Californian Rabbit carrying harlequin extension??

[inearth]

I know this sounds crazy but Either my Holland/lionhead carries it or this californian rabbit does.

Sire ; Californian

Dam ; Holland mix Lionhead

Before you give me a lecture of how you arent supposed to breed like this
...The sire is 5.2 pounds (small for his breed. average is 7 - 12 pounds.) Super healthy
...The dam is 3 pounds (I think this is below average. Right size) Not bad but Not good health

Reason; The doe got Super bored with just sitting in the cage alone. we gave her toys but she didnt like them. She didnt like a single toy out of the 13 we bought.

We got a harlequin colored baby??

This is her first litter, 4 were born and 3 survived (ive heard this is pretty good...) Theres a harlequin colored one, a Caramel or maybe a honey color, then a white one.

Two have opened their eyes fully, brown. (Not the white one yet. Im expecting to see its eyes opened tomorrow afternoon or something.)

This is the baby. It looks harlequin and ive shown this to almost 14 people now. No one has an explanation for it. Help me out?? Heres the other kits:

The white one, (Hasnt opened eyes yet)

Caramel / honey baby. its opened its eyes, brown. (not in this picture) it also has a ash kinda color on its butt. ??

This is the sire. Californian - Milky way

MIGHT carry the chocolate gene.

This is the Dam, Black lionhead/Holland lop. Single mane, Brown eyes. Im almost 100% sure she has the chocolate gene.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Yeah I wondered that from your other thread. I would think the buck may have harlequin in him as that would account for his smaller size maybe. Though your dam has a longer head for a Holland lionhead mix, so maybe she's the suspect. I didn't help at all.

 

[inearth]

Update; the 12th day and the white one still hasnt opened its eyes.

 

[Bunnylady]

If a baby's eyes don't open when they should, they are probably glued shut because of an eye infection, so you need to open them yourself. Get some water on the eyelid with a moist paper towel or cotton swab, and gently pry the lids apart. Once the eye is open, it may stay that way, or you may need to re-open it repeatedly (and use an antibiotic eye drop to deal with the infection).

Yeah I wondered that from your other thread. I would think the buck may have harlequin in him as that would account for his smaller size maybe.

Actually, 5 lbs is unreasonably small for a Harlequin, too.

My question is, why do you think your buck is a Californian? Yes, he is the same color, but there are several other breeds that come in that color (Mini Rex, Holland Lop, Netherland Dwarf, just to name a few). There is even a small breed that only comes in that color; the Himalayan is actually the foundation breed that gave the Californian its markings.

Does this buck have a pedigree, or did the breeder show you his parents, and they are obviously normal meat rabbit sized? You say he's an adult, and yet he's the size of an 8-to-10-week-old fryer . . . that isn't just "small," it's horribly undersized. My suspicion is that he's not a Californian. When I look at the picture of him, his face looks rather long and narrow, his ears are rather short, and his feet (what I can see of them) appear on the small and fine-boned side. My thought is that he might be part Cali, but he's got a lot of some smaller breed (like Mini Rex, or Himilayan) in him. Or, he may just be a smallish mixed-breed that happens to be Himi/Pointed White in color.

If I were to bet on the source of the harlequin gene in your baby, my money would be on the doe. I have seen a lot of harlequin-patterned Lionheads. Of course, Holland Lops can come in the harlequin pattern, too (harlequin Hollands aren't showable, but tricolors are, and a tri is a broken harlie). Another of your babies looks like a tort; does it not have any harlequin markings on it? Tort is two copies of non-extension. Both non-extension (e) and harlequin (ej) are recessive to full extension (E), but it shouldn't be possible to get both torts and harlies from two parents that are expressing full extension.

Im almost 100% sure she has the chocolate gene.

Is one of her parents chocolate? Does she have chocolate siblings? Chocolate is recessive; the only way you can see any sign of it is if the rabbit inherited it from both parents and is an actual chocolate. There is no visible difference between a rabbit with one copy of chocolate, and one that has no copies at all. When I look at your rabbit, what I see looks like ordinary sun fading on a black rabbit.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

If a baby's eyes don't open when they should, they are probably glued shut because of an eye infection, so you need to open them yourself. Get some water on the eyelid with a moist paper towel or cotton swab, and gently pry the lids apart. Once the eye is open, it may stay that way, or you may need to re-open it repeatedly (and use an antibiotic eye drop to deal with the infection). I knew you would know.



Actually, 5 lbs is unreasonably small for a Harlequin, too.

My question is, why do you think your buck is a Californian? Yes, he is the same color, but there are several other breeds that come in that color (Mini Rex, Holland Lop, Netherland Dwarf, just to name a few). There is even a small breed that only comes in that color; the Himalayan is actually the foundation breed that gave the Californian its markings.

Does this buck have a pedigree, or did the breeder show you his parents, and they are obviously normal meat rabbit sized? You say he's an adult, and yet he's the size of an 8-to-10-week-old fryer . . . that isn't just "small," it's horribly undersized. My suspicion is that he's not a Californian. When I look at the picture of him, his face looks rather long and narrow, his ears are rather short, and his feet (what I can see of them) appear on the small and fine-boned side. My thought is that he might be part Cali, but he's got a lot of some smaller breed (like Mini Rex, or Himilayan) in him. Or, he may just be a smallish mixed-breed that happens to be Himi/Pointed White in color.

If I were to bet on the source of the harlequin gene in your baby, my money would be on the doe. I have seen a lot of harlequin-patterned Lionheads. Of course, Holland Lops can come in the harlequin pattern, too (harlequin Hollands aren't showable, but tricolors are, and a tri is a broken harlie). Another of your babies looks like a tort; does it not have any harlequin markings on it? Tort is two copies of non-extension. Both non-extension (e) and harlequin (ej) are recessive to full extension (E), but it shouldn't be possible to get both torts and harlies from two parents that are expressing full extension.



Is one of her parents chocolate? Does she have chocolate siblings? Chocolate is recessive; the only way you can see any sign of it is if the rabbit inherited it from both parents and is an actual chocolate. There is no visible difference between a rabbit with one copy of chocolate, and one that has no copies at all. When I look at your rabbit, what I see looks like ordinary sun fading on a black rabbit.

 

[inearth]

If a baby's eyes don't open when they should, they are probably glued shut because of an eye infection, so you need to open them yourself. Get some water on the eyelid with a moist paper towel or cotton swab, and gently pry the lids apart. Once the eye is open, it may stay that way, or you may need to re-open it repeatedly (and use an antibiotic eye drop to deal with the infection).

The white bunnies eyes opened fully today - 6/21 they were born 6/7 and the first baby opened its eyes on the 9th day, the second baby opened its eyes in the morning of 10th. <-- 6/17 then 14th day the third kit..

I have no information of the does history.

The third kits eye color (white fur) is red from what I can tell.
It has no eye infection, Its just a late developer.

I saw the bucks Father, He was a big beautiful californian I think. Maybe a new zealand, My memory is not all great. the mother however Im not sure.

Once I meet up with the breeder, I will ask her if shes had any himalayans or any other rabbits.

from what ive heard, there is no pedigree.