What kind of rabbit am I???

[blossomisabun]

Greetings! I am new to the forum and posting for the first time. I wasn’t sure where my question fit, so here it goes.

I got our current rabbit Blossom (4 months old, second rabbit) from a beginner breeder. She breeds Netherland Dwarf, Lop, and Lionhead, but does not house them together. Our little guy, from silver marten doe and buck, was a bit bigger than his litter mates and slightly fluffier, but otherwise very similar in appearance. The breeder didn’t really think much of the fluff, as it was very cold when the kits were born, in an outside enclosure. As time went on, Blossom (once thought to be female but now clearly not so) has become a massive furball with very silvery long hair.

As I started searching for more long-haired Netherland Dwarfs, I found none. What I did find is the Jersey Wooly, especially the silver marten variety. If the parents did not look like this and the litter mates did not look like this, where might the explanation lie? I know nothing about rabbit genes, other than the dwarf gene, and don’t know if perhaps somewhere in his lineage, there might have been a long-haired rabbit, Jersey Wooly or otherwise. 

I don’t really care what breed he, my son and I are just very curious about the genetics. Anyone have any clues? I will attempt to post a recent photo.

Thanks!

 

[LBJ10]

How cute!!! I just want to squeeze him! He reminds me of my Jersey wooly. If the parents were Nethies, then someone had to be a carrier for the wool gene. The gene is recessive, but due to incomplete dominance it may or may not “show” in a carrier. So a “Nethie” could have an outward appearance of a Nethie, but is actually not a pure Nethie. This makes sense because the Jersey wooly breed was actually developed by crossing Nethies with French angoras. My guess is that your beginner breeder probably obtained a Nethie (or multiple Nethies) that they were told was purebred and it turned out it had a wool gene hidden in there. The result when you cross a normal fur individual with a carrier of the wool gene is a 50% chance that the offspring will have a wool coat. Crossing two carriers results in a 25% chance in the offspring having a wool coat.

He is super darling, BTW. And his coloring is called black otter.

[jerseygirl]

How sweet! She certainly looks like a jersey wooly. I’d say it would be something to do with the Lionheads the breeder has. It wasn’t a officially recognised breed in the US until a few years ago and there was a lot of variation in the lionheads being produced.
The lionhead is a netherland and swiss fox mix. The swiss fox rabbit have the long coat like blossom too. But it’s possible the breeder picked up a netherland/jersey wooly cross, thinking it was a Lionhead.

[LBJ10]

That’s a thought too Jersey! We might have to wait for his adult coat to come in to tell.

[jerseygirl]

I didn’t even see your post when I’d posted LBJ! Sorry.

Aren’t there also differences with US Lionhead breed v’s UK Lionhead breed? I don’t recall.

I totally missed that Blossom is a boy, sorry blossomisabun!

[blossomisabun]

Thanks. That’s very interesting. My son is a genetics buff and is fascinated by this.

Blossom is 4 months old next week. Our previous rabbit was a lion/lop mix (only a tiny mane between the ears, which looked like a helicopter ready for takeoff) and there was no visible change in his coat from baby to adult. Blossom was originally very black and has become silvery with the megafluff, except on the head and feet. Is this likely to be his adult coat? I’m fighting awful mats I didn’t expect to encounter when I thought I was getting a Nethie.

[Limit]

A very pretty kind!

[sarahthegemini]

A super cute rabbit!

[LBJ10]

It could be his adult coat. I think Wooly’s came in when he was around 6 months old, but it can vary. Are there guard hairs?

[blossomisabun]

Er… I’m not sure how to tell what is guard hair and what is not. He’s only my second bunny and I’m learning as I go, especially on this long-haired bunny I wasn’t prepared for.

[blossomisabun]

Totally okay that you didn’t see Blossom is a boy. We only discovered it on April Fool’s Day at the vet, where he exclaimed “Ha, ha! I’m a boy!”

[LBJ10]

Here is a close up of Wooly’s fur. You can see the wiry, crimped wool and you can see the smooth, long guard hairs poking out.

[Author]

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