Mama Rabbit is a what?
by Janice Jentzsch
(Murfreesboro, Tennessee)
See my other page to see the daddy rabbit. I still don't know what breed they are. The daddy is brown with grayish highlights (nose, tips of ears, feet, etc) The mama is all black, but one of her black babies has one white foot. The black babies are smaller than the brown ones, though all are healthy.
***** Karen Sez *****
Nice pic! This rabbit looks very much like a black Havana. I'm just curious about her weight. Does she have any white toenails?
The buck is cinnamon colored, more officially called black tortoiseshell. Genetically, it is a black rabbit with two recessive genes that attempt to erase all the black. The result is a touch of black smut at the points, some smutty 'racing stripes,' and the rest a bright orange, or sometimes as you say, brown.
The fact that the two rabbits were siblings is an indication that their bloodline is not pure Havana, because as far as I know, Havanas should not carry the tortoiseshell coloration. It probably came from down the alley and around the corner.
I'm hoping you'll get some good opinions on your rabbits' "breed" from other visitors.