47 Rabbit Breeds to Keep as Pets

Written by Lianne McLeod, DVM

Rabbits come in an array of breeds, all having different colors, sizes, shapes, and coat types. The subtler differences between breeds are mostly of interest to those who show their bunnies, while the average owner is focused mainly on the size and type of coat. Keep in mind that a pet store rabbit is not necessarily purebred; it may not meet ideal breed standards. Yet this in no way reflects on their quality as a pet and should not deter you from adopting the rabbit that you like.

Sorting through the sometimes confusing array of rabbit breeds as rabbits can vary in size from the smaller dwarf breeds weighing less than 2.5 pounds to some of the giant breeds, weighing in at a whopping 16 pounds. Coats can vary in color, from whites to browns, grays, and black and by fur length, from short to long. Note that the longer coated breeds require daily grooming, so they are a little more time-consuming than the shorter hair breeds.

Pet Rabbit Breeds: An Alphabetical List

  • 01 of 47AlaskanAilura / Wikimedia Commons / CC By 3.0
    • 6–8.5 pounds
    • Black
    • Thick coat
    • Originated in Germany
  • 02 of 47American
    • 9–12 pounds
    • Blue, white
    • Medium build, narrow head
  • 03 of 47American Checkered Giant
    • 11 pounds or larger
    • White with black or blue markings (along spine, body spots, cheek spots, colored ears, eye circles, and butterfly mark on nose)
  • 04 of 47. American Chinchilla
    • 9–12 pounds
    • Chinchilla colored
    • Dense, fine hair that is smooth and glossy (1.25 inch-long coat)
    • Relatively round body
  • 05 of 47 American Fuzzy Lop
    • 3.5–4 pounds
    • Variety of coat colors
    • Compact muscular body; dense, coarse coat; ears folded over to slightly below the jaw
  • 06 of 47. American Sable
    • 7–10 pounds
    • Sepia brown
    • Medium build with soft, dense, fine coat with coarse guard hairs
  • 07 of 47Angora This Angora rabbit’s wool has been harvested using scissors.  Emma Jane Hogbin Westby
    • Variety of sizes and colors
    • High maintenance
    • English angora: 5–7 pounds, long silky hair
    • French angora: 7.5–10.5 pounds
    • Giant Angora: 8.5+ pounds, soft fine undercoat (wool), straight stiff guard hairs, and a wavy fluff with a guard tip in between
    • Satin Angora: 6.5–9.5 pounds, very fine wool
  • 08 of 47 Argentes
    • 5–8 pounds
    • Black, blue, brown, or creamy white
  • 09 of 47 Belgian Hare
    • 6–9.5 pounds (2.7–4.3 kg)
    • Reddish tan or chestnut with slate blue under-coloring; slender build, fairly stiff coat
  • 10 of 47 Britannia Petite
    • Under 2.5 pounds
    • Ruby-eyed white, black otter, black, chestnut agouti
    • Slender, fine-boned build with a sleek, silky coat
    • One of the smallest breeds of rabbits
  • 11 of 47 Californian
    • 8–12 pounds
    • White, with black nose, ears, feet, tail
    • Rounded body, medium build, and a short smooth coat
  • 12 of 47 Champagne D’Argent
    • 9–12 pounds
    • Bluish white with black hairs interspersed and slate blue undercolor
    • Plump body
    • Black at birth with white hairs start showing at about 2 months
  • 13 of 47 Checkered Giant
    • Over 11 pounds
    • White with black or blue markings (along spine, body spots, cheek spots, colored ears, eye circles and butterfly mark on the nose)
    • Long, hare-like body
  • 14 of 47 Chinchilla
    • 5.5–6.5 pounds
    • Chinchilla grey colored
    • Fine boned
  • 15 of 47 Cinnamon Eric Wright / FOAP / Getty Images
    • 8.5–11 pounds
    • Rust or cinnamon color with grey ticking on back and grey on the belly. Rust-colored spots inside hind legs as well as butterfly mark on nose and eye rings
  • 16 of 47. Continental
    • May be referred to as a Conti
    • Recognized by the British Rabbit Counsel (BRC) but not the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA),
    • The world record holder for the largest rabbit
    • 12.4 pounds and up
    • White, black, grey, chestnut and varying shades
    • Live only 5–7 years
    • They have a variety of bloodlines based on their country of origin but they were originally bred from Flemish Giants
  • 17 of 47. Creme d’Argent Eric Wright, FOAP and Getty Images
    • 8–11 pounds
    • Creamy white with orange undercoat and butterfly markings on nose
  • 18 of 47 Dutch Picture by Tambako the Jaguar / Getty Images
    • 3.5–5.5 lbs
    • White with black, blue, or brown; chocolate; steel; tortoise
    • The front of the face, body, and back feet are white; the rest is coloured
  • 19 of 47 Dward Hotot Diana Elizabeth Photography, LLC, www.dianaelizabeth.com, and Getty Images
    • Under 3 pounds
    • White with black eye rings and a rounded body
  • 20 of 47 English Lop
    • Over 9 pounds
    • Agouti, broken, shaded, ticked or wide-band colour groups; very long lop ears
  • 21 of 47 English Spot
    • 5–8 pounds
    • White with black, blue, chocolate, gold, grey, lilac, or tortoise. Markings include a butterfly mark on the nose, coloured ears, eye rings, spine marking (herring-boned), a spot on the cheek, and a chain of spots along the body.
    • Long, arched body like a hare
  • 22 of 47 Flemish Giant (Patagonian)
    • 13 pounds and over
    • Black, blue, fawn, light grey, sandy, steel grey, white
    • Long with a heavy build (but shouldn’t be fat)
    • One of the largest breeds of rabbits
  • 23 of 47 Florida White
    • 4–6 pounds
    • Pure white.
    • Rounded body
  • 24 of 47 French Lop Life On White / Getty Images
    • 10 pounds and over
    • Agouti, broken, self, shaded, ticked, or wide-band groups
    • Muscular, heavy build
  • 25 of 47 Giant Chinchilla
    • 12–16 pounds
    • Chinchilla coloration
    • Heavy build, rounded body
    • One of the largest breeds of rabbits
  • 26 of 47 giant papillons
    • 13–14 pounds
    • White with markings; similar to English Spot, except for patches on sides instead of spots
  • 27 of 47 Harlequin
    • 6.5–9.5 pounds
    • Black, blue, chocolate, and lilac
    • Striking patterns alternating bands of colour and white; half the face white and the other half coloured; ear on the white side coloured, and vice versa.
  • 28 of 47. Havana
    • 4.5–6.5 pounds
    • Black, blue, and chocolate
    • Compact, rounded body
  • 29 of 47 Himalayan
    • 2.5–4.5 pounds
    • Black, blue, chocolate, and lilac. Coloration develops on cooler extremities: ears, nose, tail, feet, and legs
  • 30 of 47 Holland Lop
    • Under 4 pounds
    • Agouti, broken, pointed white, self, shaded, ticked, or wide-band colour groups
    • Muscular build, lop ears\
  • 31 of 47 White Hotot Diana Elizabeth Photography, LLC, www.dianaelizabeth.com, and Getty Images
    • 8–11 pounds
    • White with black eye ring
    • Well-rounded body
  • 32 of 47 Jersey Woolly
    • Under 3.5 pounds
    • Wide variety of colours, long woolly coat
  • 33 of 47 Lilac
    • 5.5–8 pounds
    • Lilac coloration.
    • Compact body and dense coat
  • 34 of 47 Mini Lop
    • 4.5–6.5 pounds
    • Agouti, broken, pointed white, self, shaded, ticked, or wide-band colour groups
    • Muscular and compact
  • 35 of 47 Mini Rex
    • 3–4.5 pounds
    • Black, blue, broken group, castor, chinchilla, chocolate, lilac, lynx, opal, red, seal tortoise, white
  • 36 of 47 Netherland Dwarf
    • Under 2.5 pounds
    • Self-group, shaded group, agouti group, tan pattern group, fawn, Himalayan, orange, steel, tortoiseshell
    • Ears seem too short for head
  • 37 of 47 New Zealand
    • 9–12 pounds
    • Black, red, and white
    • Long, muscular body
  • 38 of 47 Palomino
    • Under 9.5 pounds
    • Golden, lynx
  • 39 of 47 Polish
    • Under 3.5 pounds
    • Black, blue, chocolate, blue-eyed white, and ruby-eyed white
    • Very short ears
  • 40 of 47 Rex Silentfoto
    • 7.51–0.5 lbs
    • Black, black otter, blue, broken group, Californian, castor, chinchilla, chocolate, lilac, lynx, opal, red, sable, seal, white
  • 41 of 47 Rhinelander
    • 6.5–10 pounds
    • White with black and bright golden orange markings: six to eight round markings on each side of the back part of the body, as well as a spine marking, butterfly mark on the nose, eye circles, coloured ears, and round cheek spots
  • 42 of 47 Satin
    • 8.5–11 pounds
    • Black, blue, broken group, Californian, chinchilla, chocolate, copper, red, Siamese, white
  • 43 of 47 Silver
    • 4–7 pounds
    • Black, brown, fawn with silver or white guard hairs
  • 44 of 47 Silver Fox
    • 9–12 pounds
    • Jet black with silvering
  • 45 of 47 Silver Marten
    • 6–9.5 pounds
    • Black, blue, chocolate, and sable with silver-tipped guard hairs
  • 46 of 47 Standard Chinchilla
    • 5–7.5 pounds
    • Chinchilla coloration
    • Rounded body
  • 47 of 47 Tan
    • 4–6 pounds
    • Black, blue, chocolate, or lilac with tan; eye circles, nostrils, jowls, ears, backs of legs, toes, chest, belly, tail and neck collar

