17/04/2025
On tri-color Hollands. Can be applied to mini rex and other breeds too! There is no COD on Netherland dwarfs yet, but so true! You can copy and paste!
A necessary rant about the tri line:
RLR's Vigoroth. This 4 month old buck was listed for a while, and despite the fact that I get inquiries on pretty much a daily basis for people wanting something from the tri line, this guy never left. This made me realize I haven't posted the tri rant in a while, so here it is;
If you are serious about a tricolor project, STOP TRYING TO BUY TRICOLORS! Here's why...
#1) The price is always higher. Show vs Brood pricing is standard to be different regardless of the breeder, but any tri breeder will tell you that the majority of rabbits produced in a tri project are not going to be showable because in addition to peanuts, false dwarves and fuzzies that the average Holland Lop breeder is battling as well, japanese Charlies and Solids are not showable. Torted tricolors will happen regardless of what you try to do to avoid it in the line (don't ever let a breeder tell you they don't produce them, they are either lying or just very new and inexperienced). Also, chinchilla and sable genes are recessive and can pop up out of nowhere and create magpies (and a LOT of tri breeders keep that gene in intentionally because magpie sells well in the pet market). There is of course ways to reduce some of these colors in your line (I haven't had a magpie in at least 7 years) but there will be an unreal amount of unshowable colors that will pop up in any tricolor project regardless of how you breed them. This is the ONLY showable color with a non-showable solid counterpart. This is the reason there are less show breeders of tricolor than any other color of Holland Lops. So even as I breed tri to tri and focus on getting more showable tricolors, they are few and far between and most of the time I don't get as many as I want for me, so that leads us to the second point...
#2) Showable tricolors are not available very often. While I have absolutely sold very nice tri stock (yes, even GC) it doesn't happen often. Most showable tricolors I produce stay here. I have to assume every other show tri breeder is doing the same, because I see no reason not to. They come available, just not often and when they do get posted, they sell pretty much instantly and a lot of people are disappointed they didn't see it in time.
#3) Showable tri does for sale are like unicorns, so buy the BUCK! The amount of people contacting me wanting a showable tri doe only is intense to say the least. They are almost never available. When I get them, they feel like a gift from God and I cherish them. You can purchase nice oranges a lot of places and they are a lot easier to find than are nice tri stock, so buy the nicest possible buck with the japanese gene (regardless of his color) and breed him to some nice oranges to get the best start to your line. I'm not giving you my unicorns. Stop asking. Make your own.
#4) Better typed rabbits will be available in the non-showable variations. This includes the unshowable color variations of japanese and the fat fatty fat fats that just happen in the breed (false dwarves). I am much more likely to sell a DQ colored rabbit who I am certain would be a champion if it were to be the right color, than I am to sell a GC tricolor. I have to assume that is the same for all tri breeders. If I keep a DQ colored rabbit to breed back into the program, that means I really love the type on that rabbit and that it does not have any major flaws. Those brood rabbits, often have the best type in the barn. When those come available I highly recommend going for it. Also babies. I am a buck hoarder by nature and I will often post babies in their uglies for cheap because I know they aren't photogenic but hand's on they are very nice, but I just want them gone before they get nice and I decide I don't have any choice but to use them (Literally Vigoroth's life story).
#5) You can make your own showable tricolors in ONE generation! That's all it takes, so buy the DQ color and make some showable tricolors just like that!
If you are looking for a showable tricolor rabbit to start a tricolor project, I highly recommend you rethink working with the color altogether. I say this because if you cannot commit to rabbits who are colors that are not showable as brood stock in your barn, then breeding tricolors will be absolute torture for you. Tricolors do not true breed. It is the hardest color project in the breed and I feel like I have enough color breeding experience to say that. Most serious show breeders won't work with it because of how difficult it is and how much cage space you have to commit to unshowable rabbits in order to be successful. It's not a color I would ever recommend to people new to show or breeding.
So if you are looking for showable tricolors only to buy to start a tricolor project, you are wasting your time (and mine so stop it 🤣).
In all seriousness, I was looking at my tricolor does last week and there is not a single one I would let go for less than $1500. Their value to me is more than someone is going to be willing to pay me for them, so they stay.
Nains néerlandais, tête de lion, mini rex.
