Calico fiasco!!

[Pandorachik]

Is it true all calicos are girls? D:

[Sam and Lady's Human]

No.

ETA, are you referring to a cat? There isn’t a bunny coloring called “calico”.

[Pandorachik]

Ok because someone said they were xD

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

To have an orange tabby male he must be birthed by an orange tabby male and female -as far as I know. Now, a calico is a mutation of the orange tabby where some of the orange is expressed as a black mutation. So to have a male calico it’s ditto-a male calico dad and mom. So it’s *rare* but not impossible.

This is from reading on the internet -I’m not a cat breeder or a cat geneticist But that’s how I understand the genetics.

[peppypoo]

Yes, NEARLY all calico cats are actually female.  Great way to win a bet with your friends…point to a calico cat and bet them that it’s female .

I’ll try to explain it as clearly as I can, feel free to ask if it’s kind of confusing, haha. The gene responsible for the colors are located on the X chromosomes in cats…as you may know, all female mammals have two X chromosomes, while males have one X and one Y. However, only one X chromosome in a cell can be turned on at a time, so each cell randomly picks an X to turn off…so if a female has one X of each “color” this random turning off gives you the patchwork pattern. Because the male has only one X, that single X is turned on in all the cells and it’s impossible for a male to have that much variation in color.

There are, some rare cats that have two X chromosomes AND a Y chromosome…and these indeed would be your very rare male calicos!  Because of this genetic mistake of having XXY these cats are unable to produce kittens though, making male calicos even more rare.

[Pandorachik]

What is the coloring called for brown white and black if that isn’t “calico.”

[bunnyfriend]

It’s not true for rabbits sorry! Are your bunnies tummies white (or are they themselves mostly white) with brown and black? If so they are probably a broken brown and black. Broken coloring is white with other coloring (from a little bit to a lot) which can involve many different color combinations (I had a broken golden, brown, black, and orange rabbit). I don’t think the term calico is used with rabbits.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

It depends on placement and pattern.

[Pandorachik]

Oh, ok (:

[Pandorachik]

peppypoo: No, I totally get it!

[Author]

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