Rabbit Glossary

The ABCs of rabbitry When shopping for rabbit cages and mastering rabbit care, it helps to know what things are called. Whether you're a rabbit professional or an amateur hare-raiser, this list of bunny-specific definitions will help you sound like an expert. Adult: in competitions where breeds have four classes, an adult is a rabbit 6 months or older. An adult must be 8 months or older for breeds having six classes. Agouti: a color pattern where each individual hair alternates dark and light bands. Albino: a white-haired rabbit with pink eyes. ARBA: acronym of the American Rabbit Breeders Association. Arch: the curve of a rabbit's spine; a judging characteristic. Balance: the conformity of visual characteristics in a breed, creating a pleasing appearance. Bangs: a distinct band of fur in front of the ears and above the eyes in some breeds.

Barring: contrasting bands of color around the legs or feet.

Base color: the color of the undercoat closest to the skin.

Bell ears: ears with large tips that lop over or droop.

Belt: the line encircling the body behind the shoulders, where white fur meets colored fur.

Best in show: the winning rabbit at a competition, across all breeds.

Blaze: a contrasting white stripe running from the nose back toward the eyes.

Bloom: the measure of a coat's finish or shine.

Breeding certificate: a written document provided by the owner of a stud buck, proof of its ancestry and pedigree.

Broken coat: patches of fur where the guard hairs are missing, exposing the undercoat. Common during molting.

Buck: a breedable male rabbit.

Buck teeth: a condition where upper and lower incisors meet, instead of overlapping. Results in a disqualification.

Buff: coat color hue in the warm range between orange and tan, similar to the color of natural leather.

Bulldog: a masculine-looking rabbit breed with a broad, squat head.

Butterfly: a distinct marking around the nose of some breeds.

Cap: a contrasting marking line on the fur where the ear meets the head.

Carriage: posture and poise of a rabbit, and how he carries himself.

Charlie: a rabbit with light markings and a Charlie Chaplain mustache marking on the nose.

Choppy: not well filled-out around the rump.

Cobby: short and stocky compared to others in its breed.

Compatible: eye color that is normal and complementary to the body color.

Coprophragy: a rabbit's normal tendency to eat its own droppings.

Crown: a prominent ridge of cartilage across the brow on some breeds.

Dam: a mother rabbit.

Dew claw: a small extra toe on the inside of the front legs.

Dewlap: a flap of loose skin that folds over the throat.

Doe: a breedable female rabbit.

Domesticated: rabbits bred and trained as household pets, not taken from the wild.

Drenching: administering medicine by pouring it down a rabbit's throat.

Faking: artificial alteration of a rabbit's natural appearance, done by breeders hoping to fool judges. It results in disqualification.

Flat coat: fur that lies too close to the body, signifying a lack of proper fur density.

Fly back: a measure of how well fur returns to its normal position after being stroked against the grain.

Foreign color: a color not normal to a breed.

Four class rabbit: a competition rabbit type that has been separated into four classes: senior bucks, senior does, junior bucks, and junior does.

Fryer: for show purposes, a rabbit less than 10 weeks old and under 5 pounds, raised for its meat.

Guard hair: the longer, coarser outer fur that protects the softer undercoat.

Hog fat: a characteristic of an over-fattened rabbit, such that its appearance varies from its breed.

Hutch: a box or cage with a wire front, specifically for housing rabbits.

Incisors: a rabbit's sharper front teeth, used for cutting.

Intermediate: a show rabbit 6 to 8 months old, in a competition having six classes.

Junior: a rabbit less than 6 months old.

Kindling: the process by which a rabbit gives birth.

Kit or kitten: a baby rabbit.

Lagomorph: an animal belonging to the scientific grouping Lagomorpha, which includes rabbits and hares.

Leveret: a baby hare.

Lop: the characteristic of an ear that droops or dangles.

Mandolin: a pear-shaped body as viewed from above, giving a shape similar to the instrument.

Molting: the normal shedding of fur, which happens naturally one to four times a year.

Muzzle: the area including the mouth and nose.

Nest: the kindling box inside a rabbit hutch where kits are born.

Nick: breeding that results in a kit which is superior to either of its parents.

Outdoor rabbit cage: an enclosure designed to protect the rabbit from both the elements and predators.

Pair: a male and a female rabbit which have bonded.

Peanut: a rabbit resulting from a fatal genetic combination of two dwarf genes.

Pelage: a rabbit's coat.

Phenotype: a rabbit's physical appearance, as judged compared to its class.

Rabbit cage: usually made of wire, plastic, or wood. Should be at least four times the size of the rabbit.

Rabbit hutch: a rabbit cage built and stocked specifically for a rabbit.

Rabbitry: a place where rabbits are raised, or the art of raising rabbits.

Rex: a medium-sized rabbit with especially soft fur.

Saddle: the upper, middle portion of a rabbit's back.

Screw tail: a tail that is abnormally twisted.

Scut: the tail area of the rabbit.

Senior: a rabbit older than 6 months if there is no intermediate class; a rabbit older than 8 months if an intermediate class is included.

Service: the mating process.

Six class rabbit: a competition rabbit type in a competition separated into six classes: senior bucks, senior does, intermediate bucks, intermediate does, junior bucks, and junior does.

Slipping coat: rabbit coat losing an excessive amount of fur.

Snipey: the charactistic of having an unusually long, narrow head.

Snuffles: slang for a very contagious nasal or lung infection that is hard to cure.

Sport: a rabbit whose appearance varies from its breed's ideal characteristics.

Spraddled: front feet bowed outward; knock-kneed.

Sweep: an unbroken flow of markings appropriate to the breed.

Symmetry: a pleasing, proportional physical structure conforming to the breed, comparing the head, ears, body, and legs.

Tattoo: a permanent ID number placed in a rabbit's ear. The left ear contains the breeder number; the ARBA number goes in the right.

Texture: the feel of the fur, as in "fine" or "coarse."

Ticking: a wavy distribution of guard hair that differs in color from the undercoat.

Trio: a buck bonded to two does.

Typical: a rabbit that well represents its breed's ideal characteristics.

Under color: the color of the hair shaft's base next to the skin, used to describe hair over any part of a rabbit, not just the belly.

Variety: a subdivision of any recognized breed class.

Wall eyes: eyes that appear milky or glazed. The term originates from the Norse word "vagl," for "filmy."

Wolf teeth: protruding, elongated teeth in both jaws, a condition that prevents normal chewing and results in disqualification.

Wool: pulled or shed guard hairs from an Angora rabbit.