Pet Rabbit Breed Sizes

While the breed of a rabbit, in most cases, has little impact on its quality as a pet, you may be interested in the size of the rabbit when it is adult or full-grown. Here are the breeds recognised by the American Rabbit Breeders Association, grouped by size:

Small-sized Rabbit Breeds: 2 to 6 pounds

  • American Fuzzy Lop
  • Britannia Petite
  • Dutch
  • Dwarf Hotot
  • Florida White
  • Havana
  • Himalayan
  • Holland Lop
  • Jersey Wolly
  • Mini Lop
  • Mini Rex
  • Netherland Dwarf
  • Polish
  • Silver
  • Tan

Medium-sized Sized breeds (6 to 9 pounds)

  • American Sable
  • Belgian Hare
  • English angora
  • English Spot
  • French angora
  • Harlequin
  • Lilac
  • Rex
  • Rhinelander
  • Satin Angora
  • Silver Marten
  • Standard Chinchilla

Large-Size Rabbit Breeds: 9 to 11 pounds

  • American
  • American Chinchilla
  • Beveren
  • Californian
  • Champagne d’Argent
  • Cinnamon
  • Creme d’Argent
  • English Lop
  • Giant Angora
  • Hotot
  • New Zealand
  • Palomino
  • Satin
  • Silver Fox

Giant-sized Rabbit Breeds: 11 pounds and more

  • Checkered Giant
  • Continental Giant (Conti)
  • Flemish Giant (Patagonian)
  • French Lop
  • Giant Chinchilla