06/15/2026
So today I saw a post on a Continental Giant group that I decided to give my input on because the person who had posted was asking for advise on whether or not they should breed specifically for Double (or extreme) White eared continental giants.
For those of you who don’t know what a double white eared is, it’s essentially a white eared rabbit that has the WE gene double resulting in a coat that lacks the color it’s supposed to have. they basically look white with a few random smudges here and there and can also be extremely difficult to determine what color they actual are, which can be a problem. It’s an undesirable trait in the white eared coat pattern and would not be considered bred to that coat pattern’s standard.
So I’m sure you already know my answer. My answer was No I wouldn’t advise it. why breed an undesirable trait into an animal? If you want a white rabbit then just breed a rabbit that is supposed to be white. If you want a rabbit that has a little color to the white coat, breed magpies or Frosty’s. (There’s more to my comment as well as some concerns but I won’t get into that)
Anyways.. I wrote my comment on why I thought it was more important to breed to the coat’s standard over breeding specifically for the undesirable trait and of course there was a very loud and rude apposing opinion along with slander on the concerns I had written. Now I’m not saying that everyone isn’t allowed to an opinion because they absolutely are! What got me was this other commenter had written essentially that it didn’t matter if you bred undesirable traits and coloring into the Continental giants because “they’re never going to be accepted by ARBA anyways”
I wish I could say I was shocked by what was written but sadly I was not. I could tell from the first comment that sadly this person had no respect for the breed as a breeder should. When anyone decides to breed a certain breed of animal it shouldn’t be done as a get rich quick scheme. When you are choosing to breed an animal you should be doing research on what those standards are, what they should be looking like and breed according to those standards, don’t just breed whatever because you think it looks pretty. Having the mindset of “I’m going to breed whatever I’d like because they won’t be accepted for showing in ARBA anyways” is such a horrible mindset for breeding. Whether your breed of animal is accepted here in the United States or not we should be breeding quality animals to the standard of their origin country.
It’s sickening to see the breed I’m so passionate about be ruined by others who have no respect for the animal. It’s our Job as breeders to preserve and improve on the animals that we are upping the population with! Part of the reason why these rabbits most likely won’t be accepted by ARBA is because the carelessness of others who are just trying to make something “pretty” in their eyes over a healthy, well rounded animal.
(Not slandering color projects! Those can successfully be done with much care and dedication by breeders who actually breed to standards as well.)
But anyways, Let’s normalize Breeding two excellent quality animals to standard instead so we can continue to improve what’s been decaying in this breed!
I myself want to continue to improve and show how these rabbits are supposed to look! And I hope that I can inspire other breeders to do the same!
Respect your breed and do it justice. Breed for the animal’s sake not your own.
