The body color varies from gray, yellowish, tan, with spots from brown to black. One species has rusty spots. The spots vary in size and number with the species. Some species have a row of erectile hair from the head to the tail that stands up when the animal is excited. Although it is written that they have the ability of emitting a musky smelling fluid from their anal sacs, I personally have never found this to be true of the three species I have encountered.
Genets have semi-retractable claws and resemble an elongated cat in appearance.
They are extremely graceful, fast and can bite like heck if they are not hand-raised. They are predatory in nature and eat small animals, eggs, and occasionally some fruit. We breed genetta genetta which are silvery with black spots. Genets are mature at 2 years and can produce litters of one to four. The gestation is 56-76 days depending on the species.