Ferret Coat Colours

Lilac have brown hairs intermingled with white and always have a white undercoat. The dark lilac phenotype can have classic chocolate points with white bib and four even white mitts covering the entire foot. The face can have varying white marks. The nose can be brown, spotted, shaded or pink.

Lilacs come in a range of shades from light chocolate through to almost white and typically roan with age and eventually go white. The roaning pattern on a lilac typically progresses more rapidly at the front end and spares the back and the tail, in contrast to the roaning pattern on harlequin mitts.

Lilacs can have brown patches which do not roan, and these are usually randomly placed on the ferret. This is a feature of the silvermitt gene and appears to be heritable. The exact cause is unknown.

Genetics

A- bb C- E- S- Rr

A- B- c^pc^p E- S- Rr