AFRMA - Facebook Note - ID Rat Colors: Blue, Sky Blue, Powder Blue, Russian Blue, Silver Blue, Platinum

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ID Rat Colors: Blue, Sky Blue, Powder Blue, Russian Blue, Silver Blue, Platinum

AFRMA’s Rat Self Colors Poster: Blue, Sky Blue, Powder Blue, Russian Blue, Platinum http://www.afrma.org/sales/posterratcolors.htm.

AFRMA’s Rat Silvered Colors Poster: Silver Blue http://www.afrma.org/sales/posterratcolors.htm.

Blue, Sky Blue, Powder Blue

The Blue gene rat gg is genetically the same Blue rat that is in England (they now call theirs British Blue; in 2004 N.F.R.S. changed the name from Blue for administrative purposes and to distinguish from Russian Blue, breeders were having people ask for blue and found out they wanted Russian Blue). These rats come in 3 recognized shades in AFRMA: Blue (have to select to get them dark and select against a white undercolor which is the same as the N.F.R.S. http://www.nfrs.org/varietiesself.html), Sky Blue (this is the shade the rats naturally want to come in without any selection, common to have the whitish undercolor), and Powder Blue (selected to be very pale).

The term American Blue is incorrect as this makes it sound like it is different genetically than the ones in England which it is not (multiple test breedings have been done to prove this). The term American Blue has been used for a number of different shades from the dark Blue, to the medium most common shade Sky Blue, to the light Powder Blue.

Blue rats can have a bleeding disorder and those that do should not be bred from and only lines that don’t have it should be used Blue Rat Bleeding Disorders/Blue Rats with Hemophilia, Update on My Rat Project: Blue Rat Bleeding Disorders/Blue Rats With Hemophilia; Russian Blue Bleeding Problem, Blue Rat With Nosebleeds; Blue Rat Bleeding From Injuries, and Breeding – Beyond the Basics: Outcrossing, Line Breeding, Inbreeding (Inbreeding section). Other issues that were reported by breeders: Trouble With Blues.

Blue Satin male rat owned and bred by Nancy Ferris http://www.afrma.org/ratvar.htm#satin. Photo ©200 Karen Robbins.

Russian Blue, Silver Blue

Russian Blue

Russian Blues are the same color as seen in other species (mice, cats, dogs, rabbits) and is the dd gene. We originally called them Mouse Blue since they looked the same as the Blue mice. These were then renamed Russian Blue after the breed of cat that is this color. They have a natural ticked/heathered look to their coats due to the clumping of the color by the gene (same as in other species).

Read more in the articles Russian Blue and So Many Blues. There are also 2 research articles describing Blue that matches our Russian Blues:

(1936) Shorter Articles and Discussion, Linkage Studies in the Rat. The article describes the Blue as being the same as other species.
(1940) An independent recurrence of the blue mutation in the Norway rat and a blue-black mosaic. The article describes the Blue as being the same as the ones in 1936 (Blue was first described in 1929) and has a photo of a Blue Hooded with a couple black patches on the side and face.

There have been reported cases of Russian Blues that were sent to South Africa having the same type of bleeding disorder as normal Blues Russian Blue Bleeding Problem; however, we have not heard of any in the states with this problem.

Silver Blue

Silver Blue rats are a combination of Russian Blue and Blue. They look very similar in color to Sky Blue but with the Russian Blue ticking/heathering.

Platinum

Platinum rats are a combination of Blue and either Mink/Lilac (have ruby eyes) or Chocolate (have black eyes) depending on eye color. These are a plain gray color with no blue or brown tones.

June 15, 2021