Another baldy kit... (more pics)

[Zass]

And...we got another baldy. This one is my little 1/2 sized runt from my current v-lop litter.

I know it's somehow connected to the astrex curl genes. But I'm not sure why some kits have this happen and some don't. Perhaps it's from doubling up a recessive? In this case, I'm pretty sure the buck wasn't closely related to my doe.





It well documented that this happens to some curly kits. They lose this hair and it grows back. Sometimes curly sometimes not. My other baldy lost it's head fur and it grew back in normal rexed.

I talked to another v-lop breeder about this (well known, but not on this forum, BH knows who I'm talking about I bet.) She assured me the curls wouldn't stick on adult coats. That astrex type fur didn't rub off more easily than normal rex fur...and that the balding was caused by the mothers licking too much.

I feel it's safe to disagree. My mature doe has some curls, enough that I wouldn't want to show her like that. Her big indoor pen is in plain sight of my computer desk (where I spend a lot of time.) She does NOT lick her kits excessively. She hardly licks them at all, just a little grooming when she's nursing, like any normal doe.

Even if she did groom excessively...why do only the curl kits go bald from it and not any other kit of any other breed? It would still re-enforce my theory that the curl genes make for weaker fur, which I've decided isn't what I want on a rexed lop for the sake of producing animals with good foot fur.

I'm just posting about it here because it's an interesting genetic phenomenon and I hope someone had more to contribute to what I've gathered about it...which isn't much.

This kit is well fed, it's just wrinkly from the same genes that make it curly and balding. My last baldy kit had a very weak system and tried to die on me repeatedly, requiring excessive hand feeding and care to survive.

I'm not going to do anything special for this kit, aside from keeping it warm. Assuming it survives to 8 weeks old. If anyone interested in curl and balding genetics has any interest in it, feel free to contact me.

 

[akane]

It's too random to be a simple recessive. I inbred mine quite a bit and didn't get many with bad coats. I forget the exact genetic combo that got there. The curlies started when I crossed a mini Rex/creme d'argent to 2 half sibling checkered/NZ. Some more mini Rex was thrown in and somewhere down the line is when I got thin furred kits. I actually wonder about Rex dense coat modifiers malfunctioning when certain groups get mixed with the curly modifiers. My original crosses had minimal Rex with no visible Rex coats. It was after I added more Rex that things got weird.

 

[Bad Habit]

My kits from that breeder's line developed random baldness as well. I wish I could report if those kits ever regrew their hair, but I can't trust the info I was given by the person I sold them to.

 

[Zass]

It's too random to be a simple recessive. I inbred mine quite a bit and didn't get many with bad coats. I forget the exact genetic combo that got there. The curlies started when I crossed a mini Rex/creme d'argent to 2 half sibling checkered/NZ. Some more mini Rex was thrown in and somewhere down the line is when I got thin furred kits. I actually wonder about Rex dense coat modifiers malfunctioning when certain groups get mixed with the curly modifiers. My original crosses had minimal Rex with no visible Rex coats. It was after I added more Rex that things got weird.

It's gotta be more than one gene and on more than one allele, but they must require each other in order to to express.

Sorta like, some get the curl genes, and when two curls are bred together the gene that causes baldness can double up and express...or not. Or it could be rex density modifiers interacting oddly with the curl genes, like you suggested.

Some say their curly kits have denser coats as adults, and some say they have less dense coats, leading me to believe that there are different modifiers involved in that too.

Perhaps different modifiers also control how much hair is lost? I know it can range from a little spot like the one in my last litter, to all-the-way-bald like the ones someone keeps posting pics of on the astrex facebook group. They have a list of proposed genes...but it's never really been researched, it's all just speculation.
Quick!
Someone give me a 10,000,000 grant so I can do some research?
No?

:lol:

Anyway, it's all quite a mystery to me, and I really like hearing about what you found in your herds too.

__________ Wed Oct 08, 2014 2:22 pm __________

All the rest of the kits have thick plush coats.





Just the little runty one is so very ugly...


That last pic is them all lining up to lick me. It's all these guys do at this age, popple around, binky and lick any human that gets near them.


Nice little rabbits(when they stay little), but the genetics are a nightmare. :x I made the mistake of thinking that the person responsible for developing and presenting the breed would have had the best stock.

But...this cannot continue in my litters. I don't like it. It's....not the best thing for the breed to have this happen to their kits.

