Is Dumbo Simple Recessive?

[Jay_Bunny]

I am trying to breed for dumbo, as my first venture into rat genetics. I was wondering if dumbo was simple recessive. I have two dumbo males that are in with females right now. Monk, my black hooded dumbo male, is in with an albino female. I do not know her genetic background. Roo, my berkshire dumbo male is in with two hooded females. I do not know their genetic background. I am already aware that the chances of me getting dumbos from any of the females is pretty slim. But if I breed the offspring of Monk to the offspring of Roo, will I possibly get some dumbos?

[Jay_Bunny]

Found the answer online. Yay for research. This article actually has some good information about other colors and traits.

http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/7.../genetics.html

So according to this, is berkshire the heterozygous form of a hooded? If not, can someone explain berkshire genetics to me since I have two berk rats.

[littleindiangirl]

I wouldnt think of it that way. The hooded gene is on what we call the H locus, and for each marking there are certain modifiers. This isn't 100% agreed upon either, as many people have their own ideas of inheritance and markings.

Here's one site that I particularly like. Maplewood rattery is also a site I bookmarked and printed out. I never really got too into markings lol.

http://www.curiosityrats.com/geneticsmarkings.html

The H-locus

The original pet/fancy rat lines' markings are caused by mutations on what we call the "hooded" locus. The best known of all these mutations is "hooded" and it was the first mutant allele known. Hoodeds are considered the "safest" of all markings, as the mutation is not associated with any health problems, and the hooded phenotype is easy to distinguish from other markings (including similar ones like banded). These gene definitions come from a few resources including the now non-existant Rodentfancy.com (I am not listing any genotypes here because none of the references I found echoed what I've seen in breeding.)

H: Self gene; Involved in self, Berkshires, Irish, and possibly variegated
h: Hooded gene; Homozygous is hooded, also in Berkshires, Irish, and possibly in barebacks and capped
He: Extreme hood gene; In Berkshires, also capped, patched, BEW, and capped
Hre: Restricted hood gene; Homozygous lethal, fades colors and causes odd-eyes, sometimes sterility in males
Hro: Roberts gene; Homozygous lethal, fades colors and causes odd-eyes
hn: Notched gene; Similar to He but always a notch at the back of a capped marking
hi: Irish gene; Mock selfs, Irish, and "Berkshire," also in variegated, and sometimes hooded
hdu: Downunder gene; Homozygous lethal, causes colored parts to be on the underside (sometimes called "double hooded")

[Jay_Bunny]

Thanks for the information. So what could you expect from a berkshire/hooded pairing. I think the females are agouti hoodeds, as their dark hooded markings are not black, but a brownish type color. The berk is black with a white mark on the belly. Any idea what the babies could be like?

[Louis Kirkland]

But if I breed the offspring of Monk to the offspring of Roo, will I possibly get some dumbos?

Better yet, breed the female offspring of Monk to Roo and the female offspring of Roo to Monk. That will double your probability of getting Dumbos vs breeding hets together.

[Jay_Bunny]

*smacks forehead* Now why didn't I think of that. Good plan. I've moved Kasper, the female albino that is hopefully pregnant with Monk's babies into her own cage. I'm still not sure if Luck or Chance are pregnant (agouti hoodeds).

[littleindiangirl]

Thanks for the information. So what could you expect from a berkshire/hooded pairing. I think the females are agouti hoodeds, as their dark hooded markings are not black, but a brownish type color. The berk is black with a white mark on the belly. Any idea what the babies could be like?

Its hard to say, I would expect hoodeds, berks, variberks and possibly some irish.

[Jay_Bunny]

Irish? What do they look like?

[littleindiangirl]

Little white spot on the chest.

[Jay_Bunny]

I looked it up. Irish rats are cute. I would also love to have minks, cinnamons, siamese, ect. These darn things are addicting.