# I want to practice identifying rat colors... help me? :)



## akihba (Apr 26, 2014)

Alright so I want to get better at identifying rat colors and coats. I was thinking maybe you guys could post your pictures of your rats, let me guess their colors/coats, then let me know afterwards if I guessed correctly or incorrectly? If you have better suggestions or helpful links for me, feel free to post them!

Let me see your ratties/my guinea pigs!


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

Here's Henrik as a baby.

I don't play fair!


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## akihba (Apr 26, 2014)

cagedbirdsinging said:


> cagedbirdsinging's Henrik


That. Face. 
It's too cute I might die. 

Is he an agouti?


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

akihba said:


> That. Face.
> It's too cute I might die.
> 
> Is he an agouti?


Mink is his color, and Harley is his coat. Very rare and not fair at all to make a beginner guess!


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

http://ratvarieties.com/


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## akihba (Apr 26, 2014)

Mink was my second guess, no idea about the coat. xD Thank you!


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## bbrats (Jan 21, 2013)

Ooo i wanna play! This is the hardest one i have


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## akihba (Apr 26, 2014)

bbrats said:


> Ooo i wanna play! This is the hardest one i have
> View attachment 133857


Capped?


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## bbrats (Jan 21, 2013)

DING DING DING! One point akihba!


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## akihba (Apr 26, 2014)

Whoo! Thanks for posting!


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## LeStan82 (Dec 31, 2013)

I have pretty easy ones except for the first one, not a good pic of his coat type, but hint: he is not standard , his coat is poor







and


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## akihba (Apr 26, 2014)

LeStan82 said:


> LeStan's rats


Is the first one a hooded rex? 

And is the bottom right one a bareback, and the top left one a masked?


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## Hey-Fay (Jul 8, 2013)

Ooh ooh!! I wanna play!

The first two are of Matilda, one as a pup one as about 6-7 months old (she's the one leaning out of the hammock). She should be an easy guess.
Next two are of Violet 
And the last is Mica, she should be a little harder to identify her color.


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## LeStan82 (Dec 31, 2013)

You are correct!


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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

This is Toffee


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## akihba (Apr 26, 2014)

Hey-Fay said:


> Ooh ooh!! I wanna play!
> 
> The first two are of Matilda, one as a pup one as about 6-7 months old (she's the one leaning out of the hammock). She should be an easy guess.
> Next two are of Violet
> And the last is Mica, she should be a little harder to identify her color.


Umm... Trying my best here. xD Is Matilda a blue berkshire? Violet... A Lavender hooded? And last but not least, is Mica a mink blazed? No idea on Mica's color, just taking a wild guess with her.


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## akihba (Apr 26, 2014)

LeStan82 said:


> You are correct!


Yay!! Thank you for posting!





ksaxton said:


> View attachment 134001
> 
> 
> This is Toffee


PEW?


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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

akihba said:


> Yay!! Thank you for posting!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Maybe the lighting is bad, but no he is a Champagne  


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## Grotesque (Mar 19, 2014)

I'd show a picture of mine but I think she is some kind of rat mutt. She is pure white with reddish tint to her eyes but not fully red. She is not albino because she has a very light tan mark on the top of her head. The best way to describe it would be (and I hate to word it like this) a Hitler hairstyle.


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

Grotesque said:


> I'd show a picture of mine but I think she is some kind of rat mutt. She is pure white with reddish tint to her eyes but not fully red. She is not albino because she has a very light tan mark on the top of her head. The best way to describe it would be (and I hate to word it like this) a Hitler hairstyle.


Rat mutts don't exist. Without seeing her, I can only guess her to be a champagne or fawn capped.


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## Grotesque (Mar 19, 2014)

cagedbirdsinging said:


> Rat mutts don't exist. Without seeing her, I can only guess her to be a champagne or fawn capped.


I looked up capped rat and both fawn and champagne colors. She is DEFINITELY a champagne capped rat. I am so highly amused that I know that now. Thanks so much!


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## Hey-Fay (Jul 8, 2013)

akihba said:


> Umm... Trying my best here. xD Is Matilda a blue berkshire? Violet... A Lavender hooded? And last but not least, is Mica a mink blazed? No idea on Mica's color, just taking a wild guess with her.


