| The Beautiful Otter Rex in the "Other Colors" ***Blue***Chocolate***Lilac*** |
| History of the Otter Rex in the United States The Otter Rex in the black coloration has been a show table variety in the United States since the mid 1980's. They were presentedn successfullly by a Mr. Hill. The other colors have been presented from time to time since the Tampa ARBA Convention (1990), This is the best information I have found from researching the variety and they are still not passed today. At the time that the black otters were accepted as a variety the only color presented was the black otter. The blue otter which is the dilute version of the black otter and the Chocolate otter with its dilute version, lilac, are the 3 remaining possible colors in otter. The Rex Club did not benefit from the relatively new ruling that any otter varieties with their dilutes can be fully accepted at the time of successful presentation of any of the other otter varieties. The most recent attempts to bring the other color otters to show room status have been in 2003, 2004, 2005, by Bobby Walker of Arkansas. This attempt ended in failure. It is not an easy task to bring a new variety to acceptance and we would like to thank Mr. Walker for his hard work and dedication towards the acceptance of the rest of the otter varieties. Bobby's work raised awareness in the Rex club for the membership's desire to see these other beautiful colors on the show table. When someone takes on the task of trying to get a new breed or variety accepted it is something that someone does for the love of the color, the love of the breed and the love of their rabbit hobby. There is certainly no profit to be made from such an endeavor. If anyone has any more exacting information than I have in this story please feel free to forward the information to me and I will update and/or correct as needed. |
| Gentic Codes for Otter coloration Black Otter a(t)a(t) Blue a(t)a(t) dd Chocolate a(t)a(t) bb Lilac a(t)a(t) bb dd Looking at these codes tells us that all the otter colors are recessive. This can actually make getting the otters easier than one would think, once you realize that while otter pattern (tan pattern) is recessive, it will prevail when crossed with self colors like blue, chocolate and lilac. Self colors are also recessive but otter is less recessive than self. Once you have made some homozygous otters, you can cross them with either heterozygous otters or selfs that contain otter in the pedigree and get litters of 100% otter kits. If you are lucky enough to have self breeding stock of blue, chocolate or lilac which also contains otter you will get litters that will be completely the blue or lilac otter, when using 2 dilutes and chocolate otter and/or black otter in your chocolate crosses. Of course, crossing dilute and intense color can get mixed litters. Some suggestions to guide you: 1) Homozygous otters will get you otters from selfs . 2) Phenotypic otters bred together should get you otters. 3) Two dilutes bred together will only get you dilutes, whether self or otter. 4) Recessive genetics need to be present in both parents in order for them to express themselves in the kits. 5) Two selfs that contain otter in their pedigrees, might get you otters. 6) Don't expect otters if you use the all dominant agouti colors (Castor, Opal, Chocolate Agouti, Lynx), unless there is otter close up in both pedigrees. ******************************************************* |
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| Above A picture of one of our blue otter junior does. She was kindled on 9/7/05 and on 3/3/06 when this picture was taken she weighs 8 # The pose that we have her in for the picture is not exactly a "show pose" but we are trying to show her markings to the best advantage. We like her rich blue color and although her tan factor could be a little more distinct, breeding her to one of our bucks that have very nice demarcation and tan factor and good tan color should get us really nicely marked blue otters. She is also showing her very nice blue gray eye color. This doe is the result of breeding a self blue to a blue otter. Below These blue otters are exhibiting much nicer tan factoring and we chose to show their belly color to demonstrate nicer tanning. Both of these rabbits are from litters of blue otter X blue otter and thus they are exhibiting much nicer otter factor. We also like their rich blue base color. We chose to not use them for type photos because they are younger and their fur is changing to a junior prime at this time giving them a rougher look. |
| Besides getting the color right there are so many other considerations to getting a new variety approved. *First is overall quality. The animals in the presentation must be good representatives of the breed well groomed and in excellent show condition. The standards committee is looking for animals that have good enough type and fur that they could conceivably win a BOB. *Then there is also size to consider. The seniors must be senior weight and the juniors have to be a showable size, which would be at least 4 #. *There can't be any general disqualifications this would mean good health, correct toenail and eye color, no stray white spots. *Longevity is also a factor. Some of the animals that I present at Ft. Worth have to come back to the presentation in 2007 in Michigan. The second presentation must include at least one pair from the first presentation and the third presentation must include at least one pair from the first or second presentation. |
| GOOD NEWS!! The Blue Otters Passed the second presentation at Grand Rapids Michigan, October of 2007 Now we go on to the Third Presentation at he 2008 ARBA Convention Louisville Kentucky. With any luck we will have a new group of otters to show along with the Black otters after February 1, 2009 The working stanard for the Otter Rex was published in the Domestic Rabbits Matazine |