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One of the few rabbit breeds, the origin of which is not legendary and the date of its occurrence is precisely known – the Rex rabbit. The breed originated in France in 1919.
Then wild rabbits, which showed a mutation in the gene responsible for the development of wool, were crossed with domestic rabbits. Further breeding of offspring “in itself” led to the emergence of a new breed, first presented at the international exhibition of rabbits in Paris in 1924. In 1925, the breed was officially registered and named “Rex” – “king”. Apparently, it was understood that such fur was only for kings.
The appearance of this breed in the still young USSR resembles spy-detective novels. And not the fact that it’s true. But this story well illustrates the laws of genetics and the nature of the gene responsible for changing the structure of wool.
A little about genetics
Spontaneous mutations in this coat gene are not so rare anymore, resulting in animals with original-looking coats. The gene is recessive and in nature it has little chance of appearing. But man preserves and breeds such animals. Rex cats with wavy hair, three breeds of guinea pigs, a breed of geese with a curly feather.
One of the breeds of dogs – carriers of the mutated gene is very common in the world. This is a poodle.
But since the gene is recessive, it is easy to hide it by crossing the carrier animal with a representative of another breed that does not have this mutation.
It was this circumstance that was used by the geneticist A.S. Serebrovsky, while on a scientific mission in Germany.
In the mid-20s of the last century, the export of Rex rabbits from Germany was banned. But Serebrovsky crossed Rex with another breed. The gene is recessive. According to Mendel’s law, it will not appear in the first generation. It will be covered by a dominant gene. This means that the offspring of a rabbit of state value and a rabbit of another breed did not look at all like Rex.
Since animals were presented at the border that did not belong to a breed prohibited for export, Serebrovsky was let through.
Next is the matter of technology. Individuals of the exported litter interbreed with each other. In the second generation, all according to the same Mendel’s law, 25% of rabbits are obtained by rex and another 50% are carriers of the desired gene. This is how the young Soviet Union acquired Rex rabbits, according to legend.
Only the dates are confusing. The breed was introduced to the world in the mid-20s in France, immediately from somewhere it came from Germany, and even with an export ban, and at the same time, a Soviet scientist was smuggling out rabbits of this breed.
Description of the Rex rabbit breed
Standard rexes are quite large. The weight of an ordinary Rex is from 3,5 to 4,8 kg. The body is compact and rounded. Often the animal’s body is wider than its head. Rabbits have a well-developed dewlap. The breed standard provides for 20 colors. Main groups: white, blue, lilac, agouti, black, chocolate and speckled.
The mutated gene causes the animal’s hair to grow so that it does not lie on the body, but stands erect. The length of the outer hair is equal to the length of the undercoat. The undercoat of the Rex is very thick, the awn in the coat is hardly noticeable. Because of this, the fur of the animal gives the impression of velor. Curly hair is not allowed by the standard, except in those areas where the animal’s hair is longer than usual. Normally, this is the area behind the ears.
It was the quality of the wool that determined the value of this breed of rabbits. Such wool is easy to imitate under more valuable fur. And since when crossing with other breeds, it will still be possible to get a Rex, a lot of work has been done on colors.
Rex marder
The highly prized fur of the marten has been imitated by breeding the marder rabbit. Moreover, today rex marder rabbits exist in two versions: regular and dwarf. Of course, no one breeds dwarfs for the skin, they are popular due to their interesting color.
Castor rex
The skin of the Castor Rex rabbit imitates the color of the valuable skin of a beaver. Castor in translation means “beaver”. It is not known, however, how much fashionistas were inspired by such a skin, but this color is very popular among lovers of mini-rabbits.
Rex Castor. Expert assessment
The third version of the “valuable fur” Rex rabbit is chinchilla.
Rex chinchilla
If compared with a real chinchilla, which gives expensive skins, then the rex fur is much more convenient to fake a chinchilla than the fur of other rabbits of this color.
The photo clearly shows that the fur of a chinchilla is much more similar to the fur of a rex than to the fur of a chinchilla rabbit of any other breed. But the chinchilla rabbit for lovers, after all, is not as attractive as the marder or castor.
Many other Rex colors no longer imitate anyone, but are often very original and beautiful.
Rex character
Western owners of Rex rabbits claim that these animals have one of the most developed intellects among rabbits. Rabbits have a well-developed maternal instinct and they even accept other people’s rabbits. Due to the high intelligence of the Rex, you can keep two in the same apartment. True, there is one pitfall here.
