Looking for a dwarf-sized rabbit with amazing fur and floppy ears? What about a rabbit that’s also as energetic as it is sweet, and as excellent a pet bunny as it would be for shows and competitions? How about an American Fuzzy Lop rabbit?
An American Fuzzy Lop rabbit is a dwarf rabbit breed that has a muscular, compact body with short Angora-like fur. It’s a wooly rabbit similar to the Holland Lop. American Fuzzy Lop rabbits are available in a range of colors and live between 5 to 8 years on average.
Let’s learn more about this American Fuzzy Lop rabbit breed, where it originated, whether it is a popular breed, and why these bunnies make great pets and show rabbits.
What Is an American Fuzzy Lop Rabbit?
The American Fuzzy Lop rabbit is active, curious, and playful. While the bunny is great for its fur, it makes a great show rabbit.
The rabbit, which is easy to care for, is best suited as a pet for families with kids who know how to be gentle and can handle dwarf bunnies. People who are in a relationship or self-partnered are also a great fit for the American Fuzzy Lop.
With an average lifespan of 5-8 years, the American Fuzzy Lop rabbit is a lifelong friend.
Comparable breeds are the French Angora rabbit and the Holland Lop rabbit.
American Fuzzy Lop Rabbit History and Origin
To learn about the history of the American Fuzzy Lop rabbit, we first need to start with the Holland Lop rabbit.
The coat option of the Holland Lop rabbit was only solid colors many, many years ago. Breeders wanted to introduce more patterns into the gene pool, so they crossed a Holland Lop rabbit with an English Spots.
The end result was a bunny with a broken pattern, which the breeders wanted. So yay! But the Holland Lop’s rollback fur wasn’t part of the new “breed.”
To introduce the rollback fur back into the mix, the breeders bred Holland Lop rabbits with French Angoras, which are famous for having gentle rollback coats.
The result? A wool gene is being introduced to the gene pool of the Holland Lop rabbit breed.
People like Patty Greene-Karl, Gary Fellers, Kim Landry, and Margaret Miller loved how adorable these small rabbits were with their lop ears and wooly coats.
Patty recognized that the wooly gene was recessive and mated two Holland Lop rabbits that carried this wooly gene. One in four in the litter was born with rollback fur. This new breed was named the American Fuzzy Lop rabbit breed.
In 1985, Patty presented the breed to the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) Convention in Houston, Texas. The American Fuzzy Lop rabbit breed was recognized by ARBA.
American Fuzzy Lop Rabbit Characteristics
Here are the physical and temperament characteristics of the American Fuzzy Lop rabbit:
Body and Coat
The American Fuzzy Lop has a compact body with a broad chest, deep and well-rounded hindquarters, and short shoulders. Their floppy ears hung at the sides of their head, making the American Fuzzy Lop look utterly adorbs.
The coat of the American Fuzzy Lop rabbit is coarse, soft wool, similar to that of Angora rabbits. So their coat isn’t prone to matting or tangling, except around the tail area. The length of the American Fuzzy Lop’s coat is approximately 2 inches and can be spun into yarn.
These rabbits are also called “The Head of Fancy” because their wooly coat is so lovely.
The color of the American Fuzzy Lop’s eyes is brown, but some rabbits have blue eyes or ruby red eyes.
Color Varieties
The American Fuzzy Lop rabbit comes in standard colors like white, fawn, black, chocolate, brown, black, and lavender.
There are also the options of a patterned coat:
- Agouti – a combination of white and chestnut, lynx, squirrel, opal, and chinchilla
- Pointed white group – a pure white body
- Spotted pattern
- Broken pattern
Temperament
While friendly, the American Fuzzy Lop rabbit is also an energetic bunny. They love to play, so be sure to provide your American Fuzzy Lop with lots of toys so they can chew, climb, hop, dig, and do rabbity things to entertain themselves.
This rabbit breed is also a good option if you have small kids. Teach your kids how to correctly handle a dwarf rabbit and pet it.
American Fuzzy Lop Rabbit Care
Follow these instructions to ensure you provide the best possible care for your American Fuzzy Lop rabbit:
Grooming
Rabbits are clean on themselves and regularly groom their coats or the coat of their rabbit buddy they are bonded to. Thus, you don’t need to groom your American Fuzzy Lop bun every day.
