Are my rabbits different breeds?

[SophiaRayen]

Hi everyone!

I’ve been reading the forums for quite a while but this is my first post 🙂

We have two bunnies, both were sold as Netherlands dwarfs by the breeder. Supernova is a black buck, currently 10 months old, Ginki is (as far as I know the color names) a blue harlequin girl, currently 8 months old.

They look very different, I assume because of their gender. Their fur is different as well, and I think that cannot be due to the same reason. Ginki has short fur, Supernova has a much more dense, thick coat which feels very fluffy to the touch. I was thinking that he might have some other kind of genes, but I’m not sure what. I’m just curious if it is normal to have such differences in coat?

I attached pictures, I hope these can help. One of them includes a close up of Nova’s fur, and surprisingly has white undercoat. (they are together in one of the pictures, but they are separated for now as Ginki is not fixed yet).

Thank you for your replies in advance!

[DanaNM]

They don’t look like dwarfs to me, but they could be false dwarfs. How much do they weigh?

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Wick & Fable]

Nova’s ears definitely are too big proportionally to be a Netherland Dwarf. Ginki is veering towards that as well. They are likely mixes who have the snout appearance of a Nethie, but will surpass the typical size/weight we’d expect from a Nethie.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[SophiaRayen]

We weigh them every week, Nova is around 1700 grams (10 months) and Ginki is 1500 grams (8 months). The person we bought them from guaranteed that they won’t be more than 2 kilos. Nova’s weight does increase only very slowly, but I suspect he won’t be much bigger.

I never heard of a false dwarf before. Does that mean they are not of the Netherland lineage?

[DanaNM]

Netherland dwarfs are heterozygous for the dwarf gene, meaning they have 1 copy of the dwarf gene, and one copy of the “normal” gene. If they have two copies of the dwarf gene the babies will not survive, so all dwarfs that survive are heterozygous. This means that in their litters, there will be some babies that get two normal genes, known as being “false dwarf”. So they may still be small, but wont have the tiny ears and head shape of the babies that get a copy of the dwarf gene. If it’s guaranteed that both parents were nethies then that’s probably what happened here.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Hazel]

Could be false dwarves, or it could just be that the breeder is producing mixes and advertising them as Nethies. Did you get to see the parents?

[SophiaRayen]

Thank you, everyone for all the replies! The explanation on the false dwarves was very helpful, DanaNM, this clears things up for me.

Hazel, unfortunately I didn’t see the parents, as the rabbitry was closed to visitors due to the pandemic when we got the bunnies. I have since lost my trust in the breeder, because Nova had bunny syphilis (at 3 months) and we let her know that he most likely inherited it from his parents, but she didn’t care to check them and said that none of the bunnies is sick. Syphilis can remain dormant without symptoms for weeks.

Oh, I’d love to do agility with Nova, he is so quick to learn (unlike Ginki, who is also quick to learn but does whatever she wants anyway), but there aren’t really agilities where I live (Hungary), also they are so scared when we leave home 🙂 We just practice at home.

I do wonder about the difference between their fur. Is it usual to have such different texture of coat? In case they are mixes that would explain this as well.

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

I think they are false dwarfs. Their ears look like it, and their weight is more like a false dwarf than a true dwarf. This means they are pet quilty, meaning they can’t be in shows but are still great pets. I have true Netherland and ethier a false dwarf of Netherland mix. They might still be able to do rabbit agility if you want to do that. I hope that is allowed because I am looking to do that with my bunnies. None the less they are still adorable!

[DanaNM]

Glad it was helpful!

They are both very cute regardless! I had a foster with a beautiful coat like Supernova, he was also all black with a surprisingly white under coat!

I’ve also been seeing a ton of bunnies recently with the same coat pattern as Ginki!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[LBJ10]

Coats can vary somewhat. I believe there is a “preferred” coat type for Nethies, but some offspring may not inherit that trait. I agree with the others. It’s possible they are what the breeder said they are, just false dwarfs.

[Hazel]

I’m sorry about the Syphilis, I hope he got over it okay. Sounds like you’re correct and the breeder just isn’t trustworthy. It’s easy to end up accidentally doing business with an unethical breeder even though you did your research. Don’t feel bad though, at least now you have two adorable buns that you got out of a bad situation. 🙂

[SophiaRayen]

Thank you all for the replies! It is good to know why my bunnies look the way they are 🙂 I love them though, it doesn’t matter if they are true or false 😛

Thank you for the kind words Hazel. Nova got 3 shots which meant 3 visits to the vet. He hated it, and he still runs away kicking when he sees the carrier XD We are in the process of getting them used to car rides, but it is going very slow. We put them in the car, I start the engine, then turn it off immediately and we go home 😀

[Wick & Fable]

If appropriate, you can create a new topic specifically to this, but I want to flag that 3 shots is not enough to treat syphilis (if that’s what has occurred– unsure if there are more to come)… unless there’s a new treatment out or study out that has shown only 3 shots is effective. (warning: graphic pictures): http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Bacterial/Syph_gen.html

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Hazel]

Agree with Wick about the shots.

It might be worth a try to leave the carrier in their room with the door open so they can go in whenever they want and get used to it (unless it’s soft sided and they might chew a hole into it). You could even put their food in it at meal times. That way it will become part of their home and they should feel safer in it when the time comes to use it for vet visits. If nothing else it will be a fun little cave for them to enjoy as part of their environment.

[SophiaRayen]

Hi everyone,

They have full time access to the carriers andd they recieve treats in there. They also get a handful of alfalfa after the torture of sitting in the car for two minutes XD Nova is very sensitive and has very good intuition, he knows that I plan to use the carriers before I touch them.

Thank you for you concerns. He is free of syphilis for 7 months now, the vet checked him after the third shot and he has been to the vet again a few weeks ago for a quick check up. He had the atypical syphilis which appears on the face only and fortunately we caught it in time. He doesn’t have any physical symptoms for months.

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