Blue-Eyed Dwarf Hotot

by Rach

My white dwarf hotot baby finally opened its eyes but they have blue on the outside. I am sure my rabbits aren't mixed breed and have pedigrees to them and we have shown both mom and dad at ARBA shows. I was told blue eyes means mixed breed! Will babies eyes darken with time? He is only a little over a week old.

****Karen Sez****
"Purebred" doesn't always mean "absolutely perfect genetics."

Of even greater significance for you, the 'du' dutch gene (present in hotots) sometimes plays games with eye color. Purebred dwarf hotots sometimes throw offspring with incorrect eye color. In this case, it is NOT a sign of a mixed breeding. The only way to eliminate this 'problem' is to eliminate the 'du' gene, and then you'd no longer have a dwarf hotot.

So, you're stuck with the chance of offspring with blue eyes or blue spotted eyes.

IF your little hotot bunny turns out to be magnificent in every other way other than eye color, it can still be used in your breeding program, despite the eye color disqualification. But, don't breed it to an animal with blue specked eyes. Only use it with an animal with dark, correctly colored eyes. The majority of offspring will still have correct eye color.

If you want to be really up-front, make a note on the pedigree which animals have blue eyes, and which throw blue eyes.

I'll bet if you inquire further, you'll find some very reputable dwarf hotot breeders that know all about this little genetic glitch, and can give you best practices concerning how best to breed these rabbits.

Good luck going forward!
K