Color ID help

Color  genetics are represented by a sequence of letters that each stand for a  particular color or pattern. I'm not going to get into that here. I'm  going to explain the mystery of color simply and to the point. I hope this will be easy for everyone to understand without having to learn about the genetic end of things.

There are 3 categories to address in order to determine the color of your animal.

1. Base color

2. Self, agouti or shaded

3. Cream/Red/Fawn

Hint!!! Before beginning, it is best to do this in good INDIRECT daylight, outside. Not in the sun or the shadows.

Bring a white sheet of paper.

All colors are based on one of 2 colors, black or chocolate. Blue is the dilute of black and lilac is the dilute of chocolate.

This  presents 4 main color categories; black, blue, chocolate and lilac.  With the exception of a few, every color is a derivative of these four.

To determine the base color of your angora, answer the following questions about your rabbit:

Category 1 - Base Color

1. Eye color?

        All black and chocolate based colors have brown eyes and all blue and lilac based colors have blue-grey eyes.

2. Ear lacing color? Guard hair color?

         The animal will typically have ear lacing and guard hairs the color  of the base (there are a few exceptions). Guard hairs are the longer  stiffer hairs that stick a little out of the regular coat of wool. Look  close, its there.

3. Face?

        Look at the face, as in above  the nose, between the eyes and the forehead. Assuming you have already  determined eye color, what color does the face look like to you? Black,  blue, chocolate or lilac? Something else?

        Hold your white  paper up as a backdrop to avoid distortion due to background colors. In  french and satin angora, the front paws can also be examined as the wool  there is short and color is true. Very important!! Pay attention to  face color!

Category 2 - Self,  Agouti, Shaded

Self patterned rabbits

        Selfs can only be one of four colors. Black, blue, chocolate or lilac. A self colored rabbit has the same                                 color everywhere.  The ears are the same color all over, inside and out as the face. The  belly is the same color as the top of the back, although the belly can  be a touch lighter in color.

When you blow into the wool, you will  see a uniform color to the skin. No rings, no difference in undercolor.  For angora, the body color is faded compared to the face. Often times in  self angora, you will still see what appears to be rings. They will  only be the self color and a ring of lighter colored self. Example, a  black rabbit might have rings of black and grey only. A blue might have  rings of blue and lighter blue only. **If you see rings of brown or  reddish, your rabbit is not a self!**

Agouti patterned rabbits

        Agoutis come in many colors, but are always based on the 4 self colors. Agoutis  will always have a white or                     creamy colored belly,  nose holes, inside of ears, underside of tail and sometimes between the  toes and a triangle behind the ears.

        Agouti babies  can be identified at birth due to the white or cream colored belly. The  line of color difference from the         armpits to the crotch is  distinct and very obvious.

Shaded patterned rabbits

         Shadeds have what appears to be a self-colored face and ears, but a body  color that does not match. The body                 color can be white,  cream, fawn, tan, orange or red or any variations of these colors.

Category 3 - Cream, Red, Fawn

         Cream, red, fawns are what are called wide band. They are neither  self nor agouti. The red gene makes crazy things         happen. Rabbits  in this category should have agouti markings, but the body color is  cream, red or fawn. They may or may not appear to have rings.

         Note: Creams have blue-grey eyes. Reds and fawns call for brown eyes.  Ideally these should have no ear lacing                 color, but some  do anyway. That's called smut.

So what is it already????

Self

If you have a self, it should be obvious at this point.

Agouti

If you have an agouti, well that's a little harder.

Lets go back to the face:

Wild bunny brown? -

Chestnut (black based), blow into the wool to see rings of tan or gold and greyish, undercoat - blue-gray

Chocolate Agouti (choc based), blow into the wool to see rings of tan and light chocolate, undercoat - dove gray

Note:  Some chocolate agoutis can have rufus (red) genetic modifiers that make  them appear to be reds. Pay attention to the finer details, ring, ear  lacing, etc... to determine if your 'red' is actually a chocolate  agouti. (Use the white paper)

Copper  (black based), copper is simply chestnut with vibrant red rings instead  of tan/gold. Coppers also appear to have a rusty colored tint to their  overall body color.

Blue-grey/brown/orange mixed together? -

Opal (blue based), blow into wool to see rings of tan or gold and blue, undercoat - blue

Lynx (lilac based), blow into wool to see rings of tan or gold and lilac, undercoat - blue

Salt and pepper/silverish? -

Chinchilla (black based), blow into wool to see rings of pearl and blue-grey, sometimes can appear to have white rings

Chocolate Chin (chocolate based), blow into wool to see rings of chocolate and pearl, with dove-grey undercoat

Note: Chinchilla and Chocolate chinchilla can have brown OR blue-grey eyes, also marbled

Note: Brownish tinge on juniors is normal, on seniors major no-no, no Chin should ever have red tint anywhere

Squirrel (blue based chin), blow into wool to see rings of blue and pearl (uncommon color)

Lilac Chin (lilac based), blow into wool to see rings of lilac and pearl (uncommon color)

Note:  Remember to check the guard hair colors. The guard hairs will be tipped  in black, chocolate, blue or lilac AND match the ear lacing. Color  depends on which agouti you have.

Shaded

Remember, shadeds will have self-colored faces

Most  shadeds are torts. The other shadeds are less common and not often  seen. All torts have a cream, tan, red or fawn body colors. They have  self colored faces, ears, feet and tail. The bellies and undertail  should be a lighter shade of the body color. Never white!

Note: Sometimes a tort has so much red factor, their face color fades to very little. This is ok.

Tortoiseshell (black)

Blue Tortoiseshell

Chocolate Tortoiseshell

Lilac Tortoiseshell

Pearl

A  pearl can have any of the four self colors on the face, feet and tail,  and also may have sable points. The body color is pearl or off white.  Toenails must be colored! Eyes are colored!

Note: If your pearl has  no color on the feet, ears or tail and has white inside the ears you  have an ermine!! Not showable!! Ermine is in the chinchilla group,  genetically.

Sable, Seal and Smoke Pearl

Sable is similar  to a tort, except the color is all sepia brown shading to a sable body  color. Seal is darker, almost black, and Smoke Pearl is the blue based  example of this color and would appear smoky blue rather than sepia.  Absolutely NO reddish-ness anywhere! Sables often change color several  times as they are growing up. I have no experience with this bizarre  color (uncommon colors)

My Bunny is White

White with red eyes? - Ruby-Eyed White

White with VIBRANT blue eyes? - Blue-Eyed White

White with Colored points (Nose, ears, feet, tails), RED eyes - Pointed White

White with colored points, COLORED eyes, you have either a Pearl or an Ermine - see shaded group, above.

White with colored eyes and colored spots - Broken!!! - Currently only show-able in French and Satin Angora

Ticked

These  4 colors are the Steels, black, blue, chocolate and lilac. They look  like selfs, but have steel ticking in silver or gold. This is a gene  breeders prefer not to mix. It is VERY hard to determine if you have a  steel without having a color history of the pedigree to help determine  this. Unless you have steel in the pedigree, you probably don't have a  steel, although it can hide. Take that with a grain of salt.

Other Colors??

Yep, there are people working on Otter and Silver Martins in several of the angora breeds.

Otters  look like selfs with agouti markings, meaning cream or orangish colored  bellies, nose holes, triangle behind ears, in between toes and under  tail.

Silver Martins look about the same, except their agouti  markings are striking snow white. Martins should have lightly dispersed  silver ticking throughout their wool, but you wouldn't see that on an  angora, except the face.