Holland Lop Bunnies for Sale in Arkansas

Getting a Holland Lop to Arkansas

Arkansas is 1,650 to 1,900 miles from us, 3 days on the road. We drive it ourselves in a climate-controlled vehicle with regular stops. No depot, no holding facility, no handover between carriers, and never flown or shipped as cargo.

What this breed's size means for the journey. At 2 to 4 lb a Holland Lop travels in a compact carrier with room to turn round and stretch out, which is what you want for a journey of any length. Small enough that the carrier sits in the cab with us rather than in the back.

Arkansas weather, and this breed

Heat and humidity through summer, so the run goes overnight from May onward.

Holland Lops carry a dense enough coat that heat matters more than cold. Above about 80F they are uncomfortable and above 85F it becomes genuinely risky, which is why the southern runs go overnight.

Holland Lops in Arkansas, specifically

Arkansas is a three-day run and from May onward the last leg goes overnight.

The climate needs real management for about five months. Little Rock and the delta are humid in a way that limits what a Holland Lop can do through the summer, for the same reason as everywhere on this side of the country: the ears cannot shed heat into air that is already saturated. The Ozarks in the north-west are noticeably cooler and drier and considerably easier going.

The Arkansas specific is that a lot of the state is rural, and rural means two things for a rabbit owner. Veterinary access is thin, so find the practice that sees rabbits before you need it, and it may well be in Fayetteville or Little Rock rather than nearby. And storm-season power cuts are common enough to plan for, which for a rabbit in August means frozen bottles in the freezer as a matter of routine.

The upside of rural Arkansas is hay: good grass hay is easy to buy locally by the bale, and unlimited hay is the most important thing in a rabbit's diet.

Keeping a Holland Lop in the South

This is the region where a Holland Lop needs the most active management, and we would rather say so. Humid heat defeats a rabbit's cooling because the ears shed heat into air that is already saturated. Above 80F with Southern humidity a Holland is uncomfortable; above 85F it is genuinely at risk. Air conditioning is not a luxury here, it is the reason the rabbit reaches eight.

Size. About 2 to 4 lb full grown, the smallest of the lop breeds. Care. A Holland Lop needs its coat checked rather than groomed: a weekly once-over for mats behind the ears and around the tail is the whole of it. Nails every four to six weeks. They are prone to dental trouble if the hay runs out, so unlimited timothy hay is not optional.

What it gets mistaken for. Most often confused with the Mini Lop, which is a different and noticeably heavier breed rather than a bigger Holland. If a seller uses the two names interchangeably, they are not paying attention. Everything about the Holland Lop.

Housing a Holland Lop indoors

Every rabbit we raise lives indoors and we would ask that yours does too. A hutch at the bottom of a Arkansas garden is a shorter, lonelier life, and this is a companion animal that does badly kept at a distance.

Floor space beats cage height every time. About 2 to 4 lb full grown, the smallest of the lop breeds, so size the pen off that rather than off what a pet shop sells.