Ever get a dinghy colored Californian?

[Joe n TN]

I bred two papered Californians, got a nice litter, all except for the runt. Not only is he/she the runt it has an off white, dinghy color over the entire body. Almost the color of a wet/dirty sock after you wring it out.

Anyone ever get one like this? I'll try and get a picture after work just for reference, but I'm sure you get the idea. Thanks,

Joe

 

[OneAcreFarm]

It probably got cold and and turned "frosty"....sort of a dingy gray? It will eventually molt out.

 

[tnelsonfla]

Sometimes you'll get that in extreme cold and down here in Florida we get them in summer if born on a hot &/or very humid night. They will eventually be of "normal" coloration. Very seldom do they make the best show animals thou.

 

[SatinsRule]

I bred two papered Californians, got a nice litter, all except for the runt. Not only is he/she the runt it has an off white, dinghy color over the entire body. Almost the color of a wet/dirty sock after you wring it out.

Anyone ever get one like this? I'll try and get a picture after work just for reference, but I'm sure you get the idea. Thanks,

Joe

Joe, chances are solid that the gray-tinted (frosted) bunny will have the best point color in the entire litter. It's not at all uncommon for cal babies to have that, and it usually lasts until they shed their baby coats. I have a litter of cal satin bunnies right now, and one has that "frosted" color to its coat. I'm pretty sure it will be the best one in the litter.

What I'm telling you is that it's completely normal, and even desired if point color is what you're after.

 

[trinityoaks]

I had a couple of Cal kits that got out of the cage early on. I was able to save them (thankfully), but I could tell for a long time which ones they were, because they had a grey tint to their coats. As the others said, eventually they lose the tint after their first good molt.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

The cold sensitivity of Cals is really odd... if you give them frozen water bottles, and they lay against them, does it cause the fur to change color?

 

[Nyctra]

Check out wikipedia's article on the Siamese cat. Go down to Appearance, third paragraph. I've wondered why the Cali's eyes are red, and I guess that explained it. XD I don't think ice would make a difference on an adult rabbit unless it was was kept on ice for months at a time or such...even so, I would think it probably only effect colored areas the most. X)

 

[wsmoak]

Check out wikipedia's article on the Siamese cat. Go down to Appearance, third paragraph. I've wondered why the Cali's eyes are red, and I guess that explained it. XD I don't think ice would make a difference on an adult rabbit unless it was was kept on ice for months at a time or such...even so, I would think it probably only effect colored areas the most. X)

Interesting, I didn't realize the dark points were a form of albinism.

I am glad the breeder told me my new Cali's ears would fade in the summer; they certainly have!

-Wendy

 

[A&BRabbitry]

The term that is often used for this is smut and will occur anytime a kit is too cold, too hot, or you almost lose the kit and yes your cals with the darkest points will also be the most likely canidates to have smut.

 

[SatinsRule]

The term that is often used for this is smut and will occur anytime a kit is too cold, too hot, or you almost lose the kit and yes your cals with the darkest points will also be the most likely canidates to have smut.

Actually, smut and frosting are somewhat different things.

Smut happens as the body cools down in relation to outdoor temperatures in the coldest months of the year. As the main areas of the body cool below a certain level, smut will appear.

Frosting occurs almost from birth, becoming apparent as the baby coat begins to appear, and goes away when the baby coat moults. Right now, in the warmest time of the year, I have a Cal Satin which has frosting on its coat. It will disappear when the bunny goes thru its first moult. Smut would not appear at the same time of year on this same animal, as it is directly related to the temperature not only of the rabbit, but also the temperature of the environment around it.

And FWIW to anyone who cares, Californian rabbits are geneticslly speaking, a black rabbit. They possess a heat-sensitive gene which allows the extremities to remain black while the warmer parts of the body turn white. If you were to shave a section of their coat and apply a cold compress to it continually until the fur reappeared, a solid black patch would be found under the compress.

Regardless of its genetics, though, Cal rabbits in any breed are impressive critters to look at when they're in their prime.

 

[3mina]

It's why I keep trying to find them, they are so interesting all the way around

 

[tnelsonfla]

And FWIW to anyone who cares, Californian rabbits are genetically speaking, a black rabbit. They possess a heat-sensitive gene which allows the extremities to remain black while the warmer parts of the body turn white. If you were to shave a section of their coat and apply a cold compress to it continually until the fur reappeared, a solid black patch would be found under the compress.

That is very interesting, I never knew that about Californians, I have a friend who just started raising them a few years ago. I'll have to tell him this and see if he knows.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

And FWIW to anyone who cares, Californian rabbits are geneticslly speaking, a black rabbit. They possess a heat-sensitive gene which allows the extremities to remain black while the warmer parts of the body turn white. If you were to shave a section of their coat and apply a cold compress to it continually until the fur reappeared, a solid black patch would be found under the compress.

Regardless of its genetics, though, Cal rabbits in any breed are impressive critters to look at when they're in their prime.

I was taught that the temperature sensitive gene found in Cals, Himis and other pointed critters actually reacts to cold....the coldest parts are what will develop the darkest color and the warmest parts will stay white.

"The ch allele is also known as the himi, himalayan or pointed allele. Genetically it is sometimes referred to as the ch1 allele. It is partially dominant to the “c” allele, completely recessive to the “C” allele and “chd” allele and partially recessive to “chl” allele. This allele removes all color except at the points (face, ears, feet and tail). This allele is the allele responsible for Californian and Himalayan color patterns."

 

[SatinsRule]

And FWIW to anyone who cares, Californian rabbits are geneticslly speaking, a black rabbit. They possess a heat-sensitive gene which allows the extremities to remain black while the warmer parts of the body turn white. If you were to shave a section of their coat and apply a cold compress to it continually until the fur reappeared, a solid black patch would be found under the compress.

Regardless of its genetics, though, Cal rabbits in any breed are impressive critters to look at when they're in their prime.

I was taught that the temperature sensitive gene found in Cals, Himis and other pointed critters actually reacts to cold....the coldest parts are what will develop the darkest color and the warmest parts will stay white.

"The ch allele is also known as the himi, himalayan or pointed allele. Genetically it is sometimes referred to as the ch1 allele. It is partially dominant to the “c” allele, completely recessive to the “C” allele and “chd” allele and partially recessive to “chl” allele. This allele removes all color except at the points (face, ears, feet and tail). This allele is the allele responsible for Californian and Himalayan color patterns."

That is correct, and as those colored points warm up (such as right now when the weather is ridiculously hot), the point color will be lighter. Why? Because it's reacting to the heat around the rabbit, which is in turn affecting the temperature of the rabbit itself. On the flip side of the equation, when the weather gets ridiculously cold, point color tends to get much darker and it's also when you'll get the majority of your occurrences of smut on the usable portions of their pelts.

In other words, the majority of the body is normally warm enough to where the color never turns dark, and that explains why the heat-sensitive gene causes the majority of the body to never turn black. Affect that in any way (such as with a cold compress on a shaven area of the body), and you'll disrupt that cycle to where the hair which grows back under the cold pack will actually turn dark.

Think of it like this. Which areas of your body get cold first in really cold parts of the winter? Your feet, nose, ears, hands. The core of your body is what generates the largest portion of heat. On a point-colored rabbit, those are the areas which turn cold first, remain cold the longest, and tend to be lower in temperature than the rest of the body, and with the heat-sensitive gene, they are the areas which will turn white the last.

 

[Diamond]

wow. very very interesting. I am new to rabbits and taking a casual approach (not showing or trying to produce anything exceptional other than meat for the table) and find this all very fascinating, it is neat to 'know' why the Californian rabbits coats are the way they are.