- mini rex
- mini lop
- mini satin
In fact, I used to raise mini rex. A fantastic rabbit. My favourite girl was Slip. She would probably NOT be a rabbit I would keep today, but back then... simply adored her. She had attitude up the wazoo as a kit/young grower and settled into a fantastic quiet doe with just a wee bit of "tude. An excellent momma.
This American breed of rabbit has a unique coat where the guard coat and undercoat are the same length resulting in a rabbit with a velvet feel to their coat. Pet breeders will often claim they are hypo-allergenic. This is not true. They do have shorter fur but they still moult their fur coats.
The Mini Lop comes to us by way of the Netherlands. It's somewhat bigger than a holland lop, weighing 5-6.5 lbs. The breed standard can be found on the club page. To me they look massive compared to a holland lop, much like their bigger brethren the French Lop.
Mini Satins, I have to admit, the first I heard of these rabbits is by a nickname "mini Satans". They are supposed to have some temperament issues. I have since heard from other breeders who have stated.. "Some lines have issues in behaving nice, others are just fine. You have to breed for what you want." Just like with any other breed eh? :) Satins, big or small, are known for the sheen of their coat. They are absolutely gorgeous in real life with their shiny coats. Learn more at the breed club site. They are a fairly recent breed having been finalized in 1995 in Michigan.
Egypt gives us the Moshtohor/Line M Rabbit. This 5-8.5 lb rabbit comes in yellowish-brown, white, or grey colours and is predominately found at the Moshtohor rabbitry.
The Swedish Mellerud rabbit comes in albino or black with white spots. The does tend to be fine-boned, and the bucks heavier, more compact. A medium sized breed coming in at 6-8 lbs. They were developed from the lines of old Swedish "farm rabbits".
The Germans produced the Mecklenburger Piebald a solid coloured rabbit with white around the neck, chest, belly, and legs. This rabbit weighs 9-12 lbs.
The Marburger Feh comes to us from France. a 4-7 lb rabbit that comes in lilac. A compact rabbit whose lilac shading appears as a light blue colour with a brownish tinge to it.
The Meissner Lop, from Germany, 10-12 lbs has a wide variety of self coat colours plus yellow all of which are to be silvered. A rare breed rabbit.
There area few other mini rabbits such as
- miniature cashmere lop - UK rabbit, a 3.5 lb rabbit with long dense fur
- miniature lion lop - UK rabbit, weighs about 3.5 lbs, has a mane of long fur around the face.
- miniature lop (not the same as the mini lop) UK version, 3.3-3.8 lbs, any colour
- miniature papillon - UK rabbit, weights 2.5-4 lbs, white coat with specific spotting patterns.
- miniature Satin (not the same as mini satin) - UK rabbit, 4-5 lbs, comes in ivory.