Rex

Who a Rex suits

The one to pick when small hands are involved. Famously even-tempered and tolerant of handling that would send other breeds under the sofa, with a coat that feels like nothing else. A good first rabbit and a good family rabbit, which is a rarer combination than it sounds.

How to build the bond: Long slow strokes — a Rex bonds through that velvet coat. That sits on top of how the species works generally: Get down to their floor and let them come — dawn and dusk visits, treats from a flat palm, never a chase. Predictability is how a rabbit spells safety.

The Rex against the other nineteen

Lined up stillest to liveliest, the Rex is 8th of the twenty rabbit breeds here, one of 8 in the calm band — the daily cost is low and the ceiling on stimulation is lower, which is a good trade for a quiet household and a poor one for anybody who wanted a project.

Ordered by how near each one sits to the Rex on the energy axis, then by the notes they have in common. Every rabbit breed reads this table from its own position, so no two of the twenty are ordered alike.

The birth years a Rex sits easiest with

This half of the reading is the species rather than the breed — every rabbit meets a given birth year the same way. These are the communities that sit easiest with one:

• Lion Spirit Guardian—1950,1962,1974,1986and later
• Cat Spirit Guardian—1951,1963,1975,1987and later
• Snake Spirit Guardian—1953,1965,1977,1989and later
• Horse Spirit Guardian—1954,1966,1978,1990and later

A birth year outside that list is not a warning — it is the half of the reading this page cannot settle on its own. Seat the pair on the board and it reads the rest. What the rabbit is like as a companion applies to the Rex as much as to the other nineteen.

A pairing that involves an animal returns a word rather than a percentage. The board's deepest layer reads two inner selves against each other and an animal cannot hold one, so the result is described rather than scored — what is read here is the keeper's birth year against the species, and the breed decides everything about living with it day to day. An animal does get a chart of its own once its birth hour is known, one rung further up.

The other Rex

This name belongs to two different animals. This page is the rabbit breed; the hamster of the same name has its own page and its own reading. They share a word and nothing else — not the element, not the temperament, and not the household they suit.

Frequently asked

What is a Rex like to live with?

The therapist of rabbits — famously even-tempered, plush to the touch, and tolerant of handling that would rattle other breeds. On the energy axis this catalogue uses, the Rex reads as calm — 8th of the twenty rabbit breeds here when they are lined up stillest to liveliest.

Who is a Rex a good match for?

The one to pick when small hands are involved. Famously even-tempered and tolerant of handling that would send other breeds under the sofa, with a coat that feels like nothing else. A good first rabbit and a good family rabbit, which is a rarer combination than it sounds.

How do you bond with a Rex?

Long slow strokes — a Rex bonds through that velvet coat. That sits on top of how the species works generally: Get down to their floor and let them come — dawn and dusk visits, treats from a flat palm, never a chase. Predictability is how a rabbit spells safety. The thing that most reliably undoes it — Sudden lifts and loud rooms keep a rabbit permanently braced — pick them up only when you must.

Which rabbit breeds are most like a Rex?

French Lop, English Lop, Flemish Giant — nearest first, measured on energy band and shared traits. At the other end of the same twenty sits the Dwarf Hotot, two bands apart. Every one of the nineteen is ranked against the Rex further up this page.

Is the Rex a rabbit or a hamster?

Both names are real and they are different animals. This page is the rabbit breed. The hamster of the same name has its own page and its own reading, because the two share nothing but a word.