Pet Project: Dumbo Rats

[EverEvolvingExotics]

I picked up these two males today. I'm planning on starting up a small colony of fancy rats. I'd like to get some rex females within the next couple months as well as some blues. Out of all the rats I had to choose from these two stood out the most. I believe one is a just weaned siamese dumbo and the other I was told was a silky black dumbo. I'm still learning...

Once we got them home we gave them a bath.



Here they are all dried off.

[TerrieL]

Babies are so cute. I hope to run across a dumbo female to add to my small colony, they are neat

[snakesRkewl]

Don't quote me on this but it looks like a standard coat beige rat and a standard coat black berkshire.
Beige is a black rat diluted by the recessive red eye gene.

[Mike41793]

That beige rat is adorable!

[EverEvolvingExotics]

Thanks everyone! Jerry, he doesn't have the siamese look like I was thinking but the breeder told me the color will show up with age. Does that happen to yours at all? She said he came from the siamese mother which I saw and verified was in fact a siamese. I know you know your rats and I'm still learning. I appreciate the help I was hoping you'd help me out with their true names!

[KTyne]

They are adorable! Siamese and Himis color come in as they age, yes. They start out as pure white when they first get their fur and then their points slowly darken up.
I LOVE Dumbos. I used to have a Russian Silver Berkshire Dumbo Female and she was the sweetest little thing EVER! She gave me kisses and would rather be with me than my other two rats.
Congrats on the two new little ones.

[snakesRkewl]

All of the Siamese I have produced start out light golden colored up front and dark golden/brown in the back half.
They have the dark areas right from the get go, the coat lightens up and the points tend to darken and stand out more as the Siamese rat ages.





They never really are white, as adults the good ones stay dark on the points and turn a light creamy color.
If you're ever wondering the color just hold it up next to a hooded rat to compare and see if it truly white.





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She said he came from the Siamese mother which I saw and verified was in fact a Siamese.

Siamese is a recessive trait so both parents would have to either be a Siamese or carry the Siamese gene to produce more Siamese. I see what looks like beige in the dried off pic but you will know for sure at weanling size when it molts.

[EverEvolvingExotics]

Thanks again for all the help. Just by looking at your pictures mine looks nothing like that which is disappointing. I really wanted a blue male and a siamese male today. I looks like I didn't get either, haha. Either way I'm happy I got some nice small dumbos. I'll have to search around for breeders that have knowledge of their lineage for the females.

- - - Updated - - -

They are adorable! Siamese and Himis color come in as they age, yes. They start out as pure white when they first get their fur and then their points slowly darken up.
I LOVE Dumbos. I used to have a Russian Silver Berkshire Dumbo Female and she was the sweetest little thing EVER! She gave me kisses and would rather be with me than my other two rats.
Congrats on the two new little ones.

Thank you! I agree, when I used to breed feeder rodents back in the day I had a male dumbo that was by far my calmest out of the bunch.

[Michelle.C]

The color is uneven, looks Siamese to me. There is Mink Point, Seal Point, Agouti Point, Russian Dove Point, etc. Imo, he looks like a Seal Point. Siamese are extremely variable. I've seen breeders with brown babies that molted into a light adult and lighter "Marshmallow" looking babies molt into super dark adults.

Dominant marked Seal Point Siamese as a Juvie.


After her molt.


Another Seal Point.


Left to right, Russian Blue, Russian Blue Agouti, Seal Point, Russian Blue Point. See how light they are by comparison?

[EverEvolvingExotics]

Wow, thanks for the comparison shots! I can tell I'm going to have fun diving into rat genetics. I've read a bunch of sites but most seem to be incomplete, vague, or lacking pictures. I'm surprised their isn't a massive amount of info on them. I can google "ball python morphs" and I'll get a ton of information but not so much with rats. Maybe I just haven't found the right website yet.