Is Angel a Netherland Dwarf?

[Mel94]

So, since I got Angel a few weeks ago, I always thought she was a pure Netherland Dwarf, but last night I posted her picture on Reddit’s rabbit sub and people think she looks like a mix or a ‘false dwarf’ due to her ears.

 I’m confused because I’ve seen a baby picture of Cooperthepooper on Instagram where his ears looked bigger than they do now, so I’d figured that’d be the case with Angel too, but now I’m not so sure.

 I got Angel from a pet shop that only gets their animals from local breeders, she was advertised as a Netherland Dwarf while there were two Netherland Crosses in the cage next to her, so I figured being a local breeder, they’d know for sure what her breed is.

(I know you’re supposed to adopt rather than shop, but we didn’t intend to get a bunny when we went in, we were checking out the place for the first time and went to get some goodies for Thumper, when we saw Angel and completely fell in love with her.)

 

What do you guys think? Here’s Angel’s Instagram for pictures/videos and also Thumper’s Instagram for when we first had her.

 

(I just wanted to add that whatever breed Angel is, it doesn’t make any difference to how I feel about her, I’m just curious about learning more about breeds and how to identify them.)

[Brambino]

OK, so this is my understanding…. I’m a novice so hope this makes sense!

Nethies have 2 alleles of the dwarf gene. An allele can be dwarf (D) or not dwarf/false dwarf (F)

A true dwarf will have the allele combination D & F. Nethies cannot have the combination DD as they will be ‘runts’ or ‘peanuts’ and will not survive as kits.

The dwarf gene is dominant, so as long as a bun gets one D allele, they will be a dwarf.

When 2 true netherland dwarfs breed, they both have the alleles DF. This means the possible baby combinations are DD (won’t survive), DF – a true dwarf and FF – a false dwarf.

So even a reputable breeder will have false dwarf babies. It’s not like they will be huge bunnies, but they will likely be larger than a true dwarf (over 1.2kg) and have ears longer than 5cm.

I like the big ears though I think it’s cute. I have suspicions my bramble is a false dwarf too.

I’ve also heard that between 3-5 months they have a bit of an ‘awkward’ phase where their ears grow faster than their face, so you might not know until she’s fully grown.

[Azerane]

I also think she’s a nethie, just a false dwarf. She has all the characteristics in her face and shape, just bigger. While I suppose that certainly doesn’t rule out that she’s a mix (since so many pet stores label rabbits wrong just to make a sale in my experience) she’s still cute, no matter what.

[Mikey]

All dwarf rabbits have flat faces. Angel does not (neither does Thumper), so they are both false dwarves

They both also look a little big to be dwarves. Seconding that theyre both adorable! Theres nothing wrong with being a false or a mix

[cinnybun2015]

I would think she’s a Nethie… maybe a mix? I’m sorry, I can’t tell…
Just have a quick question to ask you Mel94! Are you @thumperstagram and @angelthedwarf on Instagram? If so, I wanted to let you know that I love your posts! They’re adorable photos!

[cinnybun2015]

Sorry! Just realized that you were… great photos that you post, I love them. Sorry to clutter the thread, but just wanted to let you know that.

[LBJ10]

Brambino is correct. Just because a bunny is a false dwarf does not mean they are not a purebred Nethie. There will always be false dwarfs because of the genetics behind it. It isn’t unusual around here for breeders to sell “pet quality” bunnies to pet stores if they have a bunch and are having trouble selling them. I’m assuming it is the same situation where you are. Your bunny very well could be a Nethie and so she was labeled as such at the pet store. The reason she was at the pet store is likely because she is a false dwarf.

[Bam]

Yes. To avoid getting peanuts, sometimes breeders mate a false dwarf to a true dwarf (both of the same breed, so it’s not a mix), because the number of true dwarfs you get from such a cross is statistically the same as when you cross 2 true dwarfs, but instead of 1/4 peanuts 1/4 false dwarfs you get 1/2 false dwarfs. In either case you get 1/2 true dwarfs. It’s easy to see if you make two Punnett squares.

I made two ugly punnett squares. M and F in black is Mother and Father

N in blue is normal gene-copy

D in red is dwarfism gene-copy

All kits get one gene-copy from each parent, so they each have 2 gene-copies. 

Here’s what happens if both parents have the dwarfism gene:

The kits are the ones with double letters. We get 2 true dwarfs (ND), 1 false dwarf (NN) and 1 peanut (DD)

Here’s what happens if only one parent, here the mother, has the dwarfism gene-copy:

We get 2 false dwarfs (NN) and 2 true dwarfs (ND)

Number of true dwarfs is the same, that’s the maximum number of true dwarfs you can get. 

If I’m not making sense, just kill me. 

Angel is beautiful. Love her little white paws!!!

[Mel94]

Thank you everyone for the informative replies.

Does anyone know typically how big a false dwarf will grow to? She feels so slender while I’m holding her. When I look at pictures of other Nethies, they look more filled out, although I suppose it’s difficult to compare by just pictures. I measured her ears out of curiosity last night and they’re just over 2inches long. 

She’s such a sweet little girl either way, whenever I kiss her ears, she’ll kiss my neck back and it’s so funny watching her binky and play. I can’t wait until she and Thumper can play together.

Also, a big thank you to Cinnybun for your sweet comment! I love sharing Thumper and Angel’s adventures on Instagram and following the lives of all of our lovely friends! <3

[LBJ10]

Those are percentages though. A 50% chance of true dwarf and 50% chance of false dwarf for each kit when you breed a false dwarf with a true dwarf. So a breeder could get “unlucky” and have a bunch of false dwarfs in a single litter. They won’t want to keep all of them for breeding, so that’s why they sometimes end up in pet stores.

Weight-wise, a false dwarf will be over the “maximum”. But they aren’t doing to be huge. They will still be small as far as bunnies go. To qualify for showing, a Nethie cannot weigh more than 2.5lbs. A false dwarf might weigh 3lbs or a little more. Still a small bunny. And yes, their ears will be a little longer, but still short.

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