Noo lol Matilda is a black Berkshire velveteen rex (the pictures weren't that great, sorry lol) Violet is a blue hood and Mica is a split cap blue agouti


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## aimleigh (Feb 7, 2014)

this is jack


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## Ergala (Jan 23, 2014)

Maggie my new girl!









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## Phantom (Apr 4, 2012)

Here's Pastoolio! He's the rat in my avatar picture as well. =P


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## cammipooh (Apr 26, 2014)

Here's Sneezes. 

Love, Cameron and Sneezes


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## akihba (Apr 26, 2014)

ksaxton said:


> Maybe the lighting is bad, but no he is a Champagne
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Huh. He totally looks white in the picture you posted. xD Well thanks anyway!


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## akihba (Apr 26, 2014)

Hey-Fay said:


> Noo lol Matilda is a black Berkshire velveteen rex (the pictures weren't that great, sorry lol) Violet is a blue hood and Mica is a split cap blue agouti


I was way off then. xD Thanks for posting!


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## akihba (Apr 26, 2014)

aimleigh said:


> this is jack


Champagne hooded?


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## akihba (Apr 26, 2014)

Ergala said:


> Maggie my new girl!
> View attachment 134505
> 
> 
> ...


Ummm.... Blue berkshire?  I dunno, the lighting makes it hard to tell.


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## akihba (Apr 26, 2014)

Phantom said:


> Here's Pastoolio! He's the rat in my avatar picture as well. =P


Dalmatian?


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## akihba (Apr 26, 2014)

cammipooh said:


> Here's Sneezes.
> 
> Love, Cameron and Sneezes


Black variegated?


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## aimleigh (Feb 7, 2014)

akihba said:


> Champagne hooded?


 I aint actually sure, alot of people have said dove lol


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## cammipooh (Apr 26, 2014)

Mismarked blaze black variegated with a collar. 

Love, Cameron and Sneezes


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## Ergala (Jan 23, 2014)

akihba said:


> Ummm.... Blue berkshire?  I dunno, the lighting makes it hard to tell.


Close! Lilac Berkshire 


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## LeStan82 (Dec 31, 2013)

Ok, I have another one for you, maybe you could help identify what he is since I am having difficulty myself. This is my new baby Sid.his belly is white and goes up his sides a bit and looks like he has wavy hair, whiskers are mostly straight.


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## Phantom (Apr 4, 2012)

akihba said:


> Dalmatian?


I'm not actually sure myself. XD
I've gone through the markings over and over again. He would either be a dalmatian (yet he has a thick black strip down his back that is not spotted at all), or a mismarked hooded rat with a very thick blaze.


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## LittleSparrow (Apr 14, 2014)

Patoolio is gorgeous! I love the white rats that have patches of colour on their fur. Super adorable!
Ok, I have a couple for you! 

This is my boy, Sterling.  He is our rescue boy who has been with us for almost 2 weeks now. 














My girl Harlie:














And here's a picture of Rizzo as a baby and now! We have a really hard time deciding what fur type she has.


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## akihba (Apr 26, 2014)

Ah, close on both of them! Thanks, Ergala and Cameron & Sneezes!


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## akihba (Apr 26, 2014)

LeStan82 said:


> LeStan82's Sid


Looks like a blue Berkshire rex to me? If you got him only recently maybe his coat isn't the best quality yet and he actually isn't a rex. Just a thought.


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## akihba (Apr 26, 2014)

LittleSparrow said:


> Patoolio is gorgeous! I love the white rats that have patches of colour on their fur. Super adorable!
> Ok, I have a couple for you!
> 
> This is my boy, Sterling.  He is our rescue boy who has been with us for almost 2 weeks now.
> ...



Sterling is gorgeous! I'm guessing he's a capped with a blaze?  I can't see Harlie's back so I'm gonna guess she's a lilac blazed? Rizzo (love her name) looks like a black rex? If she has a white belly then black Berkshire rex?


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## LeStan82 (Dec 31, 2013)

akihba said:


> Looks like a blue Berkshire rex to me? If you got him only recently maybe his coat isn't the best quality yet and he actually isn't a rex. Just a thought.


That was my guess as well. Can a standard coat rat have curly hair???? his fur is definitely different than my other baby Cotton's fur which is standard coat. Sid is alot softer.


