Snow bengals comes in three categories.
1.)Seal Lynx point
2.)Seal Sepia
3.)Seal Mink
All three types of snow are very similar in phenotype (the way they look) but have different genotypes (the types of gene they carry)
1.) A seal lynx point is the result of the Siamese gene. Seal lynx point bengals will usually be born white or have a very light pattern at birth. The points usually darken first and then the markings will follow. It can take quite a few months for the final color to appear. A seal lynx point cannot produce a seal sepia no matter what it is bred to, even if it is bred to a seal sepia.
The eye color of a seal lynx point snow bengal will always be a bright blue color.
2.)A seal sepia is the result of the Burmese gene being expressed. A seal sepia can never produce a seal lynx point, no matter what it's bred to, even if it's bred to a seal lynx point.
Sepias generally have darker markings then the seal lynx points. They are usually born with distinct markings. Sepias do not have blue eyes. if you have a snow with blue eyes, you know it's not a seal sepia.
3.)A seal mink is a combination between the Burmese (sepia) gene and a Siamese (lynx point) gene. A seal mink will have one copy of each. A seal mink can pass either gene to it's offspring. A seal mink can produce all three of the snow colors. The interesting thing about this is that seal mink cannot be carried recessively. A non snow cat that is a snow carrier either carries the seal sepia gene OR the seal lynx point gene. If you want to breed for seal minks you will need either one of the parents to be a seal mink or you need for one parent to either be /or carry for seal lynx point and the other parent to either be/ or carry for seal sepia.
Seal minks are usually born with some color but the color will not be as dark as the seal sepia. Seal minks will be darker in color then the seal lynx point, generally speaking. Seal minks can have light aqua blue eyes, but not bright blue eyes like the seal lynx point. Seal minks can also have the "normal" bengal eye color besides the aqua blue color.
The tail tip on all of the snow colors will not be completely black. Some may look black but when compared to a true black color you will see that the tip is a dark seal brown.
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