Is behavior hereditary?

[coyotejoe]

Maybe this is the wrong place for this question, if so I hope a moderator will move it. I need to reduce the herd a bit and eliminate 2 of 4 immature does. There is no particular reason to choose one over another except that one is really spooky and one is very calm and friendly. I'm wondering if their offspring will reflect those same traits. If I repeatedly breed only the most calm and friendly does will I get successive generations of more calm rabbits?

 

[ladysown]

yes and no.

(I know helpful eh?)

Sometimes behaviour is trained, sometimes it is ingrained.

A baby who is spooky as a youngster may settle into a calm quiet adult.
A baby who is calm as a baby most often stays that way.

I tend to hold back calmer rabbits...but rabbits that aren't so calm that they are boring. I want a rabbit who can make me laugh, but doesn't make a body have to say "CHILL OUT, I just WALKED into the rabbitry!"... But I want some rabbits that do react to changes in their environment, and rabbits are active in their cages (those sit in the corner very quiet does I just find boring)... and having the odd "spook" rabbit can be very helpful as they will alert you to something odd going and help you pay closer attention....it also means having the odd boring rabbit isn't a bad thing either.

you have to weigh it out right?

Is the spookiness over the top or is it where it needs to be?

BUT back to your question.. can it be inherited?

YES (and no).. spooky rabbits tend to beget spooky rabbits, but you need to know what causes it. is to too much WILD rabbit in them that would keep them safe in the wild. OR is it poor handling?

Sometimes it skips a generation so spooky rabbit always has quiet kits, but then quiet kit matures and produces kits with a highly developed startle reflex...

It's a hard one to figure out sometimes.

 

[Zass]

Yeah, I think it's nature and nurture. Some things, like overwhelming hormones, seem to be hereditary. Some things can be learned from their mother, like "what to be afraid of". If a doe panics every time she sees me I think the kits are also more likely to pick up the habit.

Most of my current does are all related to the one exceptionally calm doe that I picked up as an afterthought one day. She was super easy to handle but did not really enjoy attention, I think she changed hands a lot. Her daughters are my total sweethearts. One seeks me out for a back rub every times she sees me.
My velveteens are amazingly sweet to, beyond what one would normally expect from a rabbit. My mature, mothering v-lop doe still begs to be picked up.

All my own rabbits are treated and handled the same, the only exception is the occasional mean doe's kits, because it's hard to handle kits when a doe is trying to bite me. I tend to cull the whole line. I don't need those genetics when the rest are affectionate.
I have even had it happen with a doe who was born and raised here, one that I went out of my way to socialize.

So can I predict temperament from the parents? Absolutely! Some lines just throw nicer rabbits. Could I get a nice rabbit from a mean doe? sure. Could someone ruin a nice rabbit from good lines with mistreatment? Yeah, but I think it would take some serious mishandling, not just neglecting to pay attention to them or "not holding them enough" like I see so commonly mentioned on pet bunny sites.

I don't really trust temperament until after puberty. My good does are the ones who made it through puberty and birthing without ever getting "hormonal" on me. I save their kits because it's what I want to see in future generations.

 

[coyotejoe]

Thanks for the replies and insights into rabbit psychology.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Maybe this is the wrong place for this question, if so I hope a moderator will move it. I need to reduce the herd a bit and eliminate 2 of 4 immature does. There is no particular reason to choose one over another except that one is really spooky and one is very calm and friendly. I'm wondering if their offspring will reflect those same traits. If I repeatedly breed only the most calm and friendly does will I get successive generations of more calm rabbits?

I read an interesting article about the relationship between rabbit temperament and proper gut flora colonization. Trying to find it again.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I read an interesting article about the relationship between rabbit temperament and proper gut flora colonization. Trying to find it again.

It's been almost an hour and a half since you posted that... :gettowork: we are waiting. opcorn:

 

[Disney]

I think its hereditary as how much the behaviour is settled in the line.

For example.. i breed lutino dwarfs who are only discovered recently and probably didn't get the opportunity to be selected for temperament and personality. Since every born lutino is considered a useful gift, breeders are not likely to cull them for any reason. So if i go back along the line of my lutino, it seems like they're never handled that much as other breeds. I've never had such jumpy and freaked out rabbits before and it seems like almost every individual from the line has the same temperament, except for my one buck who came in flying all over the place and then slowly settled down and turned out to be curious and sweet. However a lot of his kits from different doe's are still freaked out. Today i checked a litter of 2 weeks old and 3 out of the 5 kits screamed!! I never had that happen ever.. they were so scare i thought they would die in my hands from a heart attack. The doe is non-lutino so i dont know if has anything to do with her but i blame it on the lutino personality. I also had a son of my buck who would launch himself to the cage bars full face when you would walk near his cage.. it was that bad and i sold him without breeding him ever. Despite his mother being sweet, it's obvious that his personalty came down the line of his father.

On another note.. i never had such modest and docile rabbits as netherland dwarfs. I used them on untamed doe's and from that i got some kits who were sweet and tame like the ND sire and some kits that were more shy but not as much as their mother. So i believe that using a established rabbit with a settled personality in his lines, is very useful to outcross with a line that is more hyper, to mellow them down.

Im planning to use the ND for my lutino line and hopefully i will get some kits that are more calm and establish that trait into the herd.

 

[Sagebrush]

Disney, I just had to tell you that your rabbit in the pic is BEAUTIFUL! IT really bites that your herd is so flighty I really hope that you are able to get a better temperament established in your herd.

 

[Zass]

I think genes that affect temperament must be quite complicated, coat color genes probably look simple in comparison to every gene that can effect a rabbit's behavior. It shouldn't be any surprise that it can be all-over-the-place and hard to predict.

I think we can all agree that genetics definitely play some role, as some lines consistently produce nicer animals and some lines consistently produce less nice animals. Why shouldn't it? There is definitely a genetic component to the way dogs behave (compared to wolves) Domestic rabbits definitely behave differently than their wild counterparts.

 

[Peach]

It's an interesting thing! In my herd, I usually forgive the ones I bring in from "big" rabbitries (up to a point). Usually all that's important in large herds is that they do not bite their handler/judge/owner and aren't completely looney. They generally don't sell pets, so they don't have they don't have to have to have the most snuggly bunch. Sometimes they also aren't so outgoing to begin with, but sometimes I have them turn around after a few months once they know who has the cheerios

I do noticed that depending on the parents I breed together, I can get completely opposite personality types with the offspring. I've had calm does have the most spooky, even at times, mean offspring. (Those get culled) and I have gotten some very sweet babies out of does that rather hide away in the back. Some I just know aren't into head scratches and cuddling, and that is ok. They usually are just as good of moms as my super sweet does and usually I get offspring that are great. I tend to raise those kinds of litters with the less friendly does in my 24 x 24 cages vs. my 30 x 24 for my nursery for those that are already sweet.

If you aren't space restricted, it's certainly something to test