RNRQ, V1 N4 & V2 N1 1998 Spec. Ed. #2

Meet The Breeds:The Standard Rex

The original ‘Velveteen Rabbit’, the Rex coat has been known for centuries, and in fact, the translation of ‘Rex’ is ‘King’--which it indeed is. Read on, and find why this exotic animal has become so beloved.

Quicksilver. Velvet.  Heavy, rich, glowing. Utterly unique.  The dream of advertising executives everywhere, the Rex coat glows with promise.  The body underneath the fur is scarcely less appealing or useful. Dense, short upstanding coat, with neither rollback nor flyback, the guard hairs not absent but rather the same length as a remarkably thick undercoat, the Rex coat is fit for kings--as in fact they are named.

Running one’s hand over a truly prime, commercial quality Rex coat is an experience every person should have once in their lifetime.  They will, of course, immediately become miserable if they cannot do so constantly--and there is the seduction and addiction of the Rex.  The coat is, however, merely the topdressing of a quite usable commercial body, with depth to balance the width and maximum meat carrying capacity throughout, with a good wide, deep loin which blends smoothly into a rounded, full hindquarter.

The personality of the Rex is active, interested in life around it, and can be a pest if ignored.  Rexes kept as pets should not be allowed unsupervised run of the house, as they become very inventive when they feel ignored!  Telephone cords are a particular delicacy, it seems....

The young Rex of any color shows its promise early on, with a truly outstanding coat potential becoming apparent at about four to five weeks.  Potential only at this age, it is fascinating to watch the color and the coat develop over the next months. The thirteen accepted colored varieties of Rex, plus brokens of all those (except Californian) and white, make up the fifteen colors of Rex one sees on the show table.  Many more do occur, and are valued as pelts, being harvested when the animal is as much as 8 months to a year of age. The pelts of sable, cinnamon, castor, seal, black and white as well as the chinchillas (in all four possible colors) are all in demand as pelts. A good chinchilla Rex coat is nearly indistinguishable from true Chinchilla fur.

 Commercial Rex fryers are uncommon in the pure breed, as Rex are a lightweight animal with lesser growth rate than other fryer breeds.  Ordinarily, the pure Rex fryer will make four and one-half pounds only at ten to twelve weeks, making it difficult to promote as the younger fryers are desired by the meat trade.

The Rex coat is a recessive mutation, first noted many, many years ago and developed by interested parties into a breed of its own. The first color was ‘castorrex’, the original wild type agouti coloration. Other varieties came with time, and now in Britain, many different breeds are regarded as ‘rexed’ breeds, rather than varieties of the Rex breed.

I walked into the rabbitry this morning, and immediately my eye was drawn to a litter of Rex, nine of them, all piled on top of and next to mama in this colder weather. I cluck at them, and they instantly uncoil, bouncing with abandon to the door of the cage to be petted. I smile, my addiction satisfied for the moment.  I have raised Rex for sixteen years, and intend to have at least one until the day I die.