Mini Lop Rabbit’s for Sale Sydney
Below is a full overview of all the important care and tips you need to look after your rabbit.
visit our Facebook and Instagram page for updated photos and what we currently have in stock https://www.facebook.com/BirdsvilleRosebery/.
We also Rehome Adult Rabbits as well as sell baby mini lop rabbits, if you’re interested in re homing a rabbit, give us a call or visit in store to find out if we have any bunnies that need re homing.
Our well socialized baby Mini lop rabbits are usually around 7 weeks of age.
Call us in store we do have package deals, they are very worthwhile, will save you money, you won’t be disappointed.
Mini Lop-Eared Rabbit’s and Dwarf Lop Eared Rabbits are very similar in appearance, the main difference is the Mini Lop is small in size. Dwarf lop bunnies are considerably bigger.
Mini Lop-Eared Rabbits are born with both ear upright and become softer and droopier as they get older. They are very sociable love company of not just other rabbits, but other animals and their owners. I once had a lop-eared rabbit which was best friends with my rooster its actually not unusual for them to develop friendships with other animals.
Diet of Mini Lop Rabbit’s
Diet for mini lop Rabbits needs to be consistent high in fiber and low in carbohydrate and sugars. Any changes to the diet must be made gradually over a period of 2 to 3 weeks to reduce digestive upset.
Rabbits as herbivores will graze up to seven hours a day and need a well-balanced plant-based diet, consisting mostly of 80% hay Oaten, Ryegrass, Timothy, Pasture or Ryegrass. Some hay has received a lot more marketing than other hays, but the truth is there is no wrong options unless your bunny has a health condition.
Hay for Rabbits
The essential part of your mini lop-eared rabbit’s diet this should be available to them at all times and is essential for their digestive system. recommended hay is Rhy grass, Oaten, meadow or Timothy Hay. Oaten hay is by far the most popular. We also stock many blends with all the above. Don’t get caught up on all the marketing hype and expensive imported hay from USA etc. As Australians we have the best quality produce in the world, for a fraction of the price. Just because a food item is more expensive doesn’t mean that it is better. Many imported hays at high cost are blasted with gamma radiation and even sprayed to come through customs to reduce risk of insects coming into effect Australia’s agricultural sector. It is sprayed with molasses to make it more palatable for the animal to eat. The biggest plus when buying Australian, it supports our farmers. Our team at Petsville / Birdsville will always try to source Australian products first.
Do not get hay and straw mixed up as straw is a bedding and has no nutritional value.
Rabbits need a hay feeder, to feed unlimited hay through the day and night. A hay feeder helps flow hay to your rabbit without the hay getting dirty or soiled on the bottom of the enclosure.
Best Pellets to feed your Mini Lop Rabbit.
Pellets should be 10 to 20% of the diet, Quality Rabbit pellets has essential vitamin and minerals that cannot be found in hay or vegetables alone. Recommended pellets are selective rabbit pellets, Vetafarm Rabbit origin, peckish rabbit pellets, and Birdsville rabbit pellets. Many large supermarket brands despite fancy packaging are low grade and do not contain the daily requirements for optimum health. Some pellets are good quality and extremely pricey, the truth is you can get a very good quality Australian made pellets that won’t break the bank balance. If you are unfortunately feeding a low-grade diet, we would recommend supplementing the diet with vitamins available in best small animal specialist stores.
fruits and herbs for mini lop rabbits.
Fruits, herbs and vegetables in moderation such as broccoli, mustard greens, apple, pear, Brussel sprouts, carrots, dandelion leaves, mint, dill, parsley, wheatgrass and pea pods. Do not feed your rabbit lettuce. Leafy greens that should be 8% of the 10% treats, which includes, carrot tops, celery, Bok choy, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, spinach leaves, endive, Asian greens, parsley, dandelion, coriander, mint, basil, dill.
A small amount of fruit and root vegetables such as carrot, sweet potato, capsicum, and fruit. Yes, carrots are bad for rabbits if fed too much. Fruits are not necessary but if you do blue berries are one of the best for rabbits.
