# What's the difference between...?



## Nao57 (Oct 13, 2020)

So I was looking at a Youtube video that listed all the different rabbit breeds out there. It was shocking how many of them there were. And some had huge ears. 

I'm not sure I understand how rabbits and hares are different? In theory could someone farm hares also, or is there something wrong with them? (More than meat to bone ratios.) Do they have other differences also?

And also... there's this one type called a sable with dark ears and head with brownish or red brownish looking body. But there's another type of rabbit called a black and red fawn. I wanted to ask the difference between these two types? (These two types also look amazing in colors if you get a chance to see them. Although I've only seen them in pictures.) 

Some of the rabbit types seem like they are so close to other types that its impossible to really tell what you have. 

And curious how people find chinchillas? They seem really neat in the fur quality and coloring.


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## promiseacres (Oct 13, 2020)

Just like dog breeds there are rabbit breeds that have been developed. People working with different genes to make the characteristics they want.


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## animalmom (Oct 14, 2020)

Regarding the different breeds... you could try asking (bing, google, whatever) the internet for rabbit clubs in your state. Something like "sable rabbit club tx" and see if you get any hits.  If folks are keen enough to have a club then they would just love to chat your ears off regarding the special points of their breed.

Here's what I found on the internet regarding rabbit vs hare.  I have shamelessly copied and pasted.
Believe it or not, rabbits and hares are completely different species, even though they look quite alike and are actually members of the same order of mammals (_Lagomorpha_). There are significant differences in physical appearance, behavior, and even lifestyles.

Rabbits and hares are different from the moment they are born. Baby rabbits — called kittens or bunnies — are born hairless and blind, totally dependent on their mothers. Baby hares — called leverets — are born with fur and sight, and they can move on their own within an hour of their birth.

Hares tend to be larger than rabbits, with longer hind legs and longer ears with black markings. While rabbits' fur stays the same color year-round, hares change color from brown or gray in the summer to white in the winter.

Rabbits and hares even tend to eat different foods. While rabbits prefer softer grasses and vegetables (like carrots!), hares like to eat harder bark and twigs.

Rabbits make their homes in burrows underground, while hares make nests above ground. Only the cottontail rabbit is known to make above-ground nests similar to those of hares.

Their different living habits make rabbits and hares respond to danger differently. Rabbits prefer to head underground to hide. Hares, on the other hand, use their longer, stronger hind legs to run away from danger.

Rabbits can be domesticated and kept as pets; hares stay wild. This reflects their behavior in the wild.

Rabbits tend to be social animals that live in groups. Hares spend most of their time by themselves, only pairing up occasionally to mate.

Hope that helps you.

Love your questions!


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## Nao57 (Oct 15, 2020)

animalmom said:


> Regarding the different breeds... you could try asking (bing, google, whatever) the internet for rabbit clubs in your state. Something like "sable rabbit club tx" and see if you get any hits.  If folks are keen enough to have a club then they would just love to chat your ears off regarding the special points of their breed.
> 
> Here's what I found on the internet regarding rabbit vs hare.  I have shamelessly copied and pasted.
> Believe it or not, rabbits and hares are completely different species, even though they look quite alike and are actually members of the same order of mammals (_Lagomorpha_). There are significant differences in physical appearance, behavior, and even lifestyles.
> ...



Thanks a bunch! 

Wow. Its so amazing how different they are! I didn't realize they were so vastly different.


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## messybun (Oct 16, 2020)

