Rodent Breeding Can Be Fun! Ratster!

Cleaned out the rat shed today and found a few oddballs!

First up is a tailess rat (has a small stump similar to that of a hamster) that is also a rex (het hairless) oh and male. Anyone know if these are popular in the pet trade?? Rats are less liable to bite imo than a hamster and without the tail should be more popular!

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x...7/DSC02571.jpg

Then I found some hairless rats!

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x...7/DSC02568.jpg

Group Pic!

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x...7/DSC02563.jpg

i cant answer any of your comments up top but that hairless is pretty creepy im my opinion but the top one is pretty cool

the hairless rats creep me out lol

Wish you were closer as I'd love one of each!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Denial

the hairless rats creep me out lol

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Yeah.. they are a bit freaky looking. Still cool, especially the tailess rat!

AHHHHH those hairless rats look kind of like yoda! lol!

the Hairless one reminds me of a movie "The Witches" where the witches turned into rats. =) as for if there popular in the pet trade I couldn't find anything on google other then they make great pets but awful mothers as they don't produce enough milk sometimes.

But while searching I found an interesting article, and of course it happened in my state, the state of Florida.

http://animalrights.change.org/blog/...strangling_rat

Merged your duplicate threads together for you! :gj:

I like that little Rex baby - could be that momma chewed his tail off by accident when she was cleaning him and chewing off the umbilical cord after he was born. He's a cutie pie for sure!

I don't know about the UK but in the USA both tailless and hairless are rare sought after morphs in the rat fancy trade. I myself love the hairless, they're so ugly they're CUTE!!!

But unfortunately they also have a documented history of health problems, so I wouldn't breed them back into your stock.
Tailless tend to have balance problems and can overheat easily since the tail is used to thermo regulate. Whether is genetic or not.
Hairless rats have the opposite problem on getting cold easily, they also tend to suffer scratches/wounds from haired cage mates who play too rough for tender skin. And females can also fail to produce milk if bred.

Sorry to be all negative. They are super cute. Have fun with them!

Yes, Manx is genetic but that's not a manx. If he has a stump, mom bit it off.

Your hairless look very unhealthy and one looks to have megacolon(see the discoloring and bloating on the left side of the belly?) Notice how bony they look, but bloated. Could have parasites or megacolon.

It would be best to stay away from high white rats altogether since they have a greater risk for carrying and passing megacolon in their genes. It's a very painful way to die for the babies and they cannot be used as feeders. High white rats are just like your little stumpy tailed guy. Anything other than a self, hooded, berkshire, irish, english, will be considered high white. Head spots are even considered high white. www.ratguide.com