How much Lucerne, Alfalfa or clover to feed my rabbits?
Legumes such as Lucerne, alfalfa or clover is not hay and shouldn’t be confused as hay. Legumes are a great addition to your rabbit’s diet as they are packed with vitamins but should be fed as a small part of your rabbit’s diet. This is because they contain a lot of sugar, protein, calcium and are low in fiber.
Do not confuse straw with hay, rabbits can’t live on straw as it has no nutritional content, straw is only bedding.
Rabbit Treats
(Including minimal fruit and veg) should be 10% of total diet. Do not overdo high sugary fruits or vegetables, like carrots. As sugar, even natural sugar isn’t very good for rabbits and can cause issues.
Do not feed the following to your rabbit – lettuce, cereal, avocado, onion, garlic, sugar, corn, beans, breads, sweets, chocolate, biscuits, grains, nuts and some garden plants can be toxic to rabbits.
Salt and mineral licks for Mini lop Rabbits.
Supplements: Salt licks, mineral licks are great for rabbits’ health and well-being. Your rabbit will need this depending on the diet.
A rabbit will only use its salt or mineral lick, if it is missing something in its diet. Rabbit should get most of it salt from hay, but it can vary depending on where the hay is grown and conditions. Salt and minerals are necessary for a rabbit’s diet, but it must be consumed in moderation, which luckily your rabbit will instinctively know when its body needs additional salt.
A salt lick is important as it will aid in digestion, muscles, nerves and fluid regulation.
Attach a salt / mineral lick to the side for a precaution. If they use their salt or mineral lick, they are lacking something in their diet, so this is a good thing.
Drink bottle for mini lop rabbits.
You will also need a drink bottle or bowl for water (we recommend bottles, as bowls can tip over, the rabbit could step or lie down in it and possibly could lose your rabbit, if they run out of water).
Heavy food bowls are needed for the pellets.
Outdoor enclosures for mini lop Rabbits.
There is quite a bit of design difference for an outdoor and indoor enclosure for rabbits. Firstly, outdoor enclosures are designed to shelter the rabbit from the elements.
Indoor rabbit enclosures are designed to have an enclosed plastic base that’s easily removed for cleaning. The top of the enclosure is wire for lots of ventilation.
Enclosure set up: Rabbits need a certain amount of space to move around, as they need to be able to stretch their body If a rabbit is unable to stretch and fully empty their bladder they will get health issues, this is the reason why we will only sell a rabbit for the correct size enclosure.
Out of the enclosure time to exercise is very important for rabbits and we recommend our Petsville puppy or rabbit play pens These are pens with to section off a safe part of the house. Make sure the area you section off is rabbit safe.
Substrate/bedding: In an outdoor hutch, straw is recommended. In an indoor enclosure straw, dust extracted sawdust, hemp or paper littler bedding are all very good options. Bedding depth can be around 5 to 15 cm.
Next a litter box. When your rabbit is trained to use a little box, your maintenance will be very easy. Inside the litter, use a highly absorbent bedding, that is different from the bedding in the rest of the enclosure.
A hide in the enclosure for them to feel safe, as they are burrowing animals and like an enclosed area.
Hides and tunnels for Mini Lop Rabbits
When choosing a hide make sure the rabbit can fit inside, as burrowing animals they do like to feel snug. They also love to run through and hide in tunnels. We have a wide variety of wooden and plastic hides. We prefer the wooden, as it’s an extra item to chew on.
Toys for Mini Lop Rabbits
Essential, as rabbits are such intelligent animals, and they love to play with them. We have such a large part of our store designated to just rabbit toys for a reason, rabbits just want to have fun. Toys also help to keep their teeth trim, which is very important, without chew toys it’s a matter of time before your rabbits’ teeth over grow and result in very expensive vet bills.
