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American

The American is one of the rarest rabbit breeds in the United States, and that scarcity is the first practical thing a prospective keeper has to reckon with: the American Livestock Conservancy has long listed it as threatened, so you will not find one at a pet store and may wait months on a breeder's list.

American rabbit
American — photo by Elkayslense
American — photo by Angle Leung
American — photo by Magda Ehlers

Size

9-12 lb

Lifespan

8-12 years

Free-roam

3-4 hours free-roam

Experience

Rabbit-savvy planning

Is This Breed Right for Me?Compare AmericansCare Guide
By ·Updated
Not individually reviewed by a veterinarian. Editorial standards
This article is for general information only. Always consult your veterinarian for medical decisions about your pet.

Decision first

Is a American right for you?

Start with fit before history or trivia. These are ownership signals, not guarantees about any individual rabbit.

Best suited for

  • Owners prepared for hay-first feeding, litter care, and daily supervised free-roam time.

Think carefully if

  • You need a pet with almost no daily feeding, litter, and health-monitoring routine.
  • You cannot keep up with grooming and preventive care.
  • You cannot access a rabbit-savvy veterinarian for routine and urgent care.

Conditional fit

Apartment living may be difficult unless the owner can provide a large exercise pen or safe room for daily movement.

Daily reality

American commitment snapshot

Daily free-roam

3-4 hours free-roam

Match movement, enrichment, and rabbit-proofing to age, health, heat, and housing.

Coat care

Low

Grooming needs vary by coat, shedding, and lifestyle.

Health monitoring

Needs planning

Most rabbits need daily appetite, droppings, litter, teeth, ears, and behavior checks.

Structured facts

American at a glance

The measurements and traits that most affect day-to-day life with this breed.

Origin

United States

Group

Other

Weight

9-12 lb

Height

14-16 in

Lifespan

8-12 years

Temperament

calm | docile | gentle

View all characteristics and methodology

Lifestyle fit

Indoor housing
Needs caution
Child friendliness
Needs caution
Bonding potential
Individual match
Handling styleMost rabbits are safer and calmer when interaction happens close to the ground.
Floor-level preferred

Owner commitment

Free-roam time
3-4 hours free-roam
Grooming
Low
Litter routineClean litter supports hygiene and makes appetite or droppings changes visible.
Daily

Behavior

Sociability
Breed-specific
Energy
Moderate
Trainability
Moderate
Noise
Quiet

Environment and health

Dental monitoring
Routine priority
Heat sensitivity
Needs indoor climate control
Health risk
Needs planning
Vet type
Rabbit-savvy or exotics

Ratings combine structured breed data, visible breed fields, and editorial context. They are planning aids, not predictions for an individual rabbit.

Daily life

American temperament and behavior

The American is one of the rarest rabbit breeds in the United States, and that scarcity is the first practical thing a prospective keeper has to reckon with: the American Livestock Conservancy has long listed it as threatened, so you will not find one at a pet store and may wait months on a breeder's list. What you get for that patience is a large, mandolin-bodied rabbit of 9 to 11 pounds (the DB range here is 6 to 10) with an unusually steady, hands-off temperament — Americans are calm, docile, and tolerant rather than needy, which is exactly why they were prized as a dual-purpose homestead breed long before they became companions. The breed's signature is the American Blue: a deep, even slate-blue coat that breed historians have called the darkest blue in the rabbit fancy, paired with the American White, a pink-eyed pure white. Do not mistake the calm disposition for low maintenance. At this size an American needs a genuinely large enclosure, several hours of daily floor time, and a hay-first diet to keep its continuously growing teeth worn and its gut moving, and it carries the same prey-animal wiring as every rabbit — it hides illness, dislikes being scooped up, and bruises a household's expectations of an 8-to-12-year commitment. This is a breed for an owner who wants a substantial, even-tempered rabbit and is willing to source responsibly from an ARBA-registered breeder or a rescue, budget for an exotics vet, and treat a single skipped meal as a warning rather than a quirk. Choose it for steadiness and conservation value, not for a low-effort first pet.

calm | docile | gentle

calm

A common American temperament descriptor that should be interpreted alongside housing, gentle handling, diet, and health monitoring, and household fit.

docile

A common American temperament descriptor that should be interpreted alongside housing, gentle handling, diet, and health monitoring, and household fit.

gentle

A common American temperament descriptor that should be interpreted alongside housing, gentle handling, diet, and health monitoring, and household fit.

