Blue eyes or illusion?

[Ablebreeze]

The parents and grandparents of this litter were given to me. I was told they're rex, but clearly they're not 100% because the fur is too long.

Neither the parents, nor grandparents of this litter had blue eyes. So I'm trying to figure out if it's just an illusion that they look blue.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Cotton Rabbitry]

They may stay hazel blue color, which I have had happen, but most likely they are blue. I have bred my Mutt breed - brown eyed breeders throw me more then one greyish and blue eyed kits.

 

[Alaska Satin]

The parents and grandparents of this litter were given to me. I was told they're rex, but clearly they're not 100% because the fur is too long.

Neither the parents, nor grandparents of this litter had blue eyes. So I'm trying to figure out if it's just an illusion that they look blue.

Thanks for your input.
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That surely looks blue to me, possibly even what's called marbled. I've had kits with blue or marbled eyes come out of black parents when the parents were actually self chinchilla rather than true black.

The other possibility is the Vienna gene, which produces blue-eyed-whites (BEW) when the rabbit carries two copies of the gene. If a rabbit gets one copy, it can have blue or marbled eyes, and/or white marks on an otherwise solid rabbit. When you combine the Vienna gene with the gene for broken, it becomes very difficult to identify Vienna carriers unless they have those blue eyes.

The color of blue of your bunny's eyes looks like self chin to me; chin blue usually looks more smoky, while Vienna usually look a brighter or an ice blue. But since rex are bred in both the BEW and Chinchilla varieties, it could reasonably be either.

What colors were the parents and grandparents?

And you're right, those are definitely not rex coats on those bunnies.

 

[Ablebreeze]

What colors were the parents and grandparents?

Grandfather on both sides was a broken- black spots on white

Grandmother on mom's side was broken-brown spots on white

Mom is Charlie- almost no black on white

Grandmother on dad's side was broken -tuxedo coloring almost all black, white dulap and belly

Dad is all black with some brown.

 

[Alaska Satin]

Grandfather on both sides was a broken- black spots on white

Grandmother on mom's side was broken-brown spots on white

Mom is Charlie- almost no black on white

Grandmother on dad's side was broken -tuxedo coloring almost all black, white dulap and belly

Dad is all black with some brown.

Hm, well, nothing that helps sway it either way for me. Some or all of the broken blacks could be broken self chins, or they could be broken VM or VC (Vienna Marked or Vienna Carrier).

Does the father' black with some brown look sort of like either of these (called copper or chestnut)?

 

[Ablebreeze]

Does the father' black with some brown look sort of like either of these (called copper or chestnut)?

No. He looks solid black until you see him in the light and realize there are large brown patches intermixed in the black.

 

[Alaska Satin]

No. He looks solid black until you see him in the light and realize there are large brown patches intermixed in the black.

I think those are photos of two different rabbits.

The first could be a black with its fur discolored by sunburn or molt, or else what's called a seal (a color which often looks like a sunburned black).

The second looks like a black silver marten, going by the silver color inside its ears, around its eyes and on its belly. The patches of brown look pretty clearly like old fur molting out.

Which one is the sire of the blue-eyed kit? If it's the marten, the kit could defintely be a self chin, since the color marten is produced by a chinchilla gene (in combination with a tan gene).

 

[Ablebreeze]

They might be different rabbits. I thought they were the same. I was trying to cheat and not take new pictures. I rescued 100 rabbits in January and it was tricky to keep everyone straight.

Here's new pictures.

 

[Alaska Satin]

They might be different rabbits. I thought they were the same. I was trying to cheat and not take new pictures. I rescued 100 rabbits in January and it was tricky to keep everyone straight.

Here's new pictures.

Those brown patches do look like evidence of a black rabbit finishing up a molt. Seal doesn't usually show up in discrete patches, though seals and sables can have some pretty crazy molt patterns, like this sable doe:


Your buck's scattered white hairs could be evidence of the Vienna gene...but are not necessarily.

I think what you're left with is a test breeding to see what's going on. You could breed him with a chinchilla doe; if he's a self chin, you should get at least one or two chinchilla kits. Or you could breed him with a BEW doe, which should produce at least one or two BEW kits if he's a Vienna carrier. Same with the little blue-eyed kit: breed it with a chin or a BEW and see what happens. Or, just enjoy the unique bunny for what it is, whatever it is.

 

[Ablebreeze]

Or, just enjoy the unique bunny for what it is, whatever it is.

 

[judymac]

The eye is definitely not the proper brown color.

Vienna is typically a clearer blue than this, although Vienna carriers can have off-colored eyes. My guess would be chinchilla Below is a very pale blue eye on a black self chin ( brother was an ermine, which is chinchilla plus non-extension fawn ee).