In addition to the ability to get along with a member of their breed, Rex rabbits also have a desire for physical movement. Barriers a meter high rex takes effortlessly. Rex behavior is very similar to that of a cat.
Now imagine that there are two cats weighing almost 5 kg in the house, who decided to play. Yes, just like with a cat: everything that the rex is able to reach must be removed away. Breakable items will be broken, chewable items will be eaten. The state of affairs will not change much, even if you get pygmy rexes. Almost 2 kg of muscles and bones rushing at high speed is also sensitive.
But the Rex has advantages that outweigh such minor inconveniences: they are easily accustomed to the tray and lend themselves well to training. They can be taught to come on command and stand on their hind legs. And in agility, this is one of the best breeds.
How to keep this breed
Rex is a fluffy rabbit. Due to its undercoat, it freely withstands frosts down to -20 ° C, but it does not tolerate heat very well. For him, + 25 ° C is already the limit, after which he can die. The optimal temperature for Rex will be the range from +15 to +20 degrees. This is room temperature at which you can keep these animals even in an apartment.
If the rabbit is to be kept outdoors, it must be provided with a waterproof shelter. For a fluffy rabbit, whose hair does not lie down so that the water rolls over it, but stands upright, getting wet under jets of cold rain can end in death from pneumonia.
The cage should be spacious enough so that the animal can frolic in it and stand on its hind legs. It is necessary to equip a shelter from the wind and a place where you can bask in the sun. It is necessary that the animal has a shelter that imitates a hole, where he could rest calmly or take shelter from the weather.
The diet of the animal must include hay and complete granules. For grinding teeth, you can give branches of deciduous trees. But stone fruit trees should be avoided due to the high content of hydrocyanic acid in the bark. You can put an aspen or birch wood as a toy and change it as you gnaw at the bark. A pet will not do without water. It must always be clean and fresh.
However, similar rules apply to the care of a decorative rabbit. To properly care for the industrial, it is enough to follow the standard rules for keeping animals on rabbit farms: regular feeding with pellets 2-3 times a day; constant availability of hay; succulent feed is usually given in private backyards in order to save money; scheduled vaccinations; regular cleaning and disinfection of cages.
Breeding
This breed has low fertility. The rabbit brings only 5 – 6 cubs. Rabbits grow slowly, gaining 4 kg by 2,3 months. With the limits of the weight of representatives of the large variant of the breed 2,5 – 5,0 kg. With the fall in demand for furs, the breeding of this breed has completely passed to amateurs.
Rabbit with brood
Dwarf variety of the breed
The fall in demand for furs, but the increase in consumer interest in keeping decorative rabbits in their homes, could not pass by this breed. Even a large fluffy rabbit evoked tenderness and a desire to stroke the velor skin. The result of this interest was the dwarf Rex rabbit.
Breed characteristics
The dwarf rex is a rabbit with a dwarfism gene and, as a result, short legs. Because of this, his torso looks stocky. The weight of a dwarf, according to the new breed standard adopted in 1997, should be in the range of 1,2-1,4 kg. Animals weighing less than 1 kg and more than 1,6 are not recommended for breeding. Otherwise, the dwarf is similar to large representatives of this breed with a proportional decrease. If the hair of large individuals should be 1,8 – 2 cm long, then in a dwarf it is shorter.
In a quality dwarf, the coat should return to its previous position. If the wool remains “lying” in the direction of movement, then the pile is too thin, and this is unacceptable in the breed.
The ears of a dwarf are 5,5 cm long, but not more than 7 cm. The width of the head in rabbits is 5,5 cm, in rabbits 5 cm.
pygmy rex
Other rex-based breeds
Already recently, with the rush of blood of Rex rabbits, plush lop-eared two variations were bred: miniature and standard. Moreover, the miniature was bred first. It came in two variations. In the photo on the left is a curly plush fold, on the right is a lop-eared rex type.
Standard plush folds were obtained in 2002 in Australia by crossing miniature folds with large representatives of the Rex breed.
There are several more generations of “plush” rabbits, but they are recognized as a breed by one association, not by another, and vice versa. And while the associations of rabbit breeders themselves have not sorted out among themselves and with these breeds, it is better not to talk about new breeds of rabbits yet.
It is hardly possible to enrich yourself by breeding these original varieties of rabbits, but you will definitely succeed in getting a lot of positive emotions from a smart and mischievous animal.