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Australian Rat Colours
Solid and ticked coats
The agouti gene (A) is a dominant gene, and causes each strand of hair to have two bands of colour, giving a ticked appearance to the coat.
The non-agouti gene (a) is a recessive gene, meaning that two copies are required to affect the phenotype. When two copies of the non-agouti gene are present (aa) each strand of hair is one solid colour.
(note that a asterisk indicates that the second gene of the pair could be either dominant or recessive to no further consequence)
Silvering
Silvering refers to a coat which has white hairs interspersed with coloured hairs. All blacks in Australia are silvered, some to greater degrees than others. Some are so sparsely silvered that they are hardly noticable, whereas others are so heavily silvered they look roaned.
Silvering also occurs on other colours, such as dove and mink, however the rat is only referred to as silvered if there are enough white hairs for the silvering to be visable.
Agouti A*D*M*R*P*
The dominant agouti gene is present so the hairs are banded. The colours on the bands are black and orange (orange at the base and black on the tips), making the rat appear brown due to the ticked effect of the coat. Guard hairs and eyes are black.
Black aaD*M*R*P*
As two recessive agouti genes are present, the hair is not banded and appears solid. Guard hairs and eyes are black.
Cinnamon A*mmR*P*
The dominant agouti gene is present so the hairs are banded. The colour of the bands are grey and brown (grey at the base and brown on the tips). There are two recessive mink genes (mm), causing dilution of the coat to a ticked chestnut brown. Guard hairs are brown and eyes are black. Cinnamons have a mink cap when moulting into their adult coat.
Mink aammR*P*
As two recessive non-agouti genes are present, the hair is not banded and appears solid. There are two recessive mink genes (mm), causing dilution of the coat to a warm grey brown. Mink is a highly variable colour and can be anywhere from mid-grey to a warm brown. Guard hairs are slightly darker than the coat colour, eyes are black. Minks have a mink cap when moulting into their adult coat.
Fawn A*M*rrP*
The dominant agouti gene is present so the hairs are banded. The colour of the bands are grey and orange (grey at the base and orange on the tips) There are two recessive ruby eye genes (rr), causing dilution of the coat to a ticked rusty orange. Guard hairs are grey, eyes are diluted to ruby.
Buff aaM*rrP*
As two recessive agouti genes are present, the hair is not banded and appears solid. There are two recessive ruby eye genes (rr), causing dilution of the coat to a warm beige. Guard hairs match the coat, eyes are diluted to ruby.
Silverfawn A*M*R*pp
The dominant agouti gene is present so the hairs are banded. The colours of the bands are orange and cream (cream at the base and bright orange on the tips). There are two recessive pink eye genes (pp), causing dilution of the coat to a bright orange ticked with cream. The guard hairs are diluted to creamy silver and the eyes are diluted to pink.
Champagne aaM*R*pp
As two recessive agouti genes are present, the hair is not banded and appears solid. There are two recessive pink eye genes (pp), causing dilution of the coat to a very pale cream.Guard hairs match the coat and eyes are diluted to pink.
Argente A*mmrrP*
The dominant agouti gene is present so the hairs are banded. The colour of the bands are rusted orange and cream (cream at the base and rusted orange on the tips) There are two recessive mink genes (mm), causing dilution of the coat AND two recessive ruby eye genes (rr) causing further dilution. Guard hairs are orange and eyes are diluted to ruby. Argentes have a mink cap when moulting into their adult coat.
Dove aammrrP*
As two recessive agouti genes are present, the hair is not banded and appears solid. There are two recessive mink genes (mm)AND two recessive ruby eye genes (rr) causing dilution of the coat. The effect of these two dilution genes result in a pale grey. Guard hairs are pale grey and the eyes are diluted to ruby. Doves have a mink cap when moulting into their adult coat.
Mink Champagne aammrrpp or aammR-pp
As two recessive agouti genes are present, the hair is not banded and appears solid. Either two or three of the recessive genes are present. The more dilute genes, the lighter the rat looks. An aammrrpp rat can be easily mistaken for an albino unless put right next to a true albino at which time the off-white colour of the coat is noticeable. An aammR-pp rat isn't quite as diluted and is easily distinguishable as a mink champagne, but the coat seem 'dirtier' and not as warm as champagne. Guard hairs match the coat and eyes are diluted to pink. Mink Champagnes have a mink cap when moulting into their adult coat.
Albino cc
The recessive albino gene is present, the hair is entirely devoid of any colour but white, so appears solid. Guard hairs are white and eyes are pink. As the albino gene complete removes all colour, it is impossible to know the rest of the genotype without either knowing the parents genotypes or breeding the albino to see what offspring is produced when paired with a partner of which the genotype is known. Also referred to as Pink Eyed White or PEW.
Black Eyed White nn
The BEW gene is supposedly Co-dominant. It is similar to the Albino gene in that it masks the true colour of the coat. Eyes are black, coat is white, guard hairs are white. Often the coat and ears are mismarked with smudges or splodges of colour. It is believed to be an overmarking of white, and heterozygotes often have face markings that range from headspots to lightning blazes with chin straps, and variegation in berkshire heterozygotes.
Blue dilutes
It is possible for blue to come in any of the combinations outlined above. For example, blue cinnamon, ruby eyed blue, blue mink, blue dove. Each dilute has a slightly different effect on the coat, but overall the colour is still distinguishable as blue due to the cold tint of the coat. Here are some of the possible combinations.
Blue Agouti A*ddM*R*P*
The dominant agouti gene is present so the hairs are banded. The colour of the bands are blue and orange (blue at the base and orange on the tips) There are two recessive blue genes (dd), causing dilution of the coat to a ticked blue and orange. Guard hairs are blue and eyes are black.
Blue aaddM*R*P*
As two recessive agouti genes are present, the hair is not banded and appears solid. There are two recessive blue genes (dd), causing dilution of the coat to a solid blue. Guard hairs match the coat and eyes are black.
Blue mink aaddmmR*P*
As two recessive agouti genes are present, the hair is not banded and appears solid. There are two recessive blue genes (dd) and two recessive mink genes (mm), causing dilution of the coat to a solid blue grey which is noticeably greyer in appearance than standard blue. Guard hairs match the coat and eyes are black. Blue minks have a mink cap when moulting into their adult coat.
Blue Cinnamon A*ddmmR*P*
The dominant agouti gene is present, so the hairs are banded. The colour of the bands are blue grey and orange (blue grey at the base and orange on the tips) There are two recessive blue genes (dd) and two recessive mink genes, causing dilution of the coat to a ticked blue grey and orange. Guard hairs match the coat and eyes are black. Blue Cinnamons have a mink cap when moulting into their adult coat.
Blue Argente A*ddmmrrP*
The dominant agouti gene is present, so the hairs are banded. The colour of the bands are blue grey and muted yellow (blue grey at the base yellow in the middle and blue on the tips) There are two recessive blue genes (dd), two recessive mink genes AND two recessive ruby eye genes, causing dilution of the coat to a ticked blue grey and muted yelow. Guard hairs match the coat and eyes are ruby. Blue Argentes have a mink cap when moulting into their adult coat.