 

[akane]

I'll settle for a few $1000 to setup an astrex breeding experiment and someone to run around doing winter water.

 

[Zass]

I'll settle for a few $1000 to setup an astrex breeding experiment and someone to run around doing winter water.

It'd cost me a few $1000 just to buy cages and rent or build a heated/insulated/ventilated structure to house them in.

There is no way these guys are as winter hardy as my meat mutts. The velveteen lops I have all live inside the house...but now the house is full.

 

[akane]

The small curlies might need that but my curly meat mutts did fine in subzero out of the wind. I had a nice high production broken red but she had a lot of smut. A medium curly breed might be made if you gathered the genetics and tried to cull the numerous fur issues.

 

[Zass]

The small curlies might need that but my curly meat mutts did fine in subzero out of the wind. I had a nice high production broken red but she had a lot of smut. A medium curly breed might be made if you gathered the genetics and tried to cull the numerous fur issues.

There are people working on a smallish commercial bodied astrex breed, and there is a lop too. Seems like some Canadians have the right genetic combo.


Velveteen lops have too much ear length to be outdoors, and IMO are a poor choice to develop into a curly breed to start with.

Breeders are having a tough enough time getting them consistent as it is, and really do wonder if these genes are linked to some of the health issues that v-lops are known to suffer.
Some of the people on the astrex groups have noticed all sorts of health problems, and many breeders claim to have dropped their curly projects after a few years due to it.

 

[DumansArk]

I have heard a number of theories, but it's a first for hearing that the fur could be getting licked off.

I don't believe at all that it is the amount of licking that causes the random bald kit. I have had a few baldie kits show up over the years, but not even on a regular basis, (thus if the doe was an over-licker, shouldn't it happen to more kits and in every litter?) and there are so many others that also report just a single baldie in a litter --- that idea just doesn't hold water.

As for the weaker hairs, once they've moulted you don't have them dropping hair or missing fur patches or anything. Some have shared that their baldies even look like nice rex coats at adulthood so weak fur...? Nah.

As you said. Too bad there wasn't funding for research. The genetics ARE fascinating.

 

[Zass]

I have heard a number of theories, but it's a first for hearing that the fur could be getting licked off.

I don't believe at all that it is the amount of licking that causes the random bald kit. I have had a few baldie kits show up over the years, but not even on a regular basis, (thus if the doe was an over-licker, shouldn't it happen to more kits and in every litter?) and there are so many others that also report just a single baldie in a litter --- that idea just doesn't hold water.

As for the weaker hairs, once they've moulted you don't have them dropping hair or missing fur patches or anything. Some have shared that their baldies even look like nice rex coats at adulthood so weak fur...? Nah.

As you said. Too bad there wasn't funding for research. The genetics ARE fascinating.

My doe isn't much of a licker at all, but she is consistently throwing about 25% partially bald kits. Even to different bucks.

I've heard about 50% of people say they will grow into extra dense rex coats, and about 50% say they will grow into poor coats. It makes me think density may be controlled by it's usual modifiers instead of being connected to the baldness trait. DumansArk, this kit could be yours if you'd like it to play with it. It's pretty small still, but I think it's a buckling. He just has to survive until he reaches 8 weeks (mid November) and be in good health to leave here. I have very low kit mortality rates, but my last baldy kit was very weak.

__________ Thu Oct 09, 2014 10:07 pm __________

I was reading about rabbit kits baldness online. There is little enough recorded about it.
I'm positive that there is more than one gene, or genetic combination that causes balding or partial balding in kits.

One website out of Australia mentions a gene that causes kits to bald only if it's doubled up. It also describes it as a frequently lethal combination, but one that kills slowly. It does not mention curls.
Also no mention on exactly how it causes frailty in the kits, but theoretically, very few with the doubled gene will make it to 8 weeks, none will be long lived adults. It also mentions that the affected kits are smaller and grow more slowly, and that it's most common on rex coated rabbits.

Others here in the US often mention having balding kits are smaller and grow more slowly than there litter mates.
One theory is that they consume more energy just staying warm.
Others describe having balding kits that grow at the same rates as their littermates. Not sure HOW much balding it occurring though. Like...just crown balding or total balding? I dunno.
What i do know, is that no one working with these genes has whole litters of totally balding kits.

The v-lop breeder I'm talking to tell me that rabbits with bald crowns are a good thing. That those kits have the best coats and are exactly what you what in a breeding program. Lets remember that she's a pretty big name in v-lops right now.

