Velveteen Lop Rabbit: Breed Profile, Coat, and Buying Guide

Author: Elliott Garber, DVM

The Velveteen Lop is a developing American rabbit breed that pairs long, lop ears with a short, plush, velvety coat. Picture a medium sized lop rabbit wearing the dense rex fur of a Mini Rex, the kind of fur that feels like cut velvet under your hand, on a gently arched body. It is the first American breed bred to combine lopped ears with rex fur, and it is named after the children’s book “The Velveteen Rabbit.” One thing to be clear about up front: it is not yet a fully recognized breed. The Velveteen Lop has spent decades in the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) development process and is still working toward formal recognition, which makes it genuinely rare. This page covers what the breed is, where it came from, its honest recognition status, how it looks, how to care for that velvet coat, lifespan, what it costs and how to find one, and the questions buyers ask most.

What is a Velveteen Lop?

The Velveteen Lop is best understood as a lop-eared rabbit with rex fur. Take the long, drooping ears of a lop breed and combine them with the short, plush, upright coat of a Rex, and that is the look the breed was created to achieve. According to breed-club histories, it is the first American rabbit breed to combine lopped ears with rex fur, which is exactly why it is unusual and why it has drawn a dedicated group of fanciers.

The coat is the whole point. Rex fur is a genetic coat type in which the guard hairs are shortened so the fur stands upright and dense, like velvet or plush, instead of lying flat. Run your hand over a rex-coated rabbit and the fur springs back. On a Velveteen Lop that velvet coat sits on a medium sized, gently arched body with long lopped ears, a combination you will not find in any fully recognized ARBA breed. If you are comparing it with other rabbits, the broader rabbit species overview is a good place to see where it fits.

It is a companion and exhibition breed rather than a meat or commercial-fur breed, so the Velveteen Lops you meet are pets or show animals kept by hobby breeders. It is also worth saying plainly that this is a rare, still-developing breed, not a mainstream pet-store rabbit, so finding one takes more effort than finding a common lop.

Origin and history

The Velveteen Lop is a genuinely modern American creation. Breed-club histories credit Virginia Menden of California with starting the project in 1990. Her goal was to create a lop rabbit with a mandolin (semi-arched) body type and the velvety rex coat of the Mini Rex, in a modest size, so she crossed Mini Rex rabbits with English Lops. The English Lop contributed the long, dramatic lopped ears, and the Mini Rex contributed the short, plush rex fur. The breed takes its name from Margery Williams’ classic children’s book “The Velveteen Rabbit,” a nod to that soft, velvet coat.

From there the breed passed through the hands of a series of dedicated breeders who took up the work of developing it toward recognition. Breed-club records describe the Certificate of Development being held over the years by breeders including Paul Lewis, Mary Crawford and David Kabela of Texas, Lorrie Stillo, and more recently Megan Matthys, before passing to its current stewards in Texas. That long relay of breeders, decade after decade, is part of why the Velveteen Lop is still considered a developing breed rather than a finished one.

Is the Velveteen Lop ARBA recognized?

This is the most important thing to get right, so here is the honest answer: as of this writing, the Velveteen Lop is not a fully recognized ARBA breed. It is in the development process.

In the United States, the ARBA recognizes new breeds through a structured process. A breeder takes out a Certificate of Development and must then pass the breed through three successful “presentations” at ARBA National Conventions, in consecutive years, before the breed is granted full recognition. Until that happens, a developing breed can be shown at ARBA sanctioned shows, but only against other animals of the same developing breed, and it cannot compete for Best of Breed or Best in Show against recognized breeds.

The Velveteen Lop has been in this process since the 1990s. It has earned a Certificate of Development more than once and has passed individual presentations over the years, but no holder has yet completed the full set of consecutive passes required for recognition, so the breed has repeatedly had to restart. It currently operates under a “working standard,” the detailed description breeders aim for while a breed is still developing. Under its current stewards in Texas, the breed is reported to be working toward another final presentation at an upcoming ARBA National Convention.

Why does this matter to a buyer? Three practical reasons. First, the breed is genuinely rare, because the pool of breeders has always been small. Second, animals can still vary, since a developing breed is, by definition, not yet fully standardized. Third, any claim you see that the Velveteen Lop is an officially recognized ARBA breed is, as of now, inaccurate. Treat “recognized” and “in development” as different things, and ask sellers directly where the breed stands.

What a Velveteen Lop looks like

The Velveteen Lop’s working standard describes a distinctive medium sized rabbit with a few diagnostic features.