Environmental enrichment (toys) keeps your rabbit entertained while you are away and while they are in their enclosure. It also helps prevent behavioral issue down the track, such as chewing. It will help creates a tamer, friendlier and happier rabbit. Toys need to be rotated regularly so your mini lop rabbit doesn’t get bored, if the rabbit destroys the toy, it means they like it and should be replaced.
Grooming your Mini lop rabbit.
General care and grooming: Rabbits have beautiful fluffy coats and should be brushed once a week. As they grow, they will gradually lose their baby fur and acquire an adult coat. It’s recommended to groom with a wire brush to remove patches of fur when they molt.
You may want to give your rabbit a bath from time to time, make sure you only bath them with rabbit safe shampoo that has the correct PH, as human, dog and cat shampoo can harm their sensitive skin.
Harness training your mini lop rabbit.
Harness training: First thing you will need is a proper harness specifically for Rabbits, Petsville have a number of good quality Rabbit harnesses and leash’s arriving regularly. Never use a collar on a Rabbit.
Start by getting your rabbit used to wearing the harness and leash inside to begin with for a few minutes at a time. Then you can start leaving it on for longer, before you start using the leash indoors. Once they are used to indoor use, you can move outside. Never rush your Rabbit and have realistic expectations. Don’t make the walks too long or daily, just the occasional excursion to a nice grassy area. If you are going to public spaces with your rabbit, be aware of your surrounding and other animals.
Rabbit carriers
Every bunny owner needs to chew proof carrier as they come in handy for unexpected or expected reasons such as a holding area short term while cleaning the enclosure to bunny adventures in the car or coming to petsville to get your bunny’s nails trimmed.
Worming your Mini Lop Rabbit.
Worming: A baby rabbit should be wormed 10 days after bringing them home, once they have settled into the new environment. Worming a rabbit too young or to soon after being moved to a new environment can upset their stomach.
An adult rabbit can worm straight away, even if it has already been wormed, just to be safe.
Rabbits should be wormed 4 times a year.
The common house fly is known to spread a large number of parasitic worms. This happens when a fly lands on another animal feces that maybe infected. The fly can then fly through a window and lands on your rabbit’s water, food bowl, hay or on your rabbit and infects them.
This is the reason rabbits are regularly wormed and it will protect your rabbit, but also the whole family. Humans and other pets can get the same worms.
Worming your rabbit is easy to do, as it’s a solution that goes into your rabbits drinking water, a worming bottle comes with easy-to-use instructions on the label.
Mite, Mange and Flea treatment for mini lop rabbits.
Mite, Mange & Flea: Rabbits are very susceptible to mites, mange & fleas. Spraying your animal with lice & mange spray every 12 weeks as a preventative is recommended, as they can be easily transmitted, even if you don’t have any other pets.
Mites and mange are spread by another animal and the common house fly.
Mites and mange spray is simply sprayed evenly on the animal avoiding the eyes, the bottle has easy to use instructions on the label.
Rabbits can also contract fleas and flea treatment can be purchased in store. This is recommended as a monthly treatment. Fleas can be an issue if you have cats and dogs as the fleas will jump over to the rabbit.
Mini Lop Rabbit Setup Essentials
Carry Cage – every rabbit owner needs one for safe transport, also useful for bunny adventures or to hold during enclosure cleans. A cardboard box is not recommended, as they can chew through one very quickly.
Enclosure/Hutch – please consult staff on enclosure recommendations. Both indoor and outdoor enclosure are available.
*Remember – there is no such thing as an enclosure that’s too big.
Quality Rabbit Pellets – Selective Junior (under 6 month), Selective Adult (over 8 months), peckish, Rabbit Origins, Birdsville Small Animal Mix. We only stock the best.
Hay – Oaten, Ryegrass, Timothy, Pasture or Ryegrass. 70% of their total diet. It is an important source of fiber assisting in digestion.
Salt Lick / Mineral Block – essential for rabbits to have in their enclosure, just in case they are lacking any dietary imbalance and need extra salts or minerals. Rabbits will only use them when they are needed.
Treats – great for training and rewarding your rabbit.
Hay Feeder – helps keep your rabbit hay fresh and prevent it from getting soiled.