Let me state flat out.
I disagree, because I KNOW you can get good rex without these troublesome genes.

I agree with her about one thing. It's not astrex. They will not be curly as adults.

Hmmm.
I wonder...

This is all just speculation, so take it with a grain of salt.

But...
I'm thinking that...perhaps that "desirable" balding crown is the result of carrying one copy of the gene that causes these curls. It may even require the rex coat to manifest.
So far any velveteen buck that I've crossed to non-velveteens has produced strait coated kits with no balding or curl. It's at least telling me that it's either a recessive gene, or that it requires rex.

I'm fairly certain that both of my velveteens have one copy of the gene that causes curls and also produces balding.
I've heard from the breeders of both rabbits that they were curly as kits. Despite being unrelated, they are both purebred velveteen lops. It's highly likely that there is shared ancestor somewhere.
It seems like velveteen lop breeders are actually being told to select FOR this trait as a kind of genetic shortcut towards a show winning rex coat.

If I breed my rabbits together,
50% would carry one copy of the gene. (and be visibly curly kits)
25% of the kits could theoretically have the lethal combination of two copies.
Only 25% would be free of it.

Ok...that kinda sounds a lot like the odds I've gotten here. Except that out of two litters (5 and 4), I've only gotten one non-curly kit. (A broken black in my current litter)

What if all those curlies are carrying one copy of the gene which may-or-may-not cause some amount of crown balding? And two copies of that curly-kit gene causes...this?


It has less hair every time I look at it. It's starting to bald on it's legs to.
It was born a 1/2 sized runt, so my weights might be just coincidence. I would like to note that all of the kits were extremely well fed. Including that runt. Overfed. Obese even.
The rest of the litter is averaging 16 oz, and this kit is only 9 oz.

If my guess it correct, that kit will have it's hair grow back, but still won't ever make for a long lived adult rabbit.

Anyone find any big holes in my theories? I already know that I don't have a large enough genetic sample to support any of this. :lol:

But... I wonder if this troublesome gene has been interfering with people's attempts to breed true astrex in this country?

__________ Fri Oct 10, 2014 1:15 am __________

The first litter my velveteen lop doe produced was with her sire. Who I believe also carries that trait.
All 5 kits were curly. Only one developed a bald spot on her crown. (It's the pink spot on the tort in the pic.) She was born a large kit, but repeatedly attempted to die. I hand fed bunny formula for a while at 10 days, and again at 5 weeks. I created a special diet just for her at 5 weeks because she nearly died of GI stasis. Basically, she tried to die at every turn, and I DIDN'T LET HER. Helping was my wonderful doe who was still nursing her at 10 weeks old. Still I was pretty amazed to see her still alive at 12 weeks old. From 10 days on she was always smaller then the others. She had a tendency to keep her right eye 1/2 lidded or closed.
She was always completely limp when being carried. Like a ragdoll cat is sometimes described.
It was eerie. I never felt the usual tenseness or bunching of muscle that you feel when carrying a rabbit. Especially when being set down or returned to a cage. Rabbit people, you know what I'm taking about.


And yeah, she did grow into a rex coat.

I don't know if it was thicker than a normal rex coat, or if her foot fur would have rubbed off abnormally easily. I culled her because I was fairly certain she was too weak to survive elsewhere (she still struggled with stasis, often having abnormally small droppings), the final straw being a growth that was forming under her skin. The growth turned out to be a cyst.
The constant poor health was no laughing matter.

I've gone ahead and bred the velveteen lop buck I own to a mini rex doe. The goal is to see if any of the kits present the curly trait when paired with a non-velveteen rex type.

(Sorry, I'm not trying to bump the post, actually, I wish there was a way to edit without bumping. )

 

[Celice]

Oh! WOw! this kinda reminds me of the Turkish naked neck chickens. never knew this happened to rabbits

 

[Zass]

Oh! WOw! this kinda reminds me of the Turkish naked neck chickens. never knew this happened to rabbits

I didn't either. Well, not like that.
That kit actually got a lot worse, started to re grow the fur, and then went through a SECOND bald, where he lost all the new grown fur on his crown and the base of his ears, but not any of the new fur on the rest of his face, legs and back. It's all quite mysterious.
I'm working on eliminating it.

