The himalayan gene acts in the opposite way of the shaded gene...with the shaded a double shaded gene, will get bad coloring on your shaded rabbits. With the himalayan gene, you NEED 2 himalayan genes to get nice dark points on the himalayan. Sometimes, you see a himalayan with faded "greyish" points and this is the result when a rabbit inherits 1 himalayan and 1 REW gene. So you want to breed 2 himalayans together or at least breed 2 rabbits that are known to carry the himalayan gene. I would not want to get the REW gene in my himalayan breeding program. A himalayan is a "self" rabbit and the black and blue varieties will have the "black" gene, and the "himi gene" and will look like this:
[a][a]-[B][?]-[c(h)][?]
Chocolate and lilac himalayans are the same as black and blue himalayans, except they have inherited the chocolate gene instead of the black gene and the genetic code would be:
[a][a]-[b][b]-[c(h)][?]
I would avoid getting the agouti gene [A] or the tan gene [a(t)] into my himalayan breeding program. If the himalayan inherits the tan gene instead of the self gene, you have a himi marten, which would have the following code:
[a(t)][?]-[?][?]-[c(h)][?]
There are 2 question marks in the "B" position, because it doesn't matter whether this rabbit has the "black" [B] gene or the chocolate [b] gene in that position. Himi martens look very similar to regular himalayans, except that the inside of their ears, the underside of their tails and (sometimes) the tops of their feet are white. And they need to be all black (or brown, blue or lilac). Himi martens would be very useful in breeding for sable martens and smoke pearl martens, as you would want the bunny to inherit the "tan" or marten gene.
Also, the himalayan gene makes the rabbit "temperature" sensitive, when exposed to cold the rabbit becomes "smutty", he has dark or rusty colored areas, most often seen around the eyes, as eye circles...sometimes even extending to the white part of the pelt. In the heat, the himalayan points fade and may become interspersed with white hairs, this is only temporary and will return to "normal" in cooler weather. Also, bunnies in the nestbox exposed to cooler temperatures will get a "smutty" baby coat, a creamy off white...not the clorox white of the adult coat...this will also go away when the baby coat is replaced by the adult coat. Also, himalayan bunnies are born entirely pink and start to get their dark points at about 2 weeks, but may take as long as 6 months to get the nice points that you want on a himalayan.
