Rabbit Pedigree: What ARBA Requires, How to Fill One In, and a Free Template

A rabbit pedigree is a written record of a rabbit’s ancestry, and the standard form covers three generations: the sire and dam, four grandparents and eight great-grandparents, 14 ancestors in all. If you want the rabbit to be registrable with the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA), every one of those ancestors has to be the same breed and has to show a name, an ear number, a variety (the exact color) and a weight, according to ARBA’s registration guide. A pedigree with blanks or missing weights is still a useful family record, but a registrar will turn it down.

You can make a clean, printable three-generation pedigree for free with the Creatures rabbit pedigree maker, with no account needed. This guide explains what belongs on the form and how to fill it in without the mistakes that stop registrations. It also covers how a pedigree differs from a registration certificate and what to check on one before you buy a rabbit.

What a rabbit pedigree is, and what it is not

Three documents get called “papers” in the rabbit world, and they are not interchangeable.

• The pedigree is written by the breeder. It lists the rabbit and its ancestors and is only as reliable as the breeder’s records. There is no central approval step; a breeder can issue a pedigree for any rabbit they raised.
• The registration certificate is issued by ARBA after a licensed registrar has examined the rabbit, weighed it, checked its pedigree, and tattooed the registration mark in its right ear. ARBA’s FAQ puts it simply: the owner must be a member, the rabbit must be at least six months old, and it needs a three-generation pedigree.
• Show legs and the Grand Champion certificate record wins. ARBA’s Grand Champion instructions require the rabbit to be registered before a Grand Champion certificate can be issued, so the pedigree is the first link in that chain too.

So “pedigreed” means the rabbit comes with a family record. It does not mean the rabbit is registered, and it says nothing on its own about health or show quality. Many pet rabbits have a pedigree and are never registered, which is fine. The pedigree still matters if you ever want to breed, show, or sell kits to people who do.

What goes on an ARBA-ready rabbit pedigree

The registration policy spells out what a registrar will accept. Here is what that means box by box.

For the rabbit itself

At the top of the form, list the rabbit’s name, ear number, breed, variety, sex, date of birth, and current weight, plus the breeder and owner. On the registration application, ARBA’s instructions to registrars (the version posted on arba.net, revised 2009) limit the name to 30 characters including spaces and punctuation, so a long rabbitry prefix plus a long name may need trimming before registration day.

For every one of the 14 ancestors

• Name. ARBA asks for a complete name, even if the name is the same as the ear number. Listing only the breeder or rabbitry name is not enough.
• Ear number. The owner’s tattoo in the left ear. ARBA’s show rules require every shown rabbit to be permanently and legibly earmarked in the left ear, using only numerals and the letters A to Z. This is the identifier that ties a live rabbit to a line on paper, and ARBA’s guide calls the ear number field the one where accuracy matters most.
• Variety. The exact recognized color, not the group. The instructions to registrars give the example: write “Fawn” or “Broken Blue”, never “Solid” or “Broken”.
• Weight. Recorded in pounds and ounces with a decimal point. The registrar instructions give 10.04 for 10 pounds 4 ounces and 11.12 for 11 pounds 12 ounces. That notation trips people up: 3.12 is 3 pounds 12 ounces, not 3.12 pounds.
• Registration number, when an ancestor is registered. ARBA asks breeders to include it, and the registrar instructions note that the pedigree section behind a registered animal does not have to be filled in by hand on the application.

The same-breed rule and the “import” problem

Every rabbit in all three generations must be the same breed as the rabbit being registered. A single crossbred or different-breed ancestor anywhere in the 14 slots makes the rabbit ineligible, however good it looks. Imported ancestors are allowed only when their name, ear number, variety and weight are listed; ARBA states plainly that the word “import” by itself is not acceptable.

How to fill in a rabbit pedigree, step by step

The fastest way to fill in a pedigree for a new litter is to build it from the parents’ own pedigrees.

1. Start with the parents’ pedigrees. The sire’s pedigree already lists his parents and grandparents, and the dam’s does the same on her side. For a kit, the sire and dam become generation one, their parents become generation two, and their grandparents become generation three. The oldest generation on each parent’s pedigree drops off.
2. Copy the details exactly. Use the same spelling, ear numbers, and varieties that appear on the parents’ pedigrees and registration certificates. If a parent’s pedigree shows an ancestor as registered, carry the registration number forward.
3. Add the kit’s own details once they are real. A kit does not have a final variety until you can see it clearly, and its ear number does not exist until it is tattooed. Leave those blank until they are settled rather than guessing. If you are new to tattooing, learn from an experienced breeder or your local club before you try it yourself.
4. Weigh on an accurate scale. ARBA tells registrars to use an accurate scale, and the same applies to the weights you record for your own rabbits. Record them in the pounds.ounces format. The rabbit weights by breed guide shows how much adult weights vary.
5. Check every character. ARBA’s guide warns about the difference between 1 and I, 5 and S, and O and 0. A typed pedigree removes most of that risk, which is one reason to print it rather than handwrite it.
6. Leave unknowns blank, not invented. If you do not know an ancestor, leave the slot empty. The rabbit will not be registrable until the gap is filled, but a made-up entry is worse: other breeders will copy it into their pedigrees for years.
7. Sign and date it. Many breeders sign the pedigrees they issue so the buyer knows who vouches for the information. When a pedigree is attached to a registration application, ARBA requires the owner to sign it, and the registrar to sign or initial it.

