Sounds like it's the doe that carries the otter <at>.
I've never had a seal otter but it sounds like you may.
Good rabbit beginner color genetic page?
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I've never had a seal otter but it sounds like you may.
Well I am totally wrong about Doe being a self black. She had no markings up to 3 1/2 months. After checking belly, limbs, under tail, foot pads, ear fringe I have to say she might be a poorly marked Otter. She has the tan on belly, foot pads, hind limbs, under tail, ear fringe. No tan on front legs or under chin.
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Yes! She's what some of us call a "tweener," which is an otter-not-otter, haha. Tan (otter) is supposed to be dominant over self, but in the trenches we've found it's not always that clear-cut. One of my best brood does is a tweener. Interestingly, even though tweeners are heterzygous otter + self <at a> they don't seem to produce otters, only selfs, or at least none of mine have produced otters (unless they're bred to an otter, of course). But yours apparently does!
That rusty coloring in her black still looks suspiciously sable-like. Has she been out in the sun where her black color might be sunbleached?
That rusty coloring in her black still looks suspiciously sable-like. Has she been out in the sun where her black color might be sunbleached?
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Mini Lop Fan
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I would recommend checking out these rabbit color genetic guides. Both of them have photo dictionaries along with explanations of the how and why. Unfortunately, they are for the lop breeds which do have different fur than rex. They are great for beginners though and would be helpful for identifying many colors.
GB Farm's guide for Holland Lops: Holland Lop Colors
Queen City Rabbitry's Guide for Mini Lops: Rabbit Fur Color Genetics
GB Farm's guide for Holland Lops: Holland Lop Colors
Queen City Rabbitry's Guide for Mini Lops: Rabbit Fur Color Genetics
Wow, this is really interesting!!! In some of the pictures, the bluish ones look like they're sable-y and might have a little dark shading starting on their feet/nose, but in other photos they don't seem to have even the slightest bit of shading, and look like your basic medium blue, if a bit washed-out. They certainly aren't getting mocha-colored like my sables do by this age. So I'm scratching the sable idea, for the kits at least (I'm still suspicious of sable in one or both of the parents, especially since they're not sunburned).
Day 15, the light Blue is turning darker but not as dark as the other. No markings showing but time will tell. Pictures- light Blue, Otter, Dark Blue, Trio. Al are in the 8 ounce range.
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Newest litter from same Doe & Buck. 7 live & they are now 8 days old. Some different colors here from the previous litter of Otter & 2 Blues.
2"Solid" looking Blacks- no markings
2 "marking" They have the eye ring, nose ring, & light inside of ears with a very light belly. They also have white hairs growing up their sides & rear end. 1 is darker like black & 1 more brown. I thought Agouti, then Silver Marten but then read that Silver Marten do not have the patch between the ears. Mine do
1 very dark Blue but next to the Black it is Blue
1 very light Blue or Lilac
1 Solid looking Chocolate
Would love your input...
2"Solid" looking Blacks- no markings
2 "marking" They have the eye ring, nose ring, & light inside of ears with a very light belly. They also have white hairs growing up their sides & rear end. 1 is darker like black & 1 more brown. I thought Agouti, then Silver Marten but then read that Silver Marten do not have the patch between the ears. Mine do
1 very dark Blue but next to the Black it is Blue
1 very light Blue or Lilac
1 Solid looking Chocolate
Would love your input...
Silver martins have markings in exactly the same places as agoutis; the only difference is that the chinchilla gene <cchd> blocks expression of yellow (tan) pigment, so where agoutis have tan markings, silver martins have silvery white markings. Otters also have markings in the same place as agoutis, but their fur is self colored rather than having ring color.
So, I don't think the kits are agoutis. It's true that agouti kits start out looking pretty solid, but by this age the color is usually starting to show, at least in the darker kits. It looks like the marked chocolate kit might be silver martin, but the black in the third photo is an otter, based on the tan near his eye and jowl; if it was a martin there would be no tan anywhere. Having both otters and martins in the same litter is not uncommon, since martin is basically an otter plus the chinchilla gene.
I can't really tell from the photos, but the "very light blue" could certainly be a lilac since there are both dilutes and chocolates in the litter (lilac is dilute chocolate).
The weird thing is that they have a little red/tan on their chin, & back of neck. Both though have the Silver creeping up the sides & hind end. The leg & belly markings are white/silver not red/tan. Pictures are of the 2 different Silver Marten/ Otter.
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It's true, otters' markings aren't entirely tan; in fact their bellies are usually silvery with a rim of tan around the edges (agoutis are the same). Especially in kits this young, there is a lot of color development left to do, but if they have *any* tan color, they should be otters, since the chin gene blocks that color everywhere.