 

[Celice]

Oh! WOw! this kinda reminds me of the Turkish naked neck chickens. never knew this happened to rabbits

I didn't either. Well, not like that.
That kit actually got a lot worse, started to re grow the fur, and then went through a SECOND bald, where he lost all the new grown fur on his crown and the base of his ears, but not any of the new fur on the rest of his face, legs and back. It's all quite mysterious.
I'm working on eliminating it.

Do mini rex and stranded rex get like this?

I may have to watch my rexes if that's the case. I'm glad I saw this or I would have thought it was something much worse like mange. is is starting to regrow the fur again?

 

[Dood]

Here an old but interesting study on Rex, curly rex with some normal furred and angora thrown in http://www.ias.ac.in/jarch/jgenet/42/215.pdf

I also find it very interesting that the gene(s) for Rex in rabbits is on chromosome 14 and the gene for hairless and rhino hairless mice are also on chromosome 14 - repeats or deletions might be the cause of these rabbits balding :shrug:

 

[Zass]

Here an old but interesting study on Rex, curly rex with some normal furred and angora thrown in http://www.ias.ac.in/jarch/jgenet/42/215.pdf

I also find it very interesting that the gene(s) for Rex in rabbits is on chromosome 14 and the gene for hairless and rhino hairless mice are also on chromosome 14 - repeats or deletions might be the cause of these rabbits balding :shrug:

I had been waiting for you to get in on this Dood.


With a little more exploration the inheritance of the gene in my herd follows what that article describes. A simple recessive that requires rex. Both Mucky and the first velveteen buck probably have two copies of the gene. When crossed to a non-curl carrying rexed doe, no curly kits were produced.

No one seem to know why some kits bald and others don't. An astrex breeder tells me it's just a delay in hair growth after a moult, but still doesn't know why it only affects a small percentage of kits.
In this litter, it wasn't the balding kit that ended up with digestive issues. I ended up having to cull a different kit for it. Not weaning enteritis, it just wouldn't eat pellets like the fader kit in my last litter, and was starving. I was feeding it on greens oats and boss, but it wasn't coming out of stasis. I'm glad I did cull, as an autopsy revealed almost white liver and kidneys.

This baldy kit preformed it's first moult earlier than the article, or the astrex breeders I speak to describe. Beginning a little after 2 weeks old. The second moult was in the more typical 5-6 week range.

The article doesn't explain the presence of curls that are sometimes found on non rexed coats.
Although here, someone describes their curled harlequin as always developing into rexed coats. It suggests that some of their lines carry rexing, and most are carrying the curl genes.

My guess is that whenever a rexed kit appears in their nestboxes, it inevitably has two copies of those curl genes, and their non curly harlis just aren't showing it because they don't have the rex expressed.
http://www.downtherabbithole.ca/astrex.html

The balding seems to start showing up when curled rex is bred to curled rex.

Interestingly the article you posted describes the curl gene as being particularly common in "exhibition lines."
It syncs up with how the developers of velveteen lops are actually pushing for the retention of these kits, claiming that they will have the best rex coats.
From my own experience, it seems to lend a distinctive feeling of softness.

One of my theories is that breeders working to root out the cause of sore hocks have drastically reduced carriers of that gene in standard rex.

See, I have foot fur problems all of my rabbits that were curly as kits.

The coarser coated adult velveteen buck I recently purchased was wire kept and has good foot fur. I was assured he's never thrown a curly kit.

The MR doe who didn't throw any curly kits with a buck who threw all curlies with Mucky was also selected as an adult for good foot fur.

The show line velveteen from the breeder who just got her rabbits passed at convention already has bad foot fur. Mucky has always had poor foot fur despite me never having her on wire. They don't get sore hocks, because I don't keep those ones on wire... they are just stuck with bald foot bottoms.

Weak foot fur has come up a few times on the astrex group I'm part of, with most breeders admitting, "Yes...it can be a problem." It's typically dismissed as a rex in general problem though, and something that just needs to be worked on.

At this point, I wouldn't really want to work with the curls further.
Even if it's not genetically connected, all of the curlies that I have are passing along weak foot fur genes that I would rather not inflict on any more rabbits.

__________ Sun Nov 16, 2014 3:08 pm __________

This is Igor currently.

He's almost 8 weeks, now. His crown fur has grown back.
The thin ear fur is a trait that was brought in by a certain buck, who will no longer be used.
There are still thin and bald patches scattered around the margins of the rabbit. The first pic shows a foreleg. Notice the thin furred toe tops in the second photo. His belly wasn't effected by either moult, and it still has the curly fur the rest of the kits have. He will outgrow all of this to look like an ordinary rex...for a while.


