Rusting Blues?

[Blaze_Amita]

Okay, my blue dutch buck, Sam, was all rusted and looked almost chocolate, he finally started to molt and he looked gorgeously blue again. His rusted old coat is almost fully gone now and his face has started to rust up again. He's not in the sun so I know it's not sunburnt.

How do I get rid of it and keep it away?



Sam's Stats:

Breed: Dutch

Color: Blue

Age: June 21st 2008

Background: He was blue when I moved down to Kentucky September 09, I ended up switching feed, from Naturewise to Big Red while I kept searching for a better fed. He got SUPER rusty, finally switched to Manna Pro. FInally after a couple of months he is almost all molted out back to blue before rusting up again.

and yes more of that rusted fur is gone than that in his saddle/chest, this picture is a couple of weeks old and his face is way more rusted now than it was there. But this can give you an idea of what's going on. My grooming pad is outside, that's the only time he goes outside in the sun, the x-pens are in the shade.

 

[Whiskerz]

Wow, he looks chocolate to me! But blue you say? I have NO idea

 

[iluvdutchrabbbits90]

My chocolate dutch boy turns an orange color and i dont know why. Maybe they pee on theirselves? Thats all i can think of.

 

[TCRabbitry]

That is the dead fur. It goes away when they moult and the new fur comes in.

 

[Inle_Rabbitry]

He looks more chocolate than anything. Could you get some more pictures of him posed in different lighting?

I'm not an expert in dutch, but I know that in mini rex, too much exposure to direct sunlight will cause certain colors to turn a rust color.

 

[pamnock]

He has a lot of hutch stain, this could also affect the color/condition of the rest of his coat.

He's just not going to be an animal that holds a good coat, and not one that I'd use for breeding.

 

[mistyjr]

My blue boy is molting right now,, And hes not brown... Different

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

Looks like he might be a sprayer to me, since he's stained on his white parts too.

 

[Blaze_Amita]

so a bath for him and a full hutch/cage cleaning to scrub that clean should help? I know right now his saddle and blaze are nice and white just his face is rusting out again, after molting out all that ugly rusty blue fur. that picture is old, and I would get another one, but it turned ugly hot outside.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

Whether it's hutch stain or just a molt, you won't be able to "fix" his current color. He just needs to molt it out and grow it back in again.

Like Pam said, if this is a common issue for him, he's not a blue that I would be breeding into my herd. You'll likely end up with poor color/coat condition on the offspring as well.

 

[Blaze_Amita]

this problem only started once we moved from NY to KY last fall. He got all yucky and I knew it would take them a little while to re-adjust to the hotter temps and shorter winters. Im ight keep one of his sons and see what he looks like when he gets older, they were born this morning. Sam's had a few issues in the past, like one testicle disappearing during a show and never dropping it again. Such a weird bun.

 

[woahlookitsme]

Blaze_Amita wrote:

this problem only started once we moved from NY to KY last fall. He got all yucky and I knew it would take them a little while to re-adjust to the hotter temps and shorter winters. Im ight keep one of his sons and see what he looks like when he gets older, they were born this morning. Sam's had a few issues in the past, like one testicle disappearing during a show and never dropping it again. Such a weird bun.

I can agree with this statement! Our chocolate doe has always had a worn down color. You can see the orange in her cho

colate

She maybe always had the color cause it was always hot and/or humid outside. But we bred her and she had a beautiful chocolate boy. He had a perfect coat after he molted out his baby fur and about a year and a half later the weather has made him look like his momma. Its just easier to keep a nice coated rabbit in your breeding herd especially if your showing year round you wont have to worry about that problem.

ex. I have another chocolate I bought from californa in October of last year and have not seen one copper hair on her. Its awesome

Also It is a blue you can definately see the blue in the head of the rabbit chocolates are horrible colors to keep in coat. Trust me. But cleaning the cage should help with the stains. As far as the molting, brush daily