The Best Rabbit Breeds for Beginners?

What Rabbit Breed is best for Beginners?

Every pet rabbit lover should start with one of these three breeds, Mini Rex, Holland Lops or Mini Lops. So , for your first rabbit as a pet, it is wise to choose the Mini Rex, life expectancy 7 year , it’s a small sized rabbit breed , average weight 4.5 lbs, low maintenance , calm character and known for its robustness and resistance to disease.

There are many things to consider if you want to know if a rabbit is the right pet for you. I have chosen for you two other rabbit breeds that would also be ideal for a first time owner , but they will need just a little more attention ; let’s go for it. 

1- Rex rabbits, Mini Rex, Dwarf Rex are the most suitable for a first time

I recommend you the Rex Dwarf rabbits or Mini Rex rabbits (resulting from a cross between dwarf rabbits and Rex); if it is the first time that you’ll get a rabbit as a pet.

Similar to the Dutch Lop, Polish and Havana rabbits, they are known to be docile and very calm, very cuddly and tolerate kids as long as you teach them how to handle bunnies .

Like the Mini Rex, Dutch Lop, Mini Satin, Havana, Chinchilla, and Himalayan breeds, Rex rabbits are also excellent if you already have a cat or dog because of their calm temperament.

Also recommended for people who have allergies and asthma because of their short, soft and outward pointing coat, and most importantly, because they they don’t shed and don’t lose a lot of hair during the hot season,.

They are the most popular rabbits in the USA, they live on average up to 6 or 7 years, they do not require special care , a healthy diet, good hygiene and daily outings will prevent him from contracting diseases.

With a minimum of maintenance, they almost never contract common rabbit diseases, such as otitis because of their protruding ears and dental malocclusions especially if they often have hay and chew toys in their cage.

For the grooming, a small brushing just to please him, otherwise they do not even need it because their hair is short and they take care of their fur themselves.

I also recommend this rabbit breed “Rex” for the uninitiated in rabbit breeding, because they do not need much space, a small enclosure will be enough and a small space that you frame with the baby gates so that they play and stretch their legs.

Finally, I recommend Rex rabbits as the best rabbit breed for people who have never owned one because an enclosure that is suitable for one Rex, will surely be suitable for two, one male and one female, both preferably neutered if you don’t want them to breed and avoid all the head rankings that go with it….

2-For a beginner, Holland Lop Rabbits are my favorite

If for your first rabbit, you are looking for a breed that is a bit more active but still manageable, who loves to play even if he is not easily caught, and you are willing to provide a little more space (at least a cage of 20*30 inches) and effort to take care of daily brushing)  I recommend the Holland Lop, this rabbit breed can live twice as long as the Rex, which makes it an ideal breed for older children and teenagers.

Like the Rexes, the Holland Lops (a cross between the French Lops then the English Lops on one side and the Netherland Dwarf Rabbits on the other); are small too, less than 4 lbs, easy to care for, they just need a little more brushing because of their medium size fur.

I recommend them for beginners because they usually do not have any hereditary diseases or a predisposition to a particular disease, but I recommend you for this breed to make sure they wear their teeth by providing them with things to chew on like high quality hay and chew toys.

Their cage or hutch must also be cleaned a little more often, at least twice a week (very little compared to some breeds that require it every two days, like Andoras);  because of their drooping ears on one side, which they drag close to the floor of the cage .

On the other side (to avoid infections and mites), because of their hair length, a little longer than those of the “Rex”, likely to retain more dirt, hay and pellet as well as urine and droppings especially on their hindquarters, which you can clean with a little wet cotton).

While brushing once a week will be sufficient except during the shedding season, you should brush your Holland Lop several times a day to prevent it from swallowing too much hair and risking hairballs and intestinal blockage.

I recommend this breed of rabbits for beginners, as my second choice, just because they require a little more maintenance, otherwise, Hollands Lops are really friendly, cheerful, playful rabbits who will return your love, which has made them the most popular rabbit breed in the USA and for first time owners .

To enjoy your Hollands Lops, it is preferable that you give them access to at least one room, why not the whole house and outings in the garden are highly recommended especially on sunny days, 

3- For the first time, Mini Lops are an excellent choice too

Mini Lops rabbits, also called “Little Hanging Ears / Little Darlings” are a good choice for a beginner of any age .

These cute bunnies love kids and cuddles , they can live both inside and outside your house or apartment.

Mini Lops weigh usually less than 6 pounds, (a cross between the German Lop and the Small Chinchilla),they are also good pets for seniors, they bring them joy of life and keep them busy during the day.

