Firstly, it should be noted that mini lops are a dwarf breed. Not every Mini lops has the dwarf gene though, some may have no dwarf gene and are known as a false dwarf, Most true to type mini lops have one copy of the gene though. If even one of the parents are a false dwarf, there will NOT be peanuts. Many people get confused by this- runts can also commonly have bulging eyes and are a small size- so it is important to take into account the parents size etc as well as the babies attributes to determine if you do in fact have a peanut. For example: Teddy is a TRUE dwarf at 2.5lbs, this means that he has ONE copy of the dwarf gene. On the other hand, Luna, is a FALSE dwarf, weighing around 5lbs. There is a large weigh difference yet both are purebred mini lops! On average, Mini lops above 3.5lbs (1.55kg) have a higher chance of being true. Though, True dwarfs can sometimes exceed this. So, if you breed two mini lops who both have one dwarf gene (True dwarfs), most of the babies will have one dwarf gene. Some will have no dwarf gene. And some will have two copies of the dwarf gene, and be a peanut. TRUE Dwarf x TRUE dwarf= 25% chance False dwarf 50% chance True dwarf , 25% chance peanut Therefore, if you get no peanuts, its a 50% chance babies will be false or true TRUE Dwarf x FALSE dwarf= 50% chance False dwarf 50% chance True dwarf FALSE Dwarf x FALSE dwarf= 100% False dwarf Peanuts are heartbreaking. They have the double dwarf gene.. they NEVER survive. There is no exception to this, so if you have a 'peanut' that survived it was just a RUNT. Peanuts will always die within a few days. Though much rarer, some peanuts can live long enough to grow fur and even open their eyes- but this is exceptionally rare though. Their siblings birth weight with double in just a few days, Whilst, The peanut might even get smaller. but unfortunately the peanut will never grow and will eventually pass. HOW TO TELL IF I HAVE A PEANUT? 1) SIZE - A peanut will be very tiny, likely less than half the size of their siblings 2) EYES- Their eyes will be very large and bulge from there head 3) EARS- Ears will be very very small 4) HEAD- will be domed and large forehead 5) HINDQUARTERS- Will be less than half the width of the normal kit It is clear when you see a peanut that it is very underdeveloped on the outside. You cannot tell if you have a peanut just from size alone. Please also be aware that a peanut is ONLY found in dwarf breeds! Unfortunately, it is very likely if you are breeding dwarf breeds you WILL come across peanuts at some point. My Skye had a litter of 3 peanuts- very unlucky as her whole litter passed... this is a normal, but heartbreaking thing to happen. Breeding isn't all good and straight forward. Below is a picture of 2 of Skye's peanut babies for educational purposes. Please remember a tiny baby doesn't automatically mean peanut- it is important to know the difference!
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Colours can be split into two different categories, which are black based, and chocolate based. It should be noted that chocolate and Black are both dense colours. So with black, two dilute genes will turn the black to blue. Similarly, Wth chocolate based bunnies, two dilute genes will turn the chocolate to lilac. Therefore, for every black colour, there is a corresponding blue colour: for example (Chestnut Black agouti) to Opal (Blue agouti). Then for every chocolate colour there is a corresponding lilac colour an example of this could be Chocolate Tort to Lilac Tort. The Genetics Behind it So firstly, the dominant d-gene is the “dense” gene which is known as “D.” So Dense color gene rabbits (Black or Chocolate) can be either “DD” or “Dd.” The “DD” rabbits are often known as “true-breeding” which means that they are not dilute carriers. Where as rabbits that are “Dd” carry the dilute gene. Please note that the “dilute” gene is a recessive gene and is known as "d". Dilute bunnies are always “dd” and cannot carry nor produce dense coloured rabbits when paired together. In conclusion; There are only three different combinations of the dense/dilute gene which are: “DD," (Dense NOT carrying dilute) “Dd,” (Dense CARRYING dilute) and “dd.” (DILUTE) Dense Color Family DD or Dd Dilute Color Family dd Black Blue Chocolate Lilac Black Tort Blue Tort Chocolate Tort Lilac Tort Chestnut (Black Agouti ) Opal (Blue Agouti) Cinnamon (Choc Agouti) Lynx (Lilac Agouti) Orange (Orange Agouti) Fawn Chocolate Orange Lilac Fawn Chinchilla Squirrel (Blue Chinchilla) Chocolate Chinchilla Lilac Chinchilla Black Frosty. Blue Frosty Chocolate Frosty Lilac Frosty Seal Point Blue Point Chocolate Point Lilac point Siamese Sable (Black Sable) Siamese Smoke Chocolate Sable Lilac Sable How is this shown in Breeding?DD (Dense NOT carrying dilute) x dd (Dilute)
