Are hairless rats ok to feed?4

Just got some hairless rats for free and wanted others opinions.

i dont see why they wouldnt be, id say its fine

The only downside I can think of would be the possibility (however slight) that you may get them "hooked" on Hairless rats ;)

Mice are a "gateway drug".. They move onto rats, then asf's, then gerbils!! and before you know it they are out on the street shaking a can, with a sign that reads "Will slither for Hairless Rats" :D

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Originally Posted by Jared

Mice are a "gateway drug".. They move onto rats, then asf's, then gerbils!! and before you know it they are out on the street shaking a can, with a sign that reads "Will slither for Hairless Rats" :D

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LMAO... I just got the funniest image, especially since this city has "can shakers" on nearly every corner. I've seen a lot of odd sights here, but a snake begging for hairless rats would be a new one! :8:

But on a serious note, do you think it would taste better or worse to them? I guess we'll never know, but I'd think a snake would actually prefer the hairy rat. :confuzd:

Only problem there might be is after feeding them a hairless rat their poo might not be clumped together as the hair from regular rats helps keep it clumped up. But other than that if they will eat it go for it.

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Originally Posted by BLong7211

Only problem there might be is after feeding them a hairless rat their poo might not be clumped together as the hair from regular rats helps keep it clumped up. But other than that if they will eat it go for it.

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Thats the only major draw back I've heard. But I got 20 weaners for free so I will deal with their mud butt for a few weeks.

Yeah I would too! LOL I have 2 female hairless rats that are good moms and that is out of the norm for them. But I have yet to have any hairless babies. The way I understand is that it is a recessive gene like in snakes. you have to either have two hairless or a haired that carries the gene to produce hairless. Which I am trying to avoid for that reason. Hope it works out for you!:gj:

I have "heard" that hairless do not carry the same nutritional value as regular rats. I have a colony of hairless that I sell as pets and to pet stores, I don't feed them. One thing I notice that may lead me to believe the nutrition thing is that they stay in the same enviroment, eat the same thing, and drink the same water but do not get as fat and healthy looking as regular rats. They also seem to get more sores and ulcers (that may be because you can see them due to the lack of hair). I don't feed hairless but have no sound evidence not to other than my personal observations.

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Originally Posted by FatBoy

I have "heard" that hairless do not carry the same nutritional value as regular rats. I have a colony of hairless that I sell as pets and to pet stores, I don't feed them. One thing I notice that may lead me to believe the nutrition thing is that they stay in the same enviroment, eat the same thing, and drink the same water but do not get as fat and healthy looking as regular rats. They also seem to get more sores and ulcers (that may be because you can see them due to the lack of hair). I don't feed hairless but have no sound evidence not to other than my personal observations.

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Interesting, could be a lot of reasons for that but this is just a one time thing. After this batch is gone I'll be done with them.

I produced one hairless and fed it off to one of my snakes. I don't think it was detrimental to her, but she did hesitate to start eating it after she killed it.