What is Moe?

I recently purchased a rabbit a week ago whom I've named Moe (for Mohawk.) He was the SWEETEST rabbit I ever seen and constantly wants to be petted. The reason onto why I'm posting on this thread is because I can't figure what color/breed he is.

A staff member told me he was a lion head. Moe does have the quality of a slight mane (only really present on the top of his head and by his bum.) He's also quiet small and shouldn't get any bigger (weights 2-3 pounds.) However, I'm convinced he carries another rabbit breed. My assumptions are that he has some dwarf of some type in him simply because small breeds of rabbits are usually kept together verses housing small and large rabbits together. My theory is just that a theory. I do not have any other information about him or where he came from (usually pet stores don't disclose that information.)

I've posted some pictures of him below. If you have any questions or request more pictures to give a better attempt of his coloration and breed I would gladly provide them.



In the pictures below I pushed his hair forward to show his "mane" characteristics. It doesn't normally sit that way.

The color is steel. Lighting can make this a bit tricky, but I think he's a silver tip.

The mane definitely indicates lionhead or lionhead cross, but those huge ears do not suggest any dwarf breed I know of. Hmm...

Zass":9uezqhec said:

The color is steel. Lighting can make this a bit tricky, but I think he's a silver tip.

The mane definitely indicates lionhead or lionhead cross, but those huge ears do not suggest any dwarf breed I know of. Hmm...

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I think you're right about the dwarf his ears are much bigger. I think he might be a cross between maybe an American? I hope I can get his actual weight soon and chart his growth.

The only small breed that commonly carries steel are Mini Lops so my guess would be a Lionhead X Mini Lop

Lots of larger breeds carry this colour but you'd expect a cross the be over 5 pounds and even up to 10 :shock: and not in the 2-3lb range

Many of the older small breeds, like dutch, Himalayan and some polish, commonly carry steel, along with mini satins (where some lines still have the steel gene from their satin heritage) and all those are smaller than mini lops, but this rabbit is probably a few generations beyond calling him anything specific. I'd just stick to calling him a lionhead mix.

He is most likely not an American mix. americans, while they do sometimes have the steel gene, are extremely rare, not commonly bred into pet stock and much larger, at 10+ lbs

From that picture I'd say he's about 4-5 lbs

Dood":3rtokjbl said:

The only small breed that commonly carries steel are Mini Lops so my guess would be a Lionhead X Mini Lop

Lots of larger breeds carry this colour but you'd expect a cross the be over 5 pounds and even up to 10 :shock: and not in the 2-3lb range

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I think he might actually be 4-5 pounds. I don't have a scale to weigh him right now.

SableSteel":3rtokjbl said:

Many of the older small breeds, like dutch, Himalayan and some polish, commonly carry steel, along with mini satins (where some lines still have the steel gene from their satin heritage) and all those are smaller than mini lops, but this rabbit is probably a few generations beyond calling him anything specific. I'd just stick to calling him a lionhead mix.

He is most likely not an American mix. americans, while they do sometimes have the steel gene, are extremely rare, not commonly bred into pet stock and much larger, at 10+ lbs

From that picture I'd say he's about 4-5 lbs

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I guess there is so many breeds that he could be! Is there a DNA test I could do on him? I know there are ones for cats/dogs is there any for rabbits?

I guess there is so many breeds that he could be! Is there a DNA test I could do on him? I know there are ones for cats/dogs is there any for rabbits?

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I'd be seriously surprised if any US rabbit breed had pure or consistent enough bloodlines for DNA testing. :lol:

Since they are registered and judged on phenotype(how they look) instead of genotype, there is a LOT of genetic diversity within our breeds. So far as ARBA is concerned any rabbit that LOOKS like a certain breed IS a certain breed.

Some harlequin lines might be pure enough, and maybe lilacs, english spots, belgian hares, good rex lines, and french and e-lops. Some lines of FG probably do too, but others are a mess. Messy lines can contaminate more pure ones by way of a nice looking animal. Pedigrees don't help much, as they are only three generations, and so often fudged. Nethies might have common genes. I know, max factor was pretty widespread at one time, and stemmed from a single animal. The problem is that LOTS of other breeds get mixed with netherland dwarf.

Meat rabbit lines are a total mess too. Hybrids grow so well, there is a lot of temptation to "improve" lines with them.

Silverfox lines are all mucked up with new zealand and satin genetics. Champagnes tend to have steel genes, just like silverfox, which makes me wonder.. Angoras get mixed. The different types of chinchilla couldn't possibly be that genetically different as people tend to think any chinchilla colored mutt must be a purebred chinchilla rabbit. They usually just weigh it and pick whichever of the three chin breeds it happens to fall under. Most small time call any big REW colored rabbit a new zealand, and breed it in.

What I'm saying is one show zealand may have a totally different genotype than new zealands from...down the street.

Theres no DNA test. At least you know one part of the ancestry - if it didn't have a mane, we wouldn't even know that it had lionhead in it

Yeah, don't confuse rabbit pedigrees with dog or cat or even horse pedigrees - although the warmblood pedigrees where horses are registered based on conformation and performance are somewhat similar to rabbits which, as mentioned above, are based solely on looks

In the rabbit world a pedigree is just a 3 generational family tree and my meat mutts all have one some go back 11 generations :mrgreen:

Aw! Moe is so cute!
Definitely some lion head. For sure!