An Overview of Rabbit Fur Colors and Patterns

The number of coat colors that pet rabbits can come in is long and sometimes confusing. The following list covers the basic color descriptions or color groups found in pet rabbits. Not all breeds of pet rabbits can come in all of these colors or patterns. However, understanding these common colorations can help in identifying and appreciating the diversity among rabbit breeds.

From sandy fur to tri-colored patterns, here's an overview of the various colors, shades, and patterns found in these furry friends.

Rabbit Colors and Patterns

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Agouti Fur Types

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Agouti: Bands of color occur on each hair in rabbits with agouti fur. The colors of these bands vary depending on the type of agouti coloration.
Brown-gray agouti: The individual hairs of this color of rabbit are blue at the base (closest to the skin) then medium tan, charcoal, and finally tan at the tip.
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Black Fur Types

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Black otter: This pattern includes a black body with a lighter underside, hair may be orange tinted at the border of the black and lighter color.
Black: Dark black.
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Blue Fur Types

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Blue: Medium or slate blue.
Blue otter: Blue coat with fawn tipped guard hairs and fawn areas.
Blue steel: Blue with silver or tan "ticking."
Blue tortoiseshell: Blue and beige.
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Broken Pattern

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Broken: This pattern can include rabbits that have white fur with any color patches or spots, nose markings, colored ears, and/or eye circles.
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Californian Fur

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Californian: White body with black on nose, ears, tail, and feet.
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Castor Fur

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Castor: This is a pattern that has brown fur over top, a slate blue undercoat, with orange or red in between.
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Chinchilla Fur

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Chinchilla: Slate or black blended with pearl and black tipped guard hairs.
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Cinnamon Fur

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Cinnamon: Rust or reddish-brown color.
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Chocolate Fur Types

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Chocolate: Deep dark brown color.
Chocolate agouti: Bands of tan and chocolate with a chestnut tip.
Chocolate chinchilla: Chocolate and pearl with chocolate-tipped guard hairs.
Chocolate steel: Chocolate with tan or silver ticking.
Chocolate tortoiseshell: Creamy chocolate with fawn.
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Cream Fur

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Cream: Pinkish beige to almond color.
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Fawn Fur

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Fawn: Straw color.
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Frosted Pearl Fur

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Frosted pearl: Pearl with black, blue, chocolate, or lilac shading.
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Gray Fur Types

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Gray: Three different colors of hair: black, black with tan tip, black with a tan band, and slate under-color.
Light gray: Agouti with slate blue at the base of the hair, off-white in the middle, and light gray at the tip with black-tipped guard hairs.
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Lilac Fur Types

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Lilac: Pinkish pale gray.
Lilac chinchilla: Lilac and pearl ticked with lilac-tipped guard hairs.
Lilac steel: Lilac with tan or silver ticking.
Lilac tortoiseshell: Lilac and beige.
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Opal Fur

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Opal agouti: Slate blue at the base of hair then gold then a blue tip.
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Orange Fur

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Orange: Light to bright orange color.
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Pearl Fur

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Pearl: Light creamy gray color.
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Pointed White Fur

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Pointed white: White with a black, blue, chocolate, or lilac colored nose, ears, feet, and tail (like a classic Himalayan cat coloring).
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Red Fur

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Red: Rich brown red color.
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Sable Fur Types

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Sable: Dark grayish brown color.
Sable marten: Siamese sable coloring with silver-tipped guard hairs.
Sable point: Cream body and sable on the nose, ears, feet, and tail.
Seal: Dark (almost black) sable color.
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Sandy Fur

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Sandy: Reddish tan color.
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Self-Group Fur

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Self-group: Solid color in black, blue, lilac, blue-eyed white, and ruby-eyed white.
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Shaded Group Fur

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Shaded group: Color transitions from dark to light (e.g. frosted pearl, sable, sable point, siamese sable, seal, tortoise).
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Silver Fur Types

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Silver or silver fox: Silver with white or white-tipped hairs.
Silver Marten: Black, blue, chocolate, or lilac color with silver-white markings and silver-tipped guard hairs.
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Tan Pattern

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Tan pattern: Marks (not necessarily tan) on the nostrils, eye circles, jowls, inside ears, belly, inside leg, and underside of tail. Groups included marten and otter colorations.
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Ticking Fur

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Ticking: Solid or tipped guard hairs different than the main coat color interspersed throughout the coat.
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Tortoise Fur Types

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Tortoise: Orange with black, blue, chocolate, or lilac.
Tortoiseshell: Orange or dark fawn and black.
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Tri-Colored Fur

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Tri-colored: White with either black and orange, lavender blue and fawn, chocolate and orange, or gray and fawn colors.