Hello there. Or should I say hello hare? When it comes to raising rabbits vs. hares there is a ton of difference. Hares are WAY more jumpy and likely to have heart attacks they’re leaner meaner and far less domesticated. I’ve honestly not heard of general people breeding hares. They are just not meant for it and cannot thrive like rabb its. Now here it gets confusing, Belgium hares are actually rabbits bred to look like hares. And snow shoe rabbits are actually misnomered hares. Hares also can nurse up to ten weeks, even though they are born pretty much haring to go, with eyes open and peach fuzz in place.
   As far as rabbit breeds, there are literally hundreds. But you also seem to be talking about coloration. Let’s dive into the two.
Breed: a breed is the general characteristics that defines a rabbit, and it will breed true. Like a lop will have floppy ears and a Netherland dwarf will have a smooshy face. A breed will be the characteristics, body shape, look, bone structure, size, coat texture, weight, growing range, and sometimes general temperament (even though there are exceptions).
Coloration: there are also a lot of colors out there! Colors are what the coat and nails are colored; sometimes eyes are also considered in this but not always. So a sabled coat like you are talking about could be a sabled Rex, a sabled lop, a sabled Flemish giant. There are also markings, markings could be a “splash” or “point”. A point coat has the nose and feet different colors then the rest of the body. A splash is a single splash of color, almost like paint was spilled on the fur. I can’t honestly remember all the markings right now, hopefully you get the idea. Now, color variation can“occasionally” be required as a breed standard, I can’t remember any of them right now, but I know there are a few breeds that only come in one or two colors. Like a Fresian horse can only be black with maybe a white snip or star to be considered a pure Fresian. When it comes to telling types apart it depends on if you mean color or breed types. Color can be tricky, but a lot of research and you’ll get the hand of it. And there are literal websites entirely dedicated to just coloration of rabbits. You can get lost for days. But you start to find the most common and/or your favorites and kind of work from there. If you mean telling breeds apart, it takes time and work to be able to tell them apart. It also gets difficult because there are mixed breeds too. Find the most common, lops, Californians, rexes, netherland dwarfs, lionheads, whatever seems to pop up a lot, and research them, become familiar with them, and then you’ll be able to pick out not only them, but when they’re mixed in a rabbit.To answer your other question, a sabled is considered sabled when they are 1) multi colored 2) when there are multiple colors on each strand of hair. So a rabbit that is red and brown, if every other hair, or if the under coat is one and the guard hairs are separately different colors they may look the same in a picture but when you brush the hair back you will see distinctly different colors. But on a true sable, every hair will have lines of distinct colors. It may be black at the base, a line of white, and brown at the top or any color variation, but each and every hair will have its own layer and stripes. Oh, and just for fun, look up astrex curly rabbits. There is TonS of fun research on them and it gives you something to see if you win the jack pot so to speak when you’re breeding lol.


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## Nao57 (Oct 18, 2020)

messybun said:


> Hello there. Or should I say hello hare? When it comes to raising rabbits vs. hares there is a ton of difference. Hares are WAY more jumpy and likely to have heart attacks they’re leaner meaner and far less domesticated. I’ve honestly not heard of general people breeding hares. They are just not meant for it and cannot thrive like rabb its. Now here it gets confusing, Belgium hares are actually rabbits bred to look like hares. And snow shoe rabbits are actually misnomered hares. Hares also can nurse up to ten weeks, even though they are born pretty much haring to go, with eyes open and peach fuzz in place.
> As far as rabbit breeds, there are literally hundreds. But you also seem to be talking about coloration. Let’s dive into the two.
> Breed: a breed is the general characteristics that defines a rabbit, and it will breed true. Like a lop will have floppy ears and a Netherland dwarf will have a smooshy face. A breed will be the characteristics, body shape, look, bone structure, size, coat texture, weight, growing range, and sometimes general temperament (even though there are exceptions).
> Coloration: there are also a lot of colors out there! Colors are what the coat and nails are colored; sometimes eyes are also considered in this but not always. So a sabled coat like you are talking about could be a sabled Rex, a sabled lop, a sabled Flemish giant. There are also markings, markings could be a “splash” or “point”. A point coat has the nose and feet different colors then the rest of the body. A splash is a single splash of color, almost like paint was spilled on the fur. I can’t honestly remember all the markings right now, hopefully you get the idea. Now, color variation can“occasionally” be required as a breed standard, I can’t remember any of them right now, but I know there are a few breeds that only come in one or two colors. Like a Fresian horse can only be black with maybe a white snip or star to be considered a pure Fresian. When it comes to telling types apart it depends on if you mean color or breed types. Color can be tricky, but a lot of research and you’ll get the hand of it. And there are literal websites entirely dedicated to just coloration of rabbits. You can get lost for days. But you start to find the most common and/or your favorites and kind of work from there. If you mean telling breeds apart, it takes time and work to be able to tell them apart. It also gets difficult because there are mixed breeds too. Find the most common, lops, Californians, rexes, netherland dwarfs, lionheads, whatever seems to pop up a lot, and research them, become familiar with them, and then you’ll be able to pick out not only them, but when they’re mixed in a rabbit.To answer your other question, a sabled is considered sabled when they are 1) multi colored 2) when there are multiple colors on each strand of hair. So a rabbit that is red and brown, if every other hair, or if the under coat is one and the guard hairs are separately different colors they may look the same in a picture but when you brush the hair back you will see distinctly different colors. But on a true sable, every hair will have lines of distinct colors. It may be black at the base, a line of white, and brown at the top or any color variation, but each and every hair will have its own layer and stripes. Oh, and just for fun, look up astrex curly rabbits. There is TonS of fun research on them and it gives you something to see if you win the jack pot so to speak when you’re breeding lol.



