INTRODUCTION

Sometimes we have seen in shops or internet advertisements ‘belier lop’ or ‘belier loop’ rabbits for sale or adoption, does this exist or is it just another invention? How can I know that I am talking to a professional or someone knowledgeable about rabbits?

We will find out in this article.

WHAT DO THE WORDS ‘BELIER’ AND ‘LOP’ MEAN?

The answer is very simple: they mean the same thing.

‘Belier’ is the French word for lop-eared rabbits and “lop” is the English word for these same animals; in Germany we can find the word “Widder” and in the Netherlands “Hangoor” and they refer to the word “ram” (because of the shape of the ears, similar to the horns of a ram).

It makes no sense to call a breed ‘belier lop’ as we would be saying ‘floppy ears floppy ears’. On the other hand ‘loop’ is something completely different and means ‘swirl’ / ‘loop’, which has nothing to do with the breed.

LOP-EARED RABBIT BREEDS

The breeds of lop-eared rabbits are as follows:

• BELIER DWARF
• MINI LOP / MINIATURE BELIER
• HOLLAND LOP (AMERICAN MINIATURE BELIER)
• TEDDY LOP (TEDDYWIDDER | TEDDY BELIER)
• PLUSH LOP (DWARF REX BELIER)
• MINI PLUS LOP (MINIATURE REX BELIER)
• MINI CASHMERE LOP
• BELIER ENGLISH
• BELIER FRENCH
• BELIER GERMAN
• LION LOP (LION-HEADED BELIER)
  
  

IS THERE SUCH A THING AS ‘BELIER LOP’ OR ‘BELIER LOOP’?

No, there is no breed called ‘Belier Lop’ or ‘Belier Loop’, there is not even something called simply ‘Belier’ as we can see in the listing above; the word ‘Belier’ (or ‘Lop’) is the name of a whole family of different breeds.

HOW DO I KNOW I AM TALKING TO SOMEONE WHO KNOWS ABOUT RABBITS OR A PROFESSIONAL BREEDER?

No professional just says that he has a ‘belier’ or says that what he has is a ‘belier lop’, he will always refer to a specific breed and, in the case of a shelter, the correct thing to say would be that they have a ‘belier’ mongrel (as the breed cannot be specified unless you know one of the parents), many of the ‘beliers’ that can be seen weigh 3.5-4 kilos, so they would be crosses of Dwarf Belier, French Belier or German Belier.

The way of speaking, the terms used and the knowledge shown tell us if the person we are talking to knows what they are talking about and is not a poorly educated person who we cannot count on in the future or who may mislead us in some way.

CONCLUSION

There is no such thing as a ‘Belier Lop’ or ‘Belier Loop’, when we buy a pet it is important to inform ourselves very well beforehand and not only about its food or basic care, but also about its breed and peculiarities (and the easiest ways to deceive a novice or uninformed owner). Many rabbits are abandoned when the owner feels cheated, so it is important to read a lot of information coming from breeders' associations or breed clubs to avoid falling into deception and getting into trouble.