Drink Bottle – these guarantee your rabbit has clean water all day long, that has not been pooed in or be tipped over.
Bowls – for pellets and fresh veggies, they need to be not too high and heavy, so they won’t be knocked over.
Litter Tray – for toilet training, need an appropriate size litter tray for your rabbit when it is full grown.
Litter – wood or paper pellet litters are the best and the safest for is rabbits litter trays. The litter in the tray need to be different from the substrate used in the enclosure, so the rabbit can differentiate from the two.
Toys – rabbit are very social and love to lay. A minimum 4 – 6 appropriate toys for chewing, throwing, rolling and general playing is a must.
Hide – a small safe place for your rabbit to hide. These can range from tents, pouches, and hides and are made from a variety of materials and in different sizes. When choosing one, keep in mind how big your rabbit will grow too.
Substrate – straw, sawdust, paper pellets, mini hemp, oz hemp, wood pellets or Kaytee litter. Do not use hay (food) for substrate as it could lead to sickness.
Hutch Cleaner – CSI, Vetafarm, F10 and Aristopet are all rabbit safe, nontoxic disinfectant to remove sticky acidic urine and feces from enclosure. Normal household disinfects can be quite toxic to rabbits.
Wormer – Worming treatment needs to be completed 10 days after bringing your rabbit home and then repeated every 3 months for internal parasites. Simple to use just follow the directions on the bottle.
Mite & Mange – Mite & Mange treatment need to be completed 10 days after purchase and repeated every 3 months to prevent external parasites. Simple to use, point and spray avoid rabbits’ eyes – directions also on the bottle.
What you may like to consider:
Enclosure stand – stands are available for some indoor enclosures, these are great to lift the enclosure off the ground, to an easy level to interact with your pet.
Spare bowls (food & water) – swap bowls, if normal one gets dirty and need a soak (easy cleaning) or to add an addition food.
Vitamins – vitamins are need when lower quality food is being feed or as a top up to the diet.
Rabbit shampoo – occasional you may need to bathe your rabbit. Human and other animal shampoo are too acidy on a rabbit’s sensitive skin.
Treat & Veggies Holders – an additional way of suppling treats and veggies that can make them more interacted for your rabbit and keep them off the ground, reducing waste.
Harness & Lead – added safety when outside with your rabbit from predators and to prevent rabbit from running off. Harness training does take a little time and should never expect your rabbit to take to it straight away.
Bed – For the luxurious Rabbit who likes comfort.
Tunnels – great for rabbits to run through, play and hide.
Play Pen – allows an extra safe place outside their enclosure for indoor and outdoor use.
Synbiotic / Probiotic – Can boost immune system, support digestive function when use daily.
First aid – Spark, Triple C, F10 barrier ointment and heat lights are a few things that can be kept on hand in case of an emergency.
Vaccination/de-sexing Mini Lops
It is recommended to vaccinate your rabbit at 12 week of age and to keep it indoor or covered with mosquito net until this is done.
Please talk to your vet about de-sexing your rabbit at the vaccination visit.
There are some new vaccines out now, where you can vaccinate straight away, check on your local vet.
Teeth Health of Mini Lops rabbits
Rabbits’ teeth grow constantly throughout their lives, so having hard wooden toys are very important to wear their teeth down. Overgrown teeth in rabbits are not only painful for them but become an expensive vet bill as vet treatment is the only solution. Rabbits need toys to chew and the proper high fiber diet not only for their diet but to stop their teeth from over.
Training Mini Lop Rabbits
Understanding sight, touch and smell is essential before training.
Rabbits are very social intelligent. With understanding and the right approach, you can train them quite easily. Sadly, many people fail to train them, because they have adopted the wrong approach and do not understand the nature of rabbits.
Firstly, you need to understand how a rabbit views and smells the world. As a prey animal, rabbits have eyes on the side of their head. You may notice them bob or move their head around when you approach, this is your rabbit’s way of getting a better view of you.
