I've read about "snowball" rabbits, with color only on the tips, but most posts say the kits will grow out of it. What about those adult rabbits that start off with fabulous color, but it only extends for half an inch to an inch at the tips, and then all of the rest of the fiber (which can be considerable on an angora rabbit) is simply white? I first saw it in a self black buck that was given to me, jet black at the tips, but the remaining 4" of fiber was pure white (we never bred to him). I have a harlequin English Angora with that sort of fiber, and now one of her kits also has it, a self chocolate. The father is a booted chocolate/fawn harlequin I purchased, he has it as well, although the color looked lovely when I purchased him as a weanling. I went through the breeder's online photo album, and traced the trait through two generations of broken harlequin (tri) rabbits back to a red out of harlequin lines. That's six generations of this problem, even when bred to stock with good coloration. All of these rabbits have lovely color on the tips, nice fiber, great crimp. But I want to breed for uniform color down the hairshaft, not snowballs. I also have a chocolate line (that goes back to the same breeder) that develops the problem. I love the rabbits, fabulous temperament, great fiber texture, easy care. I just want to avoid these white bases where they don't belong.
If the problem stemmed from the recessive wideband (which removes the undercolor, at least on the upper belly) 'ww' gene, it seems like it shouldn't affect the self colors, should it? If it's the fawn 'ee' recessive non-extension, where a white base is acceptable, why so much white, and why would non-fawn self chocolate or black have it? I've also seen chocolates with pale/white bases, is it the chocolate recessive 'bb' gene? Or a combination of factors, or something else entirely?
If the problem stemmed from the recessive wideband (which removes the undercolor, at least on the upper belly) 'ww' gene, it seems like it shouldn't affect the self colors, should it? If it's the fawn 'ee' recessive non-extension, where a white base is acceptable, why so much white, and why would non-fawn self chocolate or black have it? I've also seen chocolates with pale/white bases, is it the chocolate recessive 'bb' gene? Or a combination of factors, or something else entirely?
