Rabbits have been house pets for generations but before that were mostly wild or kept for their meat and fur, or in the Angora’s case their wool. They come in all different shapes and sizes each having their own unique qualities and uses. The larger sized rabbits are usually more robust and most of them tend to have really great personalities that are more suited to being pets. The giant rabbit breeds were mostly bred for their fur and meat but soon they became popular as pets as they were easier to handle and proved to have the best natures. To classify as a giant rabbit the breed has to have an average weight of around at least 10 pounds. The largest of the rabbit breeds usually on get up to 25 pounds but there have been some exceptions like the Valenciano which can grow to the size of a small sheep that Spain is trying to revive as there are not many of them left in the world. This article looks at thirteen Giant Rabbit breeds that are more popular around the world.

13 GIANT RABBIT BREEDS

Flemish Giant

Weight: Up to 25 lbs.
These large docile rabbits that do not mind being handled and actually enjoy the attention are what often have them being kept as pets. Their size also makes them more robust than the smaller rabbits. The females tend to reach their size and weight at around a year old with the males taking at least six months longer. They are really patient and calm rabbits with soft, thick glossy hair. The males tend to have a broader and larger head than the females but both sexes have an arched back from their shoulder through to their little cottontails. Their coat colours are usually black, blue, light grey, sandy, steel grey, white and fawn. Their ears stand up from their heads and are quite large.
They are also currently the largest of all the rabbit breed including those classed as Giant breeds. Read More…

Continental Giant

Weight: Up to 16 lbs. (although some have reached up to 25 lbs.)
They are fun, intelligent, gentle and love to play they are also easy to train. They have a soft dense fur that can grow up to four centimetres long and comes in a variety of colours some of the most popular being dark steel grey, opal, yellow, chinchilla, light steel grey and black. They also come in two agouti varieties which are red and chestnut and then two white varieties – blue eyed white (BEW) and red-eyed white (REW). They are descendant from the Flemish giants and as such share some of its characteristics. They have a long body that is can be around three-foot-long, with their ears that stand up straight from their head making up 25 percent of the body length. Due to their size, they have a short life span living between 4 to 7 years. The gentle giants do not only make great human companions as they tend to get along with most animals and may even become besties with the cat.

Giant French Lop

Weight: Up to 15 lbs.
These friendly docile rabbits are a large breed that was created by the crossing of an English Lop with a French Butterfly Rabbit Breed. They slightly resemble the Flemish Giant with their soft dense rollback coat that comes in quite a few colours including blue, brown, white, black, opal, fawn, chinchilla and Siamese. The 5 to 8-inch-long ears hang down below their jaw and they have a large head, wide forehead and with plump cheeks. They are friendly rabbits that enjoy company, make great pets and companion rabbits. They were mainly used for meat when they were first bred but then rose in popularity as a pet in the 1960s making their way to America in the early 1970s.

Spanish Giant

Weight: Up to 15 lbs.
This giant rabbit was the result of the crossing between the Lebrel Espanol rabbit breed and the Belier rabbit breed. They were mainly bred for meat and have soft short fur that is dense and comes in a few colours. They have a body that resembles that of the Continental Giant with long, broad ears that stand upright. They are quite a calm, docile, friendly breed that make great companions for the elderly, they are good with supervised young children and are ideal as a family pet. They love the company and will need a furry companion but as they are large, they do not live too long with an average life span of 4 to 6 years.

Blanc de Bouscat

Weight: Up to 15 lbs.
These large white rabbits were originally called Ermine rabbits and were bred by Mr and Murs Dulon in a village in France called Bouscat in Gironde in 1906. Their name was later changed to Blanc De Bouscat to reflect their origins. The Dulon’s created this breed by crossing the Flemish Giant breed with the French Angora and Champagne d’Argent with a goal of creating a frosted white rabbit with red eyes. They were initially bred as a meat and fur rabbit but through the centuries have gained popularity as a household pet due to their clam, gentle, lovable and playful natures. These intelligent rabbits are now one of the most popular rabbit pet breeds in France.

