About the snow bengal
Both the Siamese and Burmese colors are inherited in the Bengal breed. The Siamese color is designated Cs (lynx) and the Burmese color is designated Cb (sepia).
Color genes are always present in pairs in cats, which means that the kitten inherits one color gene from the mother and one from the father. When a lynx is mated with a sepia, the kitten receives one color gene from each, i.e. Cs/Cb, which gives the mink color. Hence, there are three different snow colors.
Cs/Cs (lynx)
Cb/Cb (sepia)
Cs/Cb (mink)
" Isa is a mink (Cs/Cb) with aqua blue eyes. She has a lighter variant of the mink color which is also inherited from her parents."
In the clip above, you can both read more about the snow variants of the Bengal cat and watch a film showing how they differ.
The Burmese color gives a slightly warmer and darker tone to the Snow Bengal and is the darkest of the three varieties. The eye color is often green, but amber and aqua blue also occur.
The mink color is an intermediate color between sepia and lynx and is then medium dark with some individuals being warmer and golden in color and some cooler and lighter in color. A little depends on how the parents look when it is inherited. The eyes should be aqua blue in the mink but green eyes also occur.
The lynx is the lightest variety and is born completely white. The pattern develops over time in the lynx and it is not until the age of 1 year that you can be sure what the pattern looks like. The eyes should be bright blue in the lynx.
An interesting aspect of the snow colors is that they are controlled by heat. Therefore, all the variants are lighter in the summer when the weather is warmer and darker in the winter months. The more they are exposed to heat, the lighter the coat becomes.
