For more rat genetics, see the AFRMA Rat Genetics book, specific articles listed with the various standards descriptions, and the articles on the Info Pages: Breeding – Colors/Genetics – Rat Genetics, part 1, Rat Genetics, part 2, Rat Genetics, part 3. See also the Rat Biology article Where do Rat Coat Colors Come From?
See the AFRMA Rat Color Standards book and the Standards pages for photos.

Go to Fancy Rat Genes, Agouti-based Colors,
Fancy Rat Genes, Black-based Colors,
Fancy Rat Genes, Marked Rats, or
Fancy Rat Genes, Coats & Misc. for breakdowns.

See also Fancy Rat Genes, Genetic Code Listing for breakdowns by genetic code.

A  B  C  D  E  F  H  I  K  L  M  N  O  P  R  S  T  V  W

A
Agouti	AA or Aa (i.e. A–)
Apricot Agouti	A– gg pp* (P.E. Blue Agouti)
Chocolate Agouti	A– bb (dark Cinnamon; see also Hawthorn Rat Varieties: Chocolate Agouti)
Agouti: Chocolate: pink-eyed	A– bb pp (Silver Fawn/P.E. Chocolate Agouti)
Platinum Agouti	A– bb gg* (U.S.) or A- amam gg (U.K.)
Albino	cc (albino; covers up the actual color/marking so can be either an agouti-based or black-based color; a.k.a. P.E. White)
Amber	A– pp (P.E. Agouti; a.k.a. a light Silver Fawn)
American Mink (Lilac)	aa amam (selected for lighter color)
Apricot	A– bb pp Rr? or A– mm pp Rr?
Argente Creme	A– Cscs Fyfy** pp? or A– cchcch pp? (chinchillated Silver Fawn)
Aussie Mink	aa momo (see page 7 of the article) (starts out looking like Beige, then molts into a gray Mink color)
B
Baldie	Hro++h?
Banded	? (from Hooded stock)
Bareback	hh or hhe or hHms or hhi?
Beige	aa rr or aa bb rr (ruby-eyed Black; Buff U.K.)
Berkshire	Hh or hhe or hihi or hihn
Black	aa
Blaze	many possible
Blue	aa gg* (selected for dark shade)
Blue Agouti	A– gg* (Opal)
Blue Agouti: pink-eyed	A– gg pp* (Apricot Agouti)
Blue-Beige	aa dd rr
Bristle Coat	Br (code given by AFRMA)
Buff (U.K.)	aa rr or aa bb rr (Beige U.S.)
Burmese	aa cech+ (similar to extreme dilute gene in mice)
Burmese: Blue	aa cech+ gg (similar to extreme dilute gene in mice)
Burmese: Russian Blue	aa cech+ dd (similar to extreme dilute gene in mice)
Burmese: Sable	aa cece+ (similar to extreme dilute in mice)
Burmese: Agouti	A– cech+ (similar to extreme dilute gene in mice)
Burmese: Russian Blue Agouti	A– cech+ dd (similar to extreme dilute gene in mice)
C
Capped	hnhn
Capped-Stripe	hreh; Hrehre (lethal)?
Champagne	aa B– pp (P.E. Black)
Champagne: pale	aa bb pp (P.E. Chocolate)
Champagne: dark–eyed	aa B– mm rr
Chinchilla	A– Cscs Fyfy**? or A– cchcch? or ? (formerly called Silver Agouti; see Breeding the Chinchilla)
Chocolate	aa bb or aa bb Rr or aa BB Rr
Cinnamon	A– mm
Cinnamon: red	A– bb mm
Cinnamon: dark	A– bb (Chocolate Agouti)
Cinnamon: ruby-eyed	A– mm Rr
Cinnamon: silvered	A– mm
Cinnamon Pearl	A– mm Pepe
Cocoa	aa bb mm (Coffee in U.K.), aa bb mm Rr, aa Bb mm Rr, aa Bb mm Rr (Havana in U.K.)
Coffee U.S.	? (coffee with cream/gray-brown color)
Coffee U.K.	aa bb mm (See also Hawthorn Rat Varieties: Coffee)
Collared	? (usually from Dalmatian breedings) or Heh? or Hehi?
Cowlick	cw
