REW surprise!! What lies beneath

[skysthelimit]

You all know how mostly all I talk about are otters and opals, and how to get them (sables too). I bred Scream (castor) twice to Cyc (otter), and Fava (bk castor) to Cyc once, trying to get otters. Scream consistently has several castors, REW, and blacks (though one litter she had an amber and chocolate, but not with me). Her best ones are usually the REWs. I don't care for REW, but I kept a doe, thinking I might be able to use her in a sable or chin program. Well I bred her to Elmo (bk black). Of course no REW because Elmo doesn't carry REW, probably the only one of my buns who doesn't. I got some bk blacks, blacks and what I thought were castors. Easy then, she's a castor. Well they are 7 days old, and three days ago (day 4) I noticed some tan under the nostrils. Not totally unusual for a castor, but they seemed too dark. The fur should be coming in castor color now. I didn't take them out of the box yesterday or the day before, but they still looked too dark from what I could see in the box. I took a look at the litter of mini rexes (hoping one would be an opal) and they are on day 5, and their castor color is clear. I pulled them out side by side and...

mini rexes --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------rexes


They are obviously not CASTOR!!! My REW, the one I would have culled because I didn't want more REW, is what I wanted after all, an otter or a castor carrying otter. Phew. If she had been a buck, she would have been history by now. Still wondering what the REW buck is hiding?

P.S. I have not had an otter with a tan triangle at birth. The three I had last litter had bald spots well after the rest of the fur came in, then gradually developed tan triangles on the neck later on.

 

[Peach]

:wbounce: Pretty!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Hmmm... maybe I should keep more REW's. So far I only have Flurry, but there are more out there in the growout pens and nests!

Congrats on the otters!!! Whoo-hoo! Finally!

 

[LindseysWoolies]

You never know what's hiding under that white until you breed them! I am really wondering what Colors will be in the nestbox when my bun has her babies.

 

[skysthelimit]

The REW buck drives me crazy. I bred him to the chin and got all chins the first time. I bred him to the chin again and got 1 self chin, 3 chins and 3 REW. I bred him to his dam and got 3 castors and 3 REWs. No blacks, no silver martins. So far I figure he's not an otter. Scream always throws blacks, so the pair should have given me black. I'm thinking either he's a castor, or another try and he's a black. He could be an amber or chocolate, but that would screw my chins up. Not sure how to test breed him now, maybe to a black?<br /><br />__________ Sat Jul 14, 2012 9:07 pm __________<br /><br />I gotta say, I hate surprises, I really do. Which is why I am so interested in color genetics, and being able to predict the color of my kits, and which is probably why REW's drive me crazy.

 

[Disney]

Maybe try breeding him to a recessive colored doe?
It would be nice if you have anything close to this, aabbCchlddee ENEN VV
A self lilac tort carrying chinchilla light or either carrying himi (ch)
When breeding him to a doe with recessive genes like this, he is forced to bring out all of his hidden genes and show you his his true colors.

I found a tort buck for my Bew doe because i don't know what she is on the E-locus, either Eej, Ee or eje.
I will only find out what she is by breeding her to a buck who is recessive on the E-part to bring out her E-genes to the light.
If she is Eej i will get Ee and eje - full extension and harlequin
If she i Ee if will get Ee and ee - full extension and torts
If she is eje i will get eje and ee - harlequins and torts
So i can't wait to pair them, which will be around september

 

[skysthelimit]

Maybe try breeding him to a recessive colored doe?
It would be nice if you have anything close to this, aabbCchlddee ENEN VV
A self lilac tort carrying chinchilla light or either carrying himi (ch)
When breeding him to a doe with recessive genes like this, he is forced to bring out all of his hidden genes and show you his his true colors.

I found a tort buck for my Bew doe because i don't know what she is on the E-locus, either Eej, Ee or eje.
I will only find out what she is by breeding her to a buck who is recessive on the E-part to bring out her E-genes to the light.
If she is Eej i will get Ee and eje - full extension and harlequin
If she i Ee if will get Ee and ee - full extension and torts
If she is eje i will get eje and ee - harlequins and torts
So i can't wait to pair them, which will be around september

Tort is not a recognized color in ARBA Standard Rexes, so I don't breed for it or have any combinations that would produce it. No himis either, pretty hard to find in Standards as well. He was bred to a chin, and got all chins, and REWs. He was bred to his dam (castor carrying REW, black, dilute), and got castors, and REWs. I was waiting for my black does to grow up, but I had an opal buck I was growing up, and decided he was what I wanted more, so the REW buck got culled. He gave me litters full of pinched hips anyway, so I guess I will never know.