Netherland Dwarfs for Sale in Pennsylvania

Getting a Netherland Dwarf to Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania is 2,500 to 2,700 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.

Pennsylvania weather, and this breed

Winter across the Alleghenies is the main variable. Snow on the mountain sections moves the date rather than the route.

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 the Mid-Atlantic

A good fit for the Mid-Atlantic and, being the smallest we raise, the most realistic of the four for a genuinely small apartment in Philadelphia, Baltimore or northern Virginia. It still needs daily floor time out of the pen, which is the part small-space owners most often skip.

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.

Keeping a Netherland Dwarf in Pennsylvania, month to month

The two things that catch Pennsylvania owners out are the water supply in the cold months and the cooling in the hot ones, and both are cheap to solve before they matter rather than during.

Everything else is the same as it would be anywhere: unlimited timothy hay, a pellet ration measured rather than topped up, and fresh greens introduced slowly. What we feed and why.