• Rex (velvety) coat. The signature trait. The fur is meant to be dense, straight, and upright, roughly 5/8 inch long at the ideal, with a lustrous, plush look and a springy resistance when you touch it. This is short velvet fur, not the long flowing wool of an Angora or a Fuzzy Lop. It is the same coat type that gives the Rex rabbit its famous feel.
• Long lopped ears. The ears hang down beside the face like other lop breeds, and they are long: the working standard calls for a minimum of about 14 inches tip to tip on senior animals, with shorter ears on juniors. Ears under that length are a disqualification on the show table. Those long ears are the English Lop’s contribution.
• Mandolin (semi-arched) body. Viewed from the side, the back forms a smooth arch that starts behind the shoulders and rises to its highest point over the hips, the shape breeders call a mandolin. This is a semi-arched breed, not a compact, rounded one.
• Medium size. Senior animals weigh roughly 5 to 6.5 pounds, with an ideal near 5.75 pounds, which makes the Velveteen Lop a medium sized rabbit rather than a dwarf or a giant.

In color, the breed follows the rex color families, organized in the working standard into groups such as Agouti, Self, Shaded, Ticked, Wide Band, Pointed White, and Broken (a recognized color broken up with white). For a pet, color is simply preference; for showing, the variety and the quality of the coat and markings matter.

Temperament

Velveteen Lops are generally described by breeders and owners as calm, gentle, and friendly rabbits, a temperament often attributed to the laid-back natures of both parent breeds. Many are described as people-oriented and trainable: owners report litter-box training, coming when called, and similar tricks, which is typical of relaxed pet rabbits given regular, patient interaction.

We flag this as practitioner and breeder observation rather than a formally studied trait, since there is little formal research on a breed this new and this rare. As with any rabbit, individual temperament varies and is shaped strongly by handling and socialization. Rabbits are prey animals that often dislike being lifted high off the ground, so the calmest interactions usually happen at floor level, and children should be supervised and taught to handle a rabbit gently and low to the ground.

Care: the velvet coat, housing, diet, and exercise

The good news about a rex coat is that, unlike a wool breed, it does not mat and does not demand constant brushing. The trade-off is different: that short, plush fur gives the feet and skin less padding, so the care priorities shift from grooming to flooring and routine rabbit husbandry.

Coat and grooming

A rex coat is low maintenance compared with a wool or angora coat. Gentle grooming, a soft brush or a smooth hand-stroke about once a week, is usually enough to remove loose hairs, with a little extra during a spring or fall molt. In fact, over-brushing can damage the delicate velvet fur, so a light touch is better than aggressive grooming. This is a real point of difference from a wool breed like the American Fuzzy Lop, which needs frequent brushing to prevent matting and wool block; the Velveteen Lop’s rex coat asks much less of you on the grooming front.

Flooring and sore hocks

Here is where the rex coat needs respect. Because the fur on the feet is short and provides less cushioning, rex-coated rabbits are more prone to sore hocks (pododermatitis), pressure sores on the underside of the back feet, especially on hard or wire flooring. Give a Velveteen Lop solid (not wire) flooring with soft, clean bedding, and check the bottoms of the hind feet regularly for redness, hair loss, or callusing. Caught early, sore hocks are usually managed by improving the flooring and padding; left unchecked they can become painful ulcers that need veterinary care.

Housing

As a medium sized rabbit, the Velveteen Lop needs a roomy pen or a rabbit-proofed space, a hidey spot, a litter area, and unlimited hay, plus daily time in a larger, safe exercise area. House rabbits should live indoors or in sheltered housing, protected from temperature extremes and from predators. As with any rabbit, watch heat in particular: rabbits tolerate cold far better than heat, so keep them cool and well ventilated in warm weather.

Diet

The single most important thing you can do for any rabbit’s health is feed a hay-based diet. Grass hay, such as timothy, should make up the large majority of what a rabbit eats and be available at all times, rounded out with fresh leafy greens, a small measured amount of quality pellets, and only occasional treats, with fresh water always available. This is standard guidance from rabbit veterinary and welfare sources, including the House Rabbit Society, which describes insufficient hay as the single most common cause of digestive trouble. The reason hay matters so much is gut motility: the long fiber in hay keeps the digestive tract moving, which is exactly what protects rabbits from gastrointestinal (GI) stasis.

Exercise, teeth, and the rabbit emergency to know

Daily exercise outside the enclosure supports both mental health and gut motility, and a few hours in a safe, rabbit-proofed space with toys and safe chew items suits a friendly, active rabbit. That chewing also helps the teeth: rabbit teeth grow continuously, and a hay-heavy diet plus safe things to gnaw help wear them down, while overgrown or misaligned teeth (malocclusion) are a real, painful problem worth checking at routine vet visits.

The rabbit emergency every owner should recognize is GI stasis, sometimes called the silent killer. When the gut slows or stops, a rabbit may stop eating, produce few or no droppings, and become quiet and hunched. This is a genuine, potentially life-threatening emergency. If you ever see those signs, treat it as urgent and contact a rabbit-savvy veterinarian rather than waiting. None of this is medical advice; for any health decision, work with a veterinarian who treats rabbits.

Lifespan and health

There is no large body of breed-specific health data for a rabbit this new and this rare, so treat lifespan figures as general rabbit guidance rather than a breed guarantee. Pet rabbits given good care commonly live into the 7-to-10-year range, and some live longer, with diet, housing, and veterinary care doing most of the work.

