mini rex colors

Question
Hi! We live in Indiana in the USA. My daughter shows mini rex rabbits for 4H. She has a chocolate otter but was told that this was not a recognized color by the project leaders. The otter color became recognized in 2/06. Did this recognition include all otter varieties, or just the black? If it includes the chocolates, is there somewhere that we can get something in writing that this is a recognized color? The leaders looked in their ARBA book, but were unable to decipher the exact description. Also, I don't know how current their book was. This is a beautiful rabbit. It will be a shame if my daughter can't show him. Thanks for your help! -Linda


Answer
All four colours of otters (black, blue, chocolate, and lilac) became recognized, so chocolate otter is showable.

The ARBA Standard of Perfection would not include them in it until the next copy comes out. The standard for otter mini rex was printed in the Domestic Rabbits magazine. However, it can be found online as well.

http://www.homestead.com/CabrerasConejeria/OtterMiniRexStandard.html
That is the standard as is posted on the website of the breeder who got them recognized.

As far as breeding them, they are best with other otters. Black otters, chocolate otters, and lilac otters are your best options. However, the dilutes (especially lilac-based colours) in most breeds, including mini rex, tend to have less quality (and ones that do have the needed quality are generally quite expensive). So breeding to black otter is probably your best option. You can also breed to black or chocolate, though try to only breed to ones that are out of good otter stock or good castor stock, or you might end up accidentally breeding to ones that are lacking the needed rufous factor to produce the rich red coloured markings needed in otters.