Mucky herself isn't molting, but her fur continually looks like it these days. I'd been forgiving the rough look due to nursing, kits, and nestbuilding, but...her curled backside that started looking like this after a bath I gave her in the spring, still looks like that. She no longer has what I would consider to be a good rex coat. She's has some curls and her fur is much less dense than it used to be. It's typical for astrex to grow out of their curls and grow back into them later in life. When Mucky was younger she was placed in front of an experienced 4-H judge. He really liked my big SF buckling , but he liked Mucky's rex coat too. It's pretty clear that she no longer has the same coat. ( FYI, I have been dusting them with DE for mites as a just-in-case measure ever since MSD mentioned it. I truly believe it's the odd genes causing the hair loss, but dusting with DE doesn't hurt, and isn't expensive. So I have no reason not to use it. )

 

[skysthelimit]

Oh! WOw! this kinda reminds me of the Turkish naked neck chickens. never knew this happened to rabbits

I didn't either. Well, not like that.
That kit actually got a lot worse, started to re grow the fur, and then went through a SECOND bald, where he lost all the new grown fur on his crown and the base of his ears, but not any of the new fur on the rest of his face, legs and back. It's all quite mysterious.
I'm working on eliminating it.

Do mini rex and stranded rex get like this?

I may have to watch my rexes if that's the case. I'm glad I saw this or I would have thought it was something much worse like mange. is is starting to regrow the fur again?

No. Of the 600 some odd kits I've had in the last 3 1/2 years, or all the Rex breeders I no, there has never been a discussion of Rex kits going bald.

The problem is, the Rx coat is a genetic mutation, and it is notoriously hard to get consistent fur on two Rex, much less trying to create a Rex furred breed. Something appears to have gotten lost in the translation...

__________ Tue Nov 18, 2014 1:39 pm __________

One of my theories is that breeders working to root out the cause of sore hocks have drastically reduced carriers of that gene in standard rex.

See, I have foot fur problems all of my rabbits that were curly as kits.

The coarser coated adult velveteen buck I recently purchased was wire kept and has good foot fur. I was assured he's never thrown a curly kit.

I would think yes. People think Rex coat means soft, but not really. It means plush, dense, short, resilient and smooth. Soft is a bad word. Soft Rex coats cause sore hocks. Dense and resilient don't.

Now I have had soft, silky coats. Cull, cull, cull. They grow out thin and a bit longer. All wrong. <br /><br /> __________ Tue Nov 18, 2014 1:48 pm __________ <br /><br />

See, I have foot fur problems all of my rabbits that were curly as kits.



Weak foot fur has come up a few times on the astrex group I'm part of, with most breeders admitting, "Yes...it can be a problem." It's typically dismissed as a rex in general problem though, and something that just needs to be worked on.

Sadly yes. Big breed problem. On my soap box again, Rex is a hard breed to get consistent coats on when breeding two Rex, much less breeding in and out and in again. There are some breeds that have lots of issues . in the grand scheme this is one of a few; and it takes time to develop, long past when the bun is shown, so it's not a direct priority, other than getting better fur type on the rabbit period, and breeding for a wider, shorter foot.

 

[Zass]

No. Of the 600 some odd kits I've had in the last 3 1/2 years, or all the Rex breeders I no, there has never been a discussion of Rex kits going bald.

The problem is, the Rx coat is a genetic mutation, and it is notoriously hard to get consistent fur on two Rex, much less trying to create a Rex furred breed. Something appears to have gotten lost in the translation...

The balding is due to the astrex (curl) genes in combination with the rex I think...Unless I have more than one balding genotype in place.
I believe the original mutation occurred in standard rex.
Standard and mini rex can, and sometimes do carry those genes, but, it seems to be a lot more common in mini rex and velveteen lops. Canadian plush lops have a curly variant too. I wouldn't be surprised if someone had crossed them into velveteens at some point.



I think breeders have worked pretty hard to get rid of the curl trait in standard rex lines.

Like I mentioned before, the balding seems to crop up mostly when rabbits who were curly as kits are bred to other rabbits who were curly as kits. Something about concentrating things brings it out. Someone else claims to have a velveteen line that isn't curly and still goes through a balding phase. And some people have whole litters of curly balding kits.

