Rex

What is a Rex?

A medium-large rabbit of 3-4.5kg carrying the rex gene, which shortens the guard hairs so they sit level with the undercoat. The result is a dense, upright plush coat about 1.3cm long that feels like velvet and does not lie flat.

The Mini Rex is the same coat on a smaller frame, roughly 1.4-2kg. Everything below applies to both.

History and origins

The rex mutation appeared in a litter of wild-coloured rabbits in Louché-Pringé, France, in 1919. A local priest, Abbé Gillet, developed it, and the breed was shown in Paris in 1924, where the coat caused a sensation. They were originally bred for fur, and their reputation as a pet came much later.

Appearance and size

3-4.5kg, well-muscled with a rounded body, upright ears and a broad head. The coat is the point: short, dense, upright, and in a long list of recognised colours including castor, chinchilla, otter and black.

Temperament and personality

Calm, confident and unusually people-oriented. Rex owners routinely describe them as dog-like, and they are among the breeds that most reliably come when called and follow you around a room. Does can be territorial about their space, particularly unspayed.

They are not, as a rule, rabbits that enjoy being picked up - which is true of nearly all rabbits and simply more noticeable in one this confident on the ground.

Intelligence and trainability

Among the brightest of the common breeds. They litter-train almost immediately, learn names and routines, and take to clicker training and rabbit agility better than most. This is the breed to choose if you want an animal that interacts.

Children and other pets

Good with children, with the standard rules: floor-level handling, supervision, no chasing. Their size makes them more robust than a dwarf breed. They are calm enough to live comfortably alongside a quiet household cat or dog, though never unsupervised.

Keep in a neutered pair.

Health problems

Sore hocks (pododermatitis). The breed problem, and it follows directly from the coat: rex rabbits have much less fur on the soles of their feet than other breeds. On wire, hard flooring or damp bedding the skin over the hock ulcerates. It is painful, it recurs, and severe cases involve bone. Prevention is entirely about flooring - deep soft bedding, no wire, and keeping weight down.

Dental disease. Less common than in dwarf breeds, since the skull is normally proportioned, but still worth checking.

Gut stasis - the usual rabbit emergency.

Myxomatosis, RHDV1 and RHDV2 - vaccinate annually.

Flystrike and E. cuniculi.

Daily care routine

Hay, water, litter tray, and a back-end check twice daily in summer. Check the feet weekly - turn the rabbit gently on a lap or a table and look at the hocks for thinning fur, redness or scabs. Nails every six to eight weeks, vaccination annually.

Grooming and coat care

Almost none, and over-brushing damages the coat. A rubber mitt or a hand-stroke once a week is enough. Never bathe. The low shedding makes them a reasonable choice for a tidy household, though they are no less allergenic than any other rabbit.

Exercise needs

3m x 2m x 1m minimum permanent space, and being a larger active breed they will use more. Flooring matters more here than for any other breed: soft, dry and non-abrasive throughout, with deep bedding in the resting areas.

Feeding and diet

85% hay, unlimited. Daily leafy greens, and a measured portion of single-component pellets scaled to the larger body - roughly two eggcups for a 4kg rabbit. No muesli. Keep weight down; excess weight goes straight onto the hocks.

Price

£40-£120, more for a good show-quality coat. Mini Rex are usually at the upper end. Rescues rehome them at £50-£80 for a neutered vaccinated pair.

Setup £400-£700 - a bigger rabbit needs a bigger enclosure and more bedding. Running costs £700-£1,200 a year for a pair.

Buying advice

Look at the feet. Turn the rabbit over, or ask the breeder to, and examine both hocks. Thinning fur, pink skin or any scabbing on a young rabbit means it has been kept on the wrong flooring, and the problem often follows the animal for life.

Ask what the parents and kits are housed on. If the answer involves wire, walk away.

Feel the coat: it should be dense and spring back upright, not lie flat or part to the skin. Check teeth and ears as with any rabbit, do not buy under eight weeks, and ask for the vaccination record.