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One of the few rabbit breeds about the origin of which there are no legends and the exact date of its origin is known - the Rex rabbit. The breed originated in France in 1919.
Then wild rabbits, which showed a mutation in the gene responsible for hair development, were crossed with domestic rabbits. Further breeding of offspring “inside” led to the emergence of a new breed, first presented at the international rabbit exhibition in Paris in 1924. In 1925, the breed was officially registered and named “Rex” - “king”. Apparently, it was implied that such fur was only for kings.
The appearance of this breed in the still young USSR is reminiscent of spy detective novels. And it’s not a 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 the coat.
A little about genetics
Spontaneous mutations of this gene, which is responsible for the development of fur, occur not so rarely, resulting in animals with original-looking hair. The gene is recessive and has little chance of appearing in nature. But man preserves and breeds such animals.Rex cats with wavy hair, three breeds of guinea pigs, a breed of geese with curly feathers.
One of the dog breeds that carries the mutated gene is very common in the world. This is a poodle.
But since the gene is recessive, it can be easily hidden by crossing a carrier animal with a representative of another breed that does not have this mutation.
It was this circumstance that the geneticist A.S. took advantage of. Serebrovsky, while on a scientific trip to Germany.
In the mid-1920s, the export of Rex rabbits from Germany was banned. But Serebrovsky crossed the Rex with another breed. The gene is recessive. According to Mendel's law, it will not appear in the first generation. The dominant gene will cover it. This means that the offspring of a rabbit of state value and a rabbit of another breed did not look at all like a rex.
Since animals that did not belong to a breed prohibited for export were presented at the border, Serebrovsky was allowed through.
Then it's a matter of technology. Individuals of the exported litter interbreed with each other. In the second generation, according to the same Mendelian law, 25% of the rabbits turn out to be rexes and another 50% are carriers of the desired gene. This is how the young Soviet Union acquired Rex rabbits, according to legend.
The only thing that's confusing is the dates. The breed was introduced to the world in the mid-20s in France, it immediately came from somewhere in Germany and even with an export ban, and at the same time a Soviet scientist was smuggling rabbits of this breed.
Description of the Rex rabbit breed
Standard rexes are quite large. The weight of a regular Rex is from 3.5 to 4.8 kg. The body is compact, rounded. Often the animal's body is wider than its head. Rabbits have a well-developed dewlap. The breed standard provides for 20 colors.The main groups are: white, blue, lilac, agouti, black, chocolate and speckled.
The mutated gene causes the animal's fur to grow so that it does not lie on the body, but stands up. In this case, the length of the guard hair is equal to the length of the undercoat. The undercoat of the Rex is very thick, the awns in the fur are hardly noticeable. Because of this fur, the animal gives the impression of velor. Curly hairs are 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 can be easily imitated as more valuable fur. And since when crossing with other breeds, it will still be possible to get a Rex, a lot of work was done on the colors.
Rex Marder
The highly prized marten fur was imitated by breeding a marder-colored rabbit. Moreover, today Rex Marder rabbits exist in two versions: regular and dwarf. Of course, no one breeds dwarfs for their skins; they are popular due to their interesting color.
Castor rex
The color of the castor rex rabbit's skin imitates the valuable skin of a beaver. Castor in translation means “beaver”. It is unknown, however, how much fashionistas were inspired by this skin, but this color is very popular among mini-rabbit lovers.
Rex Castor. Expert assessment
The third option for the “valuable fur” Rex rabbit is the chinchilla.
Rex chinchilla
If compared with a real chinchilla, which produces expensive skins, then rex fur is much more convenient to imitate a chinchilla than the fur of other rabbits of this color.
The photo clearly shows that chinchilla fur 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 amateurs is still not as attractive as marder or castor.
Many other Rex colors no longer imitate anyone, but are simply often very original and beautiful.
Rex character
Western owners rabbit breed rex claim that these animals have one of the most developed intellects among rabbits. Female rabbits have a well-developed maternal instinct and they even accept other people's rabbits. Due to their high intelligence, Rex cats can be kept together in one apartment. True, there is one pitfall here.
In addition to their ability to get along with members of their own breed, Rex rabbits also have a desire for physical movement. Rex easily takes on barriers a meter high. Rex's 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 can reach must be moved away. Breakable objects will be broken, chewable objects will be eaten. The situation will not change much, even if you get dwarf rexes. Almost 2 kg of muscles and bones rushing at high speed is also sensitive.
But Rexes have advantages that outweigh such minor inconveniences: they are easily litter box trained and amenable to training. They can be trained to come on command and stand on their hind legs. And in agility this is one of the best breeds.
How to properly keep this breed
Rex is a fluffy rabbit.Due to its undercoat, it easily withstands frosts down to -20°C, but 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 from +15 to +20 degrees. This is room temperature at which these animals can be kept even in an apartment.
If the rabbit is going to be kept outside, it needs to be provided with a waterproof shelter. For a fluffy rabbit, whose fur does not lie down so that water rolls down it, but stands upright, getting wet under the cold rain can result in death from pneumonia.
The cage should be spacious enough for the animal to frolic in it and stand on its hind legs. It is necessary to provide shelter from the wind and a place where you can bask in the sun. It is necessary for the animal to have a shelter that imitates a hole, where it can rest peacefully or hide from bad weather.
The animal's diet must include hay and complete pellets. To grind down teeth, you can give branches of deciduous trees. But you should avoid stone fruit trees due to the high content of hydrocyanic acid in the bark. You can use an aspen or birch log as a toy and change it as you nibble on the bark. Your pet can't do without water. It must always be clean and fresh.
However, similar rules apply to caring for decorative rabbit. To properly care for an industrial animal, 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 on private farmsteads in order to save money; vaccinations on schedule; regular cleaning and disinfection of cells.
Breeding
This breed has low fertility. The female rabbit brings only 5 - 6 cubs. Rabbits grow slowly, gaining 2.3 kg by 4 months. The weight of representatives of the large version of the breed ranges from 2.5 to 5.0 kg. With the decline in demand for fur, breeding of this breed was completely transferred to amateurs.
Rabbit with litter
Dwarf variety of the breed
The fall in demand for fur, but the increasing interest of consumers in keeping decorative rabbits in their homes, could not ignore this breed. Even a large fluffy rabbit evoked affection 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 the dwarfism gene and, as a result, short legs. This makes his torso look 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 fur of large individuals should be 1.8 - 2 cm long, then in a dwarf it is shorter.
In a quality dwarf, the fur 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 female rabbits 5 cm.
Dwarf rex
Other Rex-based breeds
Already recently, with the influx of blood from Rex rabbits, plush lop-eared rabbits of two variations were bred: miniature and standard. Moreover, the miniature one was bred first. It turned out in two variations. In the photo on the left is a curly plush fold, on the right is a rex type fold.
Standard plush folds were created 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 until the associations of rabbit breeders themselves have sorted things out among themselves and with these breeds, it is better not to talk about new breeds of rabbits for now.
It is unlikely that you can get rich by breeding these original varieties of rabbits, but you will definitely be able to get a lot of positive emotions from an intelligent and mischievous animal.
