calico rabbit question

[Sadie]

I took basic genetics, a long, long time ago – and all I really remember is that only female cats can be calico (unless a male has an extra X chromosome.) One of my new bunnies has calico colorations, actually her back end is striped kind of remiscent of a tiger or a bumble bee. She is very definately white with black/orange patches. does this mean she is really a she?

I think I have two girls, but they are only 5 weeks old (I know, too young, but that’s when I got them.) What if I have a boy and a girl, I certainly don’t want any babies, especially since I have two siblings, in a couple months am I going to have to keep them seperated until I can get them fixed?

[jerseygirl]

Hi again. Well I know zero on rabbit genetics – lol. The colouration you’re describing sounds like harlequin with the stripes. This is a breed but also a colour that can turn up in other breeds. This is true of several colours and markings in rabbits. Usually a white rabbit with some colouring is called a “broken” colour. For example a white rabbit with black patches is sometimes called a broken black. There is also tri coloured rabbits – normall tri coloured dutch and another is the rhinelander. American breeders rabbit association website might help you determine breed (http://www.arba.net) but most that come thru shelters are mix breeds and near impossible to know what they are for sure.

Anyway, it basically won’t tell you anything about the sex of the rabbits. Litter mates will cohabit nicely for a time until puberty. Some go thru it without any trouble and sometimes they’ll start to fight. So separating them might happen anyway regardless of what sex they are. By getting both rabbits fixed at the appropriate age, you can then bond them to live together permanently.

[KatnipCrzy]

I know the calico theory runs pretty sound in cats and hamsters- 99% of calico cats are female- but I did see a male calico cat once- his name was Mr Calico and there was no doubt he was male.

The calico theory does not work on rabbits or guinea pigs- they can be male or female.

[Elrohwen]

In bunnies, you can definitely get this pattern in both males and females. In fact, there’s a whole breed that only has the coloring you’re describing (though you can have bunnies of different breeds in that same color).

It sounds like your bunnies are harlequin. There are two varieties –

Japanese harliquin (I think this particular rabbit is actually the harlequin breed as well as the color): http://www.petplanet.co.uk/petplane…lequin.jpg

and Magpie harlequin (obviously not the harlequin breed, just the color, since this bun is a lop): http://sunshinebunnies.webs.com/Sun…lossom.JPG

You can also have a Japanese harlequin with white patches and it’s called tricolor. This color comes from crossing a regular harlequin colored bun with one that is “broken” - has white plus another color. The bun in my avatar is a broken black, for example. So a tricolor bun is just a broken harlequin, if that makes sense. This is the color that really looks like a calico cat: http://www.freewebs.com/jkhoppers/viking.jpg

I hope this helps! I’d love to see pictures of your buns – harlequin is my absolute favorite color. It’s just so unique.

[Beka27]

Welcome Sadie! 5 weeks is very young to have baby bunnies. As they settle down, within the next couple weeks, you can make an appointment with a rabbit-savvy vet and he or she will be able to sex the babies for you. If they are opposite sexes, they should be separated by 12 weeks at the latest, you might want to do 10 weeks… better safe than sorry. If they are the same sex, you can keep them together unless/until there is any indication of fighting, chasing, or dominant behavior. At the vet visit, in addition to a general check-up, I would also ask for a fecal parasite test to make sure they are healthy in that regard.

AND if you POST some pics of the itty bitty wittle babies we might be able to help determine what they might be.

[RabbitPam]

I agree with Beka about posting pix, though I think we will only be able to determine if they are cute, which I think I can predict they are.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Calico can occur in males It’s just rare. My friend has an orange female-which is very very rare. http://www.bio.miami.edu/dana/dox/calico.html

I’m not sure which coloring you are calling calico-is it a tricolor dutch or a harlequin? The proper terms for the color should point you in the right direction for looking up their genetics-but I can assure you both occur in both sexes So to satisify your curiosity figure out what the coloring is that they have. But that won’t help you sex them

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