Peanuts- What are they?

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!