I wish there was more information available on these genetics, but everything I can find seems to have been cobbled together from old studies, and breeders experience.

But it's pretty safe to assume that if one's rabbits are not already throwing curly rexed kits, they probably will never see balding.

I'm already working on eliminating the curls to get rid of the balding trait from my own lines.

Lorrie Stillo (current COD holder) is encouraging people to ignore the curls, and select for crown balding in velveteens. She just got her new standard passed, so I'm guessing she knows a thing or two that I don't but....I don't want it this in my herd all the same. I truly believe that my lines will be healthier and hardier without it.

Now I have had soft, silky coats. Cull, cull, cull. They grow out thin and a bit longer. All wrong.

Over sized v-lop juniors will be able to be shown as seniors. I bet this helps with both the coat and size issues...

 

[skysthelimit]

No. Of the 600 some odd kits I've had in the last 3 1/2 years, or all the Rex breeders I no, there has never been a discussion of Rex kits going bald.

The problem is, the Rx coat is a genetic mutation, and it is notoriously hard to get consistent fur on two Rex, much less trying to create a Rex furred breed. Something appears to have gotten lost in the translation...

The balding is due to the astrex (curl) genes in combination with the rex I think...Unless I have more than one balding genotype in place.
I believe the original mutation occurred in standard rex.
Standard and mini rex can, and sometimes do carry those genes, but, it seems to be a lot more common in mini rex and velveteen lops. Canadian plush lops have a curly variant too. I wouldn't be surprised if someone had crossed them into velveteens at some point.

Sorry I was responding to the question as to whether this is normal in Rex. Nope. It's just as abnormal in Rex as it is anywhere else. Astrex doesn't pop out normally either, it's some type of mutation. Some where someone had it, but it's not widespread that breeders had to work on getting it out.

As to the curl trait. I've never heard anyone discuss trying to get rid of it any more than people discuss trying to get rid of spontaneous Rex in other breeds It's a genetic anomaly, not really something you have to get rid of because it's not wide spread in the lines.
And before they became the rage, if you found one, it was culled pretty quick, along with the parents that produced it.

Mini Rex are created from Rex and dwarf breeds. I can't say I've heard anyone talk about balding, or experienced with with the MR, but since they have genetics other than Rex, who knows when it could have come in. Or Astrex. They are still pretty rare.

That is what seems to be the problem with Rex furred rabbits. Because Rex is a mutation, fur does not always breed consistent. Then throw in another mutated gene, and you have what Dood said, something possibly written wrong in the genetic code, which is essential what Rex is, a screw up in the genetic code of rabbits. A little bit off and pow! you go from shortest fur to naked neck.

All I'm saying is --It's hard to get consistent coats on V lops when using a breed that can't even get consistent coats within itself Don't beat yourself up.

If you wanna give it a try, you surely can find plenty of Rex that have never had naked necks or curly kits.

I will say, I have gotten JW with curly wool, in their jr prime before it molts out. Makes their coats a nasty mess (which is why I advise not to try to get opossum Rex). <br /><br /> __________ Tue Nov 18, 2014 8:11 pm __________ <br /><br /> Don't you wonder why, since Rex just popped up, more Rex just don't pop up in other breeds?

We keep telling people that if they get a Rex in a normal litter, there had to be a Rex gene somewhere. Well yeah, they are a sport, so why doesn't it happen again?

 

[Zass]

The only thing I disagree with Sky, is that astrex genes are uncommon. I'm on an astrex group on facebook, and curly kits pop up all over the place. It's just that few rabbits retain that coat into adulthood. Breeders are still trying to figure out exactly why.
One of the most educated guesses to date is from a breeder in Canada who was given a line of astrex that breed true. She's been inbreeding them for many years, and also trying to get the coat established on various outcrossed lines. She tells me that she believes there are a few genes needed to "fix" the curls into the adult coat.

 

[Dood]

Don't you wonder why, since Rex just popped up, more Rex just don't pop up in other breeds?

We keep telling people that if they get a Rex in a normal litter, there had to be a Rex gene somewhere. Well yeah, they are a sport, so why doesn't it happen again?

I am sure it does happen - but it is much much much more likely that the parents have rex somewhere in their history .... at least until a different/new rex mutation arises that is not compatable with the current rex gene - as seen in Cornish rex, Devon rex and Selkirk rex cats

Breed two of these together and you get all normal coated kittens who are carriers - or Selkirk rex as this is a dominat gene :mrgreen: