Mixed or pure bred rabbits

What type of rabbit has more health problems?

Pure breds, or mixed.

If you compare it to dogs, the mongrels (mixed breed) have less health problems than the pure bred, do you think this is the same with bunny's?

Hello [emoji4]
I've never had a pure bred rabbit but this does interest me as I tend to disagree with breeding pets into specific shapes and sizes. I'm no expert, but from my experience we seem to breed problems, eg. a friend of mine loves pugs but their little flat faces make it hard for them to breathe at times.
I suppose with a pure bred you can predict more accurately, eg. I've heard Netherlands dwarves can have dental issues and Rex rabbits sore hocks. Of my 4 mixed rabbits, 3 have been generally healthy so far (the eldest is 6 this year, long may it continue!) and 1 has a sensitive stomach.

Pure breeds tend to have more problems than mixed, whatever the species.

I strongly advise that whether you have pure breed or mixed, you get insurance.

Angie B said:

Pure breeds tend to have more problems than mixed, whatever the species.

I strongly advise that whether you have pure breed or mixed, you get insurance.

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^ this

Also... if you do decide to go for a purebred - find out about breed specific issues.

Oh no! I was just curious, i already have a bunny who is mixed but i was just thinking. Just questions, i've had pure and mixed breeds before.

It's different with rats. Ones from breeders tend to be healthier but that's because they breed for health, type and markings, not just for markings and type like an awful lot of pedigree dogs. Rats bred for pet shops aren't bred for anything other than profit, much like rabbits from pet shops on the whole, so despite being crosses/poorly marked they're less likely to be healthy.

Julia25 said:

Oh no! I was just curious, i already have a bunny who is mixed but i was just thinking. Just questions, i've had pure and mixed breeds before.

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In which case, which had more problems in your experience?

A mixed breed rabbit will be a "pet shop" bred animal, so will not have any animal in its recent history chosen based on health and genetic screening. So you can have perfectly healthy mixed breed rabbits, and absolute health car crashes of mixed breed rabbits. Luck of the draw.

Purebred doesn't equal healthy though, have seen so many rabbits who have come from breeders end up in rescue and be an absolute mess. I'm sure there are breeders out there who carefully screen for health problems, but breeds with short skulls and lopped ears especially, tend to be prone to being a mess. Like poor little Netherland Dwarf, Gabriel, who came from a breeder to Rabbit Residence who had BRC rung rabbits. When he arrived he was in stasis and had horrific teeth and abscesses in his respiratory system and thorax, sadly he passed away after being at the rescue for a year a few weeks ago, he'd been in at the vets and had to have 5 molar teeth removed, he didn't recover well unfortunately and passed away. Poor little guy.

With bunnies I would say that rabbits which look like wild rabbits tend to be healthier than other shaped bunnies. Obviously some pure breeds are worlds away from this and have problems for those reasons - rexes with sore hocks, netherland dwarves with breathing issues, dwarves and lops with teeth issues, lops with ear issues, giants with heart issues, blah blah etc. But also some of the bunnies who are mixed breed between different bunny shapes can also have issues, for instance because their jaws don't align properly because of the breed mix. On the whole, I'd say bunnies who are more bred towards extreme shapes, sizes or other issues like fur length, have more health problems.

I agree, it depends what the mix is - for example if you mix a giant and a rex you can add problems (extra weight plus thin fur on feet). Likewise a nethie and a lop - you're making the skull smaller and even more prone to teeth problems.

Rabbits seem to revert to more natural wild shape when left to mix themselves (if you look at uncontrolled colonies) and that does tend to be the healthiest shape.