Rabbits have poor eyesight when looking ahead straight, they can see 360 degrees. This is so, in the wild, they need to be able to run and hide from a predator approaching from any direction.
A rabbit’s sense of smell and whiskers are used to detect anything in its immediate environment more so than sight. A dog will see the treat where a rabbit will smell and feel a treat. Placing treats right under the rabbit’s mouth and nose.
Before touching or patting your rabbit you need to calmly let the rabbit see and smell you, this will greatly improve your bonding allowing your rabbit to be calm as this will verify that you are a friend and not a predator.
Once you have been verified, then give your rabbit a treat and give your rabbit plenty of cuddles and snuggles, as they love affection once they feel safe.
Devoting a little time every day to training your rabbit will get best results. 2 sessions a day of at least 5 minutes of training your rabbit using your rabbits’ favorite treats.\
Petsville have a huge selection of rabbit treats that will definitely help with trainings.
Have an organized area that you want the training and behavior to occur.
For example: If you want your rabbit to leap onto your lap when called.
Step 1 – Give your rabbit a reward every time it comes to you.
Step 2 – When it’s mastered step 1, give the rabbit a reward when he comes to you and stands up with his front legs on your legs.
Step 3 – When it’s mastered step 2, give your rabbit a reward when it reaches even higher.
Step 4 – When it’s mastered step 3, encourage him to jump into your lap for his treat.
Always make sure you give your rabbit a treat immediately when your rabbit has performed what was asked.
If you give your rabbit a reward when they have done something else that you have not asked, then you will be re-enforcing the wrong behavior. Always use the same commands so your rabbit doesn’t get confused, such as sit, stay, come or up. As rabbits love affection it’s good to add praise when they are receiving their treat.
Some people use clicker training, Petsville have clicker trainers in stock almost always.
As your rabbit gets better with following instruction you can reduce the amounts of treats, but it is always good to continue treats from time to time to re-enforce the desired behavior.
Rabbit hygiene
Hygiene: Rabbits live in such close contact with their litter and bedding these must be kept clean and free from toxins. Cleaning your rabbit’s enclosure regularly, with the right non-toxic cleaner, is essential to avoiding unnecessary health problems. Ammonia in the fumes of urine causes irritation in the nasal passage which makes them more susceptible to infection. Rabbits, unlike many other pets have a very sticky acidic urine that will burn them and need a proper disinfect cleaner that is safe for small animals. These cleaners also remove the sticky acidic substance that will accumulate under the bedding. If it is left it will burn the rabbit’s skin. If your enclosure or rabbit gets stinky, you have left it too long between cleans.
Signs of illness or changes in your Rabbit:
If you ever notice a change in behavior, appearance, off their food, quiet, lethargic, wheezing, runny nose, runny eyes, drooling, skinny you need to take act.
– Hairballs: Rabbits ingest fur as they groom themself and hairballs can accumulate in the stomach, which can cause gastrointestinal stasis. Avoid this by making sure rabbits have a high fiber diet with quality hay mentioned above. The fur should have no problems passing through the digestion tract. Regular brushing will help avoid this problem.
– Loneliness: A scientific study has shown that lonely rabbits are more likely to die and live a much shorter life, so give your rabbit lots of affection and love. Even if you have a rabbit that doesn’t like to be touched, they still will love out of the cage time and space to exercise. Also provide them with plenty of toys to entertain themselves.
– Fly Strike: Not common in Australia but can affected outdoor rabbits. It is a condition where flies bite the rabbit making it uncomfortable and itchy. Fly’s may also lay eggs, developing into maggots inside the wound. This can be prevented and Petsville stocks a product to get rid of fly’s that is animal safe or bringing your rabbit inside.
– Overgrown teeth or claws: If you follow our guide on diet and toys its very unlikely you will have issues with teeth. Our Petsville team can check your rabbits’ teeth and claws if you ask us. We offer a rabbit nail trimming service 7 days a week in our Petsville store. Teeth correction must be done by a vet. Overgrown or crooked teeth can be cause by trauma, poor diet or a lack of toys for your rabbit to chew on.