You can use your fingers to gently comb through your rabbit’s rollback fur. Alternatively, use a rabbit-friendly brush.
Ensure you do groom your bunny at least once a week – it’s a good bonding experience for both of you. During molting seasons, groom your bunny daily to get rid of loose hair, work through tangles, and remove any debris that got stuck.
Rabbit Enclosure
For this dwarf rabbit, ensure the enclosure is at least 6 feet in length by 2 feet in width and 2 feet in height. The exercise pen should be at least 3 times the size of the rabbit living area so your bunny has plenty of space to play and meet their exercise needs.
Ensure to place plenty of bedding, a hay dispenser with fresh hay, a water bowl or bottle, food bowl, and litter tray inside the rabbit cage or hutch. Add some toys too so your rabbit stays entertained.
If you have a rabbit hutch outside, be sure that it is weather-proof so your bun doesn’t get sick and die. The hutch should also be predator-proof so no predator like a snake, owl, eagle, raccoon, big breed dog, fox, etc. can make their way inside your yard and have your cute bunny for lunch or dinner.
Enclosure Cleaning
Clean the rabbit cage or hutch once a day. Remove any used litter, dirty food and drinking bowls and bottles, and soiled bedding.
Once a week to every other week, deep clean the enclosure. This means you remove everything inside the hutch, replace the bedding and litter, and wash all the toys and the litter box, and the enclosure.
Replace everything when it is dry.
A clean environment helps your rabbit stay healthy.
Diet
Just like with any other rabbit breed, the American Fuzzy Lop rabbits also need a healthy and balanced diet.
Your rabbit should have all-day access to fresh drinking water and good-quality Timothy hay.
In the early morning and in the evening, feed your rabbit 2-3 servings of leafy green vegetables and herbs with their pellets. Give them treats when you train your rabbit or when you bond with your bun.
Health
The good news is that the American Fuzzy Lop rabbit isn’t predisposed to any particular diseases. But there are a few minor health risks to look out for.
The first one is a wool block. Your rabbit swallows strands of fur when they groom themselves, and these strands can form a ball of hair in your rabbit’s tummy.
The ball may become too large to pass through your bun’s digestive tract, so your rabbit won’t eat because they think they are “full.”
A wool block results in starvation, malnutrition, and eventually, death. Take your bun to the vet if you notice they are eating less than what they eat normally.
Secondly, a rabbit’s teeth don’t ever stop growing. The roughage of hay and chew-toys like wood blocks helps your American Fuzzy Lop rabbit to wear down their teeth to stay a normal length.
Overgrown teeth are painful and can lead to a variety of serious health issues.
The other issues to look out for are overgrown snails, worms, and ear mites.
Breeding American Fuzzy Lop Rabbit
The American Fuzzy Lop rabbit can be bred for the following purposes:
As Pets
This friendly, active rabbit makes a great pet for first-time rabbit owners, those with kids, or those who are looking to add an adorable bunny to their family. With an easy level of care, the American Fuzzy Lop rabbit will steal your heart at first sight.
For Wool
The American Fuzzy Lop rabbit breed has been bred specifically for their wool gene and their rollback fur coat that can be spun into yarn.
The fur from this rabbit breed is used for clothes making.
For Show
With their amazing coat, proud and enthusiastic American Fuzzy Lop rabbit owners will want to show off their rabbits. The American Fuzzy Lop is a firm favorite at exhibitions, shows, and competitions.
American Fuzzy Lop Rabbit Price
Show-worthy American Fuzzy Lop rabbits cost a lot more than pet ones. Expect to pay in the range of $100 to $200 for an American Fuzzy Lop you can enter into shows and competitions.
A pet American Fuzzy Lop bunny will likely cost you around $25 to $50, but this depends on where you buy the rabbit.
My Last Bunny Thoughts
The small size of the American Fuzzy Lop rabbit makes them great for apartment-living, in a house in suburbia, or even on a ranch out in the country.
The adorable floppy ears, a wool coat that comes in a variety of colors, and soulful little eyes will beg you to take an American Fuzzy Lop bunny home with you to love and dote on. The excellent news is that they make fantastic pets!