Harlequin rabbits: the pattern, size, temperament and care

What is a Harlequin rabbit?

The Harlequin is an old French breed. The American Harlequin Rabbit Club (AHRC) says it appeared in France in the 1880s, around the Paris suburbs, and was first shown in Paris in 1887. Fur and Feather, the UK show magazine, says it reached Britain in 1895. It was first called the Japanese, because European fanciers liked to give striking breeds Asian names. The British Rabbit Council (BRC) renamed it Harlequin in 1946, after the old name fell out of favour during the Second World War. It came back into the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) standard under its new name in the late 1960s.

Today Fur and Feather lists the Harlequin among the UK's fancy breeds, and ARBA lists it with Japanese and Magpie groups. The AHRC describes the body as "commercial", meaning a medium, rounded rabbit, with fly-back fur that springs back when you stroke it the wrong way.

How to recognise the harlequin pattern

The pattern is what makes a Harlequin. The AHRC's standard describes the ideal like this:

• The face is split down the middle, one colour on each side
• The two ears are different colours, the opposite way round to the face
• The chest and front legs are split, matching the sides of the ears
• The back feet alternate with the front feet
• The body has bands, bars or both, with 5 to 7 colour changes on each side

Show rabbits with no clear face split, or with Dutch-type markings, are disqualified. Pet Harlequins rarely match the standard exactly, and that makes no difference at home.

Japanese and Magpie harlequins

The two types differ only in the second colour.

Fur and Feather lists the UK colours as black, blue, brown and lilac in both patterns, so "brown" in the UK is "chocolate" in the US. The AHRC notes some white or cream on the eye circles, under the jaw, on the tail and on the belly is normal.

Harlequin rabbit size

A Harlequin is a medium rabbit. Fur and Feather gives the UK weight as 2.72 to 3.62 kg (6 to 8 lb), and ARBA allows up to 9.5 lb (4.3 kg) in the US. That is bigger than a Dutch rabbit and much smaller than a giant. Its ears stand upright.

Wood Green's diet advice of about 15 g of nuggets per kg of body weight a day works out at roughly 45 g (1.6 oz) for a 3 kg (6.6 lb) Harlequin, with hay making up about 85% of everything it eats.

Harlequin as a colour in other breeds

Harlequin is also a colour pattern, and this is where most confusion comes from. Rabbit Rehome, the UK rescue listing site, explains that the same markings appear in other breeds, so a rabbit described as "harlequin" can be almost any size or ear type. Breeders' genetics guides give the pattern its own gene, written ej, and Hoppy Days Rabbitry describes the tricolour variety (harlequin on white) as built from it. Fur and Feather records that the Dutch tri-colour was made by crossing a tortoiseshell Dutch with the Harlequin.

A harlequin lop carries all the ear risks of any lop, so read our comparison of lop-eared rabbit breeds before choosing one.

Harlequin rabbit temperament

We couldn't find a breed club or welfare source that describes a Harlequin temperament, so we won't invent one. Rabbit Rehome makes the honest point: breed tells you about appearance, not personality. Every rabbit's character comes from its handling, health and life so far. If temperament matters most to you, an adult from a rescue, whose personality the rescue already knows, is the surest choice.

Like all rabbits, a Harlequin needs a neutered rabbit friend (Wood Green advises a neutered pair or larger group), a calm home and gentle handling.

What a Harlequin needs

As a medium, short-coated, upright-eared breed, a Harlequin needs standard rabbit care rather than anything special. The RWAF minimum for any pair is one enclosed area of at least 3 x 2 m (9 ft 10 in x 6 ft 7 in) and 1 m (3 ft 3 in) high, and Wood Green gives the same 3 x 2 m for an indoor room or outdoor run for a small to medium pair.

• Daily: unlimited hay, fresh water, a large handful of greens per rabbit
• Daily: check eating and droppings
• Daily in summer: check under the tail for mess or flies
• Weekly: brush with a soft brush or rubber mitt, more often in a moult
• Weekly: check teeth, eyes, ears, nails and weight
• Yearly: vaccinations and a vet health check

The RWAF advises grooming any rabbit daily if you can, and especially in a moult, because rabbits can't vomit up swallowed fur. Our complete rabbit care guide covers housing, diet and handling.

Health and lifespan

The Harlequin has no extreme features. The RSPCA's list of breeds with common inherited problems names lops, flat-faced breeds, dwarf and mini breeds, and breeds bred for long fur or wool, and the Harlequin is none of those. The RSPCA advises choosing rabbits without extreme physical features, which the Harlequin breed fits.

It still faces the risks every rabbit faces. PDSA lists dental disease, myxomatosis, rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD), flystrike and the parasite E. cuniculi for all rabbits. We couldn't find a breed-specific lifespan from a club, charity or vet; Wood Green gives 8 to 12 years or more for pet rabbits in general. Our rabbit health guide explains each problem.

Harlequin rabbit breeders near me

Start with rescues. Rabbit Rehome lets you search UK rescues by breed, harlequin included; the day we checked, its harlequin search showed no matches, so check back, widen the area, or look at other breeds with harlequin colouring. In England and Wales, RSPCA centres rehome rabbits too. In the US, Rabbit.org lists rescues by state.

For a purebred Harlequin, contact the breed clubs: the Harlequin Rabbit Club in the UK, which Fur and Feather lists for the breed, and the American Harlequin Rabbit Club in the US, which keeps a breeders page. Ask to see both parents, ask about teeth and general health in the line, and ask how much the babies have been handled. We couldn't find a club or welfare source for Harlequin prices. Our guide on where to get a rabbit helps you plan, and our full guide to rabbit breeds compares the Harlequin with every other breed.