hillrise
Well-Known Member
Hi, I'm puzzling over what color a pair of "Californians" I recently bought are. They fit conformationally, so I'm sure they are most likely mostly Californian, but their points aren't quite the right color.
Both have very obvious ticking in their ear markings, although the doe is still very dark colored (she even has a wonderfully large nose marking). The buck, though, appears to be dilute, at least in the ears...his nose is still quite dark (black most likely, but I suppose it could be a very dark brown).
Does anybody have an idea what color they might be genetically? I'm pretty sure they got A instead of aa as suggested by their ticking. But because their noses are still dark (and I'm not convinced that they're "Chestnut" or "Opal" points), I'm thinking it may be due to a Steel (Es) gene...but I've read that you can't really see steel on a self rabbit...so maybe Es and A?
I know it can't be due to any of the shading genes, otherwise they wouldn't have distinct points. The buck might carry c since his points are less pronounced/diluted. I'll do a test breeding with him when he's old enough to determine that.
Are there any other possible causes of the ticking?
For reference, Californians are usually aaBBchchDDEE. If they're chestnut points, they'd be A_B_ch_D_E_. Opal points: A_B_ch_ddE_. But like I said, their noses are still dark (not even ticked), so that's inconsistent with either Agouti color.
Thanks for any ideas.
Both have very obvious ticking in their ear markings, although the doe is still very dark colored (she even has a wonderfully large nose marking). The buck, though, appears to be dilute, at least in the ears...his nose is still quite dark (black most likely, but I suppose it could be a very dark brown).
Does anybody have an idea what color they might be genetically? I'm pretty sure they got A instead of aa as suggested by their ticking. But because their noses are still dark (and I'm not convinced that they're "Chestnut" or "Opal" points), I'm thinking it may be due to a Steel (Es) gene...but I've read that you can't really see steel on a self rabbit...so maybe Es and A?
I know it can't be due to any of the shading genes, otherwise they wouldn't have distinct points. The buck might carry c since his points are less pronounced/diluted. I'll do a test breeding with him when he's old enough to determine that.
Are there any other possible causes of the ticking?
For reference, Californians are usually aaBBchchDDEE. If they're chestnut points, they'd be A_B_ch_D_E_. Opal points: A_B_ch_ddE_. But like I said, their noses are still dark (not even ticked), so that's inconsistent with either Agouti color.
Thanks for any ideas.