Floyd and Family

[Pendragon]

They are beautiful - does the little one have baby blue eyes (or is it just my laptop that makes them look like that).

No, you're right, Lynn - Rainbow had both eyes blue (one with a dash of brown in it) and Picasso has both eyes part-blue part-brown.

It's because they have more white than normal Dutch should have... the extra white takes out some of the brown pigment in the eye.

 

[Adele]

Thank you for sharing those photos with us Sue, the bunnies are stunning, a real credit to you

Lynda if you make me laugh anymore with the icons, I could have a little accident.....a WEE waterworks problem to be specific....it is your comments with the icons that make them live too, I think you are a born again Comedienne :lol: :lol:

 

[bunnyhuggger]

Ahhh BUT!!! .................. I'm a boring old **** in real life!!!!!

(bet that word it's in your bleeping box Tam

)

 

[Tamsin]

Well it is now :wink:

Just curious... does the extra white fur turning the eyes blue just work that way in dutch buns? My bunny Alfie has beautiful blue eyes and he's an agouti lionhead, he just has a white stripe on his nose.

Tam

 

[bunnyhuggger]

Thank you Sue!! I think Picasso is just stunning. Please can you keep us up to date with his progress then, or I know I know

......... I'll come down and stay with you to take pics just to make sure everyone has access to a photographic record of his progress .......... there now, that's a generous offer, whatcha think.......................*runs off to pack suitcase and kiss Jim bye bye (leaving him with a full and detailed instruction booklet on how to look after the current inmates of course)...............

*

 

[bunnyhuggger]

Our Daisy had blue eyes , he was a white lionhead lop. The pupil in one of his eyes looked different from the other though, it was sort of oval shaped and enlongated, the other one was normal. He used to scan his head from side to side a lot, like he found it difficult to focus. If he was nervous or scared, the scanning was even more pronounced. Poor wee man, didn't have much going for him, but he couldn't possibly be more loved than he was. His story is on our website, but if you're planning on taking a wee peek, get a box of tissues ready!

 

[Pendragon]

Ahh.. I know what your Alfie is then, Tam :wink:

You may have heard of Blue-eyed White rabbits. The gene that creates this is named the Vienna gene, since the first blue-eyed white breed was the White Vienna.

The gene is a strange one, since a rabbit with two Vienna genes is a blue-eyed white, but a rabbit with one Vienna gene has blue, or part-blue eyes, and white patches on the face, front feet and shoulders! (Sound familiar, yet...?). Sometimes these white patches can resemble the markings of the Dutch, but the gene is completely different to Dutch, and not related at all, it just produces a superficially similar effect.

When a rabbit has two Vienna genes, these white patches have spread to cover the whole rabbit, leaving a white coat and blue eyes. It is a "marked" rabbit without any markings!

And yes, Tam - the reason the part-Viennas (usually known as "Vienna carriers", "Vienna sports" or "Vienna variants") and full Viennas have the blue eyes is for the same reasons as Picasso, despite the genetic difference... the white patches are removing pigment from the eye.

 

[Tamsin]

Wow thats a spot on prediction! Alfie has a white nose like a dutch and white around his neck and a few white tufts on his toes

The genetics is very interesting, so you could have a bunny with dutch markings and blue eyes that wasn't actually a dutch rabbit genetically?

 

[Pendragon]

Wow thats a spot on prediction! Alfie has a white nose like a dutch and white around his neck and a few white tufts on his toes

So, now you know he is from a blue-eyed white background!

The genetics is very interesting, so you could have a bunny with dutch markings and blue eyes that wasn't actually a dutch rabbit genetically?

Yes you can... although the blue/part-blue eyes are your best clue... normal Dutch rarely, if ever, have blue eyes (Blue Dutch have dark blue eyes, not china blue like these) unless they have too much white; ones that have come from Blue-eyed White and have the Vienna gene have blue and part-blue eyes with usually very little white... although I once owned a gorgeous Nethie buck from BEW ancestry with a good Dutch pattern and blue eyes!

BTW... who is the little person next to Alfie? Unusual markings! I bet he/she is a real character.... what an expression! hee hee

 

[Tamsin]

I'll be on the look out for possible vienna gened bunnies now!

The lop next to Alfie is Jasper, he passed away age 6 earlier this year (he had troubles with teeth & pastruella). Your right, he was a real character, a very cheeky, people bunny. There are some pictures of his and Alfies first meetings here - http://www.rabbitrehome.org.uk/care/bondingdiary.asp

He wasn't really as pudding shaped as he looks in that photo, it was longish hair that makes it look that way honest :wink:

Tam