# Mini Rex or other Dwarf Breeders- A Question



## minirexmama (Mar 20, 2009)

Hi all,

I am a long time breeder, but new to mini rex. I would love to know more about the dwarf gene, but I'm having a hard time finding the info on the web. I have my first litter-they are about 5 weeks I think. A couple are huge, one is tiny, and the others are in between. I'm not sure if this has something to do with the dwarf gene or not. TIA!


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## Starlight Rabbitry (Mar 21, 2009)

How much dothe parentsweigh? 

Mini Rex for example:

Amini rex that is normal weight carries a dwarfing gene (dominant) and a non-dwarfing gene (recessive).

A mini rex that is larger than normal mini rex should be does not carry the dwarfing gene at all and carries 2 non-dwarfing genes. 

If you bred them together, your litter would have only dwarfs and non-dwarfs. We call non-dwarfs either BUBs (big ugly bucks) or BUDs (Big Ugly Does)....the "ugly" just means that they can't be shown...they are too big...the does do however make awesome breeders.

On the other hand, if both parents are "true" dwarfs meaning they each carry a dwarfing gene, your litter will consist of dwarfs and peanuts. The peanuts appear very small with very small ears on a very large head. They genetically carry 2 dwarfing genes instead of one being a non-dwarfing gene. They are called double dwarfs. They do not survive as it is believed they can't digest food. I will try to upload a pic of a peanut compared to a regular dwarf later.

So to simplify...you genetically can't have a Non-Dwarf, a "true" dwarf, and a peanut in the same litter.



For your litter....can you take pics of them?

I hope this helps. maybe others will come that can explain it more simply. It is hard to understand sometimes.

Also, here is a decent explainationthat I found on the internet. 

http://www.konijnen.be/dwarfinggene.htm

Sharon


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## minirexmama (Mar 21, 2009)

No that's great thanks-I am pretty good with genetics, I just new to dwarfing genes. I do have a couple does that are large (BUD)-over the weight limit a bit. I have kept them for the purpose of having large litters, and they have-5 in the first and now a litter of 7 yesterday.

Both of these litters are from my BUDs but I also have does on the small side. I bought these and a buck from a breeder who has lots of nice small rabbits and dominates the show circut here.

So is it recommended to breed two that I believe are true dwarfs even though I will likely have a peanut or two-in the name of ending up with true dwarfs and show stock?

I can post pics/weights of the older litter I have, in a bit.


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## Starlight Rabbitry (Mar 21, 2009)

It if fine to breed two dwarfs, I just wouldn't breed a BUB to a small doe. With the "true" dwarf does, they can have problems passing babies if the babies are too big. When I breed them, I make sure I use the smallest buck I have.

Sharon


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## minirexmama (Mar 21, 2009)

Yeah that's what I figured. I'm pretty picky about bucks because I have such a small set up right now, so no BUBs for me! Thanks again for the help!!


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## polly (Mar 21, 2009)

Its always said if you get a peanut in your litter that its a good sign because you know you are getting true dwarfs out! 
I have 1 BUD and she always has big litters with no peanuts however my chins and BEW I usually alwasy get 1 peanut in a litter.


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## RAL Rabbitry (Mar 21, 2009)

In my experience if you breed two rabbits that carry the dwarfing gene you can get peanuts, dwarfs and not dwarfs. The average is 25% peanuts, 50% dwarfs and 25% non dwarfs. This is an average over several litters not just from one litter. I have had whole litters of peanuts which is a real bummer. This is one of the reasons that most of my brood does are BUDs. Most people wouldn't give me 50 cents for my BUDs but I wouldn't take $500 for some of them.

Roger


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## minirexmama (Mar 21, 2009)

Good to know Roger. My does are close to ideal weight so I'm not sure how that works. Their ears are proper length too. But after I bought my smaller does I was like "wow-my original does are huge!". I have one small buck and one that's a little larger, so it' will be interesting to see what I get.


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## RAL Rabbitry (Mar 21, 2009)

You can never tell by the size of the bucks. My otter herd bucks vary in size and it's kind of surprising what they throw.

Angus is right at max weight and has 7 legs. Most of his kids are small. Ace is 4 lbs on the dot and has mostly 4 lb babies.Hisbabies are really nice. One of his daughters was BOV otter at the ARBA convention last fall.Bodie is an Ace son that I am showing now. He is right at 4 lbs as well, I have bred him a few times and his kids are tiny. My chocolate otter buck is 3.04 and throws lots of larger babies bred to BUD does and does that carry the dwarfing gene. So you can't tell if what they will throw by their size.

Roger


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## minirexmama (Mar 21, 2009)

I am so glad I got into Mini rex because I have always loved them, and I do have an excellent breeder that is mentoring me, though he is quite a distance from me. I never had to worry about this stuff with my satins though!


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## RAL Rabbitry (Mar 21, 2009)

Glad to hear that you have a good mentor. I had a great one when I first started breeding. She taught me alot.

Now I am getting a new breed. I get my first mini satins at the Ohio mini Convention in May. A pair of REWs and a pair of coppers.

Roger


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## minirexmama (Mar 21, 2009)

Nice-I almost did mini satins, but the pair I got had horrible personalities so I sold them and got MR instead. When there are more showable varieties, I will likely expand into MS too. I am a true satin lover at heart.


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## RAL Rabbitry (Mar 21, 2009)

The mentor I mentioned also did mini-satins or as I affectionately called them mini-satans. She tried to get me to show them for years but I was fond of my fingers. The reason I am getting them now is they seem to be breeding the bad attitudes out of them. The breeder that I am getting them from said they have sweet personalities.

Roger


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## minirexmama (Mar 21, 2009)

That's funny-the red doe I had was a mini-satan for sure! I had 250+ satins in my busiest showing/breeding years, and I only had one that was mean like my mini satin doe. We named her Alice, but it quickly changed to Malice!


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## minirexmama (Mar 21, 2009)

Since you do otters, do you know of any good online spot to read up about the standard for MR otters? My ARBA standard doesn't have them. Is it just black otters that are recognized, or are blues recognized too? I had a litter of 7 yesterday and I think some are blue otters.


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## RAL Rabbitry (Mar 21, 2009)

I don't know of a site that deals with them. All 4 self colors are recognized and are shown together. Make sure that they have undercolor on their bellies because the lack of it is a DQ. Be careful of scattered white hairs because they are prone to it. I use an occasional castor in my otters that carries self. They intensify the otter markings. I use all of my self and broken bucks with the otters. I have 18 herd bucks and the only ones that I haven't used are my sable point and seal bucks.

Roger


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