I was wondering what breeds of rabbit are raised for their fur? I LOVE the feeling of Rex fur but wondered if there were any others that could be used.

Silver Fox and Creme d'Argent come to mind.

Any prime rabbit pelt can be used for fur, but there are certain breeds that have been developed especially for the purpose with unique properties such as texture (Rex or Satin) or density (The Silver Fox, for one,) or lustre (Tan) or color (Chinchilla breeds).

I red an interesting snippet the other day that stated that the pelt of a black Tan rabbit is the only black pelt that retains its lustre after death, all other black breeds get dull or brown cast.

Anyway, my favorite is the Silver Fox.

Thanks for the info!! I Googled Silver Fox rabbits and they should ideal. Good size, calm nature, good breeders, good meat production and the added bonus of that coat!

Is there a down side to the breed?

The Beveren was developed as a fur breed. The fur is slightly longer than other breeds (not including the angoras, of course). It has a deep luxurious feel to it. The rabbits are large, and are also used as a meat breed. They come in a lovely blue, black, white, and chocolate (although chocolate is not a showable color). They're very curious and gentle animals, HUGE ears, longer than normal tails, and appear to be great moms.

A lot of the fur buyers want white pelts because it's easy to dye the white.

Ok, adding Beveren to my list to research!

I like Blanc de Hotots. They are a multipurpose meat/fur breed, white with GORGEOUS markings.

Oooh, another one to add to my list!! Blanc de Hotots.

I wonder if the darker breeders (like Silver Fox) would be better to raise colony style (not having to worry about the white fur getting discolored.

Satins have butter-fur. VERY nice. And they come in every color of the rainbow

I have a broken doe in my colony, and she is really clean...

All rabbits are soft, but once I felt a Rex, I never looked back. Now I just need to get a couple of good does to breed with my Rex buck.

I have to admit - I LOOOVE the feeling of the Rex fur.

I have my two SF in a colony set-up along with several Thriantas. Even though the Thriantas aren't really light (very dark red,) they show the dirt where the SF don't. I also find their temperaments to be quite conducive to colony raising. Very chill rabbits, even though mine aren't "cuddly" since they haven't been handled much.

Also, the coat is something that has to be felt to appreciate. It is so dense and luxurious. A good is quite comparable to a real Fox fur.

I'm developing the SF in red. (We'll get there someday!) It already comes in black and blue, chocolates are beginning to be more common as well, REW pops up frequently, and as the chocolate increases in popularity, we're starting to see Lilacs. We have all these colors, but so far only black is showable. CODs on blue and chocolate.

It's a fascinating breed to be in right now, lots of development going on and I think numbers in the near future will reveal a surge in popularity. I really find them to be quite wonderful and after trying out Rex, I would never again attempt to keep one in a colony setting! Heck, for fur, it's tough no matter what, but little scraps resulting in some yanked hair are far more visible in the Rex and other breeds that are more thin-coated.

my favorite fur on my rabbits is my rex/satin mix

Perhaps finding a breeding pair or trio with pedigrees in your area?
Just finding good stock to start with was a 18 month project for me.
They can still be pretty rare, but not bad for a breed though extinct 30 years ago =)
My buck came down from Oregon, my doe was local. I just picked up 2 more does, from Wisconsin. The only other breeder I could find even remotely near me was canyon city Colorado.

I also have Thrianta Rabbits and there fur is neat. It is slightly longer the standard says it should be 1 inch long. And also had guard hairs. I am not sure what they are called but they seem to have two different lengths to there fur. They are very plush. Love them to death.

But also have to agree that the Rex fur is very soft. But they can't get wet and you can't brush them with a normal brush. To keep there fur in the prefect state.

I also love the look of a Champagne Rabbit. Silver look with black base very neat and soft.

All rabbit breeds are very unique. Figure out what you want in a rabbit and go from there.

__________ Tue Apr 12, 2011 1:03 am __________

We also started out with our stock from a show Raffle. We brought home 4 different breeds the first show we attended. This is a cheap way to get your stock. I allowed each of my older kids, I have four two older and two younger, to put $5.00 in the raffle for the rabbits and then of course $5.00 for myself. We won 3 rabbits this way. Not really cheap when your buying a carrier to get the rabbit home in but we planned on showing them in the future and would need them down the road anyway. We ended up with Thrianta (my breed), English Lop (my son, and I didn't believed I would like this breed but they have my heart now) And the a mini Rex (both the kids wanted him, And in red color not the best color for breeding to since you only have 2 color choices to breed them to). And they were all bucks. Then my youngest children were given a polish rabbit.

So the second rabbit show we set out to find does for all the bucks. Still need a polish doe. But that is another story in it self.