Holland Lop colors are sorted by ARBA into color groups: Agouti, Broken, Pointed White, Self, Shaded, Tan Pattern, Wideband and AOV (Any Other Variety). Inside those groups sit dozens of named colors, from common black and tort to rarer lilac, opal and smoke pearl. This chart explains each group and links to our full guides for the most searched colors.
Most people start with a photo of a bunny they love and then try to find the name of its color. That is harder than it sounds, because the same rabbit can be called "grey," "chinchilla" or "agouti" depending on who is selling it. The ARBA Standard of Perfection settles the naming by placing every Holland Lop color into a group based on how the color is built genetically. Learn the groups and the names start to make sense. This Holland Lop color guide walks through the colors of Holland Lop rabbits group by group, then covers the rarer colors one at a time.
Holland Lops are shown in two broad varieties, solid and broken. A broken is simply any recognized color plus white, so the groups below describe the color itself. Group placements are revised from time to time, so treat this as a working guide and check the current standard before you enter a show. Breeders also call this a Holland Lop colors chart; it is the same list.
| Color group | What defines it | Example colors |
|---|---|---|
| Agouti | Each hair is banded, with a ticked top coat, light belly and eye circles | Chestnut, chinchilla, chocolate agouti, opal, lynx, squirrel |
| Broken | Any recognized color in combination with white | Broken black, broken orange, broken tort, tri-color |
| Pointed White | White body, colored nose, ears, feet and tail, ruby eyes | Black, blue, chocolate and lilac pointed white |
| Self | One even color from tip to skin | Black, blue, chocolate, lilac, blue eyed white, ruby eyed white |
| Shaded | Body color darkens toward the points and sides | Tortoiseshell, sable point, siamese sable, siamese smoke pearl |
| Tan Pattern | Dark top with lighter belly, eye circles and inner ears | Otter, tan, silver marten, sable marten |
| Wideband | Warm yellow band reaching deep into the coat, light belly | Orange, cream, fawn, red, frosty |
| AOV | Colors that fit no other group | Harlequin, magpie, steel |
Ten colors get enough questions from buyers that we wrote a full page for each, covering how the kit looks at birth compared with the adult, the genetics, common mix-ups and what to check before you put down a deposit.
These colors are recognized or common in the breed but turn up less often. Several of them depend on two recessive genes stacked together, which is why you see them only when both parents carry the right genes.
Otter belongs to the Tan Pattern group and comes from the tan pattern allele (a^t) on the agouti locus. A black otter has a glossy black top, with a cream to off-white belly, eye circles, inner ears, jaw line and underside of the tail. Where the dark top meets the light belly there is a narrow orange-tinged transition band along the flanks. A blue otter Holland Lop follows the same pattern with a slate blue top, and chocolate and lilac otters do the same with a brown or dove gray top. Buyers often mistake a young black otter for a self black until they flip the kit over.
Lilac is a Self color that needs two recessive genes at once: chocolate (bb) and dilute (dd). The result is a soft dove gray with a pink cast, even from tip to skin, with blue-gray eyes. Next to a blue, a lilac looks warmer and lighter. Lilac also shows up inside other patterns, so you will see lilac torts, lilac otters and lilac pointed whites.
Smoke pearl, shown as siamese smoke pearl in the Shaded group, is the dilute (dd) version of siamese sable. The body is a pearly beige-gray that darkens to smoky gray on the nose, ears, feet and tail. Searchers type smoked pearl Holland Lop just as often, and it is the same color. It can be confused with a light blue tort, but a smoke pearl has no orange in the body at all.
Frosty, sometimes called frosted pearl, sits in the Wideband group. It is an agouti rabbit with non-extension (ee) plus a chinchilla series allele that strips out the yellow pigment. What is left is a white to pale pearl body with gray shading on the ears, nose, feet and tail and frosted ticking on the sides. Frosty kits look a lot like pointed whites, but a frosty has dark brown eyes, not ruby.
