The Silver Fox

By Eric Tudor of Riverwind Rabbity and Farm

The Silver Fox is a large rabbit with senior does weighing 10 to 12 pounds and senior bucks between 9 and 11 pounds. The body is medium in length with well filled shoulders and hindquarters. The two important features of the breed are its unusually long fur and evenly silvered coat, which usually does not fully develop until the 6th or 7th month of age. The coat is longer than normal commercial rabbit fur, with a slightly coarse texture that should resemble the pelt of a fox. Silver tipped or white hairs will be present along the flanks and all over the body,


Image by Eric Tudor
including head, feet and tail. The black color should run deep to the skin with a slate under color. The most unusual quality of the fur is that when it is slowly stroked backwards from the tail to the head, the fur "stands up" and it requires another stroke from the head to the tail to return it back in place. Another desired feature to breeders are black toe nails, rather than white, this is a trait of the original Silver Fox. Lack thereof is an automatic disqualification for any show exhibiter. Silver Foxes are wonderful mothers, have sweet personalities and love attention. The black and chocolate varieties are allowed to show at present. The blues are being worked on for presentation to be readmitted to the Standard. The Blue variety is under review with ARBA with Father-daughter team Rebecca & Chris Lilly holding the Certificate of Development (COD).