# Anyone want to play guess the color?



## BeltaineRabbitry (Apr 30, 2012)

Hello all, I am new here to the forum, but have been breeding, raising, showing mini rex rabbits for a couple of years (with a small break in the middle to to finances and stock issues)  I just recently started up again and bought a wonderful little black and white mini rex doe, she was from a "pet" home, but I know her original breeder and she has a full pedigree, and while a bit older (she is just at 1.5yrs) I figured she would be a great start to my herd, I am focusing on blacks, chocolates and blues.  Anyway, about 2 wks after I bought her she surprised me with a litter of 5 babies !.  

From what I can gather from her last owner, she was exposed to his mini lop male, who he said was normal rabbit color . . . I assumed this was a chestnut type rabbit. However my babies are now about 3 wks old and it looks like I have 2 REWS (which is great shows me a bit more about her genetic code) a solid black (not to much of a surprise) a broken chestnut (again not much of a surprise) and what appears to be a gold tipped steel.  I am not very familiar with mini lop colors at all so I had to do some research on what this baby was. So I was wondering if anyone who had more experience with steels or non mini rexes could shed some light on if I have the babies color right, and if so, what might that make the buck she was bred to.  While this isnt as  important to me as i expected  these will all be going to pets homes I may have a someone who is working on plush lops interested and so it is important to her and  I am insanely curious as to how this happened and if this is strictly from the bucks side. 

On a side note Checking her pedigree it looks like she has nothing but self colors behind her and a rew. No agouti ( unless from the rew) in the past 3 generations on either side.

This is a pic of the little one


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## SarahMelisse (May 1, 2012)

I have no idea, but that is an amazing color! It reminds me of a hedgehog...


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## redtailgal (May 1, 2012)

His main coloring is very similar to the wild rabbits we have here, they are perhaps a little darker.

He's cute!


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## greenbean (May 1, 2012)

Looks like a gold tipped steel to me


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## bunnylovincowgirl (May 6, 2012)

Like Greenbean said, black gold tipped steel.


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## Bunnylady (May 7, 2012)

Looks like a gold - tipped steel to me, too. 

Steel is a strange gene. It is only expressed in a very specific combination with other genes. Obviously, it needs Agouti at the A locus (in other words, it's an agouti patterned color). If an animal with self genes at the A locus inherited the steel gene, it wouldn't look any different than a normal self (it would be solid black/blue/whatever). Steel occurs at the E locus, the same place where the non-extension orange/red/tort occurs, also the harlequin. Steel is dominant to all of the other genes in this series. For an animal to be a visual Steel, it must inherit one steel gene and one normal extension gene at this locus. If a rabbit inherits a steel gene and, say, the non-extension gene, it will look like a normal self even if it actually has Agouti at the A locus. If a rabbit inherits a Steel gene from both parents, it will look like a normal self-colored rabbit, too. Weird, huh?

I am unaware of any Mini Rex lines carrying Steel (doesn't mean there aren't any, just that I don't know of any), so this color must have come from the buck. Most llikely, the buck was a visual Steel as well. Anyone who would say that their rabbit was "normal rabbit color" probably wouldn't know the difference between Chestnut and the somewhat darker but still ticked Steel. Since you said your doe is black and white, I'm assuming that means broken, so this buck was probably solid colored (as in, not a broken).

BTW, the only baby you can be sure _doesn't_ have the Steel gene is that broken Chestnut!


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## BeltaineRabbitry (May 7, 2012)

Thanks every one for the replies!  I am glad that I was able to get the color right and know that I was on the right track thinking it came from the bucks side. And thanks Bunnylady, I learned something new today about rabbit colors   And I am glad to know that the Rews, and solid black may be hiding the steel gene as this is something I think a buyer should know.   I may have to do some more research into the steel gene, it sounds interesting. 

Thanks Again!


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