Small and kind rabbit

[nellybelle]

Hi everyone, I really need some help as there is alot of contradictory information out there. I have many questions so I will ask them one by one. In a few months I would like to buy a bunny. It is for indoors. I would like a small, kind rabbit. I know that personality depends on many different factors, but I am generalising here.

Can you please tell me what some of the smaller rabbit breeds are that are friendly? I dont really want a rabbit that get large as an adult. I dont kind if the rabbit is a mix.

Is it ok to just have one rabbit or should I really get two so one isnt bored all the time?

 

[Kipcha]

Holland Lops are a breed I have had good luck with personally, and I haven't really seen other people have problems with them. I would also recommend a buck and nuetering it.

Other then that, mixed breeds work well too.

 

[Jynxie]

I also love my holland lop.
He's sick right now, but I've only had him a few days and he's already a cuddle bug.
He climbs up me and likes to sit and get pet.

So far, he's been a total sweetheart.
I deff recomment the holland lop. :3

 

[Mika77]

I have a Dutch (or Dutch mix, not too sure, she is from the humane society) she is a small bunny , about 4lbs. She was very friendly when I first got her and really liked people but then I bonded her to my other two bunnies and she really changed after that. She no longer shows interest in people and just wants to be with the other two bunnies. If I could do it all over again I would have never bonded her with the other two (especially since the other two are not that crazy about her and pluck her fur, but she still wants to be with them). But I still think that the Dutch bunnies make nice pets and can be very friendly.

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

Holland lops are nice and so are the dutch but the bunny for you is for sure a mini rex. The rex has the most gentle and loving personality of all the rabbit breeds. Plus there fur feels just like plush velvet and there always so beautiful. There are two kinds the standard and the mini and there the same breed just one is small. I have met a lot of different rabbit breeds but the sweetest is for sure the rex.

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

If you get just one bunny then that bunny will be bonded to you. I have a checkered giant mix myself and she is bonded to me and does not care for other rabbits. If you get two rabbits then they will bond together and be less interested in you.

 

[MikeScone]

nellybelle wrote:

Can you please tell me what some of the smaller rabbit breeds are that are friendly?

As you said, it's generalizing, but I second the Mini-Rex suggestion. I've had two Mini-Rexes, one at a time. The first, Scone MacBunny, passed away last June at 7½, and I now live with Natasha Rabbitova. Both had their own personalities, and are quite different in many ways, but I'd have to say that both Scone and Natasha were/are very friendly.

Scone wanted to be with me every minute, but on his own terms. He'd sit or lie down next to me, and loved to kiss me and groom my hair. Natasha is probably the most loving bunny I've ever known, and can happily sit in my arms as long as I'm willing to hold and pet her.

 

[TinysMom]

I love the Polish - my Angel is a cuddle bunny.

I've had/have a few holland lops and I love them dearly but they are not cuddlers like she is.

If you go with a holland lop - I do recommend a buck over a doe as does can get territorial.

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

I have a friend who has a polish and he is rather stubborn. I still think your best bet is the rex. The photo posted is a wonderful picture of a rex. You can see the plush coat and gentle personality.

 

[MikeScone]

TinysMom wrote:

I love the Polish - my Angel is a cuddle bunny.

One important point - the original poster is from Ireland. The breed called "Polish" in the USA is not the same breed as is called "Polish" in Britain and, presumably, Ireland - the British "Polish" is our "Britannia Petite", which is quite a different rabbit entirely.

I'm not sure what our Polish is called in Ireland - since the breed does come from England originally, there must be a name for it, but I can't seem to find anything which says what it is.

 

[BaileysMom]

MikeScone wrote:

nellybelle wrote:

Can you please tell me what some of the smaller rabbit breeds are that are friendly?

As you said, it's generalizing, but I second the Mini-Rex suggestion. I've had two Mini-Rexes, one at a time. The first, Scone MacBunny, passed away last June at 7½, and I now live with Natasha Rabbitova. Both had their own personalities, and are quite different in many ways, but I'd have to say that both Scone and Natasha were/are very friendly.

Scone wanted to be with me every minute, but on his own terms. He'd sit or lie down next to me, and loved to kiss me and groom my hair. Natasha is probably the most loving bunny I've ever known, and can happily sit in my arms as long as I'm willing to hold and pet her.