Hungarian Giant

Weight: Up to 15 lbs.
Hungarian Rabbits are large rabbits with soft dense fur that were mainly kept for their meat. They were created by the breeding of various continental rabbit breeds with a few wild rabbit breeds. When it was first bred over two hundred years ago, they were called Hungarian Agouti rabbits because of their fur colour and pattern but the modern Hungarian rabbits have been bred in a variety of colours and so the Agouti was dropped from the breeds name. They are still used for the meat today but also for show rabbits and pets.

British Giant

Weight: Up to 15 lbs.
These large rabbits have a friendly easy-going nature and can be rather friendly, inquisitive and even playful. They love to socialize with humans and other pets, so they do need to have a companion. British Giants have a long semi-arch Mandolin body type with large upright ears and ending with a small cottontail. They have large wedge-shaped heads and their fur is soft, thick and dense. Their coats come in many colour varieties including opal, sable, white, blue, black and steel grey. They do make excellent pets as a companion for the elderly and house pets for a family as they love attention. They are most popular in the UK and not widely found in other locations around the world.

Giant Chinchilla Rabbit

Weight: Up to 15 lbs.
Named for their chinchilla colour soft dense fur these large rabbits are really placid and gentle creatures. They do love attention but are not that active and prefer to lounge around than jump about. They make excellent companion animals for senior citizens and pets for young children. They have a beautiful blue-grey fur coat and a white underbelly with a little black tail. For a large rabbit, they have quite a long life span and live up to ten years. These lovable giants have been known to become quite possessive of their human families and will follow them around if they are allowed to roam freely. They have a large body and wedge-shaped head with long upright ears that are always alert. Read more…

Altex Rabbit

Weight: Up to 13 lbs.
This is an American rabbit breed and is where it gets its name from as it was developed in Alabama and Texas. They were bred at the Alabama A&M and the Texas A&M University by the crossing of Champagne d’Argent, Flemish Giant and California rabbits as well as the New Zealand White. They have a similar marking on their soft glossy fur to that of the Californian rabbits with white and dark points on it. They have a small head with long straight ears that are dark in colour as are the feet, legs and tail. They are alert and can be shy in nature, but they do not mind being handled. They were originally bred for their meat in 1994 and are not recognized by the ARBA.

Checkered Giant

Weight: Up to 12 lbs.
It is not difficult to see where this beautiful giant rabbit gets its name from as its soft, dense short fur is white with black patches. They have along mandolin shaped body with a large wedge head and long straight up ears that are usually completely black. They have the sweetest nature, are inquisitive, friendly, lovable and are very active for big rabbits. They make great house pets for families and companion pets for the elderly. As they are big rabbits, they do not have a long-life span living for around 5 to 6 years.

Silver Fox

Weight: Up to 12 lbs.
The Silver Fox is a breed that originated in America thanks to the efforts of Walter Garland from North Canton, Ohio. They were developed from the crossing of Checkered Giants, Champagne D’Argent and American Blue Rabbits (although there may have been some English Silvers as well). They were named after the silver fox as their fur much resembles that of the fox. They were bred for both their delicious meat and their beautiful soft, glossy plush fur. Today they are listed with the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy as threatened and are considered one of the rarest breeds in America.Read more…

Giant Papillon

Weight: Up to 12 lbs.
The Papillon has a very distinctive marking on their soft, dense gorgeous white fur coat. They have a black line that runs down their long spine on the mandolin shaped body along with black patches splotched over their torso. They are mainly used as show rabbits and kept for pets as they are gentle and friendly but can be a bit temperamental some become aggressive if they do not like the way they are being handled.

Giant Angora

Weight: Up to 10 lbs.
These beautiful large rabbits were once owned by French Royalty during the 1700s and were originally from Turkey. The French Royals would have their rabbits shaved in order to have their wool to produce garments from their soft angora wool. Angora’s have the softest white wool that does need quite a lot of attention to keep it in good condition. They have three different fibre types on their bodies which are a soft shiny but wavy under wool, then awn fluff which is crimped and then awn hair that is straight. They can produce from 1 to 2 lbs. of wool a year and they come in quite a few colour varieties such as white, black, brown and grey. The ARBA only accepts one standard colour and that is white, specifically ruby-eyed white (REW). They are gentle rabbits but tend to be a bit shy and although they will tolerate the attention, they can be temperamental at times.Read more…