If you breed the litter yourself, the rabbit breeding guide covers pairing, kindling, and nest boxes, and the sister article on how long rabbits are pregnant covers due dates.

A free rabbit pedigree template on Creatures

The Creatures rabbit pedigree maker is a fill-in-the-boxes template that produces a printable PDF. It works without an account, and making and downloading the chart are both free.

What it asks for:

• Your rabbit: name and sex (required), and optionally breed (from a list of recognized and international rabbit breeds), date of birth, color, and registration number.
• Ancestors: 14 boxes laid out as a sire’s side and a dam’s side, from sire and dam back to each great-grandparent. Each ancestor has a name, a registration number, and a color. Fill in what you know and leave unknown spots blank.
• Chart details: an optional registry name and a paper size, Letter or A4.

Select Make pedigree and the printable chart and PDF appear on the page. The chart is labeled as a record you made, not a registry-certified document, which is accurate: no pedigree a breeder prints is certified by ARBA. For several kits from one litter, keep the parents and grandparents filled in, change the kit’s name, sex, and color at the top, and download a new PDF for each one.

One honest limitation for ARBA use. The maker has boxes for name, registration number, and color, but not separate boxes for ear numbers or weights, and ARBA wants both for every ancestor. So a chart made with only those boxes filled in is a working copy or a sale copy, not a pedigree a registrar can accept as it stands. You have two practical options. You can type each ancestor’s ear number after its name (for example “Clover AB12”) and its weight after the variety (for example “Broken Orange 3.12”), so every required detail is printed on the chart. Or you can bring the chart together with the parents’ own pedigrees, so you or the registrar can fill in the pedigree section of the application by hand from those. If you plan to attach a printout, it must be complete, typed or computer generated, and on full-size 8.5 x 11 inch paper, per ARBA’s rules for attaching a pedigree, so choose Letter.

There is also a general pedigree chart maker if you keep other species, and the full set of free calculators and generators is on the Creatures tools page.

Turning a paper pedigree into an online one

A printed pedigree is a snapshot. When you save your rabbits to a free Creatures account, the pedigree is built from linked profiles, so a correction to one ancestor shows up everywhere that ancestor appears.

• Profiles for your own rabbits. Add each rabbit and link its sire and dam. The Pedigree tab draws the family tree, lets you show more or fewer generations, and can highlight repeated ancestors, the quickest way to spot linebreeding. Details such as registration, birth date, and color appear under each name when there is room. How it works is in pedigree, family, and lineage.
• Ancestors you never owned. Grandparents and great-grandparents from another rabbitry can be added as reference animals, marked as lineage-only, and their real owner can be invited to claim them.
• Ear numbers, weights, and papers. Keep ear numbers as Identification records, weights as Physical Measurement records (so you get a growth chart), and each ARBA certificate as a Registration record with the file attached. Care, growth, and identity records walks through each one.
• Existing paperwork. Upload a pedigree PDF or a photo of one and review what Creatures reads before anything is saved (add an animal by importing its pedigree). If your records live in Rabbit15, there is a dedicated import for Rabbit15 exports.
• Litters. When you record a birth and create a litter from the doe’s Breeding tab, the kits’ profiles stay connected to the doe and, when the buck was a linked profile on the breeding record, to him too, so each kit’s pedigree starts filled in. Planning the pairing itself, including when a doe is old enough and how often to breed her, is covered in the rabbit breeding guide.
• Printing and sharing. From Pedigree Studio you can download the pedigree as a PDF or PNG with a free account, or share a link that shows only what a signed-out visitor is allowed to see.
• Inbreeding. Public records in the Creatures Herdbook can show a coefficient of inbreeding (COI), and Pedigree Studio can check a possible pairing privately before you breed it. The sister article on the coefficient of inbreeding explains what that number means and why three generations can understate it.

When a rabbit is sold, transferring it to the new owner moves its records and pedigree with it, so the buyer does not start from a sheet of paper.

