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At what age do black rabbits go grey?

threelittlepigs

Alpha Buck
:wave:

I adopted my rabbits Norris and Narla from Freshfields Rescue two years ago. They were supposed to be between 3-4 yrs old.

Norris is a black nethie cross and Narla is an English/lionhead cross

BunnyPictures012-1.jpg


Norris has been going a bit salt and pepper for a while, but he has now got quite a pronounced white bib.

Has anyone else had this happen to a black bunny? If so, at what age did it happen and should I be concerned or giving any special treatment?
 
Awww cuties, I just looked to see the answer, I have no idea sorry I didn't even know that rabbits went grey - my dog is going grey round the mouth area at 11 year of age but haven't a clue if it affects buns? Hopefully some of the members who have old age pensioner buns will help :)
 
Can you take a picture of what you mean?

Some bunnies have markings that change during their life, but they don't go grey like other species (well, as far as I know, black bunnies don't go grey). Some different markings change with age (like a siamese smoke pearl might get browny bits because of the siamese sable link).

Someone may correct me RE the black though.
 
Sooty was all black but started to get some flecks of white when he was about 1 and adds a few more every year. Daisy who was our Oap Black otter living in the rescue had considerable white flecks all through her coat and she was quite old although a stray so we never knew how old but probably 8+ when she died.
 
My Brian is going grey and he's only eight months! I think it's pretty normal for black bunnies to get a lot of grey hairs.

If it's only a recent thing, maybe it's just how his summer coat grows in? My bunnies always change colour a little when they moult (well except Thistle, he's always white :lol:). I used to have a grey bunny that would turn a completely different shade - almost light brown - when summer arrived. :)
 
Thanks for your replies.

He has always had some white flecks, but now they are very noticeable on his chest. It makes him look as if he is wearing a dinner jacket and dress shirt:
very classy.
:love:
 
Dandelion seems to be getting more white hairs now that he is a year old :lol:

Funny, mine used to have the odd stray white hair, but they lost them as they got older. Maybe with moulting?? Now they are all black! Must scrutinize them in the morning. You can't find black bunnies in the dark!! :D
 
Funny, mine used to have the odd stray white hair, but they lost them as they got older. Maybe with moulting?? Now they are all black! Must scrutinize them in the morning. You can't find black bunnies in the dark!! :D

Tell me about it! I had shade over the run today cos it was so hot, and Dan & Clo went right into the darkest, shadiest corner - I thought they'd escaped when I couldn't see them! :shock::shock::shock:
 
Artie is coming up 6 years old and he's as grey as a badger :lol::lol:

He was pure black as a youngster but is definitely very grey, a couple of people have commented on what a lovely colour he is, and I thought ":? It's black, black is black!" Then I realised he's quite two tone now. His ears and down his face are still quite black but there's a real contrast to his chest/dewlap sort of area where his pale grey :love::love:

His fluffy butt is quite white as well :love::love::love:
 
My eldest bun Dylan is now almost completely grey - and he used to be very dark. I don't know how old he is as rescue only guestimated his age. I've had him for over four years now so he must be a middle aged or elderly bun. He has been grey for about two years. It suits him though:)
 
Thats really interesting because Starby gets the occasional white hair (hardly any but you can see the odd one if you look very closely!) and I was wondering if that was any indication of age since we dont really know how old he is. Bless the little black buns, I love them! :love:
 
I think my Fred ranked as a geriatric bunny. He was a grey agouti colour.
He stayed that lovely slate grey for many years. Once he reached nine the grey began to lighten, by eleven he looked like he was wearing spectacles as the hair around his eyes, nose and checks went white. His paws and ears also whitened and his face continued to whiten. His body hair remained mostly slate but his stomach became white so Fred the grey gradually became Fred the white with advanced old age. He stayed spry until his last four months when he became to sleep most of the time.
Fred died at 13 years 7 months. The oldest living house bun have ever had.
 
Artie is coming up 6 years old and he's as grey as a badger :lol::lol:

He was pure black as a youngster but is definitely very grey, a couple of people have commented on what a lovely colour he is, and I thought ":? It's black, black is black!" Then I realised he's quite two tone now. His ears and down his face are still quite black but there's a real contrast to his chest/dewlap sort of area where his pale grey :love::love:

His fluffy butt is quite white as well :love::love::love:

I'm wondering if Artie is not black, but a dark siamese sable, and now his colour is lightning.


My bunnies with black on have got odd white hairs (and those who are of butterfly marking have been gaining additional black spots as they get older), but didn't for one second think it would be related to age. I always thought it was related to skin trauma (suh as a scratch or wound or something).
 
My Winston is very old...about 12 years old!

He has never gone grey/white at all, although he tends to look grey when he's moulting, before the old hair falls out.
 
I'm wondering if Artie is not black, but a dark siamese sable, and now his colour is lightning.

Oh that's interesting, my boy might be more exotic than I thought :lol::lol: I'll try to do a photoshoot of him some time soon in good light so it can be delved into further.
 
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