Color genetics of the Netherland Dwarf rabbit seems intimidating at first glance. So many letters and symbols...what do they all mean anyway??  Also, why do I need to know this stuff?? When you begin breeding your dwarfs, it's a good idea to know which colors work best together and why.  

When you look at your dwarf rabbit, what you are seeing is the rabbits "Phenotype" or appearance. What lies behind it in genetics is it's "Genotype". Learning dwarf genetics is not as hard as it looks if you begin by understanding what the letters mean and how they look on the rabbit you are seeing. This table gives an explanation of what genetic pairs each color represents. 

 
Ruby-Eyed White ?? ?? cc ?? ?? ??
Blue-Eyed White ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? vv
Black aa B? C? D? E? VV
Blue aa B? C? dd E? VV
Chocolate aa bb C? D? E? VV
Lilac aa bb C? dd E? VV
Sable Point aa B? cchl? D? ee VV
Siamese Sable aa B? cchl? D? E? VV
Siamese Smoke Pearl aa B? cchl? dd E? VV
Chestnut A? B? C? D? E? VV
Opal A? B? C? dd E? VV
Lynx A? bb C? dd E? VV
Chinchilla A? B? cchd? D? E? VV
Squirrel A? B? cchd? dd E? VV
Black Tan aT? B? CC D? E? VV
Blue Tan aT? B? CC dd E? VV
Chocolate Tan aT? bb CC D? E? VV
Lilac Tan aT? bb CC bb E? VV
Black Silver Marten aT? B? cchd? D? E? VV
Blue Silver Marten aT? B? cchd? dd E? VV
Chocolate Silver Marten aT? bb cchd? D? E? VV
Lilac Silver Marten aT? bb cchd? dd E? VV
Sable Marten aT? B? cchl? D? E? VV
Smoke Pearl Marten aT? B? cchl? dd E? VV
Black Otter aT? B? C? D? E? VV
Blue Otter aT? B? C? dd E? VV
Chocolate Otter aT? bb C? D? E? VV
Lilac Otter aT? bb C? dd E? VV
Black Himalayan aa B? ch? D? E? VV
Blue Himalayan aa B? ch? dd E? VV
Chocolate Himalayan aa bb ch? D? E? VV
Lilac Himalayan aa bb ch? dd E? VV
Orange A? B? C? D? ee VV
Fawn A? B? C? dd ee VV
Tortoise Shell aa B? C? D? ee VV
Steel aa B? C? D? ES

VV

Now we need an explanation of what each gene pair means. This will begin to show you how each gene pair works together and how they affect each other to create your rabbits outward appearance. The genes are listed according to their level of dominance so first gene is most dominant down to the least. (Example: "A" Agouti is dominant over the "at" tan pattern as listed below)

Gene Name Description Dwarf Color Examples
A Agouti pattern of banded hair Has tan, fawn, or white at eye circles, triangle at nape of neck, feet, legs, and inside of ears. Has white belly. Chestnut,
Opal,
Lynx,
and Chinchilla
at Tan pattern Solid color instead of banded hair. Has tan, fawn, or white at eye circles, triangle at nape of neck, feet, legs, inside of ears, and belly. Marten,
Tan,
Otter
a Self-Color (non-agouti) The hair lacks the banding, there is generally one color throughout. Black, Blue, Chocolate
Gene Name Description Examples
B Black In agouti it produces the black band.
In self (solids) (aa), produces solid black color.		 With (A_)Chestnut and Chinchilla
With (at_) Black Silver Marten
b Brown (Chocolate) In agouti it produces a brown band instead of black.
In self (solids) produces solid chocolate color.		 With (A_) Chocolate Chestnut
With (at_) Chocolate Silver Marten.
With (aa) Chocolate
Gene Name Description Examples
C Full color development Allows all 4 dark and all 3 yellow pigments to be present. Completely dominant. All except REW
cchd Dark Chinchilla Allows all 4 dark and only 1 of the 3 yellow pigments to be present. Area becomes white or pearl. Completely dominant over the following c genes. Chinchilla
cchl Light Chinchilla (Shading) Allows 2 of the 4 dark and none of the 3 yellow pigments to be present. This lightens the color to sepia brown. Causes shading effects. Incompletely dominant over the following c genes. Shading is fine-tuned with the color intensifier genes. Sable and smoke pearl
ch Himalayan Causes dark extremities (points) which include the ears, nose, feet, and tail. Produces red eyes with other ch or c. Incompletely dominant over c. Himi
c Albino Blocks the expression of all other color genes, producing a white rabbit with red eyes. Ruby-Eyed White (rew)
Gene Name Description Examples
D Dense coat color Produces the full color shade. Causes the eye to be brown. Black, Chocolate, Chestnut
d Diluted coat color Changes black to blue, chocolate to lilac, chestnut to opal, orange to fawn. Causes eye to be gray-blue. Blue, Lilac, Squirrel
Gene Name Description Examples
Es Steel With agouti, covers the middle band with dark pigment. Darkens the agouti type landmarks: eye circles, triangle at nape of neck, feet, legs, and inside of ears. Leaves white guard hairs (ticking). Black, Chestnut, and Chinchilla Steel
E Normal Extension of dark pigment Working with the C series genes, allows the complete expression of the dark brown pigment. Black, Blue, chestnut, Ottter..
e Non-extension of the dark pigment Working with the C gene series and the rufus modifiers, this gene removes all or most of the dark pigment, leaving yellow, orange or white. Fawn, Orange, Sable Pt.
Gene Name Description Examples
V Vienna White VV: Normal coat color.
Vv: Dutch type markings on colored coat and colored spots on white coat.
vv: Causes no color to express itselt and produces an all white rabbit with blue eyes.		 VV: Almost all rabbits,
Vv: no known breeds,
vv: Blue-Eyed White
v Vienna White See V for description. Blue Eyed White (bew)
Gene Name Description Examples
W Normal Width of the middle yellow or white agouti band Normal coloring Chinchilla
w Doubles Width of the middle yellow or white agouti band Colors the agouti pattern areas: eye circles, triangle at nape of neck, feet, legs, inside of ears, and belly. Tan
 Now that you have this information, begin by taking two of your rabbits and writing down their genotypes according to their colors. Now mix and match the possible gene pairs and see what different colors you can create in this sample breeding. This is where the fun begins!! Once you begin playing with the genetics, you will understand more fully how these genetics work together to create what pops out of your nestboxes!! Another way to understand is to look at two rabbits you have bred together and see what their offsprings' genotypes were. Try and figure out for yourself why these kits came out of these parents. Try to keep playing with all of these genes on paper using your own bunnies as examples and you will begin to see how this all works!!
Most of all have fun with this and soon it will begin to make sense!