which breed is best? & getting started

Question
Hello

I am thinking about geting a young male rabbit as a pet but still have a few questions,

What breed would make a better pet? I would like to have a large rabbit but I can only find teh smaller breeds such as dwarfs, holland lops, mini lops, mini rex and dwarf x.

How large does a mini lop get and does it have a nice temper?

How big does a holland lop and a mini rex get?

Would it be nessary to get a male neutered at four/six months of age? Would a male spray even if hes the only rabbit in the house? Would neutering give a male a calmer temper?  Are mini rex rabbits bad tempered? everyone I've seen tryed to bite me.

I have a cage, water bottle, food dish, harness, leash and litter pan what else will I need?

Also how long do rabbits live? Do larger breeds live longer? Whats the longest one of your rabbits lived?

thanks  

Answer
Basically, whichever rabbit you like and likes you is the one to get.  Many mixed breed rabbits make perfectly wonderful pets, and many purebred do too.  Except for some health issues due to inbreeding, there are no breed generalizations.

If there is a rabbit rescue group in your area, you could approach them about a larger breed rabbit.  Many of the larger breeds have little chance of getting adopted because people are turned off by a big white rabbit.

Minilops weigh 6-8 pounds, Holland Lops 3-5 pounds, and Minirexes 3-5 pounds.  I've known very wonderful and very naughty examples of all breeds.

It would be highly suggested to get the males neutered at about 4 months of age (or whenever their "parts" are visible).  Male rabbits will spray regardless of how many other pets may be in the house.  They will spray you, if you are the only love interest they have.  It generally does make them calmer, they are no longer driven by their hormones to make more bunnies.  Male rabbits also run a risk of testicular cancer when they are older if not neutered.

I would suggest you get some toys, you can find a list of those, and how to litterbox train a rabbit, at http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/toys.html and http://www.rabbit.org/care/new-bunny-index.html

Rabbits in general live 7-10 years. We've had rabbits live 11 years.  Two were mixed breed, and one was an English Lop.  I know a Holland Lop who is 10 1/2.  I've heard of older rabbits, but I don't know what breeds they were.

I hope this answers your questions (for now!).

Kim