Belgian Hare x Blue Rex ?

[Stormy]

Has anyone tried crossing Belgians and Rex? What were the results?
Why? I love Blue Rex and I'm wanting to have a rabbit I adore that I can cross with my Belgian to see if I can generate a Belgian Blue eventually. Love the Rex colors. Belgians, not so much variety.
Not sure how crossing a Rex with any other type of fur will work out - if it reverts to something weird or if the Belgian's coat would dominate.
And unfamiliar with Belgian genetics what would happen with color... although I'm starting with a Black & Tan buck not rufus. Black maybe more suitable for a cross with a Blue, than Rufus.

And, I love the personalities of the Rex. My other choice I'm looking at are American Blues, a semi-arch breed, but personality wise I would think the Rex better complement the Belgian. Both have colorful fiesty personalities. Except Rex have that low to the ground body type - dang.

If anyone's done any experiments with crossing Rex or Belgians, I'd love to hear about it... or other suggestions for a good blue compatible rabbit. Thanks!

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

Rex coat is recessive, so the normal fur will be dominate.

As far as breeding any other breeds to Belgians, I've not heard of it, probably because Belgian's are a rare breed, so breeders are all about breeding purebreds and expanding the lines, etc.

Emily

 

[Stormy]

Thanks BlueCamasRabbitry for your response. Without being a genetics expert, with the Rex fur gene being recessive, would the rabbit's coat default to whomever its crossed with, ie. regular Belgian fur in this instance? Or would the coat be a hybrid of the two, maybe half plush and half long guard hairs or otherwise have unique fur?

I did come across Rex x Belgians on the internet in an old ad, but no pictures. I don't know how easy it'd be to regain type from breeding with a Rex who has a very compact meaty type.

I'm all for breeding Belgian Hare purebreds but in this country they all sound a little inter-bred. Mine fortunately has some European heritage, hence the color. Any rabbit that comes only in one color in the U.S. is bound not to be all that popular, in my opinion. There are more colors in Europe, but not recognized here (black, white, black & tan...). No blue ones though. They are beautiful rabbits - really exquisite - and friendly, smart, curious... when mine was 8 weeks old he was boxtrained in one week! Now he chases cats around the house and he's only half their size And he's sweet, to boot. So far he seems to be fine with being picked up and coddled, contrary to reviews about the breed.

I'll certainly be working the purebreed angle too, if I can get my hands on a couple more who aren't entirely related. Not easy, they are rare out here on the West Coast.

 

[Devon's Mom Lauren]

Belgians are Full Arch type body while the Rex is totally the opposite. You have more to worry about like bodies being to beefy for the long fine boned legs of the hare. I would suggest finding a sport(self) English spot in blue to use. I would stay with the "Arch' type body as close as possible. Being interbred is not a bad thing in rabbits as well.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

Rabbit judge /breeder told me to stay with the correct body type-- even when doing rescue breeding--even if it means using a smaller breed then breeding back up for size. skeletal structure is easy to change and alter, but getting the soft tissues to conform to the skeletal structure is the problem-- it takes many more generations to achieve soft tissue change. And with full arch vs compact-- you are dealing with important support tissues-- tendons, ligaments, etc.

 

[Stormy]

Thanks Frosted Rabbit - this is interesting stuff and it sounds like a very important consideration. I would think a rabbits tissues would match its skeleton, but what do I know - thank you!! I am so glad I posted my contemplations here

So I've been learning from this forum about other full-arch breeds. I have discovered the English Spot, Checkered Giant, and Rhinelander. The Rhinelander unfortunately does not come in blue. I am looking around for one of the first two as blue selfs. This might take awhile... I also noticed the Tan is a full arch breed, although smaller. While beautiful, they don't come in solid blue, but do have a blue with tan markings. They're a bit smaller though 6 lbs to my 10-12 lb Belgian buck so I am not sure that is such a good pairing!

Meanwhile, rest assured I will also help keep purebred Belgians going, as soon as I can get ahold of a lady friend for my little buck. Its truly a wonderful breed - I just love watching him hop around my house - he is so agile and curious, and loves to do high-speed runs around the house just for fun. Recently he finally engaged one of the cats - he's chase her into the bedroom, then come barreling out with her chasing him, and then back around again for a few times - very cute!