# Do rats hair color fade?



## Fueazi (Jul 27, 2017)

My new baby rat Terra has 1 single grey spot on her face and my friend said how it might fade when she gets older.. is it true??


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## Coffeebean (Jan 6, 2017)

Yes and no.

Certain colors do fade, like siamese and roans. Roans will turn nearly or completely white and siamese begin brown and turn very light until only their "color points" are the remaining. Other rats do fade but not as drastically. Black fur can often fade in a way, it can rust and/or "silver" with age. Many other colors don't fade though, at least not noticeably.

Terra probably won't fade. She appears to be a blue masked, and the blue shouldn't change. While blue fur can rust like black fur, it's much less noticeably and also tends to mainly just occur on the rump, sides, or belly. 

She doesn't look like she has any reason to fade.


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## Fueazi (Jul 27, 2017)

That's amazing I didn't know she was blue masked... I'm glad it wont fade I find it really cute.



Coffeebean said:


> Yes and no.
> 
> Certain colors do fade, like siamese and roans. Roans will turn nearly or completely white and siamese begin brown and turn very light until only their "color points" are the remaining. Other rats do fade but not as drastically. Black fur can often fade in a way, it can rust and/or "silver" with age. Many other colors don't fade though, at least not noticeably.
> 
> ...


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## Fueazi (Jul 27, 2017)

Blue masked means her grey color has a tint of blue? or what does a blue mask vs just a masked rat difference is?



Coffeebean said:


> Yes and no.
> 
> Certain colors do fade, like siamese and roans. Roans will turn nearly or completely white and siamese begin brown and turn very light until only their "color points" are the remaining. Other rats do fade but not as drastically. Black fur can often fade in a way, it can rust and/or "silver" with age. Many other colors don't fade though, at least not noticeably.
> 
> ...


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## Shadow <3 (Jan 25, 2017)

It's just a color variation and marking. Just like "blue hooded" means that the rat has a blue/grey tinted hood, "blue masked" means that the "mask" shaped fur on the rat's face is tinted blue/gray. Just like in dogs, a light grey fur color is typically referred to as "blue".

There is no stereotypical "masked rat", as "masked" rat varieties come in all different colors. Here's what the American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association has to say about it: "Masked rats may be shown in any recognized color. The body is to be a pure, clean white, free from spots or brindling. A colored mask to cover the face, to include just around the eyes and above the nose, not to extend down the sides of the face onto the jowls or under the chin."

Her's a good website to learn about rat colors/markings: http://www.afrma.org/ratmkd.htm#maskedrt


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## Fueazi (Jul 27, 2017)

So you guys can see the blue in the tint of her fur?



Shadow <3 said:


> It's just a color variation and marking. Just like "blue hooded" means that the rat has a blue/grey tinted hood, "blue masked" means that the "mask" shaped fur on the rat's face is tinted blue/gray. Just like in dogs, a light grey fur color is typically referred to as "blue".
> 
> There is no stereotypical "masked rat", as "masked" rat varieties come in all different colors. Here's what the American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association has to say about it: "Masked rats may be shown in any recognized color. The body is to be a pure, clean white, free from spots or brindling. A colored mask to cover the face, to include just around the eyes and above the nose, not to extend down the sides of the face onto the jowls or under the chin."
> 
> Her's a good website to learn about rat colors/markings: http://www.afrma.org/ratmkd.htm#maskedrt


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## Shadow <3 (Jan 25, 2017)

It looks light gray to me, just like all "blue" furred animals do. It is a very pretty color though 

Look up pictures of "blue" furred dogs, and you'll see that its pretty much the same color as in blue furred rats. I'm not sure why its called "blue", but there's probably answers to that online as well.


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