The Blue Eye was popular with the early importers of our breed back in the early seventies. Among those early breeder / importers were: Herb Dyke, Art Ammon, Betty and Collier Landress, Herman Hack, Ralph DeVito, and Doris Lebel to name just a few. Herman Hack was able to pick up a BOB at the 1971 Convention in New Mexico with his Sr. BEW Buck.

The Blue Eye began to lose favor when word got around that they were biters, poor producers and were not able to consistently produce the right type of fur. Today's Blue Eye is far removed from those early imports, and rarely suffers from any of the above mentioned problems.

The BEW genes differ from the other genes and I still have a lot to learn about how this gene works. In my opinion the gene is neither dominant nor recessive, because sometimes it lies hidden but sometimes not. I'll try to explain this further.

When you breed a BEW to a BEW statistically you'll get 100% chance of BEW. But, there are some exceptions: For instance when Himmie or RE lies hidden you could get phenotype RE. If sable lies behind the BEW you can get BEW's with a ruby cast pupil, and these offspring are not showable.

So be aware of what color you breed in to a BEW. Chocolate or sable will give a ruby cast pupil, so my advice is to avoid these genes. Otherwise you can breed what color you like to enhance the type and fur. Be aware that a broken rabbit can be hard to tell if it's a Vienna marked VCR or simply a broken. When you breed a colored rabbit VT to a BEW vt, you'll get all Vt. Most of these offspring will have white markings and /or brindle or blue eyes because of v. I call them Vienna marked rabbits (VRM). But in some cases the v can be totally hidden, and the rabbit is showable. I call them Vienna carriers(VCR). If you breed a VRM or a VCR back to BEW you will stat. get 50% BEW and 50% VCR/VRM. So it takes just two generation before you have bred a pure BEW again. If you breed a VRM/VCR to a VRM/VCR you'll get stat. 25% BEW, 25% colored VT without BEW gene, and 50% VRM/VCR. If you breed a VRM/VCR to a colored VT without BEW gene you'll get 50% VRM/VCR and 50% colored without the BEW gene.

Because the BEW gene will "destroy" colored rabbits with white markings it's best to breed BEW to BEW. If you outcrops to other colors, always breed the VRM/VCR back to BEW. Never use a VRM/VCR to other colors than BEW.

The cells that produce pigment in the fur are called Melanocyte in normal rabbits there are Melanocyte all over the body giving the fur the coloring. A marked rabbit(Dutch, English, Dalmatian) have some spots with color producing Melanocyte, whereas other areas of the skin have no Melanocyte producing white fur. But in a BEW the Melanocyte are totally missing-the fur becomes white all over the body. In a BEW the "white spot" covers the whole rabbit. The V-gene does not take any part in the melanin-synthesis like the ABCDG genes does, it is a gene that is needed for the correct development of Melanocyte from stem cells.

What about a RE? A normal RE has Melanocyte just like a normal colored rabbit, but the RE has a mutant version of the C-gene. The REWs are genetically cc. The C gene codes for and enzyme called Tyrosinase. Active Tyrosinase must be present in the Melanocyte in order to produce pigment. If there is no Tyrosinase, there will be no color production.

So to summarize the difference between a BEW and a RE is that a BEW cannot produce pigments because it lacks pigment-producing cells (Melanocyte). A RE is a rabbit that cannot produce pigments because it lacks the enzyme Tyrosinase.

What about the blue eyes of the BEW? The backside (inside) of the iris is called the Iris Pigment Epithelium or just IPE for short. The IPE is a very thin layer made up by two layers of cubes shaped IPE-cells these cells produce pigment in very much the same way as normal Melanocyte. In fact they produce enough pigment to make the IPE completely black and light tight. The outside of the iris is called Stroma and has different types of cell including Melanocyte that produce brown pigment. In a BEW the Melanocyte in the Stroma are absent, but the pigment in IPE is produced as in a normal rabbit. The result is a bleu eye. There are no blue pigments in the eye of BEW; the color is an optical effect ( comparable to the blue sky - the sky has no blue pigments either).

Breeding for BEWs is really a simple matter of understanding the Vienna gene. I've had the gene here for about a year and a half. I started with two Vienna marked does and a BEW buck from Jim Schroeder. I like to refer to them as "Vienna marked" instead of mismarks or sports. This says more accurately what they are. I did not keep any of the Vienna marked kits from these breeding as I always want to move forward at each breeding. I already had two Vienna marked and the next step is the correct BEW. Though this one and only BEW produced from this trio was the 2nd place Jr. BEW doe at ARBA Convention 2005.

I got my first BEW doe 3 years ago we call her Blue. We Then purchased a BEW buck but he died a week after we brought him home. Well then I had a BEW doe and no buck. After a long wait we decided to breed Blue to a Blue Otter buck just to get something! So after one year from getting a BEW doe, Blue gave use one Sport buck. We named him Squeak!

