A common question asked is, what are the different colors and patterns of Bengal cats? Let's take a look at this now, by first looking at Bengal cat colors/colours
What are the Different Colors of Bengal Cats?
Snow Bengal
The snow Bengal is white and comes from a form of albinism. They are not pure white as the name suggests.
The snow Bengal comes in 3 different color names.
1- The seal lynx which has a very light cream color – dark or light / dark seal brown tail tip / blue eyes
2- Seal mink which has ivory, tan color / dark seal brown tail tip / blue- green or aqua eyes
3- Seal sephia which has ivory, tan color / dark seal brown tail tip / green or gold eyes
Its difficult to determine which they may be but as stated above they have different eye color so this is usually the best way to know but sometimes the only way to be certain is a DNA test.
Charcoal Bengal
The charcoal Bengal cat is darker than the Bengals more often seen.
The black smokey color was seen in early F1 and F2 Bengal's.
The charcoal trait is inherited independently of color so can be seen in each color mentioned on this page. They have a dark grey / brownish color background with little to no brown and a very dark pattern. The mask looks like a letter Y. The tail is dark brown/ black or grey / black with strips and a black tip.
Silver Bengal
The silver Bengal is a lack of color and so comes in different shades and can be found in many color combinations from silver snow, silver charcoal and so on.
The characteristics for a silver Bengal is little tarnish, dark grey to black jet markings, a black tip tail, a brick red nose, green or golden eyes.
Brown Bengal
The Brown Bengal is the most common color you are likely to see in Bengal cats. Brown Bengals have rusty red, chocolate brown, copper or a combination of these colors as a background. Their stripes are usually a very dark brown, to black color, which are often more defined towards the end of their tail, as shown in the image above.
There are also two other colors available for Bengal cats which are the black (melanistic) and blue.
Now lets take a look at what patterns Bengal cats have.
What Patterns do Bengals come in?
Rosette Bengal
The Rosetted Bengal cat resembles the leopard cat and is when the spots are two toned. They can come in many shapes, some are the donut, paw print, arrow head and clouded. This pattern will develop over time and could take 9 – 24 months to develop to its fullest.
Marble Bengal
The Marble Bengal cat resembles the king cheetah and can develop in any color. The most common marble is the clouded who have swirls, throughout their whole body, whereas the less common sheeted marble has less swirls, especially on the back.
To have a Marble Bengal both parents must carry the gene to produce it. This pattern can take up to 2 years to develop.
Other Characteristics
The eye color of a Bengal cat can change in most colors and patterns until they reach 9 months of age, so picking one as a baby is not going to guarantee it will stay with the same eye color as it matures. Bengals can have varying eye colors from blue (more common in snow Bengals) green, amber, gold or more rarely odd eyes which are a mixture of two colors.
There is also a characteristic called glitter. Not all Bengal's have it, and it hard to see it on pictures or as it can only been seen under certain lighting conditions, the light has to come of them just right to notice it, but when it does, you can see their coats glitter shimmering, which is incredibly beautiful.
With all that said, it does not matter what color or pattern Bengal kitten you buy as far as their personality is concerned, they are all equally as lovable and entertaining whatever pattern or color they are.