Eight-week old photos of my angoras. Color names?

[DianeS]

My French Angora kits that were fostered by another rabbitry are now HOME! I'm so happy. Hand raising them for two days was hard, and I was sure some would not make it. Two foster moms took them in, and all eight kits made it.

They are eight weeks old now, all were weaned over the last two weeks, and now they're home.

Here are photos - help me with what to call their colors, please.

These two are both a beautiful light grey. All over their bodies and heads is the same color.

These two are the same grey on their bodies, with much darker faces and ears. (The top one is true color, the bottom one is a bit washed out with the flash.) One face is very dark grey, the other is actually black. These two were the first to get wool, and defiantely have the most wool.

This one just might be "chocolate". There is a brown tinge to the fur that none of the other rabbits have. Is there a better word for the color? Anything else to look for before calling a color "chocolate"?

And these three are all "black". Even a newbie like me knows this color. (The flash washed out the wool color, but they are all three the same solid black in body wool and heads.)

Since last week (when I saw them last) they have all exploded in size! At 7 weeks they were smaller than the Mini Rex rabbits of the same age. Now they are significantly larger. They're on a strange growth curve, but might end up normal Angora size.

And I'm pleased with the wool they all have. Fluffy, long, kinked, and wonderfully soft. The volume of it seems nice, but I don't know for sure yet since I lack experience in knowing that.

So what do I call their colors?

 

[tortoise]

I don't get these colors in my rabbits, so I am guessing.

I think the first 2 are "Pearl". Once the wool comes in, the body color will appear much lighter.

The second 2 might be "Smoke Pearl".

The "chocolate" definitely does not look chocolate to me. I think it is a "Seal"?

Do any of them have agouti? If you blow into the hair and/or wool, do you see rings or bands of colors?

 

[dbunni]

I don't think the pictures do justice ... the colors now do not coordinate with what you had in the earlier pictures of them. The best way to figure color is in the earlier days before the wool pattern comes in. That is why the body's are lighter .. Please remove the word "gray" from your vocabulary and replace it with blue. There is not a gray color in the angora breeds.

We go ... black to blue ... chocolate to lilac on solids. Black is black ... remember look at the face, not the wooled areas. Blue is what you are thinking of as gray. Can be various shades, but none with another tint. Chocolate is a brownish. Lilac is a soft to medium blue with a brownish tint.

that being said ... the top 2 are Lilac. Yes, you have a chocolate, and blacks to follow. The real question are the 2 in the middle. If they are showing blue tones on the head, they probably are blues. It can be various shades. I have had real dark to soft blues. I'm not seeing any agouti pattern suggestions, so that is out (inside ears, around nose & eyes, different color belly). And they are not torts because the body is the wrong color. so ... probably blues.

Hope this helps ... Cute babies ... nice coats!

 

[DianeS]

Thank you both!

I agree with dbunni on the lack of agouti. I've had agouti explained to me with an example in person, so I think I can ID agouti all right. And I don't see it in any of these kits.

So two lilac, one chocolate, three black, and two not-yet-identified.

I know the colors don't match the photos I took in earlier weeks, but these are the most accurate (I believe). I had the rabbits in front of me when I uploaded this set of pictures, and I could retake the ones that did not look like they matched the real rabbits; and I didn't have that before.

In a few days I ought to be able to take the two middle ones outside and take pictures in sunlight, without flash, which might help.

Do you know - is there a way to judge the quantity of their wool while it is on the rabbit, without having the experience of touching an angora that has a good quantity of wool?