Berk X Albino litter

I bred an Albino female (Kasper) to a Bershire Dumbo (Roo) and the babies all came out Berkshire. I'm guessing since Roo had the dominant genetics over Kasper, all the babies would come out Berk, right?

Anyway, I noticed that a few of the offspring have high white sides. I have never noticed this on a berk before, but some of these, the white underbelly comes up on their sides. Is this a normal marking for a berk? I can provide pictures if needed.

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Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny

I bred an Albino female (Kasper) to a Bershire Dumbo (Roo) and the babies all came out Berkshire. I'm guessing since Roo had the dominant genetics over Kasper, all the babies would come out Berk, right?

Anyway, I noticed that a few of the offspring have high white sides. I have never noticed this on a berk before, but some of these, the white underbelly comes up on their sides. Is this a normal marking for a berk? I can provide pictures if needed.

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Your albino must be either a hooded or berkshire. Not uncommon. I have a himalayan girl that consistently throws berkshires, and I am nearly 100% positive she is also a berkshire.


Yup, berkshires can be from a little belly line all the way to their sides. However, once it starts to remain solely on the back, its considered husky and a high white trait.

When bred to a hooded, she produced hooded offspring. So that would make her a hood then?

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Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny

When bred to a hooded, she produced hooded offspring. So that would make her a hood then?

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Hooded and berks are on the same locus. There are individual modifier genes that control what pattern you get.


http://www.curiosityrats.com/

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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")

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