Lionhead

What is a Lionhead?

A small rabbit, 1.2-1.7kg, carrying a gene that produces a ring of longer wool around the head and sometimes the flanks - the "mane". The rest of the coat is short.

There are two versions. Single-maned rabbits carry one copy of the gene: a wispy mane that often thins with age. Double-maned rabbits carry two, and have a much fuller mane plus a wool "skirt" on the flanks. Double-maned rabbits need substantially more grooming, and a great many buyers are not told which they are getting.

History and origins

Recent. The mane gene appeared in Belgium in the 1990s, probably from a Swiss Fox and Belgian Dwarf cross, and the type was developed in Britain and Europe through that decade. The British Rabbit Council recognised it in 2002 - making it one of the newest rabbit breeds in common keeping.

Appearance and size

1.2-1.7kg. Compact and rounded with a short body, upright ears of about 5-7cm, and the mane of 2-5cm wool encircling the head. Many colours. Some Lionheads are also lop-eared, which combines both breeds' problems.

Temperament and personality

Friendly, inquisitive and generally confident. They tend to be more outgoing than Netherland Dwarfs and less uniformly placid than Mini Lops. Well-handled Lionheads are sociable and enjoy attention; they are also alert and can be startled easily, so approach from the front and at floor level.

Intelligence and trainability

Bright, food-motivated, and quick to litter-train. They learn names and routines and take well to clicker training. Grooming is much easier if you train for it early, and with this breed that matters more than with any other on this list.

Children and other pets

Good with older children who understand floor-level handling. The daily grooming is genuinely a job, and it should not be a child's sole responsibility - a matted rabbit is a welfare problem within weeks.

Keep in a neutered pair. Never with a guinea pig.

Health problems

Wool block and gut stasis. A rabbit grooming a woolly coat swallows wool. Rabbits cannot vomit, so it accumulates. Combined with a low-fibre diet it causes gut stasis, which is an emergency. The prevention is unlimited hay and regular brushing, in that order of importance.

Matting. Wool mats against the skin, pulls, and causes sores. Mats around the bottom trap urine and faeces and lead directly to flystrike.

Dental disease. Dwarf skull, crowded teeth, malocclusion and molar spurs - as with the Netherland Dwarf.

Eye irritation from mane hair getting into the eye; watch for discharge or a wet cheek.

Myxomatosis, RHDV1 and RHDV2 - vaccinate. Flystrike - check the bottom twice daily in summer, and more carefully than with a short-coated breed.

Daily care routine

Hay topped up, water, litter tray, back end checked - twice daily May to October. Brush the mane daily and the flanks too on a double-maned rabbit. Ears and nails monthly, vaccination annually.

Grooming and coat care

The distinguishing job of this breed. Daily brushing through the mane with a fine comb, working to the skin, not just over the surface. During a moult - two or three times a year - this becomes a serious daily task and mats form in a couple of days if you skip it. Keep the fur around the bottom trimmed short. Never bathe; spot-clean.

Exercise needs

3m x 2m x 1m as a permanent minimum, plus daily time in a larger space. They are active and inquisitive and will use everything you give them.

Feeding and diet

85% hay, unlimited - and for this breed hay is medicine as well as food, because fibre is what moves swallowed wool through the gut. Daily leafy greens, a measured eggcup of single-component pellets, no muesli.

Price

£40-£100, more for a good double-maned pedigree animal. Rescues rehome them regularly at £50-£80 for a neutered vaccinated pair.

Setup £300-£600; running costs £600-£1,000 a year for a pair, plus grooming tools.

Buying advice

Ask whether the rabbit is single or double-maned, and ask the breeder to show you the difference on their own stock. If they cannot answer, they are not paying attention to the one thing that defines the breed.

Check the front teeth, look in the ears, and part the wool over the hindquarters and around the bottom - mats there on a young rabbit tell you how it has been kept.

Do not buy under eight weeks. Ask for the vaccination record. Be honest with yourself about the daily brushing before you commit: a Lionhead in a household that does not groom it is a rabbit that will be uncomfortable for its whole life.