Tailless Rat

I had a tailless rat born to my male dumbo and I am assuming top ear female. It is a female and the first fully tailless rat I have had so far. I had a female born over a year ago with half a tail, but she was mean. This girl is skittish, but not nippy at all. I am thinking of trying to breed her back to her dad. I don't know who her mother is because I have four females in that tub, two dumbo girls and two top ear girls. I think it is probably one of the top ear girls because the tailless has top ears too. Anyone ever had a tailless rat? Know anything about their genetics? I don't have a photo, but I am going to try to get some soon.

Sounds different/cool but is it a morph or just a genetic defect lol?

I have done a bit of research on tailless rats, also called manx. It seems like there is not much known about it. Just wanted to know if anyone here has had a manx pop up in a litter.

I had a completely tailless rat not too long ago. I kept her for months but she would not breed. Never became pregnant no matter who I put her with. She eventually had to go due to space restrictions.

I had hoped she would breed. I've also heard there are actual tailless rats but I'll never know if mine was, or was just a baby whose tail was bitten off.

When I looked very closely at her there was absolutely no nub so I believe she had to have been born that way.


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Snakes, Jeeps, Dragons, Nature, & Knives.. Makes my world go-round!

There are tailless rats.
Like you said, they're called Manx (just like tailless Cats).

Try breeding your tailless rat w/ one of it's offspring to see if it's genetic.
Pedigree Manx rats are genetic.

I'd bet it's not genetic but give it a try. I have rats that have had their tail accidentally eaten as mom was eating the sack upon giving birth. Not saying that's what it is but I wouldn't rule it out.:)

Thanks everyone. You can tell she was born with no tail. There is no nub, not even a little tiny bit of tail there. She actually has an intent where the tail should be. I hope she is able to breed, I read that some female manx rats can have trouble breeding and it is best to breed tailless males to tailed females. But I am going to give it a shot and see what happens. I will try to get some photos tomorrow.

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Originally Posted by Annageckos

Thanks everyone. You can tell she was born with no tail. There is no nub, not even a little tiny bit of tail there. She actually has an intent where the tail should be. I hope she is able to breed, I read that some female manx rats can have trouble breeding and it is best to breed tailless males to tailed females. But I am going to give it a shot and see what happens. I will try to get some photos tomorrow.

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Cool! Good luck.:)

Very cool, I've never seen much about tailless rats. I remember reading something about them possibly having a harder time controlling their body temperature? But in a climate-controlled house thats not even an issue lol. Post pictures!

Maybe I can help a little.

From my breedings Manx seems to be recessive with something else needing to also take place for the manx to be triggered.
My friends and I have produced a number of Manx rats but have had a miserable time getting a female to deliver live babies due to their hips and have lost both of the males that we produced at around 2 weeks old.

Blue Baldie Manx female
http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/a...x/PICT6300.jpg
http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/a...x/PICT6291.jpg
http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/a...x/PICT6290.jpg
As a young adult...
http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/a.../Manx/manx.jpg

Black eyed Siamese female, they start life off quite golden in color and soon turn to an off-white creamy color with dark points.
http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/a...x/PICT9296.jpg
http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/a...x/PICT9294.jpg
As a young adult
http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/a...x/PICT9302.jpg
http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/a...x/PICT9301.jpg

I know it's a recessive trait, beyond that I'm not exactly sure, but when we bred for them we never did make more than one or two per litter.

Pretty cool stuff.

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

Maybe I can help a little.
From my breedings Manx seems to be recessive with something else needing to also take place for the manx to be triggered.
My friends and I have produced a number of Manx rats but have had a miserable time getting a female to deliver live babies due to their hips and have lost both of the males that we produced at around 2 weeks old.
I know it's a recessive trait, beyond that I'm not exactly sure, but when we bred for them we never did make more than one or two per litter.

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The variety of colors you have in your animals is awesome. Mine are all either Berkshire selfs, agoutis or variegated, nothing too exciting, lol!

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Originally Posted by youbeyouibei

The variety of colors you have in your animals is awesome. Mine are all either Berkshire selfs, agoutis or variegated, nothing too exciting, lol!

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Thank you!
We breed Black eyed Whites, American and Russian Blue, Siamese in pink, red and Ruby eye colors, agouti, blue agouti, fawn, black and others on occasion.

As far as patterns go I have produced quite a few but not all by any means. I like Possum faced and Possum faced variegated a lot :gj:

From everything I've read about tailless, the female tailless have major issues giving birth and most breeders don't recommend trying to breed them. The tailless male to carrier females is how most breeders get the tailless. Even without breeding them, sometimes they have major health issues, which can be expected since it is a issue with the spine and sometimes the pelvis.

I also read that they are normally affectionate... and I've wanted to get a tailless female for a pet-only.

Of course, rats that lose their tails to injury(like mom being too enthusied with eating placenta or birth sac, or over grooming, or whatever) rarely have those issues.

All from reading info... I have no experience with them in person yet.

Congratulations to you for producing one, and I hope you're happy with it. I have been very hard hunting looking for one, if you happen to produce more in the future, I would certainly be interested.

I gave up trying to produce any more after losing the black eyed white female while giving birth.
I believe the last carries we had are gone now, so no more manx...

Sorry I haven't replied in so long. I had to put the rat down because she got aggressive as she got older and I couldn't handle her.