French Lop Hutch, Cage and Space

No standard hutch fits a French Lop

The hutches sold in pet shops top out around 4ft by 2ft, which is eight square feet. That is under half of what this breed needs, and the rabbit is not a third of the size of the one the hutch was designed for. A French Lop stretched out is longer than the short side of most hutches, meaning the animal physically cannot lie out flat in it.

Searches for a French Lop hutch are common and the honest answer is that the thing being searched for mostly does not exist at the right size. What works is either a very large exercise pen, two pens joined, or a room with a gate on it.

What actually works

Three options, in the order we would recommend them.

• A rabbit-proofed room, or part of one, with a pet gate. The simplest answer for a large rabbit and the one most of our French Lop families end up at. A spare room, a utility room, a corner of a sitting room partitioned off.
• Two exercise pens clipped together. Gives you about 18 to 32 square feet depending on the panels. Needs to be 36 inches high at this size.
• A large dog crate as a sleeping area inside a penned space, rather than as the whole enclosure. Useful at night and for travel, never as the full-time home.

Flooring is the critical one for this breed

Sore hocks are a pressure injury and pressure is weight divided by area. A French Lop puts 10 to 15 lb through feet that are not proportionally larger than a Holland Lop's, which makes this the breed at the highest risk of the four by a wide margin.

Never wire. Never bare tile or laminate as the only surface. You want a soft, washable layer across the whole area the rabbit uses: thick fleece, washable rugs, or interlocking foam mats with fabric over them. Check the undersides of the back feet every month without fail, and act on thinning fur at the heel immediately rather than watching it.

Doors, gates and getting in

Worth thinking about before you buy anything. You will be lifting a rabbit the weight of a cat, and a French Lop that does not want to be lifted is a strong animal. A gate you can walk through beats any door you have to reach through, and a pen you can open a whole panel on beats one with a hatch.

The same applies to the litter tray. Use the largest cat tray you can find, with a low entry side. A heavy rabbit stepping over a high lip is a rabbit that eventually stops bothering.

Heat, and why space helps

A large body sheds heat slowly, which makes the French Lop the most heat-sensitive of the four breeds we raise. Space is part of the answer: a bigger area means the rabbit can move to the coolest part of it, lie against a tile or a ceramic slab, and get away from whatever is warm.

Give it a deliberate cool spot. A large ceramic tile on the floor, out of the sun, is the cheapest thing on this page and the one a French Lop will use every hot day of its life.

Before you commit

We have talked people out of a French Lop on this exact point and we do not regret any of them. If the honest answer is that you have room for a pen in a corner, a Holland Lop or a Mini Lop will be a happier rabbit in your house and you will be a happier owner. If you have the room, this is a magnificent, placid, enormous animal and there is nothing else like one.

Common questions

What size hutch does a French Lop need?

Larger than hutches are sold. At least 6 ft by 3 ft, 18 square feet, which in practice means a penned area or a room rather than a hutch.

Can a French Lop live outside?

We place indoors only. The breed's heat sensitivity makes an outdoor hutch a genuinely risky proposition in most of the country.

How high do the sides need to be?

Thirty-six inches. They are not agile jumpers, but they are big enough to get over a 30 inch panel if sufficiently motivated.

Is a dog crate suitable?

As a sleeping or travel space inside a larger penned area, yes. As the entire home, no.