d d D| Dd Dd D| Dd Dd = 100% Dense CARRYING dilute (Dd) Therefore, Only Dd bunnies are possible from this mating ____________________________ Dd (Dense CARRYING dilute) x dd (Dilute) d d D| Dd Dd d| dd dd 50% Chance - dd 50% Chance- Dd Approximately 50% Chance of producing a "dd" dilute based kits or a "Dd" kit which is a Dense carrying dilute ____________________________ Dd (Dense CARRYING dilute) x Dd (Dense CARRYING dilute) D d D| DD Dd d| Dd dd 25% Chance - DD 50% Chance- Dd 25% Chance- dd Approximately 25% will be True-breeding dense "DD" which are dense that do NOT carry dilute, 50% chance of producing a dense that does CARRY dilute which is "Dd" and finally a 25% chance of producing a Dilute based kit ____________________________ DD (Dense NOT carrying dilute) x Dd (Dense CARRYING dilute) D d D| DD Dd D| DD Dd 50% Chance - DD 50% Chance- Dd This is the last combination possible in breeding dense/dilute. On average, half of the kits will be "DD" which means they are dense NOT carrying the dilute gene, or they may be "Dd" which is Dense that does CARRY the dilute gene. All babies will be DENSE colours so test breeding is the only way to find the true genotypes Please note that Dilute x Dilute CANNOT produce a dense colour! For example: Lilac x Lilac CANNOT produce chocolate based babies, Same as Blue x Blue CANNOT create black based babies; and if this was to happen to you then one of your parents are mis-identified colours :) Hope this helps clear up bunny dilution genetics! The Vienna Gene is what makes Blue eyed Whites (aka BEW). Blue eyed whites have bright blue eyes. A blue eyed white (also known as BEW) is rabbit with two Vienna genes: vv. Opposed to a non-vienna rabbit that has two regular genes: VV. A Vienna marked rabbit is a rabbit that carries just one Vienna gene and one normal gene which is: Vv. Vienna marked rabbits generally have ‘dutch’ markings or white on its nose, head or feet. A Vienna carrier still has the same genetics of Vv but they don't visually express the gene with Vienna markings. Breeding Vienna rabbits VIENNA MARKED X VIENNA MARKED When two Vienna marked rabbits are bred together there is a 25% chance for each offspring being a BEW, 50% chance of being Vienna marked rabbits and 25% of being a ‘Normal rabbit’ with no Vienna gene. V v V| VV (Non Vienna) Vv (Vienna) v | vV (Vienna). vv (BEW) VIENNA MARKED X BEW When a Vienna marked rabbit is bred to a BEW, there is a 50% chance of the Kit being BEW and a 50% chance of it being a Vienna marked offspring. v v V| Vv (Vienna) Vv (Vienna) v | vv (BEW) vv(BEW) BEW X BEW If two BEW rabbits are bred together, then there would be a 100% chance of BEW offspring. v v v| vv (BEW) vv (BEW) v| vv (BEW) vv (BEW) NON-VIENNA MARKED X BEW When a ‘Normal’ non-Vienna, rabbit are bred with a BEW then there is a 100% chance the offspring with be Vienna marked or Vienna carriers. V V v| Vv (Vienna ) Vv (Vienna marked) v| Vv (Vienna) Vv (Vienna marked) NON-VIENNA MARKED X VIENNA MARKED When a Non-Vienna marked is crossed with a Vienna marked rabbit, each kit has a 50% chance of Vienna marked rabbits and 50% chance being Non-Vienna offspring. V V V| VV (Non-Vienna) VV (Non-Vienna) v | Vv (Vienna) Vv (Vienna) What does a Vienna mark look like? Vienna marked rabbits typically have ‘dutch’ markings or white on its nose, head or feet. Vienna marked bunnies can also be born with blue or marbled eyes but can have brown eyes. Whether they are ‘split’ with blue eyes or have a white spot and brown eyes, they are both genetically Vv. Within this blog you may see me call a bunny with the Vienna gene a 'Vienna marked' , Please note the rules and information in this blog also applies for Vienna carriers. If a bunny carries the Vienna gene (Vv) There is a 50/50 chance if they express the gene through markings or as carriers. |
IntroductionI'm Aimee. Owner of Old Garden House Rabbitry. I have created this blog to put together some information of bunnies into one place to help pet owners & other breeders Bunny Blog Contents
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