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## LittleSparrow (Apr 14, 2014)

Harlie is a lilac blaze and I do believe Sterling is a capped with a slight blaze.  I'm not really sure about Rizzo though. She was definitely had rex fur when she was a baby, but now her whiskers are no longer curly and her hair is straight and long, though coarse feeling. So I have no clue about her! Lol


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Here's an easy one... This was our Amelia...


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## akihba (Apr 26, 2014)

Rat Daddy said:


> Here's an easy one... This was our Amelia...
> 
> View attachment 135609


Berkshire blazed? She's a very pretty girl!


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## Andyurgay (Jun 10, 2013)

this is Jukka, he's not as easy to guess as he looks =]









This is Brody and he_ is_ easy.









Berkeley, I'm not even %100 on his color and pattern honestly lol










And finally, Scout =] It's hard to tell in the picture, but he has curly whiskers and wavy/thin fur.









I'm not even going to post Mac, he is way too easy, PEW, even though he does have a smidge of pigment around both ears that may darken as he gets bigger. So I guess he's not even a true PEW.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Ahkiba...

Amelia is a high white. If you look close the blaze is too big and just a bit asymmetrical, her sides are white, just a little too high up to be a berk. and if the photo were just a bit better you might see her wiry hair, a lot like rex, but not quite... She also had the black - ruby eyes (black eyes that flash red in the light.... You also might note her nose seems too long and her feet were huge... She grew up to almost a foot long and over 1.3 lbs without ever being fat.. As far as color goes, next to our other rats her white hairs were so white they actually had a bluish tinge... Although I believe high whites are banned from being shown, Amelia was a near show quality rat.

Amelia and her brother, a lightning blaze Dalmatian type of high white were dumped in the feeder bin by a local high white breeder... Most likely she and her brother were part of a litter that blew up... 

Once high whites are over 5 weeks old and eating solid foods, they are just about as safe to own as any other rat... its just that in some litters all of most of the pups, will bloat and die a horrible death... 

I make no judgment regarding the "ethical breeder" that breeds high whites and even guarantees them, that coincidentally operates near the pet shop where high white culls occasionally turn up. In any case, had the breeder waited and not culled Amelia and her brother, she would know that both rats grew up to live full lives. There was no way two spectacular high white pups were going to be fed to a snake... Both were adopted by an employee and Amelia found her way to me after 6 months... I saw her as a pup, but the employee had first dibs. 

Honestly, even though Amelia didn't work out as a true shoulder rat, she was hand picked by Fuzzy Rat to be her friend, and I have such a soft spot for high whites she's the only adult rat we've ever adopted. And on those rare occasions we took Amelia out with us, all kinds of people, even those that hated rats fawned all over her. 

Sometimes it's just a little hard to identify a high white in a photo, to be fair.... but if you drop one in with a bunch of normal rats, they stand out like a sore thumb... they sort of look like something you know... but they just look 'wrong'... their proportions are just a little off, their color isn't quite right, their fur texture isn't quite normal... they just look off. IMHO, they are prettier... but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

The local high white breeder claims to have a waiting list over 6 months long.... even if he or she is doing them in volume, it's quite believable (especially if some of the litters explode).

It might be morally difficult to support a breeder who raises high whites, knowing what that implies, but that doesn't mean high whites aren't beautiful..


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## akihba (Apr 26, 2014)

Rat Daddy said:


> Ahkiba...
> 
> Amelia is a high white. If you look close the blaze is too big and just a bit asymmetrical, her sides are white, just a little too high up to be a berk. and if the photo were just a bit better you might see her wiry hair, a lot like rex, but not quite... She also had the black - ruby eyes (black eyes that flash red in the light.... You also might note her nose seems too long and her feet were huge... She grew up to almost a foot long and over 1.3 lbs without ever being fat.. As far as color goes, next to our other rats her white hairs were so white they actually had a bluish tinge... Although I believe high whites are banned from being shown, Amelia was a near show quality rat.
> 
> ...


Ah, I see! Thank you for the detailed explanation! I had never seen or heard of high whites before.


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## MightylilttleMinies (Jul 17, 2013)

Atlas 
View attachment 136785


Ellie 
View attachment 136793


Flo- she has a white belly 
View attachment 136801


All of them together: 
View attachment 136809





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