Choosing A Rabbit Breed

There are over seventy different breeds of rabbits. It can seem a bewildering choice until you realise that most of them aren’t available in Adelaide.

How To Choose A Rabbit Breed

  • Large vs small? Generally the larger the better when children are involved
  • Short vs long coat? Most rabbits for sale in Adelaide have short, easy-care coats, but if you purchase an Angora you need to commit to daily grooming.
  • Male vs female. Males are usually friendlier, especially to children. Females are usually a lot better if desexed. WARNING: too many people are sold rabbits as the wrong sex, and only find out when something goes wrong. Watch our video guide to working out the gender of rabbits.
  • Breed suitability. View the different rabbit breeds below.
  • Availability. In the end it comes down to which rabbits are being bred in your area. Here’s what we have locally:

Different Types of Rabbit Breeds For Pets.

Here are the breeds commonly available in South Australia.

Which Rabbit Breeds Are Best For Children?

The rabbit breeds that are more suitable for children in Adelaide are Dwarf Lop, Dutch, New Zealand White or the Giant breeds. Also read our page on Whether to get a rabbit for a child.

Small Rabbit Breeds

Dwarf Lop & Cashmere Lop

dwarf lop rabbit
By Alexander Horn (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

Size: 1.9-2.4kg
The most common pet rabbit in Adelaide, for good reason. Nice all-rounder.

Mini Lop & Mini Plush Lop

mini lop rabbit
By Miniaturelop (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Size: 1.5kg
Not as robust as the Dwarf Lop, but still great.

Mini Rex

mini rex rabbit
By GetMeSome14 (Own work) [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Size: 1.7-2kg
Lovely, small rabbit best for adult owners.

Netherland Dwarf

Size: Less than 1.1kg
Very, very cute but a bit flighty and easily injured.

Medium Rabbit Breeds

Standard Rex

standard rex rabbit
By Aramat (Own work) [GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Size: 2.7-3.6kg
Not considered good with children, these rabbits have an amazingly plush coat.

Dutch

Size: 2-2.3kg
Often black & white, the ones we see have longer ears than the photo. Good temperaments.

European Brown Rabbit

pet wild rabbit
Just as awesome!

Size: 2-2.5kg
This is the wild or feral rabbit found in most of Australia. They make great pets if found when very young. This one is Stewie, one of our patients.

New Zealand White

Size: 4.5-5.5kg
The ‘classic’ white rabbit, calm and good with kids

Large Rabbit Breeds

Flemish Giant, English Giant etc

Flemish giant rabbit
By Lithonius at English Wikipedia (Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Size: 6-10kg
Very laid-back rabbits for those who don’t mind a lot of rabbit

What Sex Is My Rabbit?

Is your rabbit a boy or a girl? This video shows you how to know if your rabbit is male or female.