Lilac Rabbits

Facts about Lilac Rabbits. The Lilac Rabbit has a distinctive pink-gray color. This is sometimes called a dove-blue. This is one of the few rabbit breeds named solely for its color.
Lilac Rabbit. "Scientific name for Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus". "Fear of Rabbits Leporiphobia". All rabbit breeds are "lagomorphs" various plant-eating mammal of the order Lagomorpha ; a hare, rabbit, or pika. Trivia: Germans call lilac rabbits “Gouda”.

Appearance of Lilac Rabbit

The breeding of blue and chocolate rabbits creates lilac rabbits in many breeds. The lilac color is not unique to the Lilac rabbit, but the Lilac rabbit is one of the few that have only one standard, approved color – lilac. As the first chocolate rabbits spread around 1900, the first lilac rabbits first appeared. The Lilac rabbit is defined primarily by its uniform pink/dove-gray color. However, the color of the lilac rabbit depends on part where it comes from.

Physical Characteristics of Lilac Rabbit

This is a midsized rabbit. The Lilac Rabbit weigh six to eight pounds (2.7 to 3.6 kg). They have a long but not deep body. The Lilac Rabbit raised in the U.S. are more rounded in shape to suit modern tastes. American Lilac rabbits tend toward purple-gray whereas English lilac rabbits tend toward pink and dove. The breed standard calls for eyes to be the same color as the fur.

Behavior of Lilac Rabbit

The Lilac Rabbits are gentle. They are easy to handle but larger than most pet rabbits. The Lilac Rabbit are rather hardy compared to some other breeds. Give them chew toys or things safe to chew on like hay or pine cones to keep them happy.

Care and Up keep of Lilac Rabbit

If you want to keep the animal for show, keep them out of direct sunlight so the fur does not lose its vibrant hue.
The Lilac Rabbit are still raised for meat and fur in some areas. The Lilac Rabbit are larger than dwarf rabbits so they don’t need as much shelter and can be kept in hutches outside. Give them a large enough space to hop and explore; don’t just leave them in a cage all day.

Lilac Rabbits as pets enjoy wet food, carrots, hay or lettuce, dark leaf lettuce is good. (Iceberg lettuce contains too much water and too little fiber to be suitable.) Limit giving them fruit with sugar in it. Alfalfa provides the high caloric content necessary for baby bunnies development. Once Lilac Rabbits reach seven months of age, gradually switch them over to timothy hay, oat hay, or orchard grass. Avoid giving them yard clippings, since grass is often sprayed with fertilizer, insecticides, pesticides, and other chemicals rabbits should not be eating. Their diet should consist of 70% of timothy hay and make sure they have fresh water every day.

History of Lilac Rabbit

The Lilac rabbit was developed around 1890 or 1900, during the peak of the rabbit fancy. Chocolate rabbits and rabbits to be raised as pets were first developed at this time, instead of traditional breeding for fur and meat. The first lilac rabbit breed officially recognized appeared in England in the 1920s.

Most lilac rabbits are descendants of Dr. R. C. Punnet’s rabbits that are a cross of Havana rabbits (chocolate in color) and blue Beverens (actually a dilute black).

The leading organization for this breed is the National Lilac Rabbit Club of America or NLRCA. A prior organization, the Lilac Club, went defunct in the 1950s.

The Lilac rabbit is not very popular and periodically in danger of being dropped from the American Rabbit Breeder’s Association listings because there are so few of them. Another type of Lilac rabbit, the Gris Perle de Hal, is descended from Havana chocolate rabbits with a coloring mutation.

The male Lilac Rabbit is called a buck and a female Lilac Rabbit is called a doe, also both known as a bunny. A young rabbit is called a kit "kitten" or baby bunny.

Lilac Rabbits have an outstanding sense of vision, smell and hearing. Having eyes on the side of their head and being so big, gives them nearly 360 degrees vision, allowing them to see predators from all directions. The Lilac Rabbit can see everything behind and in front of them and have just a small blind-spot in front of their nose.

Pet Lilac Rabbits should be kept in pairs for Companionship, its important for a Lilac Rabbits happiness and it can live longer with a companion. In the wild, rabbits are very social. Female Lilac Rabbits can produce about 2 to 4 litters of bunnies per year with 4 to 6 babies.

Lilac Rabbits love to run and can reach speeds of 30 to 40 mph. The average lifespan of a Lilac Rabbit is around 5 to 8 years and in captivity can live up to 10 years. Lilac Rabbits have 28 teeth and an incredible fact, a Lilac Rabbits teeth never stop growing throughout its life.
Lilac Rabbits can jump up to 36 inches (91.4 cm) and sometimes higher.

Lilac Rabbits are very clean animals and will groom themselves and also each other. Lilac Rabbits are crepuscular-(meaning the are most active at morning and evening) and do most of there feeding in the evening. Lilac Rabbits on average sleep about 8 hours.

For bedding, give Lilac Rabbits wood pellets or aspen. You can use pelleted horse bedding. Do not give them pine or cedar. Clean the cage with either white vinegar or a cage safe cleaner; don’t use bathroom cleaner or other things that are toxic for the pet cage.
De-worming is a major concern and should be done in the spring and fall. A pea sized amount of de-worming paste in the rabbit's mouth is sufficient for the Lilac Rabbit.

Lilac Rabbits have long ears which can be as long as 4 in" (10.2 cm). Lilac Rabbits are herbivores (a herbivore, eats leaves, grass, hay and furns (plant eaters) and also mammal.

Lilac Rabbits are born without fur and its eyes are closed. Half of the rabbits in the world live in North America. Rabbits are comfortable living in groups. European rabbits like to live in burrows underground. Warren is known as a group of burrows. Cottontail Rabbits are the only rabbit that does not live under ground.