Random baby rex???

[Duckchick2011]

Hello again!

Hey guys, I noticed the other day while taking a head count of the new babies that one has curly whiskers It looks like somebody took a match and singed them. I was all like, "hey, this is how rex whiskers look! This has to be a rex bunny!" The only issue is that neither of this baby's parents are rexs. In fact one is Flemish giant and the other is a new zealand How on earth did this happen???

(I will add pictures in a bit. )

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I would wait and see how it turns out as it grows, but it is possible one or both of the parents carry the gene for the Rex mutation (which is essentially what Rex is) so it could actually happen by mistake in many different breeding a even if parents are not rex

 

[Duckchick2011]

That's cool, I can't wait to see how he grows up :3

Here are the pictures I promised but they are not that great >.<

 

[Bunnylady]

The Rex coat is a recessive trait, meaning that the rabbit has to inherit the gene from both parents for you to see it. A pedigreed Flemish Giant and a pedigreed New Zealand shouldn't be carrying the gene for the Rex coat, but if an outcross occurred somewhere in the past, it is possible for a recessive trait to be carried for many generations without it showing up. The Harlequin breed is only shown in the normal coat in the U.S, but it can also have the Rex coat. In all my years of breeding Harlies, I have had 1 baby that had a Rex coat, and it was actually an Astrex (the coat is wavy as well as short). I have seen only one other Astrex Harlie, and its owner hadn't a clue what they were looking at.

 

[Duckchick2011]

The Rex coat is a recessive trait, meaning that the rabbit has to inherit the gene from both parents for you to see it. A pedigreed Flemish Giant and a pedigreed New Zealand shouldn't be carrying the gene for the Rex coat, but if an outcross occurred somewhere in the past, it is possible for a recessive trait to be carried for many generations without it showing up. The Harlequin breed is only shown in the normal coat in the U.S, but it can also have the Rex coat. In all my years of breeding Harlies, I have had 1 baby that had a Rex coat, and it was actually an Astrex (the coat is wavy as well as short). I have seen only one other Astrex Harlie, and its owner hadn't a clue what they were looking at.

Neither of them are pedigreed so that would definitely explain it if the baby turns out to be a rex. I did read on another forum that sometimes Flemish giants just have curly whiskers so I dunno, he might just be little different. I will say that his coat is a little different from his brothers and sisters though...not softer..just a little different.

Haha, Astrexs look just like devon rex cats So cool!

 

[Duckchick2011]

Well here is an update, this kit is certainly not normal but I'm not so sure he is a rex. Where his other brother and sisters are getting longer fluffier fur his is staying sleek against his body, it's growing but he isn't getting fluffier and not nearly as soft as his brothers and sisters. He looks like a little seal instead of a bunny. A little curly whiskered seal

He's still a little fluffeh, just different, it seems to be wavy in a few places where the fur seems to have flattened over instead of fluffing out.

So here are the pics, not the best quality and the differences just aren't showing all that well :/ :





The lighter brown one is his normal furred brother. The lighter one is much softer and fluffier when you pet him.
Curly whiskered bunny's fur feels cushy, but not smooth and soft.


His little kinky whiskers next to his brothers.

What do you think? Rex? Just a weird bunny, or am I looking too much into the details