Should I buy a breeding pair of 3yr old Netherland dwarfs?

[Pufflebuns]

Hi all, I am thinking of buying a breeding pair of Netherland Dwarfs but I’m trying to be as wise/cautious as possible about it so I don’t fall victim to a bad purchase. I found them through Craigslist and they’re the only ones near me so I got excited but I figured I should see if the information the seller is telling me, lines up.

Seller said they’re show quality rabbits (I wouldn’t know how true this is since I have no experience with showing bunnies but will include pictures).
They’re both 3 years old and proven.
But they come with no pedigree and she tells me this because they were kept as pets (this kinda puzzled me as she has quite a lot of them and even other does that she didn’t show me because she said they weren’t good for breeding).
She says she only breeds them once a year but she’s not a breeder.

Any insight?
I was wondering if…
1. These are indeed show quality?
2. I should breed 3yr old Netherlands? I have Holland lops and heard that 3 is a good year to retire but I don’t know if it’s the same for Netherlands?

If you have any advice on Netherland Dwarfs, I’d love to hear it!
Thank you!
!

 

[SableSteel]

Personally I wouldn't get them. They dont look to be bad quality, but if they were originally sold as a pet by the original breeder (and some people do that; they sell rabbits as pets without pedigrees) then they thought there was something wrong with them for breeding. The color on the left (sable point) shouldn't be crossed with the color on the right. You don't want to mix non-extension colors and tan pattern. 3 years is getting on the old side for breeding dwarfs but not too old to breed

 

[Pufflebuns]

Thanks for responding! I didn’t think of why the original breeder sold them as pets so that’s a big clue to me. Can I ask why non-extension colors and tan patterns can’t mix? I’m interested to know the genetics behind it.

She has another male and female that are 1 1/2 and 2 years old. The male is a black otter and the female is all black. Could that be a better option for me?

 

[SableSteel]

Black x Black Otter is a better pairing.

Crossing a nonextension and tan pattern rabbit creates rabbits that carry fox (torted otter) and/or sable point marten colors, which aren't showable varieties, and people that breed tan patterns tend to avoid rabbits that have any non-extension colors in their pedigree for this reason, so it might be harder to find homes for the offspring.