Red buck with "widow's peak" of darker color

[averydeadbird]

I just noticed that my new red rex buck has a funny widow's peak of darker color. I checked the picture I took of him when I first got him a week ago, and it was more subtle. His legs also seem to be a bit darker. Is this just a stage of molting or growing adult fur? (He is 3 months old.) It's possible he inherited bb from his parents. Could that be affecting his coloring?

Today's pictures (he looks brown due to poor lighting):



Picture from last week:

 

[Nymphadora]

Even with the lighting... Your buck looks more amber than red to me. Any chance you could blow into his fur and get a clean picture for us?

That said, a lot of my castors will have a darker "widow's peak" (I have no idea if there's a better name for that, either, but it made sense to me), too. Especially when they go through a molt. So it might be normal. :?

 

[SableSteel]

He looks more amber to me as well

I see that marking in agouti rex pretty often, more from fur structure than color. That tends to be a place where the fur is dense and stands up pretty readily so we see more of the darker tips than the pale undercolor like we see on the rest of the face

 

[Nymphadora]

I see that marking in agouti rex pretty often, more from fur structure than color. That tends to be a place where the fur is dense and stands up pretty readily so we see more of the darker tips than the pale undercolor like we see on the rest of the face

Thank you for that explanation, SableSteel, that makes a lot of sense!

 

[averydeadbird]

I swear he's red in sunlight. :lol: Per the pedigree his dam is Aa Bb cchdc Dd ee and sire is Aa Bb C_ Dd eje.




But I'll try to get a better picture of his fur tomorrow!

 

[Ghost]

I am thinking that the dark patch is mostly a trick of the light. If you stroke the fur, or change the angle of the light, does the dark patch appear less dark? Regardless, I think he has beautiful fur.

 

[alforddm]

It can be very difficult to tell red from amber. I had a litter a couple of years ago with both red and amber. By the time they were 12 weeks or so, I couldn't tell which was which. I knew one was red because it was born pink.

 

[Nymphadora]

Wow, he really does look more red in the pictures... how does his fur color look when you blow into it?

All that aside, the widow's peak likely isn't anything to worry over. And he's a very cute rabbit! I wonder what you'll get out of him!

 

[averydeadbird]

More pictures! Sorry for the bad angles - I had to scruff him with one hand since we were in an unenclosed area, and couldn't quite see where I was pointing the phone.







__________ Fri Feb 22, 2019 11:10 am __________




Looking at that darker front left leg along with his "widow's peak," I wonder if he's actually bb eje rather than ee, just not with a lot of markings? His dam is Aa Bb cchdc Dd ee and sire is Aa Bb C_ Dd eje. His ear is tattooed so it's possible but unlikely that his breeder made a mistake. <br /><br /> __________ Fri Feb 22, 2019 11:16 am __________ <br /><br /> Compare to this chocolate harlequin rex:
http://www.rabbitcolors.info/int/en/entry/show.html?id=401