Rabbit Genetics - C

The bane of my existence- the Color Gene!

Ok, I'm going to start this one out with a cheat key :)

C- full color
Cchd- chinchilla dark
Cchl- chinchilla light
Ch- Himi
c- REW (Rew carrier with 1, Rew with cc)


C-With the dominant C gene, you get a full color rabbit (examples being torts, black, etc). It is completely dominant over all the others, so while it can carry anything from Cchd to c, you'll always see a fully colored rabbit.

Cchd-This is the next gene in the dominance hierarchy. It will be expressed when matched with anything EXCEPT "C". In this gene, the gold pigment is removed from the coat. That's why with chinchillas, you've got the beautiful white bands in between the color bands of the coat (go blow in to a chin's coat! But, if you don't own it, be sure to ask first lol).

Cchl- Ugh, now chinchilla light is fun (not). This gene has incomplete dominance (let's all boo incomplete dominance! Even if it does cause pretty colors). When it gets together with one of the genes farther down on the list, it's expressed. When it gets together with another Cchl, you get a seal colored rabbit. This gene also takes away the gold pigment, and it "dilutes" (for lack of a better word) dark colors. Cchl can causes a shaded look in some colors. Because of the Cchl you get colors like Smoke Pearl and Siamese Sable.

Ch- This is the himalayan gene. With it, you get a nice, pure white body with color on the points (face, feet, ears and tail). Himalayan markings are also known as "pointeds" (which show as AOV in Woolies). Odd, how the Ch gene removes all color EXCEPT points, isn't it? Just goes to show you, genetics do crazy mess.

c- aww, the lowest on the little totem poll, c is a very formidable gene. With two c's, you get a Red-Eyed (or Ruby-eyed) white rabbit. Imagine your friend comes to visit and throws a sheet over a rabbit. Now, under that sheet there is still color- but you can't see it! It's a REW basically lol. So you see, that little c can completely wash out the other 4 genes entirely- they'll still be there, but you can't see them! Rew rabbits can not carry shaded or Himi because the gene that expresses them is carried in the same place.

Bah, Adios C genes, with your incomplete dominance and your many options! It's gravy from here lol.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry