This article is from the WSSF 2016 AFRMA Rat & Mouse Tales news-magazine.

By Karen Robbins

Cami Liz West, Facebook
Q I was wondering if I could get an opinion as to what this color is. My best guess so far has been a brownish lilac. The color looks to be a light sandy brown and it looks agouti based. At first I thought it may have been Cinnamon, but it has a pinky tinge and isn’t very red or dark. His eyes are actually dark ruby like his mother’s, and I think by about the time he has his first molt they’ll look black like hers do. This is one of my first litters and this little man’s color as well as his sister (same color) has stumped me. The other colors in the litter are Black (1), Fawn/Beige (2), Agouti (1), and 1 other of this color here on a female.

Sire is a Blue Agouti Variegated Dumbo, A/a d/d R/r du/du Hn/hi. Dam is a Fawn Variegated Berkshire Standard, A/a D/D r/r Du/Du He/hi. I’m unsure of what other colors the mother might carry, and I had thought I was sure of the father.

Any help would be appreciated, even if you aren’t 100% sure.

A My first thought looking at the picture of your rat in question on the monitors here, it looks cinnamony like a Cinnamon (light). He looks ticked like it is an agouti-something and looks like he has the lighter chest/throat color of an agouti color. Other possibilities are a cinnamony burmesey something or possibly something like a poor Lilac Agouti (A– bb mm Rr).

If it is not a ticked agouti-something and is a Self color (aa), I would say it looks more coffeeish or like a light Cocoa and not a brownish Lilac. Lilacs are a solid color (black based) and not ticked (agouti based).

Based on the codes you give of the parents, they would produce Agouti, Black, Beige, and Fawn in the litter like you said there were. Since there were two of the cinnamony-looking color, obviously the parents are carrying something else.

Looking at the photos of mom and dad, it’s hard to tell but dad looks like he is too dark to be a Blue Agouti—perhaps a Russian Blue? Agouti or just plain Agouti. The code you give, dd, is for Russian Blue. Mom looks like a Berkshire but hard to tell on the actual color. Send photos of the little guy once he molts into his adult coat so we can see how his color develops and what color the ticking is.

Shane Vogel, Facebook
Q I just acquired a Lilac buck on trial, but he has lots of silver/white around his eyes, nose, cheeks and his underside. I was wondering what color you think he might be?

Well, we just found out that he is a doe. I’m not sure of the age, but she looks to be pretty young.

She’s a lot more gray than my photo made her look, with very, very soft white/silver around her entire face (not sure if you can see it).

A Nice shot! Yes, looks like a Lilac in the photo (P.E. Black aa pp). It is common for them to be mealy (color not smooth and even, but light and dark mixed together) in color and some have a lighter nose. Also, if she is starting to molt, it could be why her nose and belly are looking lighter right now. Lilacs can range in shade from very light (shown as Silver) to very dark. For show you want a nice even medium shade www.afrma.org/miceself.htm.

Jay Norrington, Facebook
Q This is Nadia. She is 8 weeks old and her eyes are black. I’m trying to determine what color she is. Is this a Lilac Bareback? She is the only one in her litter with this color. All of the others are Beige Berkshire or Beige Hooded. Her mother is a Beige Berkshire and her father is a Cinnamon Bareback. I do not own the father. I have never even seen him in person. I’m just going on what I’m told about him. I have the mother (she’s just a typical Beige) but she came to me through rodent rescue already pregnant along with two other females (both Siamese) who I am told are her sisters but I don’t know if they mean biologically or if they had just been cagemates. All three girls had been released outside when they ended up pregnant after their owner let them play with his friend’s male rat. I went and rescued them out from under a shed in his yard just before they began giving birth to their litters. She is the only rat who looks like this. All of the others in all of the litters which all came from the same father are Pink-eyed White, Black Hooded, Black Masked, Black Berkshire, Beige, or Beige Hooded. There is not a single agouti rat to be seen or any minks or any greys of any sort. In real life she is like a much softer version of agouti brown with a hint of blue.

A On the monitors here she looks very brown/chocolatey in color. If dad was a chocolate Cinnamon (Agouti + Chocolate, or Agouti + Chocolate + Mink) rather than normal Cinnamon (Agouti + Mink/Lilac), then I would say she is a Cocoa. Cocoas are a light chocolate color. Lilac/Minks can range in shade from very brown-gray to very dark gray but will have a grayish-brownish look. It depends on what she looks like in real life whether she is a Cocoa or very brown Lilac/Mink color. If dad was a Cinnamon, then there should have been some agouti-type colors along with the self (black-type) colors. Since there were no agouti-type babies, then dad can’t be a Cinnamon, so it’s hard to say what he really was to be called Cinnamon. Glad to hear they ended up in responsible hands after what they went through.

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