Newborn sable points may be born pink, but will have obvious dark eyes under their closed eyelids. They can vary from silvery white to grey to brownish as their fur starts to grow in. Their point color will usually become obvious at a few days old.
NESTBOX
Once fully furred, sable point kits will often be brownish over their hips and back. Their undercolor will be white. At this age they may be much darker (called "smut") than they will be as adults. There can be variation among infants of the same color. The 2 darker kits in this nest are sable points.
KIT
Sable point kits will often become much darker as they exit the nestbox. They are sometimes mistaken for siamese sable, but they will have a white undercolor (visible here on the chest and shoulders) which a correct siamese sable will not have. This darker shade is particularly common in colder weather, while sable points born in warm weather or raised in heated rabbitries are often much lighter.
JUNIOR
As the sable point Holland Lop matures, he will often lose some or most of the darker smut on his body, and the point color should become the ideal sepia (dark brown) tone. Sable points will often have a ruby red glow to the pupil of their eyes in subdued light.
SENIOR
A mature sable point in prime coat will ideally have a smooth creamy "clean" body color, with dark sepia brown point color and mask area.Sable points can vary a fair amount in overall shade. The smuttier sable points may be more correctly called seal points, but they will usually still meet the written standard for the sable point color in Holland Lops.
MOLT
When a sable point has an old, dead, or ready to molt coat of fur, the color will begin to look dull, faded, and yellowed. The point color may lighten and look particularly yellowed or rusty. There will often be patchiness and breaks in the shading on the body, and around the eyebrow and forehead. The new coat growing in may be significantly lighter or darker depending on the season and temperature of the rabbit's environment.