🐇 Rex Rabbit

📊Overview

A medium-sized breed prized for its exceptionally dense, plush velvet fur and its calm, intelligent temperament, often noted for good mothering instincts. The short foot fur leaves it prone to sore hocks, so hard or wire flooring must be avoided.

⚡Ownership snapshot

🧭Temperament & needs

📈Compared with other Rabbits

🧠Personality & temperament

Rex rabbits are known for being calm, intelligent, and notably people-oriented, with many owners describing them as gentle and dog-like in their attachment. Does in particular show a strong maternal, nurturing streak, and the breed's steady, curious nature makes them one of the more trainable and interactive rabbits.

📜Origin & background

The Rex rabbit originated in France in 1919, arising from a litter of wild gray rabbits carrying a natural recessive mutation, and was first exhibited at the 1924 Paris International Rabbit Show. It was prized by the fur industry for its uniquely plush coat and has since become a popular show and companion breed worldwide.

🏃Exercise & enrichment

An active, intelligent breed, the Rex needs several hours of daily exercise outside its enclosure to run, jump, and explore a safe, rabbit-proofed space. Puzzle feeders, tunnels, and dig boxes satisfy their curiosity and help prevent boredom and destructive behaviour.

✂️Grooming & hygiene

The Rex's famous velvety coat is remarkably low-maintenance: because the guard hairs are shortened to the length of the undercoat, it lies plush and dense and needs only occasional brushing — over-brushing can actually damage it. Never bathe a Rex; spot-clean instead, keep nails trimmed, and check the sparsely furred feet regularly.

🍽️Diet & feeding

As with all rabbits, the foundation is unlimited grass hay (around 80% of the diet), supplemented with daily fresh leafy greens and a controlled portion of pellets. Provide constant fresh water and treat fruit or carrots as rare treats, since obesity worsens their tendency toward sore hocks.

🏠Housing & environment

The Rex needs a spacious enclosure or pen with a solid, soft floor — soft bedding or mats are essential because their thinly furred feet make wire or hard flooring especially damaging. They do best indoors at stable temperatures, with a hideaway and room to stretch out and move around.

🩺Health & lifespan

Rex rabbits typically live around 5-8 years. Their defining health risk is sore hocks (ulcerative pododermatitis): the same mutation that thins their guard hairs leaves the footpads poorly padded, so hard or wire flooring readily causes painful ulcers — soft bedding and weight control are essential. They are otherwise hardy but, like all rabbits, remain susceptible to GI stasis, dental malocclusion, and heat stress.

🎓Training & socialization

Their intelligence and calm focus make Rex rabbits among the easier breeds to litter-train and to teach tricks, names, and recall using consistent, reward-based sessions. Frequent gentle handling keeps them sociable and trusting toward their owners.

💰Cost of ownership

Initial costs are moderate, covering the rabbit, a large enclosure with quality soft flooring, and spay/neuter surgery. Ongoing costs are typical for a rabbit — hay, greens, pellets, and bedding — but budget extra for soft substrate and potential vet treatment of sore hocks, which this breed is prone to.

💚Who it's good for

Good for owners who want a strokable, mellow medium rabbit with minimal grooming.

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