Start With the Rex in Front of You
Ask to watch this specific Rex rabbit eat, hop, and accept handling before you ask anything else. A Rex that moves freely on a solid floor, chews hay with an even jaw motion, and tolerates being lifted without frantic kicking is showing you more than any paperwork can. Ask its exact age, its confirmed sex, and how long it has been with this breeder or rescue, because a young Rex still growing needs a different feeding plan from a settled adult.
Ask who handles the rabbit each day and how. Rex rabbits are known for a calm, people-oriented temperament, but an individual Rex that has rarely been picked up will need a slower settling-in period than one raised with daily gentle contact.
Ask About the Coat and the Feet Under It
Ask directly whether this Rex or its parents have ever had sore hocks. The Rex's famous plush coat comes with noticeably thinner fur on the underside of the feet, so the skin there rubs more easily on wire or hard flooring than it does in most other breeds. Ask what flooring this rabbit lives on now, and whether you can see the hocks yourself — look for redness, broken skin, or thinning fur at the back of the hind feet.
Ask also how the coat is shedding. A Rex's dense velvet pile traps loose hair during a moult, and a seller who brushes the rabbit gently can tell you how this individual reacts to it.
Ask About Teeth, Gut, and Past Vet Visits
Ask whether either parent has needed dental treatment. Rabbit teeth grow continuously, and a Rex whose parents needed repeated dental work deserves closer questions about hay intake and jaw alignment than one from a trouble-free line. Ask what this Rex actually eats in a day — how much hay it gets through, which pellets, and which greens — and ask whether it has ever stopped eating, produced very small droppings, or been treated for a sluggish gut.
Ask for any vet records that exist: vaccination status where it applies, parasite treatment, and spay or neuter details if the rabbit is old enough. A rescue should be able to explain what was checked on intake, and a breeder should be able to say which vet saw the litter and when.
Ask About Daily Life and the Handover
Ask what routine this Rex keeps now: when it is fed, how much exercise space it gets outside its enclosure, and whether it lives alone or near other rabbits. Rex rabbits are social and active, and a sudden change from a busy rescue pen to a quiet single room can unsettle one more than the move itself does.
Ask what comes home with you on the day — a supply of the current hay and pellets for a gradual food change, any blanket or item carrying a familiar scent, and written notes on likes, dislikes, and handling quirks. Ask, too, what the breeder or rescue wants to happen if you cannot keep the rabbit, because a clear return policy is a sign the placement matters to them.
Red Flags Worth Pausing On
Pause if a seller cannot tell you what a Rex eats, will not let you see the living conditions, or brushes off questions about sore hocks and teeth. A Rex offered with no age, no sexing, and no feeding information leaves you guessing on the three things that shape its first month with you.
Keep the answers you collect — ages, diet brands described in your own notes, vet dates, handling quirks — in one place from day one, because KinsLe Transferrable Profiles carry a Rex rabbit's history, records, and routines intact when the profile passes from a breeder or rescue to you.