A tri-color is a broken harlequin: white from the broken gene plus the black and orange (or blue and fawn) of a harlequin. It is shown in the Broken group. Good tri-colors are hard to breed, since you need the harlequin banding and a balanced broken pattern on the same rabbit. Our harlequin guide explains the banding half of the equation.
Opal is a blue agouti. The top coat is slate blue with a fawn middle band, over a slate blue undercolor, and the belly is light. On a sunny day an opal can read as a dusty lavender-tan. It is easy to confuse with lynx, which is lighter and pinker.
Lynx is the lilac agouti (bb dd plus agouti). Expect a pale orange-beige band under a lilac-tipped top and a white undercolor near the skin. It is one of the scarcest colors in the breed because it needs agouti, chocolate and dilute all at once.
Squirrel is a blue chinchilla: the chinchilla allele (c^chd) on a blue (dd) agouti. It looks like a soft blue-gray rabbit with a pearl white intermediate band and a white belly, cooler in tone than opal.
Steel comes from the steel allele (E^s) at the extension locus. A steel is a dark rabbit, nearly black on a black steel, with gold or silver tipped hairs scattered across the top. "Gold tipped steel" is the version with warm tips. Steel can hide other colors in a pedigree, which surprises breeders who did not expect it.
Chestnut is the classic wild rabbit color and the base of the Agouti group. Each hair has a slate blue base, an orange band and a black tip, which gives a ticked brown look with a white belly and light eye circles. Chestnut is black based, not brown based, even though buyers call it brown. We cover it in detail on the chocolate and chestnut page.
Ermine is not a color name in the Holland Lop standard. Sellers use it loosely, usually for a very pale frosty or a white rabbit with dark eyes. If you see a bunny listed as ermine, ask the breeder what the parents are and what the pedigree calls the color.
Holland Lop kits are born nearly hairless, and their skin color is the first clue. Self black kits are dark charcoal, chocolate kits a brown-gray, blue kits a paler gray, and ruby eyed white kits pink. Fur appears around day 7, and the eyes open at about 10 days. Agouti rings show early. Shaded colors do not: torts and sables keep shifting until after the first molt, which often starts between 8 and 16 weeks. Pointed white kits are born white, and their points fill in over the first few weeks.
Color does not decide whether a Holland Lop is pet, show or brood quality. Body, head, crown and ears do. A rabbit with a disqualifying color fault, such as a Vienna mark on a self black, is graded as pet quality, but it is just as healthy and just as affectionate. Our opinion: pick your top two or three colors, then choose the best structured, calmest bunny in those colors. You can see which colors are ready now on our available Holland Lop bunnies page.
Lilac, lynx, opal, squirrel, smoke pearl, steel and the otter family turn up far less often than black, tort or broken orange. Rarity usually comes from genetics: lynx and lilac need two recessive dilutes stacked together, so both parents must carry them. A rare color does not make a healthier or better tempered rabbit, so judge structure and health first.
ARBA recognizes Holland Lops in the Agouti, Broken, Pointed White, Self, Shaded, Tan Pattern and Wideband groups, plus AOV for colors that fit none of those. Named colors include chestnut, chinchilla, black, blue, chocolate, lilac, blue eyed white, ruby eyed white, tort, sable point, otter, orange, cream and frosty. Check the current Standard of Perfection before a show, since placements get revised.
A Vienna marked Holland Lop carries one copy of the Vienna gene, the same gene that makes blue eyed whites when doubled. It often shows a white snip on the nose, a white blaze, white toes or blue or marbled eyes. Those marks disqualify the rabbit on the show table, but they have no effect on health, so a VM bunny can make a lovely pet.
Partly. Skin tone gives early clues: black kits are dark gray, chocolate kits are browner, blue kits are paler gray, and REW kits are pink. Agouti rings show up once fur grows in around day 7 to 10. Shaded colors like tort and sable keep changing until after the first molt, so we confirm those at 6 to 8 weeks.
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