"...you can get lost for days... "

Hahaha...it looks like it.

Thanks  a bunch.


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## Niele da Kine (Oct 31, 2020)

Chinchillas (the animal, not the rabbit coat color 'chinchilla') seem to frequently show up in pet shops, much more so than specific rabbit breeds seem to show up.

Usually, which breed of rabbit you get is determined by why you want to have a rabbit.  Some breeds of rabbits are for pets, some for dinners, some to produce 'wool' for yarn, some to produce hides to make into coats and such. 

Once you decide on a specific breed which meets your needs, then you can look to see what colors they come in.  Just to add to the confusion, sometimes the breed of rabbit is called by the color of the rabbit, but not always and actually, not usually.

We keep English angoras for their 'wool' which is made into yarn, so should you be interested in English angoras, then as AnimalMom said, I "would just love to chat your ears off regarding the special points of their breed."  I'm sure that's true of anyone here with their specific critters.

As for the difference between hares and rabbits, they're two separate species and are far enough apart that they can't even interbreed.  Should you want to start a hare farm, though, and if you were willing to put a lot of time into it, you could try it like that Russian fox farm that bred foxes for temperaments.  Get a couple hundred hares, breed the ones that are less terrified of humans and within a dozen generations or so you may have domesticated hares?  I'm not sure how many generations it would take, but they finally bred some really friendly foxes.  Interestingly enough, the friendly foxes had different colors of coats, but that may be from inbreeding and doubling up on recessive coat color genes.


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## Nao57 (Oct 31, 2020)

Niele da Kine said:


> Chinchillas (the animal, not the rabbit coat color 'chinchilla') seem to frequently show up in pet shops, much more so than specific rabbit breeds seem to show up.
> 
> Usually, which breed of rabbit you get is determined by why you want to have a rabbit.  Some breeds of rabbits are for pets, some for dinners, some to produce 'wool' for yarn, some to produce hides to make into coats and such.
> 
> ...




Hope you don't mind if I ask about a comment you had. 

If you know about chinchillas, can I ask how tame they are? Can they be handled pretty well compared to other rabbits?


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## Niele da Kine (Nov 2, 2020)

I haven't a clue, I've only seen chinchillas in pet shops.  From what I've heard they're basically nocturnal and stay busy at night and sleep all day so not sure how good of a pet they'd be.  They do have an amazingly soft coat.

Bunnies are diurnal so they're busy in the mornings and evenings and like to nap at mid-day.   That gives them naturally awake time when folks would want to interact with them so they're better as a pet.  Unless you're someone who is awake all night and at home, then a chinchilla would be perfect.


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## Nao57 (Nov 2, 2020)

Niele da Kine said:


> I haven't a clue, I've only seen chinchillas in pet shops.  From what I've heard they're basically nocturnal and stay busy at night and sleep all day so not sure how good of a pet they'd be.  They do have an amazingly soft coat.
> 
> Bunnies are diurnal so they're busy in the mornings and evenings and like to nap at mid-day.   That gives them naturally awake time when folks would want to interact with them so they're better as a pet.  Unless you're someone who is awake all night and at home, then a chinchilla would be perfect.



Silver fox also have a really soft coat. I suspect they may have common genes, but I'm new at this.


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## Bunnylady (Nov 3, 2020)

Nao57 said:


> Silver fox also have a really soft coat. I suspect they may have common genes, but I'm new at this.



The coat of a Silver Fox is rather unique. It's a bit longer than other "normal" coated breeds, and is what is called a standing coat - when stroked backward, it doesn't lie back down on its own. In almost all other breeds, this would be considered a fault. Shorter-coated breeds have either a "rollback" coat (one where the fur gently settles back into place) or a "flyback" coat (where the fur snaps back down quickly).


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## Nao57 (Nov 3, 2020)

Bunnylady said:


> The coat of a Silver Fox is rather unique. It's a bit longer than other "normal" coated breeds, and is what is called a standing coat - when stroked backward, it doesn't lie back down on its own. In almost all other breeds, this would be considered a fault. Shorter-coated breeds have either a "rollback" coat (one where the fur gently settles back into place) or a "flyback" coat (where the fur snaps back down quickly).


Its so exciting to learn about this stuff. 

In part, you can see how your lives can become better easier and faster by using what you learn. 

Thanks.


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