As the only marked standard not to specifically dictate where the markings of the rat must be, variegated rats probably get away with much more than many others in the marked section. The front of the rat is very distinctly described, but once we’re beyond the shoulders we’re simply told that the back, sides, and tail should have even flecks and patches of colour rather than told exactly the size of these flecks and where they should be.
Commonly, variegateds end up with not much colour on their sides (and all of the flecks concentrated in a wide stripe on their back), or patches of colour that merge into blocks, giving a very solid look rather than the flecky and patchy look that’s desired.
The Cinnamon color is described by the AFRMA standard as: “Color is similar to Agouti, except the color is a warm russet brown, with medium slate at the base of the hair. Coat is evenly ticked with chocolate. Belly color to be as Agouti, but of a lighter shade. Eye color is ruby or black.” The N.F.R.S. standard is similar, saying it is “to be a warm russet brown, evenly ticked with chocolate guard hairs. Base fur mid-gray. Belly fur as Agouti but of a lighter shade. Foot color to match top. Eyes black.”
It is hard to describe the difference between Agouti and Cinnamon without having the two colors side by side. They are similar, but at the same time very distinctively different. The hair in an Agouti’s coat consists of three bands — dark gray near the skin, orange brown in the middle, and black on the tip. The Cinnamon also has hairs with three bands, but it is a lighter gray near the skin, their mid band is a rich and bright red-brown, and the tips are chocolate. This gives the effect of a lighter and brighter Agouti.
Having a history going back to 1979 in the U.S.A. and all the way back to 1935 in England, Cinnamon is one of the oldest recognized colors. The history of the Cinnamon rat is closely tied in with that of the color Mink (also Lilac in AFRMA). Mink acts on Agouti to produce the Cinnamon color. In the 1920s, Cinnamon was first introduced as Fawn Agouti, and this color made its appearance in the standards in 1935.
Mink was not one of the original colors (Agouti, Black, Beige, Fawn, and Pink-Eyed White were the only colors we knew of in the early 1970s) available in the United States when the rat fancy was born in this country. In a local pet shop on May 17, 1978, Karen Hauser (Robbins) found a unique gray-brown Hooded rat of a color never before seen. Paying a whopping $1.06 for him, she named this 6–8 week old male “Hershey.” (He then became the foundation sire of creating Lilac, Cinnamon, and Silver Lilac colors.) The color bred true and was named Lilac after the rabbit color it resembled.
Cinnamon rats were bred from Lilac with the first ones being born in Karen’s rattery March 25, 1979, and were two Cinnamon Hoodeds named “Cinnamon” and “Spice.” Cinnamon was first exhibited at a MRBA show on April 22, 1979, by Karen Hauser
A Berkshire rat has color on the top of its body, with a white belly and chest. As much of the bottom of the rat as possible should be pure white, including the feet and up to half the length of the tail, but the white should not extend upward along the ribcage at all. White splashing up the ribcage, commonly known as Vari-Berk, is considered a fault. A Headspot (star) or Blaze is allowable.
Berkshire is a single-recessive on the Hooded (H) locus. Berkshire shares this genetic designation with Irish (English and American,) Varigated and Banded, but without the extra modifiers.
