Best housing for English Lop after igloo collapse

A collapsed plastic modular system is unfortunately common with larger breeds — those igloo units are designed for small rabbits and simply aren't built to handle the weight and movement of a rabbit like an English Lop. Before we get into what will actually hold up, I should mention that most housing sold in pet shops is too small regardless of build quality — rabbits need room for at least three full hops, space to stand completely upright on their hind legs, and separate areas for sleeping and toileting. So we're looking for something both sturdy and genuinely spacious. Is your Lop living indoors or outdoors, and roughly how much floor space do you have to work with?

That's a sensible balance to strike. At 5.5kg she's a big rabbit — English Lops are one of the heaviest breeds, so anything with a thin plastic floor or flimsy clip-together panels is going to fail. Can I ask what went wrong with the igloo system specifically — did the clips give way, did the floor crack, or did it just flex and collapse under her?

Three weeks — that tells you everything about the build quality. Thin injection-moulded polypropylene just isn't rated for a heavy rabbit who flops with full body weight. You need a metal-framed enclosure with a solid base, not a modular plastic shell. The one I'd point you toward is the Savic Residence for Rabbits — it's a large metal wire cage with a deep plastic base tray rather than a plastic shell, so the frame takes all the structural load and there's nothing to buckle. It measures 100 x 54cm on the floor and 62cm tall, which gives her proper upright space, and it splits into sections so you can open the whole top when you need to get in. It's also compact enough to sit against a wall without dominating the room.

English Lops aren't typically as destructive as some breeds, but it's a fair question. The Savic base tray is thick enough that casual gnawing won't get through it, and because it's recessed under a metal frame she doesn't have an exposed edge to work on. The weak point in most cages is a rim she can get her teeth around — this design avoids that. I'd still recommend lining the floor with a fleece liner or a thin layer of hay rather than leaving bare plastic, both for grip and to reduce her interest in the tray itself. The main thing is that nothing here will collapse under her weight — the wire frame and deep tray are genuinely built for a rabbit this size.

The Savic Residence doesn't have a built-in sleeping area, but that's actually better — you can add a separate wooden hide or a hay-stuffed cardboard box, which gives her a defined sleeping zone and something to chew that isn't the cage itself. English Lops appreciate a solid hide they can sit on top of as well as inside, so a sturdy wooden tunnel or flat-roofed hide works well. Keep the sleeping end away from the litter tray and she'll naturally settle into using separate areas. It's a more flexible setup than having a fixed plastic igloo built in — and obviously a lot harder to collapse.