Curly 1	Cu1
Curly 2	Cu2
D
Dalmatian	Daldal*
Down Under	hdu? (dominant)
Dove	aa gg mm*, aa bb gg*
Dumbo	dmbodmbo (ear gene)
E
English Irish	Hh, or Hhi if no Hooded produced in 2 Irish breedings
Essex	Hro++ or Hro++H (color fading gene; has Berkshire markings but breeds as a Self)
F
Fawn	A– rr or AA bb rr (ruby-eyed Agouti; Topaz U.K.)
Fuzzy	fzfz or frH
H
Harley	? (recessive; sparse, fine, wispy coat with no undercoat)
Havana: U.K.	aa Bb mm Rr
Hairless	hrhr or fzfz
Hairless: CR (Charles River)	frCR
Himalayan: Black-eyed Seal Point	aa cici+ (similar to extreme dilute gene in mice)
Himalayan: B.E. Agouti Point	A– cici+ (similar to extreme dilute gene in mice)
Himalayan: B.E. Blue Point	aa cici+ gg* (similar to extreme dilute gene in mice)
Himalayan: B.E. Russian Blue Point	aa cici+ dd (similar to extreme dilute gene in mice)
Himalayan: Agouti Point	A– chc
Himalayan: Blue Point	aa chc gg*
Himalayan: Russian Blue Point	aa chc dd
Himalayan: Seal Point	aa chc
Hooded	hh or hml (Hm=Hooded Modifier; hms or hml—short or long)
I
Irish	Hh, or Hhi if no Hooded produced in 2 Irish breedings
Ivory/B.E. Cream	cic+ (similar to extreme dilute gene in mice)
K
Kinky	kk
L
Lilac (American Mink)	aa mm or aa amam (selected for lighter color) See photos from 1978 of original U.S.A. Lilac male Hershey and here, owned by Karen Hauser. He was found in a pet shop in Riverside, CA.
Lilac U.K.	aa bb gg mm Rr*; see also Hawthorn Rat Varieties: Lilac
Lilac Agouti	A– bb mm Rr
Lynx	A– Cscs Fyfy rr?, A– Cscs Fyfy mm rr?, A– Ccch?, A–mm rr?, A– rr?, A– rr cchcch or ? (came out of Chinchilla breedings)
M
Marten	aa cmcm#
Marten: Agouti	A– cmcm#
Marten: Himi	aa cmch# (Marten with points)
Masked	hehe
Merle: Cinnamon Pearl	A– mm Me– Pepe*
Merle: Mink/Lilac	aa mm Me– pepe* or aa amam Me– pepe*
Merle: Pearl	aa mm Me– Pepe* (selected for most of the hair shaft to be white)
Merle: Silver Mink/Lilac	aa mm Me– Pepe* or aa amam Me– pepe* (selected for colored hair shafts)
Mink	aa mm (selected for darker color)
N
Naked	nn
Nude	rnurnu (Rowett nude)
O
Odd-Eye	oe or ? (has 2 different colored eyes; usually pink/black but can be ruby/black or pink/ruby)
Opal	A– gg* (Blue Agouti)
P
Platinum: black-eyed	aa bb gg*
Platinum: pink-eyed	aa bb gg pp*
Platinum: ruby-eyed	aa gg mm*
Pearl	aa mm Pepe (selected for most of the hair shaft to be white; is a dominant lethal)
Powder Blue	aa gg* (selected for light shade)
R
Ragged	rgrg
Rex	Rere
Roan (Husky)	? (recessive; roan gene lightens color with each moult till rat is nearly white; always in Berkshire or Berkshire Blaze markings)
Roan: Striped	? (recessive; a.k.a. Banded Husky)
Russian Blue	aa dd
Russian Blue Agouti	A– dd
Russian Cinnamon	A– dd mm
Russian Cinnamon Pearl	A– dd mm Pepe
Russian Dove	aa dd mm, aa bb dd gg*, aa dd gg mm*, aa bb dd
Russian Dove: pink-eyed	aa dd mm pp, aa bb dd gg pp*, aa dd gg mm pp*, aa bb dd pp
Russian Dove Pearl	aa dd mm Pepe, aa dd amam Pepe
Russian Fawn	A– dd rr
Russian Platinum	aa bb dd gg*, aa dd gg mm*, aa bb dd, aa dd mm
Russian Platinum Agouti	A– bb dd gg*
