FIRE FACTOR FOXES
The fire type or fire factor foxes originated from US farms, though the exact farm where the gene first appeared is unknown. This color became coveted in the mid-1970’s and became popular.
For this color to appear on a fox, it must be expressed on a gold or cross fox background, as the gene responsible for diluting color only affects red or yellow melanin, pheomelanin, but has no effect on the black coloration of a fox. In order for the black to be diluted, another color factor must be responsible, such as pearl diluting the black and fire diluting the red, in this example resulting in a fire and ice fox.
Fawn glow, pink and collicott brown appear to cause the fire factor to appear, so it is assumed that the colicott factor (present in the fawn glow) is equal to the fire factor gene, and therefore it is further speculated that colicott brown is not a single recessive gene in of itself, but rather a a result of the interaction between the fire factor applied to a certain type of silver. The exact behavior of this gene still is not fully understood.
For this color to appear on a fox, it must be expressed on a gold or cross fox background, as the gene responsible for diluting color only affects red or yellow melanin, pheomelanin, but has no effect on the black coloration of a fox. In order for the black to be diluted, another color factor must be responsible, such as pearl diluting the black and fire diluting the red, in this example resulting in a fire and ice fox.
Fawn glow, pink and collicott brown appear to cause the fire factor to appear, so it is assumed that the colicott factor (present in the fawn glow) is equal to the fire factor gene, and therefore it is further speculated that colicott brown is not a single recessive gene in of itself, but rather a a result of the interaction between the fire factor applied to a certain type of silver. The exact behavior of this gene still is not fully understood.
For the two fire gold types, wildfire and golden sunrise, to be produced, there must be no other recessive genes present. How pale the fox is depends on how intense the original red coloration was before the dilution of the fire factor was added.
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Wildfire
(Fire gold fox) Red fox + fire factor - AA BB + fire factor gene (Live photo from US Fox Shipper Council) A true wildfire fox is a red fox with the fire factor added, which means the genes involved must be in homozygous condition (AA BB + the fire factor). |
Golden Sunrise
(Fire gold fox) Gold fox + Fire factor - AA Bb + fire factor gene (Live photo) Likewise, a true Golden Sunrise will be the fire factor expressed on a true goldfox background, where the silver gene is in heterozygous condition. |
Fire cross fox
Gold cross or Silver cross + fire factor - Aa BB/Bb + fire factor gene (Live photo from US Fox Shippers Council) (Pelt) (Pelt) The fire cross fox is the fire factor applied to either the gold cross or the silver cross. It can be difficult to tell that a fire cross fox exhibits the fire factor gene at all, especially in dark silver crosses where there is little red present originally and the areas that were red become cream, which resembles swatches of silver rather than diluted red. However, comparing a fire silver cross to a silver cross, especially at a young age, can make it obvious that the fire factor is present. Fire cross foxes with the fire factor in homozygous condition are also sold as snow glows alongside homogyzous fire factor gold foxes. |
Snow glow
(Snow glo) Homozygous fire factor + gold/cross fox background + pearl, colicott, or colicott + pearl / fawn glow - AA BB/Bb + fire factor + pp or pp/gg (Live photo of gray snow glo from US Fox Shipper Council) (Another live photo, unknown source) Snow glow can refer to any pearl, colicott or fawn glow on a gold or cross fox with the fire factor applied in homozygous condition, which compounds the effect of the fire factor, making normally red areas of the body very washed out and off-white. Whether the legs and other areas of the body are gray or brown depends on the type of parents used to produce the color. The colors below depict a gold fox background, but snow glow can refer to the heterozygous fire factor on a cross fox background where pearl, colicott or fawn glow (colicott + pearl + burgundy) is involved. The most direct way to produce this color is to breed a fire and ice fox to a colicott or fawn glow fox. Depending on the parentage, the results may be snow glow gray or snow glow brown. The eyes of these foxes can also range from gold, brown to green and blue - blue being an indicator of the fire factor. (Live photo from Beautiful Fur Animals and their Coat Color Genetics) Brown and grey variants |
Fire and Ice
("pale" fire and ice, Arctic fire, moon glow/glo) Pearl gold + fire factor - Aa BB/Bb pp + fire gene (Live photo of Rocket, a pet fox) Also known as an arctic fire, a fire and ice fox is the result of a gold or red fire factor fox (a golden sunrise or a wildfire fox) with the recessive pearl factor added. When this particular color shares a name with a moon glow in the context of both of them being considered fire and ice, the fire factor gold pearl fox (pictured to the right) is called the “pale” fire and ice, while the fire factor pearl cross fox is referred to as the “dark” fire and ice (also known as “Moon glow”, pictured below.) |
Moon glow
("Dark" fire and ice, arctic fire, moon glo) Pearl cross fox + Fire factor - Aa BB/Bb pp + fire gene (Live photo from Northern Myst Creations ) “Moon glow” is the result of a pearl cross fox with the added fire factor. Moon glow shares the market name “arctic fire” with the fire factor red pearl fox, and is considered a “dark” fire and ice. The cross background may be either gold or silver; gold cross backgrounds will result in paler individuals as there is more red to be diluted. |
Autumn fire
(Amber gold fire) Amber gold + fire factor- pp gg + fire gene (Live photo from US Fox Shippers Council) When the fire factor is applied to an amber/autumn gold fox, it creates a fairly uncommon coloration known as “autumn fire”. Pale variants of this color can closely resemble brown snow glow foxes, but they are not true snow glow foxes as snow glow must have the fire factor in heterozygous condition. The red on the fox is diluted by the fire factor, while the legs, tail, ears, and face are amber. |