Netherland Dwarf Rabbits for Sale in Massachusetts

Getting a Netherland Dwarf to Massachusetts

Massachusetts is 2,800 to 3,000 miles from us, 3 to 4 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. A Netherland Dwarf is the easiest of the four to move. It travels in a small carrier, it eats little on the road, and it copes with a long journey better than the heavier breeds because there is simply less animal to keep cool.

Massachusetts weather, and this breed

The furthest corner of the country from us, and a nor easter will move a delivery by a day without argument. Rabbits handle the cold; stopped traffic in a storm is what we avoid.

Being small, a Netherland Dwarf sheds heat more efficiently than a Mini Lop, which makes summer travel less fraught. The short face is the offsetting factor though, so we still run the southern legs at night.

Keeping a Netherland Dwarf in New England

Handles New England cold better than its size suggests, but it is the breed most likely to be affected by a draught, and old New England housing has draughts. Site the pen carefully and the winter is straightforward. A long indoor season needs more enrichment for this breed than for the lops.

Size. 1.5 to 2.5 lb full grown, the smallest rabbit we raise. Care. The short face means dental alignment is worth watching properly: check the front teeth monthly and get any misalignment seen early. Otherwise low maintenance, with a short coat that needs almost nothing.

What it gets mistaken for. Confused with a young Holland Lop, because a Holland at eight weeks is about the adult size of a Netherland Dwarf. The ears settle it: Dwarfs stand upright, Hollands lop. Everything about the Netherland Dwarf.

Housing a Netherland Dwarf indoors

Every rabbit we raise lives indoors and we would ask that yours does too. A hutch at the bottom of a Massachusetts 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. 1.5 to 2.5 lb full grown, the smallest rabbit we raise, so size the pen off that rather than off what a pet shop sells.