Rex hocks set the rules for senior exercise
More than most breeds, the Rex ties exercise to foot health. Rex fur is short and plush with less protective guard hair over the hocks, and older, heavier or less mobile Rex rabbits commonly develop sore hocks from pressure on hard or rough surfaces. At the same time, a senior Rex who stops moving loses muscle, gains weight and presses even harder on those hocks, while gut movement slows as well. The balance to strike is frequent, gentle, self-paced movement that never happens on bare boards, concrete or thin carpet over hard floors.
Expect your senior Rex to walk and forage more and sprint and binky less. Interest in surroundings, a good appetite after activity and normal droppings matter more than speed or distance covered.
Building a Rex-safe exercise area
Cover the whole exercise area with deep fleece, thick rugs or mats over padding, and check that edges do not expose hard flooring where your Rex likes to sit. Keep the layout flat, with a low-entry litter tray, hay racks at floor height, and padded rest stations along the route. Remove ramps and jumping platforms, block slippery kitchen floors, and scatter part of the day's greens in hay at ground level so movement stays at a comfortable walking and nosing pace.
Offer shorter sessions more often, and let your Rex choose when to return to the rest area. Never carry on encouraging a rabbit who has settled, turned away or started licking at a hock. A brief warm-up amble after a nap is kinder than expecting instant activity from stiff joints.
Hock checks before and after every session
Part the fur on both hocks daily. Early pressure shows as fur thinning, pink skin or a small callus; intervene then with deeper bedding everywhere the rabbit sits, weight management with your vet, and softer exercise surfaces. Broken skin, swelling, bleeding, limping or a Rex who shifts weight constantly needs prompt veterinary care, because hock wounds in rabbits can deepen and infect and are painful even when the rabbit stays quiet about it.
Also monitor weight and body condition. A senior Rex carrying extra weight loads sore hocks further, while unexplained weight loss alongside reduced exercise can signal dental pain or other illness that a vet should investigate.
Rest, warmth and household consistency
Give your Rex a deeply bedded, draught-free sleeping area where undisturbed rest is guaranteed between sessions, since tissue repair and joint recovery happen at rest. Keep handling calm and support the hind end fully if you lift your rabbit for checks.
Consistency across the household prevents one person offering gentle foraging while another lets the rabbit onto hard floors, and KinsLe Family Sharing lets everyone see the same Rex exercise limits, hock notes and rest routine in the shared profile.