Examples of kittens at homing age
(although not all these varieties are currently bred by Zephyr)
Note that the colours will darken and become richer with age, and agouti based colours develop stronger orange tones in adulthood.

Rats which don't exhibit any colour genes are either black or agouti. My breeding plans centre around rats exhibiting the american mink gene
which have very dark ruby eyes, and some rats will be agouti based (mink agouti is known as cinnamon).
Consequently most Zephyr litters for the american line will include:

black (not always very black!)	agouti (all agouti based rats have paler bellies):
american mink	american cinnamon

Jump to see various comparison shots of these dark varieties.

My core line now includes some russian blue based rats - combined with american mink this produces dove.

russian dove

russian dove with a dove essex, considerably paler

I will also be breeding some american cinnamon essex - these rats have fully white bellies, a head marking which will range from
a small spot to a full blaze (and all possible splodges inbetween), and the american cinnamon colour will be faded to a more pastel shade.
There may occasionally be some with odd eyes (caused by the white markings migrating into one eye) i.e. one dark ruby eye as normal, and the other a lighter ruby.

american cinnamon essex	... with odd eyes
a mismarked american mink blazed essex	a dove head spot essex

In my efforts to get double minks and double cinnamons, I am currently only getting them in pearl.
Fully expressed pearl only have colour on the very tips of their coat, meaning they look like a slightly grubby white,
but cinnamon pearl still show the brown ticking, so appear as a light orange.
Pearl can sometimes be only partly expressed (aka dark phase), meaning the rat appears mink with a pale undercoat, and will look patchy during moulting.

fully expressed double cinnamon pearl and double mink pearl

dark phase pearl

Quicksilver is the result of combining the american gene with pale british blue.
If the platinum modifier is also present, then the lighter eyed result is platinum. Pale british blue rats may also appear from time to time.

quicksilver	quicksilver agouti
platinum	platinum agouti

pale british blue

pale british blue agouti

Jump to see various comparison shots of these blue based varieties.


Chestnut is a new variety which doesn't yet have a standard - essentially an orange rat with black eyes and a darker nose.
There are many shades but I am aiming for a rich orange that sits between UK cinnamon and topaz.
The self version is called ash.
This line will also produce darker versions (dark ash and brown chestnut) and some pink eyed rats.

ash	chestnut
dark ash	brown chestnut
pink eyed ash	pink eyed chestnut

Havana is chocolate based american mink or cinnamon carrying the buff/topaz gene (I am not currently breeding these but hope to recreate them in the next few years).
These have a paler creamier tone to their coat and lighter eyes than the straight chocolate based americans do.
Any buff or topaz based rats will be expressing american chocolate which causes dilution meaning a lighter coat and paler eyes than standard.
Chocolate rats may also appear from time to time.

havana	havana agouti
chocolate american mink	chocolate american cinnamon
dilute buff	dilute topaz
chocolate (sadly my chocs often look more like light blacks)	chocolate agouti

Jump to see various comparison shots of these orange varieties.


Silken (aka silvermane), is a coat type resulting in silver tips to the hairs for self colours,
and gold tips for agouti based varieties, sometimes a facial mask effect when the base coat is dark enough, and a silky texture.
The silvering on poor examples comes and goes, but the coat retains its silken feel (I am no longer breeding silken).

a poor black silken	a nice agouti silken
chocolate silken	chocolate agouti silken
american mink silken	american cinnamon silken

Some litters may include dumbos, and most rats will have some degree of silvering which will come and go through their life.

top eared	dumbo eared
slight silvering	heavily silvered

Comparison pictures of the darker shades:

black and agouti	chocolate and chocolate agouti
american mink and american cinnamon	chocolate american mink and chocolate american cinnamon
black and chocolate	chocolate and american mink
american mink and chocolate american mink	two shades of american mink - cooler and warmer
agouti (above) and chocolate agouti (below) adult does	agouti and chocolate agouti adult bucks
chocolate agouti (above) and american cinnamon (below) bucks	chocolate american cinnamon and american cinnamon adult does

Comparison pictures of the blue based shades:

pale british blue and pale british blue agouti	quicksilver and quicksilver agouti
platinum and platinum agouti	chocolate platinum agouti (above) and chocolate platinum (below)

pale british blue, quicksilver, and platinum

quicksilver, platinum, and pale british blue

pale british blue, quicksilver, and platinum

quicksilver, platinum, and pale british blue

platinum, quicksilver, and pale british blue

quicksilver agouti and pale british blue agouti	platinum agouti and quicksilver agouti
chocolate platinum agouti and platinum agouti	pale british blue agouti, chocolate platinum agouti, and quicksilver agouti

Comparison pictures of the orange shades:

topaz and havana agouti kittens	dilute buff and two dilute topaz kittens
havana agouti and topaz adults	havana (silvered) and havana agouti adults

havana (silvered) and havana agouti >

topaz, havana agouti, and havana (silvered)