Is that a mini rex? I didn't think the mini's even were that small also is she fixed? I am in the same dilema my husband is going to let me add my 4th and final bun to our household, I currently have a mixed maybe english spot with something else, then I have a dwarf (not sure if purebreed) and then I have a young mini lop crossed w/ lion head and while she is still young I was wanting to get another female so they would grow up use to being around each other and playing in the same room. I was originally trying to decide between a black Netherland dwarf or a holland lop, now you guys have me wondering about the mini rex. HELP!! does anyone else have any pics of a TRUE mini rex? and I LOVE the black.

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

Ya that's a mini rex. The standard rex can weigh close to nine pounds and there is no way that little girl is that big. Mini rex usually max out at five pounds but 4 1/2 is more common. If my checkered giant mix would let me get another bun (which she won't) I would get a rex.

 

[nellybelle]

Wow, thank you guys so much for all your help I think that at the moment im interested in either a mini lop or a mini rex. I have found a breeder of mini lop's who looks good so that's what i might go for. thank you soooo much for your help

PS the picture of that mini rex is adorable.

 

[MikeScone]

BaileysMom wrote:

Is that a mini rex? I didn't think the mini's even were that small also is she fixed? ... HELP!! does anyone else have any pics of a TRUE mini rex? and I LOVE the black.

Natasha's definitely a TRUE mini-rex, as far as can be determined in a pet shop bunny. She's got the rex fur and the mini-rex attitude, and she's just the right size for a mini-rex, around 4½ pounds (I haven't weighed her, actually, but she's pretty much the same size as Scone was, or a bit smaller, and he was a bit large for a mini-rex).

Her jet black fur is striking (and sooo soft) - just hard to photograph. Scone was an opal mini-rex, with more of a "Bugs Bunny" coloration (mostly grey with a white chin and underside).

Natasha hasn't been spayed, yet, but it shouldn't be much longer. I wanted to wait until she had completely settled in before I put her through that.

There are a few mini-rex threads in the Photo Philes forum - Mini-Rex Madness and Mini-Rex Madness II.

 

[elrohwen]

I would recommend going to a shelter where you can meet the bunnies and see which is the friendliest. I have a holland and he's not mean (never bites, isn't territorial, etc) but he's certainly not cuddly and isn't all that interested in people. That's just his personality, but we couldn't have told that when we got him as a baby (perhaps a breeder could tell, but his breeder just said he was "friendly" and that was it). I love him to death, but it goes to show that not every bunny in a breed will act like the others. Still, I would get a holland again in a heartbeat.

When you get a baby, it's kind of a toss up. The only small breeds I can think of with a bad reputation are britannias and nethies, but then I know many people who have them and love them, so that stereotype might be changing. In general it's going to depend on that rabbit's personality over breed, since rabbits aren't bred for a specific personality other than "friendly" (unlike dogs or something, who have breed specific traits). Meeting the parents of the bun can also tell you a lot about what its eventual personality will be like.

 

[golfdiva]

I have to vote for a Dutch. The only get to be about 4.5 pounds. Shorter hair. Smart. They are very friendly. My Dutch boy bonded to me and he doesn't like other rabbits. He even thumps to warn me if he thinks another rabbit might be coming near me! lol!

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

I have a friend with a mini lop and he is very sweet. If I had a choice between a lop or a rex I'd take the rex. I'm not pushing my own breed at all here. I have a checkered giant who's middle name should be naughty. Checkered giants are not pets there adventures lol.

 

[MiniLopHop]

I have a mini lop who is the sweetest little girl ever. She will sit and watch tv with me at night. She covers me in kisses and purrs. The only naughty thing about her is that she likes to arrange my shirt into a nest. Occasionally she gets a little over excited with the nesting and nips skin under the shirt she's moving.

 

[nochoramet]

I definitely have to recommend a dutch. I have NEVER met a dutch with a bad personality, and very rarely do I read about them on the internet having bad personalities. My boyfriend's first dutch was so sweet, he would kiss you and follow you around and let you hold him for hours and hours. When he died we got 2 little dutch sisters and they are channeling his personality almost 100%. They're cute, soft, loving, and all around great buns!
Mini lops can be really sweet too, mine was. I'm not knocking mini rexes but the only one I've met attacked me and he was neutered and someone's pet... it all depends on the bun and his upbringing and parents.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

we've had 4 mini rexes and two dutches--both are great breeds.