The health priorities are the standard ones for any pet rabbit, plus the rex-specific note above:

• GI stasis. The headline rabbit emergency, prevented mainly by a high-fiber hay diet, fresh water, and exercise, and treated as urgent if it appears.
• Sore hocks. More of a concern in rex-coated rabbits because of the thinner foot fur; managed with solid, soft flooring and regular foot checks.
• Dental disease (malocclusion). Continuously growing teeth can overgrow; hay helps, and vet checks catch problems early.
• Heat sensitivity. Rabbits handle cold far better than heat, so keep them cool and ventilated in summer.
• Routine care. Find a rabbit-experienced veterinarian, ask about appropriate preventive care for your region, and consider spaying or neutering, which many owners do for health and behavior reasons.

Cost, rarity, and how to find one

This is where the breed’s developmental status shapes the buying experience most.

Because the Velveteen Lop is still in development and has always been bred by a small number of fanciers, it is genuinely rare. There is no single reliable public price for one, and we will not invent a precise figure. In practical terms, expect prices to vary widely by region, lineage, and the breeder’s stock, and expect to pay a premium that reflects scarcity rather than the lower end you might see for a common pet rabbit. Whatever you pay for the rabbit itself is only part of the cost: a proper enclosure, hay and food, a litter setup, and veterinary care all add up over a rabbit that may live the better part of a decade.

Availability is the bigger challenge. There is no national pipeline of Velveteen Lops the way there is for mainstream lops, so finding one usually means connecting with the small community of breeders working on the breed, often through breed clubs, and being patient. Because supply is thin, setting a saved listing alert (below) is one of the most practical ways to catch one when it appears.

Buying considerations

Because the breed is rare and still developing, buy on evidence and on a clear conversation with the seller, not on the novelty of the coat alone.

• Ask about recognition status honestly. A good seller will tell you the breed is in development and not yet ARBA recognized. Be cautious of anyone who claims full recognition or sells a “rare recognized breed.”
• Confirm the coat is true rex. The defining trait is the short, dense, plush, upright velvet coat. Run your hand over it: it should feel like velvet and spring back, not lie flat like normal fur or hang long like wool.
• Check the feet. Given the rex coat’s thinner foot fur, look at the bottoms of the hind feet for early sore-hock signs, and ask what flooring and bedding the rabbit has been kept on.
• See the environment and ask about diet. A clean, spacious setup and a rabbit that looks bright, well-fed, and alert are good signs. Ask what the rabbit is being fed and keep the diet consistent at first.
• Match the rabbit to your goal. Tell the seller whether you want a pet or a show or breeding prospect, since a developing breed is judged on the working standard and pet quality is different from show quality.
• Line up a rabbit vet first. Because GI stasis can become an emergency quickly, know where you will take your rabbit before you need to.

You can browse current Velveteen Lop listings on the Creatures marketplace and look for trusted rabbit breeders in the Creatures directory. Because genuine stock is scarce, a saved listing alert is often the most practical way to catch one when it is posted.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Velveteen Lop a recognized rabbit breed?
Not yet. It is a developing breed in the ARBA’s Certificate of Development process and currently operates under a working standard. It can be shown at sanctioned shows against other Velveteen Lops, but it is not a fully recognized breed and cannot compete for Best of Breed or Best in Show. Be skeptical of any seller who claims it is officially recognized.

What makes a Velveteen Lop different from other lops?
The coat. It pairs the long lopped ears of a lop breed with the short, plush, velvety rex fur of a Rex rabbit, on a gently arched mandolin body. It is described as the first American breed to combine lopped ears with rex fur.

Where does the name come from?
From “The Velveteen Rabbit,” the children’s book by Margery Williams. The name references the breed’s soft, velvet-like coat.

How big do Velveteen Lops get?
They are a medium sized rabbit. The working standard puts senior weight at roughly 5 to 6.5 pounds, with an ideal near 5.75 pounds.

Do Velveteen Lops need a lot of grooming?
No, far less than a wool breed. The rex coat does not mat and usually needs only gentle weekly grooming, with a little more during a molt. Over-brushing can actually damage the delicate fur. The more important care points are solid, soft flooring to prevent sore hocks and a hay-based diet.

Are Velveteen Lops good pets?
For an owner who can find one and provide proper care, yes. They are generally calm, friendly, and people-oriented, and the rex coat is low maintenance. The main catch is rarity: as a developing breed, they are hard to find and usually come from a small community of breeders.

Do this next on Creatures

Whether you are researching the breed, trying to find one of these rare rabbits, or already keeping a Velveteen Lop, Creatures is the records, marketplace, and directory layer to do it in one place. No account is needed to start the guest-friendly steps.

If you are comparing rabbits, see the parent rabbit species page and the Dwarf Papillon breed page, another distinctive small rabbit.