# Help me determine his CORRECT Color!!!!



## Rattygurl (Nov 23, 2014)

I just brought home a beautiful new baby boy today from the "feeder bin" at a pet store  I absolutely love him he was the only one like him and i am having a hard time determining his proper color, so i was hoping maybe someone on here would have a better idea  I know he is a vari-berk but he has some interesting coloring over his body


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## Rattygurl (Nov 23, 2014)

I am also open to name ideas


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## Grawrisher (Sep 10, 2013)

I BELIEVE it's some shade of "blue"....regardless he is very cute name ideas
Monty
Maurice
Fluff bottom
Storm


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## Hedgian (Aug 18, 2014)

I think he may be a russian blue.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

i think a pale Russian blue too. i expect he will darken up a bit when he gets his adult coat


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## LeStan82 (Dec 31, 2013)

Aw, looks like my boy Sid. I would also say russian blue variberk.


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## kksrats (Jul 25, 2014)

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but does he have a bit of brown mixed in there? Kind of looks like a shade of blue agouti to me, but if there's no brown and it's just my monitor playing tricks then I'd have to say pale russian blue as well. If there is brown though...


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## Rattygurl (Nov 23, 2014)

I was having a hard time deciding if there was brown or not lol Sometimes he looks like he has a brown tint and sometimes not so much so i'm not sure if my eyes are playing tricks on me or what LOL But his coat is very thick and fluffy right now so hopefully he will be loosing his baby coat soon and it will be easier to tell


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## Camelle (Feb 11, 2013)

he looks more american blue than russian blue but my russian blue has bits of brown in his fur where as my american blue does not. But i would lean more towards american blue unless there is brown in which case I have no idea haha maybe he's uniquely his own color? ;D


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## Camelle (Feb 11, 2013)

he's definitely an essex fur pattern though like my russian blue.


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## Korra (Dec 11, 2011)

He looks like blue agouti to me. 
I have a friend with a rat that shade and I currently have a rescue mouse that color. I can show you if you like


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

It's not abnormal to get Brown tones in Rb and the colour doesn't look multi toned enough to be rba but his adult coat will show is clearer. baby fluff can be deceptive. He's not Essex though, looks like a Berkshire to me.

This is a Russian blue essex eating his Christmas dinner lol.


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## Camelle (Feb 11, 2013)

I thought essex was the one where it's darkest at the top in a line down the spine and it gets lighter as it goes down and the it's white on the bottom and feet? So if they don't have a headspot it's berk no matter what?


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## Camelle (Feb 11, 2013)

Because my russian blue boy fits the essex description perfectly except for the headspot so I've just always called him that.


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## Rattygurl (Nov 23, 2014)

Isamurat said:


> It's not abnormal to get Brown tones in Rb and the colour doesn't look multi toned enough to be rba but his adult coat will show is clearer. baby fluff can be deceptive. He's not Essex though, looks like a Berkshire to me.
> 
> This is a Russian blue essex eating his Christmas dinner lol.



Yes he is definately a veriberk.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

Camelle said:


> I thought essex was the one where it's darkest at the top in a line down the spine and it gets lighter as it goes down and the it's white on the bottom and feet? So if they don't have a headspot it's berk no matter what?


you don't always get perfect fading with Essex, though they are always lighter coloured than the same colour solid and there belly is a lot paler though may not be white. interestingly we see a lot of marked Essex (which is amusing as Essex is classed as a marked gene on its own) by that i mean with white berky markings on there belly. 

an Essex does need a head spot or blaze, it's inherent with the variety though in theory this could be v small, we breed Essex and you can see it very early on within a few days of birth who's going to be Essex. 

Camelle, if you post a photo i can tell you if he is an Essex or not. It's unlikely without a head marking and the variety doesn't seem common outside the uk (even then it's not common outside breeder rats) so it is unlikly he is.


