Sunday, October 16, 2005
Blue Point or Smoke Pearl?
Blue point is a tough color for Holland lops. They are absolutely beautiful rabbits and they are not showable, for some crazy reason. They are part of a quadrangle of colors: sable point, black sable (Siamese Sable), blue point, and blue sable (smoke pearl). All of the other three are showable.
I say that they are a quadrangle because they have three genes the same: aa, B-, cchl-. It's the d and e genes that make the difference.
The two dense colors are sable point and Siamese sable. They are very easy to tell apart. One has a cream body and the other is dark, dark sepia. There's no confusion there.
The two dilutes are the ones that are often confused. A blue point has a pearl body with blue points. A smoke pearl is rich smoke gray on the body that fades to a light pearl. The face is dark. The problem is that both are fairly rare and so few breeders, and probably even fewer judges, have seen enough of them to be confident in their identification.
Back before I understood the genetic difference, I showed several blue points accidentally, having been told they were smoke pearls. Judges will call them light smoke pearls and I even got positive comments on the wonderful color. In fact, they should have been DQ'd.
Let me pass on one huge hint in identifying your blue points. This pointer came to me from Mary Justice of Dwarfs R Us. It wasn't that I didn't already know the information, but she helped crystalize it in my mind. A blue point has recessive "ee" and a smoke pearl has a dominant "E". In order to have a smoke pearl, you MUST have at least one parent with a dominant E gene. That is, you will never get a smoke pearl if both parents are any of the following:
Of course, when there is an "E" parent (black, Siamese sable, smoke pearl, blue, chin, etc.), you are back to having to tell the different yourself. One thing to remember is that the smoke pearl and blue point are almost the reverse of each other. The blue point is pearl on the body and shades to blue. The smoke pearl is smoke gray on the body and face, and shades to pearl.
I personally think that a smoke pearl looks more like a blue than a blue point. The difference there is that a blue is the same color all over. The belly of a smoke pearl should be lighter.
I hope that someone will one day take out a certificate on blue point. It's a gorgeous, gorgeous color. It's a shame not to be able to show them legitimately.
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry
"Holland Lops Of Distinction"
http://www.thenaturetrail.com/
http://www.thenaturetrail.com/blog/BLOG.html
¶ 12:35 AM
I say that they are a quadrangle because they have three genes the same: aa, B-, cchl-. It's the d and e genes that make the difference.
- Sable Point is E- ee,
- Blue Point is dd ee,
- Siamese Sable is D- E-, and
- Smoke Pearl is dd E-.
The two dense colors are sable point and Siamese sable. They are very easy to tell apart. One has a cream body and the other is dark, dark sepia. There's no confusion there.
The two dilutes are the ones that are often confused. A blue point has a pearl body with blue points. A smoke pearl is rich smoke gray on the body that fades to a light pearl. The face is dark. The problem is that both are fairly rare and so few breeders, and probably even fewer judges, have seen enough of them to be confident in their identification.
Back before I understood the genetic difference, I showed several blue points accidentally, having been told they were smoke pearls. Judges will call them light smoke pearls and I even got positive comments on the wonderful color. In fact, they should have been DQ'd.
Let me pass on one huge hint in identifying your blue points. This pointer came to me from Mary Justice of Dwarfs R Us. It wasn't that I didn't already know the information, but she helped crystalize it in my mind. A blue point has recessive "ee" and a smoke pearl has a dominant "E". In order to have a smoke pearl, you MUST have at least one parent with a dominant E gene. That is, you will never get a smoke pearl if both parents are any of the following:
- tort
- blue tort
- sable point
- blue point
- orange
- fawn
- any other "ee" color
Of course, when there is an "E" parent (black, Siamese sable, smoke pearl, blue, chin, etc.), you are back to having to tell the different yourself. One thing to remember is that the smoke pearl and blue point are almost the reverse of each other. The blue point is pearl on the body and shades to blue. The smoke pearl is smoke gray on the body and face, and shades to pearl.
I personally think that a smoke pearl looks more like a blue than a blue point. The difference there is that a blue is the same color all over. The belly of a smoke pearl should be lighter.
I hope that someone will one day take out a certificate on blue point. It's a gorgeous, gorgeous color. It's a shame not to be able to show them legitimately.
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry
"Holland Lops Of Distinction"
http://www.thenaturetrail.com/
http://www.thenaturetrail.com/blog/BLOG.html
¶ 12:35 AM
Comments:
Links to this post:
<< Home
Hi Laurie, love your web site and blog. They are so informative. I have a junior that I thought was a smokey pearl, but now I think is a blue point. These are fuzzy lops and smokey pearl is showable, but I don't think blue points are. She also has blue grey eyes. She is still young so eyes may change. Am taking her to a show on labor day with judges who have a lot of experience with fuzzies so will see what they say. There were three babies in this litter that were normal and three peanuts who died. One baby is a sable, one is what I think is the blue point and one is maybe a siamese sable or smokey pearl. Am not sure of her either. Thanks for the info! m
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
<< Home