We then purchased a few BEW does from Chuck Pelham, and received a great buck from Allie Dean we called Dean's Casper. Now were off!

Casper did very well on the show table even winning one Best of Breed! My only BOB I have won! That's what happens when you choose a hard color. We now have about 15 brood does and 5 BEW bucks and 2 sports. Yes one of them is Squeak!

I won BOV BEW and BOSG at the Montpelier, Ohio ANDRC Nationals. The doe's name is Rose she is Squeaks' daughter. I was very excited since this was my 1st national show.

BEWs are a hard color to breed and to win with. I am working very hard to have one of my BEWs win a BOB again. I hope to see more people breeding and showing BEWs. I love them. - Summer Zimmerman - A-Ranch's Bunnies

In Dwarfs, there are two distinct and separate types of albinism. The first is the Ruby-Eyed White gene, found on the c series, which causes complete melanin restriction in fur, eyes, nails, and every other part of the body. This form of albinism can also restrict color to a greater or lesser extent across the body when it is found in a single allele on the c series. Blue-Eyed White is a form of incomplete albinism caused by the restriction of melanin across the majority of the body.

Melanin is formed in the melanosome organelle of the melanocte. Melanoctes are found in the skin, hair follicles, and pigmented tissues of the eye. The melanin pathway consists of a series of reactions that converts tyrosine in to 2 types of melanin, black-brown eumelanin and red-blond pheomelanin. Genetic mutations affecting proteins / enzymes along this pathway inevitably result in reduced melanin production.

The neuroectoderm of the primitive forebrain is the origin of Melanocytes in the retinal pigment epithelium, iris epithelium (anterior and posterior), and ciliary epithelium (outer pigmented and inner nonpigmented). The neural crest is the origin of Melanocytes in the iris stroma, cilliary stroma, and choroid. Melanoblasts from the neural crest migrate to the skin, inner ear, and uveal tract.

The epithelium does have Melanocytes present. The origin of these Melanocytes is different from the origin of the Melanocytes of the stroma in the case of the BEW, the blue pigment is derived from the melanin formed by the Melanocytes in the epithelium. The REW eye contains no pigment at all, which is the cause of the ruby eye.

The blue of the BEWs eyes is caused by the pigment being restricted in the stoma, with only the pigment in the epithelium remaining. In the case of the Vienna marked rabbits (those carrying only one v gene), the pigment across the entire body is not restricted, but only in certain portions. It's likely the melanin in the eyes is less likely to be restricted in the partial marked rabbits, so you typically only get the marbling or blue eyes when sufficient restriction across the rest of the rabbit occurs. deafness is a common side affect in blue-eyed albinos across all mammalian species. The genes that restrict the melanin production seem to be closely linked to the genes that affect hearing.

The Vienna gene, when single, restricts a certain amount of melanin production in the rabbit's body and (in some cases) the eyes. It does not restrict all melanin production, and the melanin factors. Doubled, the Vienna gene restricts all melanin production from Melanocytes that originate in the neural crest. Melanin production from Melanocytes that originate other than in the neural crest are not restricted, which allows the blue eyes.

The REW gene, when doubled, restricts melanin production when coupled with most of the genes on the C series. Unlike the Vienna gene, it does not restrict melanin production totally in certain areas of the body, but acts as a sort of blanket that leaches a certain amount of the melanin across the entire body in general. This is how we get correctly colored Siamese Sables, for instance, and why Himilayans and chinchilla rabbits who carry REW tend to be washed out.

There is a misconception that BEW rabbits are "whiter" than REW rabbits. This is a false myth. The melanin restriction is more complete in the REW rabbit, as every source of melanin is restricted. The REW rabbit, however, is also not "whiter" than the BEW rabbit as the only source of melanin production in the BEW rabbit is in the neuroectoderm of the primitive forebrain, which affects ONLY the epithelium layer of the eye. Proof of this can be found in a REW rabbit which carries one Vienna gene. This rabbit does not present a "marbled" affect of white on white, despite the fact that the Vienna gene would create white patches on the rabbit if it had been colored.

Melanin restriction occurs with conception. At no time does an albino rabbit carry any form of color, and therefore it can not be said that a REW which carries BEW is a "BEW" rabbit, any more than it can be said a REW rabbit who carries AA-BB-cc-DD-VV is a "chestnut" rabbit. As with all of our varieties, the rabbit is classified by its phenotype, rather than by genotype, so a REW is a REW, despite what other genes it might carry. Record-keeping is, however, important, as it can be detrimental to many programs to insert REWs carrying the Vienna gene (single or double). - Jennifer Poeschl