• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

considering a french lop

Catherine896

Young Bun
I am in the process of getting a giant rabbit, probably a french lop. I have found a gorgeous 7 month old neutered male thats looking for a new home, but he has never seen dogs/cats or kids. I have all 3.... He would never be alone with them, but there would obviously be visual contact and smelling of each other through a run/gate/cage at times with the dogs and cats. I'm a bit wary that the dogs/cats may make him stressed and maybe aggressive? He is very used to handling and has been handled by lots of different people.

Has anyone got any experience with a slightly older french lop getting on with dogs/cats?

Should I not risk it and wait for a baby so that the baby can grow up with the dogs and cats?

Thanks :)
 
My giant bun was 6 months old when I got him, and I have 5 cats and a dog. :)
He came straight from Pets at Home, so he would never have been in contact with them immediately either.

I don't think that 7 months is too old at all to introduce them to other animals. My bunny was very curious of the other animals, and in fact due to his size, my cats are actually scared of him. They do try to swipe him, if he gets too boisterous, because he runs up to them and it freaks them out. They have never done any damage though, I think they just give him a swipe to tell him to leave them alone and he gets the message. :lol:
Plus my bun actually lives with my cats and dog (he's a house rabbit at the moment), and he still got on with it!

I imagine he will probably thump around your dog at first. Benji used to thump around my dog because of his large size, but he soon learned that he's a massive softie. I think animals pick up on these things quite quickly. :) It's good that he's neutered as that can often calm rabbits down and make them less aggressive. I didn't have any problems with mine at all, but obviously every rabbit is different.

I absolutely wouldn't let it bother you, my advice would be to get the rabbit you've seen.

The only thing that I would say, and it's irrelevant to the topic really, but my vet did warn me the other day to always look at a rabbit's teeth before you get it, particularly with lops. Mine isn't a lop and thankfully, he has fantastic teeth (according to the vet!)
I'm sure whoever you are getting it from will be happy to let you have a look though. :)
 
Last edited:
I already had Loxxy (French lop), and Twitchy (dwarf) when I had to bring my dad's 2 golden retrievers home to live with us. The rabbits didn't bat an eyelid, but initially the dogs went bonkers! Over time they've mellowed a lot, to the point where I can have both out in the garden together freely, so long as I'm out there constantly watching the dogs. The dogs are very, very good and gentle, and they certainly know how they're meant to behave around the rabbits, but I wouldn't trust them unsupervised one little bit, so they're never ever alone together.
 
I think it would be fine. I've got a French lop male, and they are such a laid back, easy going bunnies, that I don't think anything phases Buster out. He's more like a dog the way he runs up to greet me and follows me about. Frenchies are just brilliant bunnies. I will try and put some pics of Buster up here now.

20130215_232735_zps146c6cfc.jpg


20130203_223357_zps1f65dfb0.jpg


20130316_202951_zpsff93315b.jpg
 
Wow, Buster is so cute! :love: Great name, thats a name I was considering for mine lol :D

I think I will be getting him on Wednesday, thanks for the help :)

I also like tiny rabbits and was wondering, in the future if I had a little breed rabbit, I'm guessing it could never live with the french lop? If I had a pair of mini rabbits, and a pair of big rabbits (all neutered) would they be happy to see/meet through cage bars or would that upset the individual pairs, if that makes sense? Or would it work having a mini rabbit and letting him/her out with the big rabbit for a run around together supervised, would that be enough rabbit companionship for them? Or even side by side runs in the garden?

Hope all that makes sense lol, thanks :)
 
I think temperaments are more important than size and don't forget the large breeds don't race about like smaller breeds. Personally with dogs, cats and children, I think the much more even, laid back temperaments of bunnies like the French lops, would be far better suited to your environment. The smaller breeds are much more highly strung a lot of the time, and can be a lot more difficult and temperamental to manage Buster is about 2 and was an emergency rescue after being blinded deliberately, and then the same sick person tried to drown him. He was also terribly thin when I got him and very scared of being handled and hated his face being touched for obvious reasons, but he is a right cuddle bunny now, and even sleeps on my bed with me, and doesn't worry at all about being picked up, his face touched etc. I have only had him since last December, and there is also some trauma to the outside of his left eye, so I have to check that daily and bathe and treat it when necessary, but it seems to be healing well now. I would stick with an older bunny, because then you know and can see what the temperament is like. Baby bunnies, especially when they reach adulthood and the hormones kick in, aren't necessarily going to be how you want them to be, and just because you have had them from so young doesn't mean that they will like being picked up, or be any better temperament. Personally, I don't think you could wish for better than what your frenchie sounds like. They are just amazing bunnies. By the way, Buster doesn't have a hutch, because I don't think any hutch is a suitable size for the giant breeds, and he is a house bunny because of his blindness, but then all my bunnies are house bunnies anyway and 'special needs'. I have a massive lounge and one end of it has got puppy pen panels across it, and Buster lives in there, but in the evenings when the small bunnies are in their pens, Buster free ranges. Buster has one of the large plastic dog beds with blankets in it, and that's what he sleeps in. Either that or stretches out like in his pic. If you are wondering about toys, Buster has a dumbbell thing that he loves to throw about, but in general he just loves cardboard boxes, and picks them up, throws them about, pushes them along with his nose etc. Not overly big boxes, but egg boxes, chocolate boxes, small to medium size boxes really, and forget about an eggcup of pellets a day, because Buster eats LOADS!! Always has loads of hay, will eat a persons dessert bowl full of pellets a day, and he has SS. He has daily, carrots, broccoli, cabbage or any greens, herby leaves, but he would have a bag to himself, cauliflower leaves, parsley that kind of thing.
 
I've always had french lops and can not recommend them highly enough. I've always had french lops and they are great characters and very laidback around other animals.

Good luck :wave:
 
Back
Top