White silver foxes?

RABBITGIRLFORTHEWIN said:

One of my does, Darlin (a black silver fox), kindled today and had 7 kits. I bred her to my new buck, Dusk (who is also a black silver fox), and his entire pedigree is black. Darlin has kindled before with a different buck (a chocolate silver fox), and she was a wonderful mother, producing some blacks and chocolates.
Today, she kindled again and had blacks, lilacs, and whites! I’ve heard of white silver foxes but have never seen one in person. I’m confused about how she ended up with whites. I don’t know much about color genetics, so could someone please explain this to me?
I know Dusk is a full silver and trust the breeder completely; she wouldn’t have sold him to me if there was any chance he was mixed. Darlin’s dam (a black silver fox) was from Debra Armstrong, a well-known breeder in our area. The sire (the chocolate silver fox) was a full silver fox, but I don’t have his pedigree.
How do you create a white silver fox?

Thanks so much! (Pictures of the litter are below.)

Click to expand...

Alaska Satin said:

Usually whites pop out of colored lines when both parents carry a copy of the most recessive allele on the C locus, REW <c>. Those alleles, when paired, prevent any color from being produced anywhere on the rabbit, including the eyes. Some people call it albino, and many people who are otherwise uninterested in genetics know that if you breed two albinos, that's all you'll ever get. But what many people don't know is that one copy of the allele can "hide" for a very long time, until by chance two rabbits (this is also true in many other species) that carry a hidden copy meet and mate, and some of their offspring get two copies - voila, you pull a white rabbit out of the hat.

When this happens, it does not mean your rabbits aren't purebred or well-bred - it just means that a <c> has been lurking for some unknown number of generations. (I had a white Mini Rex show up in a litter from rabbits for which I had eight generation pedigrees.) It is not at all surprising in meat breeds, since NZ whites have been used to improve type and growth rates in many other meat breeds. That's not saying these rabbits or their parents aren't purebred, just that somewhere in the mists of time (or a least farther back than the original stock's 3-generation pedigrees), there was a white rabbit, or at least one carrying <c>, and that has been passed down through the generations.

So, black Silver Fox are typically <aaB_C_D_E_sisi>, with the understrike after the big <C> (which is normal color) being where the little <c> REW can hide. After this litter, you know more about the other places that are marked with an understrike. What you now suspect is that both of the black parents are actually <aaBbCcDdE_sisi>. They're still self <aa> and normal extension <E_> (although there is some debate about them possibly being steel <E(S)>, but that's another issue). But since you got lilac, which is a chocolate <bb> dilute <dd>, you know that both parents also carry a copy of chocolate <b> and dilute <d> after the dominant alleles that make them look black. And if they made white, you also know that both carry a <c> along with the <C> that makes them full-color themselves.

An interesting thing about albino rabbits is that genetically, they are still a colored and patterned rabbit. They can be chestnut, chocolate otter, self blue, black with silvering... everything else in their genetic code is basically "turned off." The only things they cannot be/carry are the chinchilla, sable or himalayan varieties, because those varieties are produced from alleles on the C locus. Since there are normally only two spots available at any particular locus, <cc> takes up the space so there can't be any other option present.

Finally, there is a slight possibility that they are not white, but himalayan <c(h)_>, which start out all-white and develop the points as they grow. In this case, you have <aaBbc(h)_ddE_>, and the parents could either both be <Cc(h)> or one <Cc(h)> and one <Cc>. Like the NZW, Californians are often used to improve type and growth rates, so it's a possibility.

Click to expand...

RABBITGIRLFORTHEWIN said:

So basically, I have a white silver foxlol. How/Where did you learn all of this, I want to learn more about color genes but don't know where to start. Thanks so much.

Click to expand...

Alaska Satin said:

Yes! (Or maybe himi SF...) I like very sleek rabbits, myself, but I was thinking that a white SF might actually be pretty cool, like an arctic fox.

I have a long background in genetics, but a lot of what I've learned about rabbit coat colors, specifically, has been breeding experimentation (aka trial and error... lots of error ). However, one book that really helped me identify colors and sort out the basics of what I was seeing is ABC - About Bunny Colors by Ellyn Eddy. You can order it a number of places, including here:
https://www.allthingsbunnies.com/ABC-About-Bunny-Colors-p/bks107.htm

It works you through the essentials of genetic inheritance and expression, but in language that a rabbit breeder can use, rather than someone who wants to go into genetics more academically. Eddy is very methodical in her presentation, so you shouldn't feel overwhelmed. In fact I think rabbit coat colors are the ideal way to learn functional genetics: there are enough alleles and interactions to keep it interesting, but not so many balls in the air that your head swims (I'm thinking goat and horse colors...). There is also a lot more information on the genetic underpinnings of rabbit coat colors than there is on some other species.

Although I certainly recognize their value, I do not have any great affection for computers. I just prefer to read books and have the paper right in front of me whenever I want it. But I am sure there must be websites that offer this basic information, and other readers might be able to offer their recommendations for those.

After you get the basics down, there are a few really outstanding photographic guides on websites that can help refine your identification and understanding of the more complicated colors, for instance sable-, non-extension- or harlequin-influenced varieties. The advantage of these websites is that, while the colors vary on different screens, the websites offer a lot more photographic examples of the varieties than a simple color-printed booklet can do. Coat colors can vary quite a bit in the various fur types - satin, rex, and angora varieties can look pretty different from the same variety in normal fur - so I have a number of different web pages that I use.

Holland Lops have a coat somewhat more similar to SF than other breeds - it's a bit longer and more dense - and Hollands come in a lot of recognized varieties, so these might be especially useful to you.:
https://hickoryridgehollands.com/holland-lop-color-guide
https://happilyeverafterrabbitry.com/index.php/holland-lop-color-chart/
https://www.gbfarm.org/rabbit/holland-colors-matrix.shtml

I also love Mink Hollow's rex site
https://www.minkhollow.ca/rabbits/doku.php?id=rabbit_colors

and Wild River Rabbitry's Mini Rex site, which has fantastic detail photos of ring color:
https://wildriverrabbitry.weebly.com/mini-rex-color-guide.html

Good luck and have fun! Coat color genetics can really become a proverbial rabbit hole...

Click to expand...

RABBITGIRLFORTHEWIN said:

Lol, my mom thought they should be called arctic silver fox too when I told her about it. I'd take a good book over the internet any day. I really appreciate your help!

Click to expand...