How ARBA registration uses the pedigree

Registration happens in person, with the owner and a licensed registrar both present. ARBA’s registration guide describes the sequence:

1. Bring proof of ARBA membership for every owner. Ownership has to be listed under individual names, not a rabbitry or family name.
2. Bring the rabbit and its complete three-generation pedigree. The rabbit must be at least six months old, meet the senior weight for its breed, and be an accepted variety in the Standard of Perfection.
3. The registrar inspects and weighs the rabbit and checks it for disqualifications, such as incorrect eye color, markings, or ear length for its breed. A registrar can refuse an animal they judge unworthy of registration.
4. The pedigree goes on the application. A typed or computer-generated pedigree can be stapled to the back instead of hand-copying it. A handwritten pedigree cannot be attached, so the registrar or owner copies it onto the front.
5. The registrar tattoos the registration mark in the right ear. Your own ear number stays in the left.
6. The owner proofreads, then signs and dates the application. ARBA stresses signing after proofing, not before.
7. You keep the pink copy, and the registrar mails the application to ARBA within 15 days. According to the guide, mailing and processing often take 2 to 4 weeks in total before the certificate arrives.

The registration fee was $6 per rabbit when we checked; confirm the current fee with your registrar. ARBA names sanctioned shows as one place to find a registrar and suggests contacting the show secretary beforehand to ask whether one will be there. Creatures is a place to keep show results and pedigrees, not a place to find shows; the sister guide on rabbit shows explains how sanctioned shows, legs, and Grand Champion certificates work.

Mistakes that stop a registration

• A blank anywhere in three generations. ARBA declines the registration until the pedigree is complete.
• A group instead of a variety. “Broken” or “Solid” is not a color; “Broken Blue” is.
• A missing weight or ear number on an ancestor, especially on older lines copied from an incomplete pedigree.
• “Import” with no details. An imported ancestor needs a name, ear number, variety, and weight like any other.
• A different breed in the lineage. One cross in the great-grandparents makes the rabbit unregistrable.
• An ear number that does not match the rabbit. ARBA’s show rules remove a rabbit from its class when its ear number does not match the entry form, and a pedigree is only as useful as the match between its ear numbers and the tattoos on real rabbits.
• Handwritten attachments. If you bring a handwritten pedigree, expect it to be copied onto the application, not stapled.

Checking a pedigree before you buy a rabbit

A pedigree is worth asking for even if you only want a pet, and essential if you plan to show or breed.

Before you pay:

• Match the ear number on the pedigree to the tattoo in the rabbit’s left ear.
• Check that every ancestor is the same breed and that the varieties make sense for that breed. The breed pages on the Creatures rabbit page, such as Mini Lop and Holland Lop, are a good starting point for each breed’s colors.
• Look for weights and ear numbers on all 14 ancestors if registration matters to you. A pedigree with names only will not register.
• Ask whether the rabbit or its parents are registered, and look for registration numbers on the form.
• Remember what a pedigree cannot tell you. It records ancestry, not health. Ask about the rabbit’s health history and meet the rabbit, as covered in where to buy a rabbit.

Frequently asked questions

How many generations does a rabbit pedigree need?

Three. That is the sire and dam, four grandparents, and eight great-grandparents. ARBA requires all three generations to be complete, and of the same breed, for registration.

Can I make my own rabbit pedigree?

Yes. Pedigrees are written by breeders, not issued by ARBA. ARBA accepts a typed or computer-generated pedigree attached to the registration application, as long as it is complete and on full-size 8.5 x 11 inch paper. The free rabbit pedigree maker prints a Letter-size chart, but it has no separate fields for ear numbers or weights, which ARBA requires for every ancestor. Its chart is attachable only if you type each ancestor’s ear number and weight into the name and color boxes; otherwise treat it as a working or sale copy.

Does a pedigree mean my rabbit is registered?

No. Registration is a separate step: a licensed registrar examines and weighs the rabbit, checks the pedigree, and tattoos the registration mark in the right ear, and ARBA then issues a certificate with a registration number.

What if I do not know one of the ancestors?

Leave the slot blank. The pedigree is still a valid family record, but the rabbit cannot be registered with ARBA until all three generations are complete.

Can a mixed-breed rabbit have a pedigree?

You can record any rabbit’s known ancestry, and the pedigree maker accepts crossbred and unknown breeds. It cannot be registered with ARBA, because every ancestor must be the same breed.

Is there a free rabbit pedigree template?

Yes. The Creatures rabbit pedigree maker is free, needs no account, and downloads a printable three-generation PDF. A free account lets you save the rabbits and keep building the line online.

Do the same rules apply outside the United States?

No. The rules above are ARBA’s. Other national rabbit councils run their own registration and pedigree systems, so check with your country’s council before you rely on a pedigree for registration there.

Do this next on Creatures

Whether you are printing your first pedigree for a litter of kits or bringing a whole rabbitry’s records online, these are the next steps.