– Coat dandruff or fur loss: a sign your rabbit has mites or less commonly fleas. A regular mite, lice and flea treatment will prevent this, mentioned above.
– Weight loss: Could be caused by the above overgrown teeth or a whole host of reasons including cancer, neurological disease, starvation, trauma, stomach ulcers, injury, kidney failure, tumors, dental disease, poisoning, respiratory disease to name a few.
– Sore hocks: sore feet or underside can happen from unsuitable flooring or not using small animal cage cleaner as the acid from a rabbit’s urine can burn them underneath.
– Head tilt: can happen from a stroke or a protozoan infection, trauma, cancer, intoxication from consuming something that hasn’t agreed with them. The good news is with proper treatment many rabbits with head tilt can go on to lead a long and happy life.
– Difficulty breathing also known as the snuffles. Us not a cold, as rabbits do not get the human cold. Signs of the snuffles is wheezing (respiratory infection) with runny eyes the discharge can be white in color and jelly like.
– Diarrhea or soft poo: Sometimes what looks like diarrhea could actually be loosely formed cecotropes. Cecotropes are not feces, but are rabbit made nutrients that your rabbit eats. It may seem gross to us, but this is normal for rabbits. The cecotropes are produced in the cecum in between the large and small intestines. By consuming their poo, rabbit can extract vitamin B from the cecotropes, which they are unable to produce themself. Loose cecotropes looks like smelly, mucous poo and clings to their bottom or tail. Unfortunately, this can make them difficult to eat and un-appealing for the rabbit. Loose cecotropes can be caused by change in diet, a diet too high in carbohydrates, too low in fiber, too high in fiber, too much water–rich vegetables, too much sugar-rich fruit and veg or too much grain. Diarrhea could be the other reason. Diarrhea can be a worry and can lead to dehydration, diarrhea has a number of causes including but not limited to change of diet, improper diet, stress, too many pellets, viral, antibiotics, bacterial, parasitic, fungal, metabolic diseases, Human borne digestive viruses and bacteria and insufficient fiber.
Perform a bunny visual health check.
If you are not sure how to tell what a healthy rabbit looks like and unsure how to perform a visual health check, we will happily show you. Please bring your rabbit into Petsville and wait at the front counter near the entry. We do not charge to do a visual health check, as this is a great skill set for any rabbit owner to have and can increase your ability in spotting if your rabbit is not 100%. Health check: A rabbit visual health check starts with a pat from the rabbit’s head to tail. If you feel ribs and bones, then the rabbit is skinny and that is a big red flag. Also, check your rabbits’ eyes, nose and mouth, there should be no discharge or mucus coming out of any of them.
We do stock some basic medications, but we are not vets. We have been dealing with rabbits for a long time and are our team are skilled in doing visual health checks.
Antibiotics should only be prescribed by a vet for rabbits. We also have a list of vets listed at the bottom of this page, as they can do a whole series of tests to pick up something for a rabbit that is asymptomatic.
Please be aware our animals are not DNA sexed. Whilst we may give our expert opinion on the sex of a bunny to the best of our ability, and we are very good at it. We also are happy to show/educate you how we sex our rabbits as well, but please remember this is not a guarantee, as young rabbits can be hard to sex.
No refund, credit or exchanges will be given if an animal is not your desired sex after 3 days of ownership.
With all our bunnies they come with a free vet consult and any unlikely issues we have our animal health guarantee.
Don’t hesitate to come and see us in store if you have any concerns, or question and bring you rabbit for us to see.
Rabbit Boarding is available throughout the year, please click link for details on Rabbit Boarding
Recommended Vets in the Sydney area
Small Animal Specialist
Hospital 02 (9190 6806)
Level 1, 1 Richardson place North Ryde
1300 9453 838
22A Bridge Road, Glebe
02 9436 4884
57-63 Herbert St Artarmon
02 9516 0234
60 Princes Hwy, St Peters
02 9871 6036
772 Pennant Hills Road Carlingford