Russian Silver	aa dd gg pp*, aa bb dd gg pp*, aa bb dd gg mm pp*, aa dd pp
S
Satin	sasa
Shaggy	Sh
Shorn	shnshn
Siamese: Black-eyed Seal Point	aa chci+ (similar to extreme dilute gene in mice)
Siamese: B. E. Agouti Point	A– chci+ (similar to extreme dilute gene in mice)
Siamese: B. E. Blue Point	aa chci+ gg* (similar to extreme dilute gene in mice)
Siamese: B. E. Russian Blue Point	aa chci+ dd* (similar to extreme dilute gene in mice)
Siamese: Agouti Point	A– chch
Siamese: Blue Point	aa chch gg*
Siamese: Chocolate Point	aa bb chch
Siamese: Russian Blue Point	aa chch dd
Siamese: Seal Point	aa chch
Agouti Siamese Sable	A– csc# (B.E. version shown as Agouti Burmese)
Siamese Sable: light/show version	aa csc#
Siamese Sable: medium	aa csch#
Siamese Sable: dark (shown as Sable)	aa cscs#
Silver	aa gg pp* (P.E. Blue)
Silver Black	aa B– (selected for silvering)
Silver Blue	aa dd gg* or aa dd gg mm?*
Silver Blue Agouti	A– dd gg* or A– dd gg mm?*
Silver Cinnamon	A– mm
Silver Chocolate	aa bb (selected for silvering)
Silver Fawn	A– pp (P.E. Agouti)
Silver Fawn: light	A– mm pp (P.E. Cinnamon)
Silver Fawn: P.E. Chocolate Agouti	A– bb pp
Silver Lilac	aa mm Pepe or aa amam Pepe (selected for colored hair shafts and lighter color)
Silver Mink	aa mm Pepe (selected for colored hair shafts and darker color)
Sky Blue	aa gg* (medium shade)
Snowflake	? (small white spots belly and sides; a.k.a. stippeltjes in the Netherlands which means dots)
Squirrel (U.K.)	A– Cscs Fyfy** gg*? or A– gg cchcch? (chinchillated Blue Agouti)
T
Tailless	stst? (recessive)
Topaz (U.K.)	A– rr or AA bb rr (Fawn, U.S.)
Tri-Merle	heh Me?
Turpin (U.K.)	A– Cscs FyFy** Hro++H? or Cscs Fyfy** Hro++H? or A– cchcch HroHro++? (chinchillated Essex)
V
Variegated	? (2 Var. never produce Self or Hooded)
Velvet	? (recessive)
W
Wavy	wvwv
White: black-eyed	hehe or any h (marked selected for no spots; in either agouti-based or black-based color) Note: could also be slsl (Spotting Lethal); these suffer from aganglionic megacolon associated with white coat color, usually BEW but occasionally have small spot on head and hips and die usually within first week to 35 days after birth
White: pink-eyed	cc (albino; covers up the actual color/marking so can be either an agouti-based or black-based color) Note: extremely diluted P.E. Self colors or a P.E. Marked with all markings bred off can look like a P.E. White

Note: Many rat colors/varieties have not been studied by geneticists so codes are given by fancy rat genetics experts or are unknown

Note: Capital letter=dominant genes unless otherwise noted; lower case letter=recessive genes

“–” means that either the dominant or recessive allele could occupy that space without affecting the outcome

* = g or Me or Dal code by Nichole Royer

** = Cscs Fyfy code by Ann Storey, N.F.R.S.

+ = c^e or cⁱ code by Nichole Royer

++ = H^ro code by Sheila Sowter, N.F.R.S.

# = c^m or c^s code by Nicole Housel

? = genetics unknown

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