Rex color

[Bunnylady]

No, I'm saying that an Otter Rex should have a cream-colored belly, and fawn colored ear lacing. I know pictures can be deceptive, but when I blow the pictures of this doe up, it looks like there is a bit more red pigment in the non-black parts of this rabbit's belly fur. There seems to be hints of ear lacing, but they, too, look more reddish than one would expect on an Otter.

 

[Tale of Tails Rabbitry]

Bunnylady, thanks for the information!

 

[Mocksincerity]

Interesting thanks for the info. But I'm still stuck on this eye thing. Even on horribly marked otters I've never seen them without the lighter color around their eyes to some degree, but maybe that's just because of lack of experience. If that happens I suppose it could have happened here as well and she just got a lot of bad luck coat color/markings/pattern/stuff wise, lol. But if she is an otter with steel would there be a reason for the steel gene to do away with the other markings? And she does have a red cast to her in general even on her black fur. When she gets older I will be breeding her since the main point of my rabbits is meat/fur (I keep and tan pelts because I'm not going to waste any part of an animal) I won't keep any of her offspring since I have some really nice Rex from show breeders and sell a few of the best when I get them. I'm not going to mix this girls genes into that mix but is there anything I can breed her to that might answer some questions about what she's carrying?

 

[Bunnylady]

Let's see if this clears anything up. This is a rabbit that is A_Ese:

I don't know if you can see it in this picture, but his belly is jet black, and there isn't even a hint of eye circles. You really can't discern any of the lighter Agouti-type markings on him.

This is his mother, who is A_Esej. She kind of looks like a Silver-Tipped Steel in this picture, but that's just the effect of sunlight on glossy fur. She's actually completely black, with just a few scattered white hairs:

If Steel is at work on your rabbit, it could obscure a lot of the markings that you might otherwise expect to see.

 

[Tale of Tails Rabbitry]

I realize that Steel has other factors and traits that are unpredictable in many ways in how it presents, something genetic that has not yet been identified probably (and I certainly do not know much about otters or how steel would show on one), but I have had a number of steels. I even have two GT Black Steels presently and none of them has ever had a solid black belly or even a darker belly. Their bellies look pretty much like the rest of their coats with gold tips. So am I missing something here?

One doe that I have presently I believe is Aa B_ Cc Dd EsE enen Sisi because she had a Blue SF dam aa B_ C_ dd E_ sisi and a NZW sire that I believe is A_ __ cc D_ Es_ Enen from what I have seen him throw. That Steel doe threw REW, Steel, and a solid Black with a new NZW buck I was test breeding for the broken gene En that I do not want in my crosses.

 

[Mocksincerity]

I'm not sure if I'm being thick in the head or what but it didn't help, lol. I think I get what you were saying about steel. That rabbit is the steel pattern all over excluding the belly and if you zoom in it looks like it has the steel color under the eye as well (unless I'm wrong) But I thought you were saying the black otter doe looks like that because steel is only effecting her agouti pattern parts (her sides/belly) Are the other parts, the white/cream markings in otters agouti or self? mainly the eye circles. Because if so those hairs should be effected as well, right? I'm just not getting why those parts on the doe are jet black shouldn't they be the same color as her belly/sides? Why does steel turn those completely black instead of the color of the other cream/white parts on her? I thought the steel gene didn't effect self? Or maybe I'm not understanding what makes the otter pattern the otter pattern? Lol, I think I'm giving up on understanding why this little girl looks the way she does. I did learn some useful stuff in general tho, thanks guys