advice needed from French/German lop owners

Hi,

I have just been given a beautiful baby German lop for my birthday. She is called Tribbles and is 8 weeks old. I already have two dwarf lops who live in a hutch and so i do have some knowledge and experience of rabbits. If anyonbe can give me any information about this type of rabbit, housing, how much food etc to give her, temperament etc. that would be great. My dwarf lops are hyper and like little whirlwinds whereas she seems very calm and plods around the house. Am i correct in thinking she needs to eat double what my boys are eating? Can someone tell me what size cage- i do not want to confine her in one-she will have free access 24 hours to my kitchen which is big.

I'm not sure about the exact quantities of food,

but I'd get her a large 48" dog crate and leave the door open so she can come and go as she pleases.

All of mine have dog crates, carpeted, with a large litter tray at one end and heaps of hay.

Nicola

Yes you'd best get underbed storage boxes from Wilkinsons for litter trays, as she'll be too big for cat litter trays, and prizepets do good dog crates, or there's ebay. If your kitchen floor is vinyl or tile you may find she's reluctant to use it unless you put some rugs down

Main thing she needs to eat is hay, but the pellets should have a weight/food advice on the packet - although baby rabbits need theirs split into 2 or 3 meals a day. She might prefer water in a dish too, with her being big.

My Frenchies are so laid back and friendly. They are really charming They do eat alot more hay than my other bunnies and plenty of veggies too.

my frenchie eats for Britain:lol: :lol:

we use a normal hooded cat litter tray for our lola which is big enough but prevents her from frantically digging the litter out :lol:

we havent bothered with a dog cage, but if your bunny is going to get free run of the kitchen you could buy a cardboard house from www.cardboardguy.co.uk and use that as a hidey hole. we have the medium one for lola but take the internal bits out. she loves it

i think you should free feed your frenchie until he's 6 months old then cut back. i only feed lola about 50g science selective a day tops (although it might be 9 months free feeding for a frenchie, someone please correct me if i wrong). i find that she will eat anything she can find and adult frenchies are usually pretty lazy so they can get fat quickly

be prepared for a big hay and veg bill though, lola can eat 4 times as much veg as my dwarf lops and still beg for more :lol:

they also make a right noise when they run around so be prepared for it sounding like a stampede of elephants in your kitchen :lol:

Thanks for all your advice. It has been extremely useful for me. I might look at getting a dog crate or box for her. i have noticed she does not like being confined which i am tryiung to do to toilet train her but last night she wouldn't get in her cage. But i think she needs some privacy because every once in a while, she will hide behind the cage. She is extremely greedy and will eat anything i give her which is a bonus because my dwarves are fussy eaters!!!