Silver fox question

[KelleyBee]

For those of you with more experience with the silver fox breed, are these eyebrow and mustache markings within the breed standard? My breeders don't have them, yet they are on these kits...9 and 8 weeks. Only on the blues, as best can tell, and blue littermates don't seem to have this expression. Am I being overly concerned?

 

[WylieCoyote]

They're beautiful.

 

[hotzcatz]

Do you have a copy of ARBA's 'Standards of Perfection'? That should list the specific requirements of colors, ear carriage, etc. I don't have Silver Foxes so don't know, but those are pretty rabbits.

 

[KelleyBee]

Do you have a copy of ARBA's 'Standards of Perfection'? That should list the specific requirements of colors, ear carriage, etc. I don't have Silver Foxes so don't know, but those are pretty rabbits.

Not yet. Does it come with membership? I literally just joined last weekend and am awaiting my mail packet.

 

[MnCanary]

The Silver Marten people say that extra white hairs on the face will go away when the kits are older--evidently with the final molt. I know that Silver Fox are different, but I wonder if that is true of your breed as well.

 

[KelleyBee]

The Silver Marten people say that extra white hairs on the face will go away when the kits are older--evidently with the final molt. I know that Silver Fox are different, but I wonder if that is true of your breed as well.

I've no idea.

 

[KelleyBee]

The Silver Marten people say that extra white hairs on the face will go away when the kits are older--evidently with the final molt. I know that Silver Fox are different, but I wonder if that is true of your breed as well.

Ok, in a Silver Fox group on MeWe, one person answered my question and basically said the white patches last through the first molt, which is when the actual silvering comes in.

 

[Mini_stead]

Don’t have much experience with silver foxes as I am just a beginner. But those patches are interesting. My two week old blue has a black tip on its tail. Curious if it will stay also. Beautiful bunnies they are.

 

[SableSteel]

The lighter patches will likely go away with age, but the blue color is outside of the standard anyway

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

The lighter patches will likely go away with age, but the blue color is outside of the standard anyway

I agree. Sometimes certain colors of my rabbits get capes but then they loose them

 

[KelleyBee]

The lighter patches will likely go away with age, but the blue color is outside of the standard anyway

No, his coat was not too light. That's just the lighting in the photo. I think it's too hard to properly judge coat color from a photograph, unless perhaps a professional photo. I was just inquiring about his eyebrows and mustache.

 

[SableSteel]

Blue's not a standardized color in Silver Fox. The only colors allowed in their standard is Black or Chocolate

 

[witsendfarm]

Solver Foxes goes through a hard molt as they lose their baby coats. Often when this happens their silvering will come in completely different than it looked as a kit. This is why those that show them (black and chocolate only on that) often wait until around 4-6 months to fully evaluate their show keepers. You just don't know what that buns silver will look like after they blow that coat. Being blue that light could just be a little bit of stray silvering coming in early. Id not worry too much until you have a chance to see him melted. Technically, blue is a nonshowable color so they aren't going to hurt his "value" as a brood animal. Have yet to see anything like that carry over in pure stock so its probably an isolated thing. Good luck with him. The blues and lilacs are some of my favorites.

 

[KelleyBee]

Blue's not a standardized color in Silver Fox. The only colors allowed in their standard is Black or Chocolate

Blue, while no longer accepted, at least now is COD, so I think they are worth genetically preserving until such a time. You may be correct on that one being a bit on the light side. Now that several weeks have passed, I am planning on new photos. Against my other blues, it seems to continue being a slightly lighter shade. But without a standard, who’s to know which shade is correct?