Eye Color Help

[CarsLops]

It's always something with rabbits, isn't it? I have a litter that is about four weeks old. When I went out today, I noticed that the one has a blue wedge in his brown eyes. I have never seen this and have no idea what is going on.

He is a black false charlie (solid doe to broken buck), but he is out of two gold tipped black steels, so I figured that he is super-steel. The rest of the litter is another broken black (super-steel?) and two chestnuts. The dame is out of an opal and gold tipped black steel. She has been bred four times. Once to a chestnut, which produced gold tipped black steels and chestnuts, and the other three litters were by a gold tipped black steel buck I kept out of her first litter. Those three litters have been all chestnuts, gold tipped black steels, or blacks. Out of the 12 kits she has produced, I have never seen this.

I know a black rabbit with blue eyes is probably a self-chin, but he only has blue wedges. He's already not showable, so I'm just worried it's something that's messing with his vision or that I have some weird genetic thing going on from either the doe or buck. I'll try to get pictures later when I have someone to help me.

 

[Bad Habit]

The vienna gene will cause that. I have a picture somewhere of my blue vienna buck who had an eye that was half steel-grey dilute coloured, and half bright blue from the vienna gene.

 

[Zass]

I wouldn't always assume a rabbit from two steel parents who looks self is a super steel, rabbits with just one steel carrying parent can look that way too.

I think chinchilla genes can mess with eye color even if they are carried recessively. ANY chin ancestors?

 

[CarsLops]

The vienna gene will cause that.

That's what I was afraid of. This is the only Vienna-like thing that has ever popped up in these lines. Is it possible that it's super far back and this is the only way it'll ever show.

Zass, I checked and, yes, there are at least five different chinchilla ancestors.

 

[Bad Habit]

The vienna gene will cause that.

That's what I was afraid of. This is the only Vienna-like thing that has ever popped up in these lines. Is it possible that it's super far back and this is the only way it'll ever show..

Your false charlies could be vienna charlies as well. Vienna and the broken gene often causes a false charlie affect.

Chinchilla wouldn't give the rabbits blue eyes, I don't think. Only the vienna gene will give them blue eyes.

 

[CarsLops]

I can't get a good picture to save my life. There always ends up being some light reflecting off the eye that makes it look like there's more blue than there really is. So, I made a picture in Microsoft paint to try and illustrate it. Please note that there is nothing wrong with his eyes, I just had trouble getting everything even in paint :lol:

The blue is a very pale blue, maybe closer to gray. The one eye has a small wedge from the bottom of the iris (right term?) to the pupil. The other eye has a thin line of blue lining the bottom half of the pupil.

I don't know if any of this makes a difference, but I thought that I'd be as thorough as possible.

I found this article online that says that says that chinchilla can cause a self-looking rabbit to have mottled eyes.
http://rabbitsmarties.com/2011/07/rabbi ... explained/

 

[PSFAngoras]

The chinchilla gene will cause more of a dark grey blue like the dilute gene while the Vienna gene will cause a more bright, sky blue. I've never noticed any chin or self chin to have mottled eye color, so I wouldn't rule it out, but with such small amounts I'd be leanin towards Vienna.

To test it, you can keep said kit and breed back to someone else you know to have Vienna. If you get more sports (the vienna version of broken basically) or if you get blue eyes whites, then you can be sure it is the Vienna gene and not the broken gene. It is a bit of a PITA though because Vienna can be a co-dominant gene, and not the easy kind to distinguish either.

Most other co-dominant genes are easy to tell which version they have (solid, broken, Charlie), but with the co-dominant of Vienna, it can either be expressed as a sport with anywhere from one stray white hair to full on spotting pattern either with or without light blue eyes, or it may not be expressed at all. Like I said, PITA, but it does have the potential to throw some beautiful rabbits, though they won't be showable in quite a few breeds. Not sure where mini lops stand on that

 

[skysthelimit]

Self chin will give you a mottled eye, that is usually a clue that I have a self chin out of my chin lines, instead of a regular self. Chins will also cause blue gray, gray and hazel eye color. I have all three in my Chins, and when the breeder tried to breed for only brown eyed chins, she lost the chin mid band.

Vienna is always a possibility, breed back to sire and dam, to to litter mates and you'll find out.