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Some people get a little confused about this; Castor and Chestnut are not quite the same thing. They share the same major color genes, yes, but there are some little helper genes called rufus modifiers present in the Castor that are lacking in the Chestnut. The rufus modifiers increase the amount of red/yellow pigment in the coat. In some breeds, like the Mini Rex, a Red is genetically pretty much the same thing as an Orange, it just has several rufus modifiers cranking up the color to a deep red. A New Zealand Red has the wide band gene to put the color on the belly, too, but it needs the rufus modifiers to achieve that deep red. Likewise, most rabbit breeds have Chestnut as a color, but in the Rex breeds, the showable version (Castor) has a deeper, richer color because of the presence of the rufus modifiers. Castor, with the rufus coloring, is the correct color for a Rex, Chestnut, without the rufus, is not; some judges would simply fault a Rex with the lighter color as having 'poor color,' and some would disqualify it as being a non-showable color (Chestnut) rather than the showable one (Castor).
Your rabbit with the mane looks a bit redder than your basic Chestnut; even the eye circles appear to have a reddish tinge. What color is its belly?
Some people get a little confused about this; Castor and Chestnut are not quite the same thing. They share the same major color genes, yes, but there are some little helper genes called rufus modifiers present in the Castor that are lacking in the Chestnut. The rufus modifiers increase the amount of red/yellow pigment in the coat. In some breeds, like the Mini Rex, a Red is genetically pretty much the same thing as an Orange, it just has several rufus modifiers cranking up the color to a deep red. A New Zealand Red has the wide band gene to put the color on the belly, too, but it needs the rufus modifiers to achieve that deep red. Likewise, most rabbit breeds have Chestnut as a color, but in the Rex breeds, the showable version (Castor) has a deeper, richer color because of the presence of the rufus modifiers. Castor, with the rufus coloring, is the correct color for a Rex, Chestnut, without the rufus, is not; some judges would simply fault a Rex with the lighter color as having 'poor color,' and some would disqualify it as being a non-showable color (Chestnut) rather than the showable one (Castor).
Your rabbit with the mane looks a bit redder than your basic Chestnut; even the eye circles appear to have a reddish tinge. What color is its belly?