As the gentle giant of the rabbit world, the British Giant is huge. With its sweet, docile personality, this animal makes a loving furry friend. A fur rabbit, the British Giant Rabbit nevertheless needs lots of exercise! They do not do well in small cages and should instead be given access to runs.
Because this rabbit is so large, it should not be kept by people who do not have enough room to devote to it. The British Giant has a kind, gentle disposition, but because of its large size, it may not be a good rabbit for small children. It may make a great choice for older children. British Giant Rabbits will require regular and careful grooming to keep their coats from becoming uncomfortably matted, but are easier to care for than long-haired breeds.
As the name suggests, British Giant Rabbits are huge. Bucks weigh over 12.5 pounds, and in show are awarded extra points for being over 15 pounds! Does are a pound larger than bucks. The weight is carried firmly on the British Giant Rabbit’s long, flat body, which has broad front and hindquarters.
The head should also be broad and bold, and the ears erect. British Giant Rabbit does are allowed a dewlap, so long as it is attractively in proportion to the rest of her body. The British Giant Rabbit has a lovely dense coat, which is quite thick but not rough or silky.
Fur grows to between three-quarters of an inch to an inch in length, and comes in several colors: white, black, dark steel gray, brown gray, opal and blue. White British Giant Rabbits are bright white, and have blue or pink eyes. The black ones have blue or brown eyes, and the color may range from jet-black to blue-black, with the color carried well down the coat. Dark steel gray British Giant Rabbits have brown eyes and a dark blue undercolor.
They are allowed white bellies, but rabbits with a darker underside are preferred in show. The color is ticked evenly across the head, ears, feet and body, and one dark bar is permissible on the dark steel gray British Giant’s back feet. Brown-gray British Giant Rabbits have gray, brown, or blue eyes. Their color is evenly ticked over their tails, feet, bodies, heads and ears. They have white bellies.
The opal colored British Giant Rabbit has a complicated coloration, with a pale blue top color superceding the intermediate fawn coloration in the form of a well-defined band. The undercolor in these rabbits is slate blue, and their eyes match their body color! Opal British Giant Rabbits have blue-laced ears. Over the slate undercolor, the eye circles, belly and underside of tail are white.
Blue British Giant Rabbits have coloration like Dutch Rabbits, and may be blue to blue-gray in color, which extends to the base of the fur. Their eyes are brown, blue, or gray. The British Giant Rabbit’s origins are a bit obscure. It was developed as the fur counterpart to the Fancy Flemish Giant Rabbit, and today with its docile, sweet personality, is a lovely and popular pet and show animal.
In show, your British Giant Rabbit will be marked faults for having a narrow head, being underweight, having excessive body fat or flabbiness, moulting coats, or general unhealthy conditions. In dark steel gray or brown-gray British Giant Rabbits, the heads and feet may be a shade darker than the body, but will be marked faults if they are black.
These rabbits and also Black British Giant Rabbits will be marked a fault for pale undercolor or white toenails. Blue British Giant Rabbits are marked faults for pearling in their coats. All colors will lose points for bunches of white hairs, though scattered white hairs may be allowed. All colors of British Giant Rabbits are marked faults for having coats that are too woolly.
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