Owner note

Temperament labels are starting points, not guarantees. Meet the individual rabbit and ask about behavior history whenever possible.

Care essentials

How to care for a American

What looking after one actually involves: diet, grooming, habitat, bonding and routine health.

DietAs needed
  • Unlimited grass hay — timothy, orchard, or meadow — is the foundation of an American's diet: it should be the bulk of every day's food, and it is what keeps the gut moving and wears down teeth that grow for life. Add a measured daily pellet portion sized for a 4.1–5.4 kg rabbit, a rotating variety of washed leafy greens, and constant fresh water.
HousingAs needed
  • An American rabbit needs room to run, not just a hutch: space to take several consecutive hops and to stand fully upright on its hind legs, with solid flooring rather than wire mesh, at least one hide, and a toilet corner cleaned daily. A larger breed at 4.1–5.4 kg needs proportionally more floor space and a heavier-duty setup than an average-sized rabbit.
ExerciseAs needed
  • Give an American several hours of daily free-roaming time in a safe, rabbit-proofed space; confinement without it causes both muscle and bone problems. Even a calm American needs the movement — tunnels, chews, and forage toys keep the time active rather than idle.
GroomingAs needed
  • An American keeps itself fairly clean; brush weekly to lift loose hair and daily through a moult, and check the rear daily for soiling, which draws flystrike in warm weather.
VeterinaryAs needed
  • Line up a rabbit-savvy vet before you need one and keep to twice-yearly checks. An American that stops eating or stops passing droppings is a same-day emergency — call a rabbit-savvy vet that day, because gut slowdown (GI stasis) can turn life-threatening within hours. Ask about RVHD and myxomatosis vaccination for your area, and consider neutering for its health and behaviour benefits.

Health planning

American health risks and screening

Every rabbit breed has individual health variation. Use this profile for planning and discuss diet, dental care, gut health, and urgent symptoms with a rabbit-savvy veterinarian.

GI stasis — the gut slows or stops, usually triggered by a low-fiber diet, dehydration, pain, or stress; in a rabbit it is a true emergency, so any American that stops eating or passing droppings for 12 hours needs same-day veterinary care rather than overnight watching.
Sore hocks (pododermatitis) — at 9 to 11 pounds the American's weight presses the thinly furred undersides of the hind feet against hard or wire flooring, causing pressure sores that can ulcerate and infect; prevent it with solid, soft, dry flooring and by keeping body weight in check.
Obesity — the breed's calm, sedentary nature plus overfeeding of pellets or treats packs on weight quickly on a large frame, which in turn worsens sore hocks, dental wear, and the rabbit's ability to groom; control it with hay-first feeding and daily exercise, not crash dieting.
Dental malocclusion — a rabbit's teeth grow continuously, and without enough abrasive hay the molars and incisors overgrow or misalign, causing drooling, weight loss, and a dropped appetite; an unlimited grass-hay diet plus a yearly back-teeth check is the prevention.
Uterine adenocarcinoma in unspayed does — uterine cancer is common in female rabbits past three to four years of age; spaying both prevents it and ends the reproductive and hormonal behaviors that complicate keeping an intact doe.

Ownership cost

How much does a American cost?

Cost figures are structured so first-year and lifetime estimates do not conflict with the underlying line items.