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## Camelle (Feb 11, 2013)

Isamurat said:


> you don't always get perfect fading with Essex, though they are always lighter coloured than the same colour solid and there belly is a lot paler though may not be white. interestingly we see a lot of marked Essex (which is amusing as Essex is classed as a marked gene on its own) by that i mean with white berky markings on there belly.
> 
> an Essex does need a head spot or blaze, it's inherent with the variety though in theory this could be v small, we breed Essex and you can see it very early on within a few days of birth who's going to be Essex.
> 
> Camelle, if you post a photo i can tell you if he is an Essex or not. It's unlikely without a head marking and the variety doesn't seem common outside the uk (even then it's not common outside breeder rats) so it is unlikly he is.


He probably isn't one but sure I'll post a picture of him! (anything that means I get to show off pictures of my beauties ^.^ C: I don't have a good enough camera to be able to show you how perfectly symetrical his fading is or the line down his back plus he probably wouldn't stay still long enough but I'll do my best. My phone has a pretty fantastic camera but no camera will pick up just exactly like what you're eye sees in person. What kind of shots do you need of him?


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

top down, sides and maybe belly too. a face shot would be nice as they are the cutest lol


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## Camelle (Feb 11, 2013)

Alright! Sorry this took so long! I agree face pictures are the cutest!! 
Top down:









(Please excuse my pajama pants)








I know he looks brown sometimes but I swear he's supposed to be russian blue. Probably should have taken some of these without the flash but then they wouldn't be as clear. He looks more grey in person but he's also just under 5 months so he's not an adult yet either. Also you can't see his line in these pictures but it's there. It's not as clear as it was when he was younger though. 

Sides:









I don't know why it flips these sideways but I can't get it to flip it around the right way so I apologize for the awkward angle. 








That's his other side^

Belly:








He was REALLY good at the standing up pictures haha I'm holding sunflower seeds to get him to stand. He is VERY food motivated xD

Butt:








Cute face pics:








^^this has to be the cutest photo of Vincent I have ever taken. :3







licking for sunflower crumbs ^.^








This one is more his true color. His cute little sleepy face!! >.<







Munchin'

That's all of them C: Sorry for all the picture spam. It's kinda hard to just pick a few you know?


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## Camelle (Feb 11, 2013)

I feel like I should also mention he's a velveteen so I don't know if that would affect anything or not but just so you know c:


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## kksrats (Jul 25, 2014)

I'm still leaning towards blue agouti if you say he's more blue in person. You can see more of a blue tint in the top picture too.


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## Camelle (Feb 11, 2013)

kksrats said:


> I'm still leaning towards blue agouti if you say he's more blue in person. You can see more of a blue tint in the top picture too.


These are two different rats. I'm not the one who started the thread. The rat at the beginning of this thread is totally unrelated to the pictures I just posted.


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## kksrats (Jul 25, 2014)

Oh haha that's what I get for not going back to reread the beginning posts


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## Camelle (Feb 11, 2013)

It's okay C: They look pretty similar which is why I originally commented on this post to start with so they're pretty easy to get confused haha c:


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

Camella, he's definitely a Russian blue agouti Berkshire dumbo. He's actually a pretty good Berkshire too, nice symmetrical markings. The fading towards the bottom is more lightening of his Fur towards his belt coat. an Essex (when done properly) gets more white hairs evenly spread the the coloured hairs which gives the effect of fading abs is also more gradual from the spine down. The overall color fades as well but your guy looks a lovely dark tone for an RBA. He's a good looking lad, i would love an RBA


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## Camelle (Feb 11, 2013)

Thanks isamurat!!I really appreciate it! And thank you! ^.^ I think Vincent's pretty tooc: and clearly vincent does because whenever I go to take pictures he's always the first to run up to me haha Oh and vincent says thank you for the wonderful complements <3 
So since he's a russian blue agouti instead of just a russian blue does that mean instead of getting bluer with age he'll get browner? do you know?


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