All bunnies can make great pets , but these rabbit breeds are the best choice for beginners because on the one hand, they are robust, just look at their body, they almost never get sick when they do not suffer from obesity due to poor nutrition, and on the other hand, they have no known hereditary diseases and generally live their 10 years of age on average just by having made a few rare visits to the Vet.

For this breed, I would personally advise you to give them good quality hay and chew toys as they are known for their incisors that grow a little faster than other breeds.

The Mini Lop Rabbits, all colors (agouti, broken, pointed white, self, shaded, ticked, and wide band), is a breed recommended for beginners because of its ease of maintenance, they require only one or two brushes per week despite their hair which is of average length.

You could give him a brush every day during the shedding period, and it is necessary to count two shedding periods per year.

Mini lops are rabbits that clean themselves well, but they are also very easy to train (Litterbox training), so they will always keep a dry and clean coat, and ears all clean even if they drag them to the floor of the cage.

You can always wet some cotton and clean the few stains they will leave if they can’t do it by themselves.

If you choose a Mini Lop as your first rabbit, expect a dynamic and energetic one , who loves to be hugged and stroked, but especially to get out of his cage and run around on the sofa or from one room to another, they also love to go out on the lawn, especially when there is sunshine and you also give him his piece of carrot…

Mini Lops are a smart rabbits, they love challenges and training, games and puzzles with treats, so don’t hesitate to bring them different toys, this will satisfy their natural curiosity.

Are rabbits a good beginner pet?

Rabbits usually make good pets, they are calm, affectionate, quiet, clean and don’t usually smell, can easily recognize their owner and also be trained, can be pet and can live up to 15 years.

Pet rabbits are good beginner pets not only for all these attributes, but also because they will only expect you to provide what they need like good housing, feeding, brushing from time to time, cleaning their enclosure and playing with them during their daily playtimes.

When you buy a rabbit for the first time, you must also learn what they like to eat, how to avoid their diseases and how to detect them and finally get to know your rabbit’s character , understand its behavior and its body language in order to properly handle them and have a wonderful time together.

Cons of Owning a Pet Rabbit

Before you make a decision and get a pet rabbit , you should know that rabbits also have some ” imperfections ” but easily manageable if you get to know your bunny.

Rabbits are fragile animals that’s why they can quickly scratch a baby who pulls their coat or a child who doesn’t know how to handle them.

Rabbits are primarily rodents and love to chew, they need to do this constantly to wear out their incisors, you will just provide them with good hay, branches and chew toys.

Some rabbits just don’t like to be held, but over time you can always convince your rabbit to let you carry it and pet it with some of their favorite treats.

Unlike some small pets , pet rabbits need space to roam and run and exercise.

Rabbits are hardy but can also get sick. Some rabbit care can be expensive, so be prepared to take good care of your bunny and purchase pet insurance to cover any unforeseen expenses and veterinary fees if your rabbit becomes seriously ill and requires surgery, for example.

Your rabbit will not only eat your plants, your roses and your garden, but if you don’t watch him, he will also have fun making holes in your lawn.

Unspayed and unneutered rabbit will naturally mark its territory by spraying urine all over the house and this urine will be saturated with pheromones, which means it will smell really strong.

Finally, rabbits with long hair shed a lot, especially during the spring and fall, so you’ll need to help them with regular brushing.

Let’s wrap this up

If you want my opinion then ; the best rabbit breeds for a beginner are the Rex Rabbits, especially the Mini Rex, the Holland Lop as second choice and finally the Mini Lops.

I have chosen these best three first rabbit breeds because they are easy to maintain, do not require any special knowledge or specific equipment to have them and above all they do not get sick easily if you learn to take good care of them and detect health problems as soon as they appear.

Otherwise, all rabbits are easy to care for when you learn a little more about these adorable animals and you might even have an Angora or a Flemish Giant, you’ll just spend a little more time with them.

The 58 most common rabbit breeds in the United States

Here are more than 50 rabbit breeds pictures with their names so you can pick the one you wanna get , you can download the pictures or pin them to Pinterest if you want that as well

Frequently Asked Questions

Listen to me rabbit lovers: before we get into this Q & A about ideal rabbit breeds for the first time, let me tell you one thing, which is the following:

A First time rabbit owner can choose any rabbit breed as long as he learns about this particular breed and is willing to give his time and money to take care of it.

So all the advice and answers to the questions that will follow are just to prepare you and help you make the right choice of rabbit breed and so that you know what to expect when adopting one .