Dwarf rabbits

[FrankieFlash]

So I was just wondering what classifies a rabbit as a dwarf? I know there are certain physical features you can identify them by but besides smaller ears, what seperates them from just a small rabbit. Bunjamin is 6 months old so I know he about full weight and he’s probably still under 3 lbs so I’ve been wondering if he might have dwarf in his mix. I don’t care what breed he is, or even if he’s multiple breeds (a heinz 57). I’m just curious.

 

Oh and here’s a cute picture for a reward for clicking

A melted Bunjamin popsicle

[peppypoo]

Hehhehehe adorable XD

As far as Netherland dwarves go, there is a specific gene that confers the standard “dwarf” characteristic. When two dwarves are mated, the portion of the litter with one copy of the dwarf gene (statistically about half) will be “true dwarves”, those with no copies of the gene (1/4) are “false dwarves”, while having two copies of the gene (1/4) is lethal, so these kits do not survive very long. False dwarves usually aren’t very useful to breeders vying for show-quality bunnies, so a lot of the time the false dwarves are sold as pets – they are still smaller than most other rabbits, and with slightly smaller ears, but noticeably bigger than true dwarves. My Remi is a false dwarf, and it’s possible that Bunjamin is too.

I hope this helps!

[FrankieFlash]

That is very informative (and slightly sad about the kits that die bc of mean breeders). Thank you.

[bunnyfriend]

Bahaha good reward! He’s cute

[FrankieFlash]

haha thanks. This pic is after I was gone for over 24 hours and my bf was watching him. I got the butt at first but I eventually won him over with pets.

[BinkyBunny]

Very interesting Peppypoo.

Frankie flash looks like hes also got harlequin in him

[peppypoo]

So I looked around a bit to find a better, slightly more in-depth explanation if anyone is interested..genetics can be pretty cool!

http://www.raising-rabbits.com/dwarf-rabbits.html

I had already known about the dwarf gene in Netherland dwarfs, but I actually had no idea that it was also involved in lionheads, mini rexes, holland lops, and more breeds too. Frankie, I do agree that it’s sad how for the sake of breeding out a certain physical appearance like size for popular demand, a statistical 1/4 of the litter is born with severe lethal birth defects

[LBJ10]

There are many cases of genes with lethal factors. It isn’t just in rabbits. This is why you’re not suppose to cross two TOV chinchillas, because the kits won’t live. That was something I learned about chinchillas when we had ours. And yep, Hollands have the dwarfism gene too. That’s why they have round heads.

[Elrohwen]

Peppy gave a good description. The dwarf gene is present in a number of different breeds as well like holland lops and lionheads so you could technically use “dwarf breed” to mean any of these smaller breeds with the gene.

Frankie’s ears do look specifically netherland dwarf to me, though I’m not sure if harli is an allowed color so he might be a mix of a nethi and some harli colored bun (harlequin shows up in breeds other than just the harlequin breed).

I think Otto is a false dwarf – he has the physical characteristics and is 4lbs which is at the tippy top end of the weight range for hollands.

[FrankieFlash]

Yeah bunji’s ears are bigger than the obvious dwarf breeds I’ve seen. According to that YouTube gal that helps figure out breeds I’ve figured bunjamin is a black Japanese harlequin or at least that’s what he’s closest too but I know he can’t be harlequin in breed because he’s too small. I think he probably carries one of the dwarf genes from what you’ve said peppypoo. Maybe I’ll just call him my little Heinz 57 like my dog lol. I think mixes are more fun anyway

But I also find genetics fascinating. I’ll definitely read that link when I get on my computer instead of phone.

[Elrohwen]

Sounds like the girl on YouTube doesn’t know much about rabbit breeds 😛 There are plenty of rabbits who are harli colored (and specifically he is black Japanese – that just describes his coloring the way broken black describes Otto’s color) but a color doesn’t make a breed and he’s certainly not the actual harlequin breed because of his size (and because the actual breed is quite rare)

I did a quick check on allowed nethie colors – harlequin isn’t listed, so I don’t think it’s made it into the breed. Technically the standard allows for any color as long as the color conforms to the standard of other breeds, but the harli color standard (for the actual harlequin breed) is very exact and hard to produce (the two colors must be arranged in the perfect pattern), so that’s probably why nethie breeders aren’t breeding for it. Still, I think more harli colored buns are popping up in the smaller breeds now as it’s just such a cool color, so it’s possible he’s a mix of nethie and another of the small breeds (there are harli hollands out there) or pure nethie from a breeder who introduced the harli color somewhere.

I need to take Jersey’s advice and just start a thread on genetics 😛 I get way too into this stuff and it would probably be helpful for new members who want to know what their bunny is (or at least what the color is)

[Sarita]

I would say his coloring is Harlequin but Harlequin rabbits are quite large. I’ve only had one before and she was a big girl but lean.

I would say he’s definitely a dwarf though which I don’t think is really an actual breed….

He’s totally adorable.

[Cheddar33]

I found out about the true dwarf from a breeder at a rabbit show. It made me realize that Cheddar was a false dwarf. So obvious because everything about him is bigger. He’s 5.2 lbs. Poopy, Meatball, and Noodle are all true dwarfs. They are 3 lbs and under.

[Elrohwen]

Cheddy is a big boy! Haha He’s almost Hannah sized and she’s a mini lop.

[FrankieFlash]

Thanks guys for the clarification. Sadly, since I got him from a petstore and I was just in that petstore today getting a taller litterbox and they had two very small rabbits, one with the small ears so probably dwarf mixes- its more likely that yes the breeder was adding the dwarf gene to her breeding practices to create the small cute rabbits. The good news about that trip today is that they’ve added hay to the rabbits cages (when I got bunji from them they didn’t have any hay )so I feel better about that at least :/

[Elrohwen]

Yeah, probably someone trying to breed small cute rabbits with a cute coloring and ended up with dwarf bunnies and harli coloring. Harlis are super cute, so I can’t blame you for picking him! DH calls them “tiger bunnies” lol

[FrankieFlash]

haha thats cute! I might steal that one (tiger bunnies)
And surprisingly he was the only harli there. I’d actually never saw that pattern before but me and mom held the 2 out of 3 that would let us and the other one put its ears back and bunjamin had his up the whole time and I read in one of my rabbit books that ears back means uncomfortable and ears up was a little more comfortable with holding (that book has turned into being wrong on several different things haha) So we picked bunjamin because of how he acted. But I’m super glad I made the right choice because I love his little personality and ‘tude. His littermate or at least the bunnies he was in with- one was all black and the other was tan and white. I just figured bunjamin was a mix of all those colors

[Cheddar33]

Posted By Elrohwen on 01/27/2012 12:19 PM
Cheddy is a big boy! Haha He’s almost Hannah sized and she’s a mini lop.

HAHA. It’s the Holland Lop bone structure. He’s built like a semi-truck.

[Author]

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