Himalayan Breed question

Can/what would happen if a Himmie bred with a chocolate otter? Is that not a good idea ?

You want to cross a Himalayan with a chocolate otter, what breed? The offspring would not be showable, and it depends on what this otter is as to what it would look like.

littlesol said:

Can/what would happen if a Himmie bred with a chocolate otter? Is that not a good idea ?

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The Himalayan gene is recessive, which means a rabbit must carry two copies of it to appear Himalayan. If you cross a Himalayan with a chocolate otter which does not carry the Himalayan gene, assuming that the chocolate otter gene is dominant over Himalayan, the offspring will not appear Himalayan, but will carry one copy of the gene. If the offspring are bred to another Himalayan, there's a one in four chance that the kits will appear Himalayan (one kit out of four could be Himalayan).

Here's an article about rabbit colour genetics that you may find interesting:

http://www.thenaturetrail.com/rabbit-genetics/color-c-series-chinchilla-sable-himalayan-rew/

The OP wasn't clear on if they were breeding a Himalayan rabbit (breed) or another breed with the Himalayan markings. I took it for the former, probably because I used to raise Himmie's.

She's a Himalayian and I was more curious than anything because the Himalayian we just got is so beautiful, and we already had our chocolate otter and it just got me wondering if it was like Rex, where both genes are necessary to make the offspring

Don't know for sure but I suspect that the offspring, or some of them, could end up with the long body of a Himalayan but not necessarily have the points they are known for.

majorv said:

Don't know for sure but I suspect that the offspring, or some of them, could end up with the long body of a Himalayan but not necessarily have the points they are known for.

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That's right. I bred Siamese and Oriental Shorthair cats for 20 years. The Oriental Shorthair is basically a Siamese without the Himalayan coat pattern. They have the body type of a Siamese but occur in any coat colour except the Himalayan pattern. The body type of a Siamese is recessive, so Orientals must be outcrossed with Siamese every few generations to keep the body conformation, otherwise they revert to the conformation of a regular domestic shorthair. Every so often the Himalayan pattern appears in Oriental Shorthair litters. Himalayan patterned cats born to Oriental Shorthair litters used to be ineligible for showing or breeding as Orientals. Breeders would adopt them out as pets. Now they're eligible as AOV (Any Other Variety) Orientals.