What type would be best for you depends a number of factors. How much space you have available, whether you have children and their ages, and the time you have available. It is very important that you choose the right breed for your lifestyle, experience with that breed of rabbit and if you like rabbits big and cuddly or smooth and elegant!
Some of the main factors to consider in choosing which type of rabbit is right for you are listed below:
- Will the rabbit get on with children
- Do I have time to look after the rabbit
- Long hair or short?
- Inside housing or outside?
Children and rabbits
 Despite the cute and cuddly appearance of many rabbits it is generally recommended that rabbits are not a good pet for children under 10 years old. Even with children 10 years or more you must make sure they understand the basic needs of a rabbit and spend the first few sessions of rabbit care and attention supervising. Only let the child tend to the rabbit themselves when you are 100% sure that they know the “do’s and dont's” of rabbit care. Most children will love their rabbits but as they go into teenage years they may loose interest. So before getting a rabbit for children you have to ask yourself “can I look after the rabbit on my own for half its life?”
Time with rabbits
Rabbits need a large amount of time for cleaning out (once a week an absolute minimum), taming, feeding, vet trips, grooming etc. Although the time spent on these things is very rewarding it can be a lot of hard work. “All hands on board” is best with animals, the more people to help, the better!
Grooming
 Grooming is a very big part of having a rabbit, as with a lot of animals. Special brushes are available if or the purpose in pet stores. Longer haired breeds may need special types of brush, usually wire harder brushes. NEVER use metal wire cat or dog brushes as these are not designed for rabbit’s skin and fur and may result in skin irritation or other adverse effects.
Housing
The rabbits at Animal Lovers Web.com live outside in a large bedding area and outdoor run. You can see pictures of our rabbit housing on the rabbit pages. As a rabbit will spend the majority of his life in his house it is very important to get the right house for your rabbit. A big issue is whether it will live inside or outside, both are equally good for the rabbit.
Rabbits can tend to get tamer when kept inside but rabbits kept outside can get just as tame with the correct handling. Outside rabbits do tend to have more room to exercise, depending on the size of the run area which is almost imperative to have.
All rabbit housing must have hay and a water bottle always present, a place to have some privacy, often the sleeping area, bedding that will soak up urine (we use wood shavings and straw), a sturdy food bowl so not to be kicked over, something for the rabbit to chew to keep its ever-growing teeth down and toys to stimulate the rabbit.
In this series of articles we will now look in more detail each of the four main types of rabbit. We will highlight some of the characteristics of individual rabbit breeds to help you make a decision as to which type of rabbit is right for you. We will discuss in turn:
- Normal fur
- Fancy or “wool”
- Satin
- Rex
Normal fur
In general normal fur breeds require less grooming than those of the other types, therefore being ideal if you have a busy lifestyle and are looking for a low mess house rabbit. There are many different breeds of “Normal fur” rabbits although only a few are popular in Britain.
Californian Rabbit
 A truly stunning breed of rabbit, they have a snowy white body and black feet, ears and sometimes faces. They were created by mixing the standard Chinchilla breed and the Himalayan rabbit; it was originally made to be a meat rabbit so it usually has a plump body shape. Although it is in the normal fur group, it also may be included in the fancy group of rabbit. It would make a particularly good pet if you are looking for a rabbit to go outside as they can be quite hardy in different weathers. They are amusing to watch as tend to be fierce groomers.
Chinchilla Rabbit
This breed of rabbit was bred for meat, fitting the purpose perfectly as they are large and produce large litters of 7-10 babies. They are calm, good natured and usually enjoy a good cuddle! They are fairly easy to groom but as they are a giant rabbit, require lots of space. This breed would be perfect if you have a family, a large garden or very big hutch, or both.
Sussex Rabbit
Sussex rabbits are becoming very popular despite being a fairly new breed. They are well known for making fantastic house pets and are likely to suit the requirements of many rabbit owners. Sussex rabbits are rather like our dog Molly, friendly, loyal and very greedy! As we do with our Labrador Molly with a Sussex rabbit you have to be careful and avoid over feeding.
To learn about Fancy fur rabbits go to the next article in the series.
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