Thanks Terri! [www.SlatehillRabbitry.com]

BEW Breeding Program

I haven't picked him up yet, as he is still going through his 8 weeks at Riddle's Bunny Barn - but I'm so excited to announce that I've purchased my first little Blue Eyed White (Double Mane) Lionhead!

Little 'Orlando' will be helping me start my line of BEW Lionhead and LionLops this fall, and I'm very excited because Orlando is an F3 Double Maned buck.

As an F3 DM, the Lionheads from his line will (if crossed with another F3 or PB) produce PB Double Mane kits with Blue Eyes.. (: [In other words, as a Purebred BEW - every single kit will have blue eyes and a very thick mane. ]

In addition, as a DM buck, the LionLops from his line will produce 100% Single mane F1 Lionhead Lops.. and 50% chance of blue eyes (!!!) [In other words, every single kit will have a guaranteed mane - true Blue eyed LionLops!]

RBB's 'Orlando' DOB: March 14th, 2009 Breed: BEW PB LH Mane: Double (DM) Color: BEW [Blue Eyed White] Status: Junior Pedigree: Available Picking up on May 3rd!

I'm so excited about this little guy, as he is a Blue Eyed White, and will be starting my BEW Lionhead/LionLop Breeding Program in the Fall (of this year). He'll be coming home on May 9th, and I can't wait to meet him! Thanks Christie! [www.RiddlesBunnyBarn.com]

Big News!

>> First, I'd like to say thank you so much to the wonderful Cass Kinnear of BMW's Holland Lops for my new additions to the Lolli Lop Family - BMW's HM and BMW's FB2! These two are gorgeous Holland Lops, bred through none other than the lovely BMW Rabbitry, filled with beautiful show quality buns. (To view their website, go here: http://www.bmwshollands.com/)

Secondly, I'm also very, very excited to announce that I will be expecting my first Holland Lop litter in early June 2009. If you are interested in these little beauties, please email me at tai.jennie@gmail.com


The New Lolli-Lops!

• BMW's 'HM'
  DOB: 10/01/2008
  Sex: DOE
  Color: Broken Tortoise
  FALSE DWARF

• BMW's FB2
  DOB: 07/21/2008
  Gender: BUCK
  Color: Tortoise
  TRUE DWARF

I'm really excited for this litter, because the Buck is a True Dwarf, meaning there will be a good percentage of small hollands in the litter, and the Doe is a False Dwarf - meaning this larger doe will have a larger sized litter as well. In addition, because the Doe is Broken Tort, and the Buck is a Solid color - there will be a variety of different colored babies, just as my previous litter with Tink and Emilio (See Litter 1)

For those of you who are interested in these beauties:

[ Litter B1 ]
Dam: BMW's HM
Sire: BMW's FB2
Breeding Date: 04/11/2009
Due Date: 05/12/2009
Expected:
1) True/False: 2:2:1
2) Colors: Brokens & Solids

Future Litters

Announcement:

Thank you to everyone who has been interested in these Lion Lops.

If you could not get the one you wanted from my current litter, and would still be interested in purchasing a Lion Lop, I will be breeding another litter on April 26th, 2009.

[ Litter A2 ]
Dam: Tinkerbelle (Lop)
Sire: Emilio (Single-Mane Lionhead)
Breeding Date: 04/26/09
Due Date: 05/27/09
Expected:
1) Mane: 50% SM, 50% NM
2) Colors: Otters, Agoutis, Orange, Broken colors.

If you would like to place one of these kits on hold, please email me at tai.jennie@gmail.com

Otherwise, if you are still looking for rabbits at this time, you may email me and I will do my best to direct you to breeders around your area to help you find one.