An Illustrated Guide to Rabbit Coat Colors*

*with an emphasis on Rex Rabbits (see the Rex Standard here)
Except where otherwise noted, content on this wiki is licensed under the following license:
(c) K.Becker, Mink Hollow Media, Ltd. (All Rights Reserved)

For a primer on the genes responsible for color in rabbits, try this page.

Please note that these pages are still under construction - I will add descriptions, explanations, and photos as I get the chance.

It's one thing to lay out how the six main sets of genes can be combined, but another thing to look at how they are expressed in real rabbits. The descriptions below focus on Rex as that is my breed, but the ideas apply to all breeds. Where ever possible I have based descriptions on first-hand knowledge.

All genes come in pairs. In the case where a dominant gene is evident (i.e. is the one whose traits are visible), then the second gene of the pair cannot be known [it's hidden, or masked] and is indicated with a '-'. That second gene might be the same as the dominant one or one of the “lower ranking” genes of that group. Put another way, if there is a dominant gene then it will be the one you see. If there are two genes that are co-dominant or where one is not fully dominant over the other, you will see the effects of both.

These pages are organized as follows:

• First we tackle the basic "shades": black, chocolate, blue, lilac.
  It is important to understand that every other patterns and variation can be expressed in any of the four basic shades.
• Next we look at the Full Extension (i.e. “regular”) version of the three main patterns:
  • The Agouti Pattern
  • The Tan (Otter) Pattern
  • The Self Pattern
• Then we explore the Random Extension, which is responsible for harlequin and tri-color.
• Rounding off the Extension Series, we then look at Non-Extension
• Finally, there are three colors that are treated alone, all on the same page:
  • the broken series (En)
  • albino (red-eyed white) (cc)
  • the steel gene (E^S)

Wild River Rabbitry has a lovely illustrated Shaded Mini Rex Guide.

Judith Graf, Color Basics 1991 (self-published booklet)

Glenna M.Huffmon, The Basics of Color Genetics in Rabbits (I have the 1995 third edition)

In case anyone's interested, the pedigree program I use is called Breeder's Assistant for Rabbits, by Tenset Technologies Ltd..