17/11/2025
EU vs American MPL, whatâs the difference? A question I get asked a LOT.
In this post Iâm going to debunk some common myths and claims about Mini Plush Lops! Buckle up and letâs unpack this together!
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Standard of Perfection - which SOP should you follow?
Letâs look at some facts! The American Rabbit Breederâs Breed Standard Committee has said that the European Standard for MPL WILL NOT PASS as is. Changes must be made. So why breed to an SOP that has been said wonât pass? That seems so counterintuitive. So⌠thatâs where the Americanized SOP comes in! Ashley Green (w/ Little Plantation Rabbitry) and I have created the Americanized the Standard of Perfection with the intent to get this amazing breed passed.
Quality Differences:
Most âEuroâ only breeders sole focus is color. Not type, fur, temperament, or many of the other things that go into creating a consistent, quality animal that can be shown in the future. This is why you unfortunately see so many subpar plush (rabbits with no structure, ears didnât lop, pinched hips, thin/fine bone, long/narrow ears, the list goes on and on.) while only a handful of breeders are trying to correct these structural problems.
Then, the new breeders lean heavily on âWell, the person I got my rabbits from sold them for $1500 each, so I should be able to do that and make tons of money!â Only to find out since they donât have a cult following, they canât sell their animals for astronomical prices. Not to mention, that itâs insane that someone would purchase an unshowable rabbit for that much! On top of it, they canât pose due to lack of sound structure, the rabbit is in a continuous molt(or has a terrible fur quality), or they have MAJOR temperament issues (OR bonus, a combo of all three!).
Part of breeding rabbits should always be ethics. When breeding rabbits, say you get 6 rabbits in the litter. Even when breeding Grand Champion to Grand Champion, not ever single rabbit in that litter will be brood quality!
Most of these âEU ONLYâ breeders sell out of the nestbox. You canât even BEGIN to tell quality before 4 weeks. The longer you keep the rabbit, the more you can tell about them. Picking your âkeepersâ when theyâre hours old shows me you are interested in one thing. Color (well, that and money đ¤Ł) and you can tell color at this age IF you know genetics, which the majority of these people who imported, unfortunately do not.
Fur Quality:
I cannot tell you the amount of DMs I get saying âI was told Euro MPL had better quality fur so I spent a small fortune and now have a rabbit that feels like a Brillo pad!â Or âI spent the money to get a Euro MPL from a known EU breeder and now I have a rabbit that is constantly molting when the breeder claimed it would not molt!â
This is a very common problem. The breeders ABSOLUTELY know what theyâre doing, they know theyâre swindling people, they still do it anyway because they want that $$$. Look, if youâre in rabbits to make money.. youâre not an ethical breeder at all.
Takeaway:
MOST plush make FANTASTIC pets, EU or American, but breeding rabbits with structural defects, poor temperment, and terrible fur ultimately harms this breedâs progress to get recognized.
You can breed to whatever SOP suits your fancy, but ultimately, breeding to the European SOP does not help MPL get recognized in the states. If anything it makes it more difficult. Do your research, find out what works for you, but donât be fooled by the âEU MPL are betterâ crowd.
Edit to add for clarification;
Iâm not âAnti Euro Plushâ. Iâm advocating for people in this breed to do better and not be color (or bloodline) blind. Ultimately, I want this wonderful breed to succeed in the states, but constantly having to fight with people who breed genetic defects, poor structure, poor coat, etc just because itâs IMPORT bloodlines is disheartening. Being of import blood doesnât make it any better if it canât even produce viable offspring because the hips are so pinched.
