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The different colors
Just like the gerbil, the Degu can be found in the wild in a variety of shades of Agouti. However, selective breeding created new colors and we keep seeing new ones every now and then.
Agouti
A- D- E-
Autres noms : xx
The fur is a rich brown with the tip and the undercoat grey. The belly, the paws and the area around the eyes are white.
Autre infos : It's the color you find in the wild. There are many shades of agouti.
Sand
A- D- ee
Autres noms : xx
The ee gene makes it that the fur can't hold any black pigments (eumelanin), but the light colors will still show. Sand degus can be either a light beige to a redish tint.
Autre infos : xx
Black
aa D- E-
Autres noms : xx
The aa gene is spreading the eumelanin throughout the whole fur. The yellow pigments are actually there but completely covered, which produce a dark brown to all black degu..
Autre infos : xx
Blue Agouti
A- dd E-
Autres noms : xx
The dd gene dilutes the pigments in the fur. The brown becomes grey-blue, the tip and the undercoat become silver. The belly, the paws and the area around the eyes stay white.
Autre infos : Even if often called "Blue", it's actually a diluted Agouti.
Cream
A- dd ee
Autres noms : xx
A Cream is actually a diluted Sand, the ee gene prevents black pigments from being hold in the fur, but the dd gene will lighten the color.
Autre infos : xx
Blue
aa dd E-
Autres noms : xx
A pure Blue won't show any banding like an agouti because they actually don't have those genes. The overall color will be a blueish-grey
Autre infos : A pure Blue is still pretty hard to find since it's actually a diluted Black.
Markings
The gene that causes markings in degu is Ww. There are different markings, that can go from a blaze to an almost fully white body. In German, they refer to patched degus as "schecke".
When the gene is homozygous, WW, we're talking about a "White body". It's a very rare result of the breeding of two piebalds that has a low life expectancy and usually die before reaching adulthod. These White degus don't have any pigmentation on their skin, not even around the eyes, the paws or the tail.
Low white
Other names : Pinto
As soon as there is white on the fur, the Degu is considered Patched. It can be only a little blaze or white spots on the body.
High White
Other names : Super Pinto, Super look
We're referring to High White, or Super, when at least 80% of the body is covered in white. In some cases, there is so much white that you can't even know the actual color.
Piebald
Other names : Strong Pinto
We're speaking of piebald when 40 to 70% of the body is covered in white.