Acquisition$50-$100
Adoption
Initial setup
Routine monthlyAbout $55/month
Routine annualAbout $660/year
First-year estimate$710-$760
Lifetime routine estimate$5,280-$7,920 routine costs

Currency: USD. Region: United States. Updated: . Typical ranges for this breed. Equipment, insurance, emergency veterinary care, boarding and training are NOT included: we hold no sourced figures for them, and estimating them would be a guess presented as data.

Responsible ownership

Finding a American responsibly

What to ask a breeder or rescue is the same conversation for every breed, so we keep it in one place and keep it current.

The new pet checklist: what to ask, what to see, and what should stop you

Health documentation, meeting the parents or foster, contracts and return support, and the warning signs worth walking away from.

Original purpose

American history

History is useful when it explains today's behavior, coat, exercise needs, and care style.

Read the breed history

The American was developed in Pasadena, California by Lewis Salisbury, who introduced the blue variety around 1917; the American Rabbit Breeders Association recognized the blue that year and added the white shortly after. Salisbury kept his exact crosses deliberately vague, but the breed is generally traced to blue rabbits of the era such as the Blue Imperial, Blue Vienna, and Blue Beveren lines. It was created as a practical dual-purpose breed — meat and fur — for the American homestead, and for a time the rich slate-blue pelt made it commercially valuable. As the commercial fur and backyard-meat trades declined through the twentieth century, so did the breed's numbers, and it became one of the rarest recognized rabbits in North America. Today it survives mainly through dedicated heritage breeders and conservation-minded keepers rather than the pet trade.

American — photo by Elkayslense

Lower-page context

Americans in culture

Where the breed shows up in film, sport, work and folklore — the enjoyable part, once the practical questions are answered.

Fun facts

  • The American Blue's coat is often described by breed historians as the darkest, most intense blue of any rabbit breed.
  • The American is a heritage breed that has appeared on livestock-conservation watch lists as threatened, making it one of the rarest rabbits in North America.
  • Its breeder, Lewis Salisbury, kept the exact crosses behind the breed a closely guarded secret that was never fully documented.
  • The breed has a distinctive 'mandolin' body shape — a deep, arched topline that sweeps up over the hindquarters.
  • Originally bred for meat and fur on American homesteads, the breed is now kept almost entirely as a calm companion and exhibition rabbit.

American FAQs

Are American rabbits good for first-time owners?

Their calm, docile temperament makes them pleasant to live with, but the American is better suited to a committed owner than an absolute beginner. The breed is genuinely rare, so sourcing one responsibly takes effort, and its large size means a big enclosure, real daily floor time, and a vet who treats rabbits. A first-time owner who has done the homework and is ready for an 8-to-12-year commitment can do well with one.

How big do American rabbits get?

The American is a large breed, typically reaching 9 to 11 pounds as an adult, with does often running slightly heavier than bucks. That size means a roomy enclosure, sturdier handling, and more food than a dwarf breed, and it raises the risk of sore hocks if the rabbit is housed on hard or wire flooring. Plan housing and budget around a substantial rabbit, not a small one.

What is the difference between the American Blue and American White?

They are the same breed in two recognized varieties. The American Blue carries a deep, even slate-blue coat that the rabbit fancy has long regarded as one of the darkest blues of any breed, while the American White is a pure white rabbit with pink eyes. Temperament, body type, size, and care are identical between the two — only the color differs.

Can American rabbits live outdoors?

It is not recommended. Like all rabbits the American is sensitive to temperature extremes, cannot sweat, and overheats above roughly 26°C/80°F, while outdoor housing also exposes it to predators, parasites, and the stress that masks early illness in a prey animal. Indoor or fully sheltered, climate-controlled housing with daily supervised exercise is far safer for an 8-to-12-year companion.

Why is the American rabbit so rare?

The breed was created as a dual-purpose meat-and-fur rabbit, and as the commercial fur trade and backyard-meat keeping declined through the twentieth century, demand for it collapsed. It has spent years on conservation watch lists as a threatened heritage breed, surviving mainly through a small network of dedicated breeders. That rarity is why prospective owners usually have to join a waiting list rather than buy one on impulse.