Sable is one of the most common mutations available. Walk into a pet store and there is a 95% chance there will be a Sable there. Sable was originally known as Black. At the time Sable was found in 1975 the Melanistic Black (aa) did not exist and well bred Sables are a deep-deep brown almost black. [1]
Breeding note for Sables
Sables very commonly have an issue called Browning in the UK and Rusting in other parts of the world. This means as the hamster gets older they loose the deep brown they should have and go a light brown colour. In a lot of cases some Sables can be born and brown over by 6 weeks old. It's important with Sables that you only breed the ones that haven't browned over in order to get the nice rich colour.
Browning over can be a mix of Inheritance and GxE (Gene-Enviroment Interaction)
Browning over can be a mix of Inheritance and GxE (Gene-Enviroment Interaction)
Sable |
U_ee |
References
[1]Logsdail, C., Logsdail, P. and Hovers, K. (2007). Hamsterlopaedia. Surrey [England]: Ringpress, p.136.