Californian of a Different Color

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hillrise

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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.
 
Californians colors bleach out in the hot weather months. Its quite possible that when the sun is out less they will get darker. Thats what all my californians do.
 
They've been under cover their whole lives. When I bought them, they were in a shed/barn. I've kept them in my own rabbit shelter since I got them, and they're still not even 4 months old yet. The lighter hairs on their ears are just like ticking. I've never seen a rabbit bleach in a ticked pattern, and rarely have I seen rabbits this young get bleaching effects (even when they were solid black and playing in a lawn cage most days of the summer while nursing). I'll keep an eye out for them getting darker, though.

Unless you meant just the temperature-controlled coloring...but I've usually seen that present itself as just smaller markings--less on the nose, not as far down the ears, etc. Not a bad suggestion, though...
 
A's would be white under the tail, inside the legs, white lacing under nose, and light ear lacing. It's not unusual for some Cals to have frosting and/or leg barring, which shouldn't be confused with ticking.
 
Hmm...well, let's see if I can get this picture to show up... The one in the top left is my normal buck. The top right is the lightened/ticked buck, and the bottom is the doe. The lighting differences actually make it look like the doe is silvery, but her darker hairs are as dark as my normal buck, although the ticking (if that's what it is) is silvery/white.
ears.jpg

 
I raise Californians, and I get a variety of difference from rabbit to rabbit. I have some rabbits that are totally dark all year round, one that has white rings 0n his ears and legs, etc... If you go to my website at www.stoneycreekrabbitry.weebly.com and look at my adults, the buck "mud pie mojo" has white bands at the base of his ears. This never goes away, BUT, he's still considered a standard variety and has won alot for me. If you look further down, you'll see "packs a punch", and he is your typical, dark rabbit. Then if you look at my does, "forget me not" has light behind her ears where "mrs butterworth" is totally dark. Mine will also go almost gray if we have super hot days of summer, while others stay dark. Regardless, I believe it's still considered the standard color. Hope this helps.
 

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