Is this a steel?

[PSFAngoras]

I've never seen a steel kit, and I have two of theses that are clearly not lilacs like I thought.

Mom is a gold tipped blue steel, dad is a self blue chin.

Thinking silver tipped blue steel?

 

[dayna]

SO CUTE! Regardless of the color.

 

[Dood]

Steel makes rabbits darker and I assume you thought they were lilacs because they were lighter than the blues/dilutes so not steel.

Perhaps shaded of some sort?

 

[Zass]

Steel makes rabbits darker and I assume you thought they were lilacs because they were lighter than the blues/dilutes so not steel.

Perhaps shaded of some sort?

Hey dood, can a rabbit who carries chinchilla color bred with a rabbit who has recessive rew but no chinchilla color throw chins?

 

[PSFAngoras]

Yes Zass, so long as the genes line up properly.

 

[Zass]

Ah thanks, that solves a personal mystery of mine.

Since a blue steel tends to look like an indistinct opal, I'd guess a blue chin steel would look like an indistinct squirrel?
The light reflecting on the kit kinda makes the color hard to see.
(nice looking one, whatever it is!)

 

[PSFAngoras]

That's the problem, it's not the light reflecting. That's how the kit looks!

 

[Dood]

Here is a pic of a steel chin / steel grey / dark grey from : http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/218523/flemish-giants just like regular steels some can look like a slightly darker non steel and some can be nearly black.

 

[Zass]

Steel would make the agouti pattern seem darker (I'm not sure darker is really the right word here) but not the base color. For example a gold tipped blue steel looks more blue than an opal, but not darker than a self blue.

The same for a lilac steel, it would have more base color than lynx or lilac chin, but would not be darker than self lilac.

 

[PSFAngoras]

Thanks Dood.

The only problem is that I can only find decent pics of adult steel rabbits, and I already know what those look like. Guess I'll have to wait until they get a bit older to know, which is what I was hoping to circumvent with this thread!

Zass, the kits started off looking like lilacs, but now are only a few shades lighter than the blue kits. That's why I was thinking maybe silver tipped blue steel, but I would have expected the ticking to be lighter then.

 

[Peach]

Looks like a sable <br /><br />__________ Thu Dec 19, 2013 8:03 pm __________<br /><br />With steels, they usually start showing ticking around 5-10 days behind the neck and the base of the ears.

 

[skysthelimit]

Looks like my siamese sable/ seal JW kits.

 

[RR MiniSatins]

I have a question about steels. Could you tell me the difference between a chinchilla and a steel? I have a doe that is supposed to be a chinchilla but I'm wondering if she is actually a steel. Thanks<br /><br />__________ Fri Dec 20, 2013 5:55 am __________<br /><br />Here is a picture. Hope it comes through.

 

[Dood]

Rabbits are not either or but can be both steel and chinchilla.

You can have chestnut steel, chocolate agouti (amber) steel, opal steel, lynx steel, chinchilla steel, chocolate chinchilla steel, squirrel steel and lilac chinchilla steel - pretty much any agouti and full extension rabbit can be steel - oh and harlequinized steels too (see picture of the kit on the right)

Your doe is a chinchilla but I would say she is also a steel. Usually they are referred as silver tipped steel, since silver martens are are basically tan chinchilla coloured rabbits.

 

[RR MiniSatins]

How can you tell the difference between a true chinchilla and a chinchilla steel? Is the banding more indistinct or not as much pearl? Thanks

 

[PSFAngoras]

A true chinchilla will have distinct banding patterns to the hair shaft. A chinchilla steel will have basically on e large band of a shade of dark color, grey or black, tipped with white.

And Dood, thank you for the kit pictures!

 

[RR MiniSatins]

Ahhh, that makes sense, she is definitely a chinchilla steel then. Thanks

 

[Zass]

And since the thread is up, figured I'd just add my own mystery kit

He's starting to look like a REALLY dark steel. what do you think?

It's out of my SF(loaded with steel) and quality Lilac doe(tested steel free). If this animal is a steel, it means one of my original SF rabbits IS genetically an agouti rabbit, and so is my jr buck. (the father of these kits is the jr buck)

SO...I guess all I can do is wait and watch, but if I can confirm this critter is a steel, I strongly suggest everyone should check out their own SF lines. I can't be the only one who wants my self black rabbits to be genetically self black.

I've test bred 3, soon two be 4 unrelated (as in none of the same names on their pedigree) SF rabbits with agouti rabbits and I have never once gotten an agouti kit. All steels and seeming blacks, many were dark steels.
I saved copies of the most recent pedigrees in case anyone wants to see what rabbits they came from. I wish I hadn't tossed the one with two grand champions on it. But I do remember some the rabbitry names and at least one of the GC names. (OK, so one didn't have a ped at all, as he's not mine, but he still failed to throw a single agouti out of 12 kits to an opal doe)

 

[Peach]

It's a gold steel

__________ Fri Dec 20, 2013 10:13 pm __________

Eventually it will look more like this(this is a jr. so not finished in coat yet)....some have better ticking than others. Usually by the senior coat, it should be full body.

This is a silver tpd

 

[Zass]

I was afraid of that, and was clinging to a healthy dose of denial.