There are 144 main rabbit coat colors, not including blue-eyed
whites, dutch markings, steel varieties, silvered colors, wide
band colors, and rufus-modified colors such as red. Who ever
knew there were so many?
Most people have seen white rabbits. If you've seen a wild
rabbit, then you've seen chestnut. Perhaps you've seen a black
rabbit. So what about all of those other colors?
Some breeds of rabbit come in few colors. Florida whites, for
example, are - umm - white. I bet you guessed that. Himalayans
come in blue, black, chocolate, and lilac (that's a light
chocolate color). The rabbits are white so the color refers only
to the ears, tail, nose and feet (the points).
Other breeds come in many colors. Netherland dwarfs are known
for their vast variety of colors. There are over 3 dozen colors
recognized in their breed standard (though they come in many
more). So far, Netherland dwarfs have only been developed in the
solid variety, but soon, you will see broken (spotted)
Netherland dwarfs, too.
Holland lops, mini-rex, and Dutch rabbits also come in a wide
variety of colors. Dutch, of course, have the white Dutch
marking on their basic color.
Here are some of my favorite rabbit coat colors (the color names
are based on Holland lop color names - some breeds call the same
color by a different name):
Blue point - pearly body with blue points (remember, that's the
ears, feet, tail and so forth)
Ermine - pearly body, brown or grey blue eyes
Black - either black all over or white with black spots
Siamese sable - rich sepia brown with lighter points
Black otter - black fur with tan eye circles, nose markings,
guard hairs, and a light tummy
Silver marten - just like the black otter except with silver
markings instead of tan
Chinchilla - pearl gray with black ticking - if you blow into
the fur, you see rings
Blue - you may be tempted to call a blue rabbit, gray, but there
is a definite blue-ness to the color
Opal - blue mixed with fawn (a light orange) with slate
undercolor with fawn markings
One of the best sources of colored pet rabbits is Dwarfs R Us
rabbitry in Virginia . You can get
both Holland lops and Netherland dwarfs there in a wide variety
of colors. Most of their rabbits are show rabbits, but they do
have pets available on a pretty steady basis. The owners are
great people. They gave me my start in bunnies several years ago
and sparked my love of rabbit coat colors and rabbit color
genetics.
About the author:
Laurie Stroupe, owner of Precious Pet Rabbits
and The Nature
Trail Rabbitry , shows Holland
Lops competitively on the east coast of the USA and at national
shows. Her websites contain dozens of pages of rabbit
information and advice.
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