Pet Rabbit breeds in India

If you are looking to get a pet rabbit, and are exploring the various breeds that you can adopt or buy, then you have come to the right place.

In this article, we will explore the various options that pet owners in India have, when it comes to pet rabbits.

Warning

In India, we cannot keep wild rabbits and hares as pets. Most of the animals found in the wild are protected under Wildlife Conservation Act of India. Even if we do it illegally, wild rabbits would not be able to adjust to a pet lifestyle easily. They have a very short life-span too (2-3 years).

But we can keep many other kinds of rabbits as pets, some exotic breeds, some imported – all of whom are typical pet rabbit breeds. They have been pet breeds for long, and are so used to the pet lifestyle that they can hardly survive in the wild.

So, here we will just focus on the pet rabbit breeds available in India.

Table of Contents

• Common Rabbit breeds in India
• Cheapest Rabbit breeds in India
• White Rabbit breeds in India

Common Rabbit breeds in India

In India, 8-10 pet rabbit breeds are easily available. Let’s see these breeds.

New Zealand White Rabbit

It is one of the most common rabbit breeds found in India. Just venture into any pet shop and you will most probably see one of these. Even most of the rabbits out there for adoption will be of this breed. They are pretty cute, and hence in high demand. As the name suggests, they are white in colour and have reddish eyes.

We should always aim to adopt rabbits, rather than buy them. There are various NGOs in India that give out rabbits for adoption, or you may get them from a friend or relative. But if you want to buy them then you can get them for Rs. 200 to Rs. 1,000. Rather cheap, isn’t it.

Note

We had a couple of New Zealand White Rabbits when we were kids. So, we can vouch for their friendly nature and cuteness.

Angora Rabbit

Perhaps the cutest of them all. They look like small dogs, or small sheep. They are white in colour. They are mostly found in North-East India, and some other hilly states of India, such as Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. So basically, they prefer cold temperature areas.

As their fur is very thick, they will not be very comfortable if you keep them in hot and humid conditions. In fact, their fur is so thick that shawls, and sweaters are made out of it. One Angora rabbit may even provide up to 1 kg of wool annually.

Now, let’s list down a few other rabbit breeds available in India.

• Soviet Chinchilla – Grey-White in colour. Though not very common in India, they can be easily found in pet shops of certain areas, such as Delhi, Rajasthan, etc.

• Grey Giant – As the name suggests, it’s grey in colour and a little bigger in size than other more common rabbits.

• White Giant - As the name suggests, it’s white in colour and a little bigger in size than other more common rabbits. It’s kind of a more obese version of New Zealand White Rabbit.

• Dutch breed rabbit – It’s a small size rabbit.

• Dwarf Lop – They are also small size rabbits, and can be found in some places in India. They have lop ears (as opposed to erect ears).

• California White Rabbit – They are white in colour, except their ears, eyes, legs and nose area, where you will find black or grey patches. That’s how they are identified.

• Netherland Dwarf Rabbit - They are pretty cute too, just as New Zealand White Rabbit.

• Holland Lops Rabbit

• Harlequin Rabbit

• American Rabbit

• Rex Rabbit

Cheapest Rabbit breeds in India

Though price of rabbits may vary depending on their availability in a certain area, and their demand. However, it would be safe to say that the cheapest rabbit in India is New Zealand White Rabbit. They are pretty easily available, and you can get them for under Rs. 1,000. Things don’t get cheaper than that in pet world, do they?

Note

If you are aiming to buy a breed like Angora, Soviet Chinchilla, Grey Giant, White Giant, Dwarf Lop, etc. (i.e. any breed apart from New Zealand White Rabbit), then probably you won’t get them in every pet shop.

You should search them on the internet and contact the pet shops that show their availability. You may have to travel to a different city, or even state to get the breed of your choice.

The rarer the breed, the more expensive it will be. So, you may have to pay even Rs. 20, 000, or more for some rabbits. If the rabbit you are buying is costly, then pet shops may even deliver them to your footsteps. They obviously will charge some extra transportation charges though.

White Rabbit breeds in India

Here’ a list of white rabbit pet breeds in India.

• New Zealand White Rabbit – The most popular white rabbit breed in India.
• Angora Rabbit – Pretty common in hilly states of India.
• White Giant – Fluffy version of New Zealand White Rabbit.
• Netherland Dwarf Rabbit – Some of them are white.
• California White Rabbit – They are majorly white, with some black/grey patches in certain areas of their body.