Ranch Girl said:
kelsystar said:
Can't beat lops for sweetness. Plus they're small.
Yes, Lops are the sweetest rabbits!
It' hard to beat them.
I don't know about that, I have known some pretty cranky lops! There's one (a family pet) that has been entered in the local fair for the last few years, and all of the youth volunteers are afraid of her (she's very territorial.) And with both French and English Lops running in the 10 pound range, I can't say as they are all that small, either.
Harlequins, at 6 to 9 pounds, are my largest breed, and generally the most docile. Even so, I have had some that tried to be a bit nasty about their feeders, and they can be quite fierce about their babies! On the other hand, a couple of my top ten "Rabbits I Wish Could Have Lived Forever" were Harlequins. Believe it or not, there are a couple of Netherland Dwarfs on that list too, and I am not a huge fan of Dwarfs as a rule (even though I breed them.)
After 20+ years breeding rabbits, I think I can safely say that I have seen pretty much the full range of temperament that rabbits can exhibit. I find that trying to typify the character of a breed is pretty much a waste of time - you will always find exceptions, sometimes so many exceptions that the original statement may become meaningless! I think the most valuable advice I can give is,
know your rabbit's breeder. I have a couple of friends that I would recommend to anyone to get a rabbit from, because every rabbit I have ever gotten from them was fall-out-in-your-arms friendly. They breed for temperament, and will not work with cranky rabbits. They put a lot of "handle" on their babies, so the little ones are people oriented from the get-go. The breeding and breeder are far more important than the breed, IMO.
But with all that said, my rabbitry is named "Wyldan Woolies Rabbitry." Guess what my favorite breed is!
