Self Blue or Otter?

[PoppyLapine]

This baby english lop I thought was a self blue, but then it started getting the tan color on top of its feet and inside the ears. What would I call it? A miss marked Otter? I know it couldn't be used as a show rabbit, but can it be used as a brood rabbit or would it ruin the colors of future litters? I believe one of the broken blues from the same litter may also be this same color, it looks like the tan fur is showing up inside its ears as well. These pics are from a week or 2 ago, I can get updated ones if needed.

 

[Alaska Satin]

This baby english lop I thought was a self blue, but then it started getting the tan color on top of its feet and inside the ears. What would I call it? A miss marked Otter? I know it couldn't be used as a show rabbit, but can it be used as a brood rabbit or would it ruin the colors of future litters? I believe one of the broken blues from the same litter may also be this same color, it looks like the tan fur is showing up inside its ears as well. These pics are from a week or 2 ago, I can get updated ones if needed.

I wouldn't call that a self. As you say, there is tan color is on the ears and the feet, and I see pretty distinct markings on the chin and belly as well. There can be quite a bit of variation in the extent of tan markings; although this is about as minimal as I've ever seen it, I'd call it a tan.

However, I don't know what's in your rabbits' background, but one interesting thing that can happen to diminish tan markings is the presence of a steel gene. A "steeled otter" looks like a self until you flip it over and find very faint, very reduced otter markings. This is Moon (her moon eye was a nest box injury, not part of the color issue) :




For three generations I didn't know that Moon carried steel (it certainly did not appear in her pedigree, and steel is not recognized in Satins), which was causing this mismarking that we called "tweeners," and appeared in roughly half of her offspring. But when I crossed Moon's self black granddaughter with an agouti, the mystery was solved when I got this:


What we learned was that steel only expresses properly when paired with an aguoti <A>. It makes "tweeners" when paired with tan <at> and when combined with self <a> it can hide completely, or it can express as a faint haze of gold tips on the black, like this (from left to right is "self steel," self black, and gold-tipped steel):

 

[PoppyLapine]

Ooo, very interesting, thanks! The dam is a self blue and the sire is a broken blue otter, and as far as I can tell there is no steel stated in either of their pedigrees, but as you were able to prove it can hide pretty well. I'm still learning what's excepted colors in English lops, but steel is a very pretty color! If I can get my hands on an agouti in the future it may be a fun breeding test to try.
So, what should I call the baby in its pedigree? Steeled otter? Tan? If I sell it to a breeder I'll definitely disclose to them about the possible genetics going on with its color.

 

[Alaska Satin]

Ooo, very interesting, thanks! The dam is a self blue and the sire is a broken blue otter, and as far as I can tell there is no steel stated in either of their pedigrees, but as you were able to prove it can hide pretty well. I'm still learning what's excepted colors in English lops, but steel is a very pretty color! If I can get my hands on an agouti in the future it may be a fun breeding test to try.
So, what should I call the baby in its pedigree? Steeled otter? Tan? If I sell it to a breeder I'll definitely disclose to them about the possible genetics going on with its color.

Except for Holland Lops, all the lop breeds in the U.S. (French, English and Mini) share a common color standard. Steel is accepted in the lops in both gold- and silver-tipped, in most base colors (black, blue, chocolate, lilac, sable and smoke pearl) under the Ticked Group (which also includes silver/silver fox).

If it was me, I'd call it an otter on the pedigree, since it definitely displays that pattern, and you don't want to put something on a pedigree unless you know for sure. Like I mentioned, there can be quite a wide range of the otter markings; for example, some of my otters have no eye circles. You could add a note to the effect that the markings are reduced and you suspect the possibility of steel, but I wouldn't call it steel unless I knew that to be a fact.

 

[PoppyLapine]

Except for Holland Lops, all the lop breeds (French, English and Mini) share a common color standard. Steel is accepted in the lops in both gold- and silver-tipped, in most base colors (black, blue, chocolate, lilac, sable and smoke pearl) under the Ticked Group (which also includes silver/silver fox).

If it was me, I'd call it an otter on the pedigree, since it definitely displays that pattern, and you don't want to put something on a pedigree unless you know for sure. Like I mentioned, there can be quite a wide range of the otter markings; for example, some of my otters have no eye circles. You could add a note to the effect that the markings are reduced and you suspect the possibility of steel, but I wouldn't call it steel unless I knew that to be a fact.

Thank you so much! This is my first time handling the tan gene, so still learning. I really appreciate the time you've taken to explain this.