Finally a Blue Dumbo

It finally happened...those of you that know me know I have been trying to get a Blue Dumbo for some time...you would think with all the rat breeding I do it would have been an easy task...but Blues are genetically so sickly that I couldn't get a healthy enough pair to breed (they kept being sterile). She hasn't molted yet so her color will darken in the next few weeks and I will try and post more pics then. (I think her cage mate is a mink but I am not sure...Becky can you help?)

Here she is - sorry for the poor pic but she just wouldn't stand still.
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...3_edited-1.jpg

Awwww - she's beautiful!!!!!

I've had horrible luck with blue hoodeds, so I won't try to breed them any more. My Russian Blue self was a good mom, but I never kept any of her sons to try to make more blues.

Congrats! Awwww.... how cute. :aww: I SOOOO want a dumbo. :love:

Awww how darn cute! I'm trying for a Blue Dumbo too Sean but will only work on it, like you, if the rats are sound and healthy. That's such a cute rat. You should make more and bring me one LOL.

Sooooooooooo cute, if only I could find a dumbo around here :tears:

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Awwww - she's beautiful!!!!!

I've had horrible luck with blue hoodeds, so I won't try to breed them any more. My Russian Blue self was a good mom, but I never kept any of her sons to try to make more blues.

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Thank you...Blues are soo pretty it is just unfortunate they have such weak genes (I wish I could get ahold of a few English Blues...so much stronger)

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Awww how darn cute! I'm trying for a Blue Dumbo too Sean but will only work on it, like you, if the rats are sound and healthy. That's such a cute rat. You should make more and bring me one LOL.

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I pry went through 4-5 females and 2 males to finally get a pair to reproduce and it almost killed the mom. She has been in a hospital tank on antibiotics and a high protein/fat diet to help her regain weight and kick a "cold" or something she picked up during nursing. Seems to be getting better but breeding took a real toll on her so not sure I will breed her again...have to wait and see

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Originally Posted by GA_Ball_Pythons

Sooooooooooo cute, if only I could find a dumbo around here :tears:

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Thanks...just stop by whenever I have tons of dumbos...and finally a blue one too. :)

That's great news! I love me some Russian Blues, English blues are nuerotic :P
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...y/IMG_1645.jpg
Her parents ended up both being het for dumbo! :D And the other happened to be het for blue! lol, such cutie pies.

What a little cutie! I <3 dumbo's but I can't find any breeders around here that have dumbo's. :(

I use what I think is a blue rex male for all of my breedings. However, I am a little confused; can someone post pics of a blue rat and a gray one, to help me differentiate? Thanks!

CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!!!!!!!!!

I had some blue rex dumbos born recently...will have to take some pics. Blue dumbos RULE!!! :D

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Originally Posted by GA_Ball_Pythons

Sooooooooooo cute, if only I could find a dumbo around here :tears:

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You can! Or two het dumbos! ;)

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Originally Posted by KLG

I had some blue rex dumbos born recently...will have to take some pics.

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That is my next goal...I picked up a nice Rex male a few weeks ago so once this little girl grows up I am hopeful I will be seeing a Blue Cruly Q real soon. :banana:

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

I use what I think is a blue rex male for all of my breedings. However, I am a little confused; can someone post pics of a blue rat and a gray one, to help me differentiate? Thanks!

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Originally Posted by lord jackel

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...3_edited-1.jpg

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If I'm not mistaken, Sean's are of the American/British Blue variety, with the locus of gg. His also looks to be a pretty powder blue. But that could change.

The American Blue line is "said" (on a couple different Rat club's) to not be as inbred and sickly as the British Blues. Of course, we could have problems in our lines that the British Blues don't have either. I think with some dedicated out breeding, you could get some healthy American/British Blues.

Mine are the Russian blue with a locus of dd.
As a pup
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...y/IMG_1506.jpg
Now
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...y/IMG_1645.jpg

Her pictures make her look like a dark grey, when in true light, she is a silvery steel grey, with a lighter belly.

Wow, she's small.. And she's an American Blue, definitely not a powder blue(I've had one). My powder blue passed away last year at 8 months old from congestive heart failure. My other American Blue hooded dwarf also has awful arthritis(she's a whole 60 grams).

Her cagemate isn't mink(she'd be a dark chocolate color). She's a seal-point siamese.

Gin, there aren't any gray rats, only different types of blue and their dilutes. You can have red-eye dilute or pink-eye dilute and that is what determines the color of the rat.

I believe it's the American blues that are neurotic, sickly, poor temperment, etc, not the British blues. English rats(any type) are most likely to be healthy, robust and friendly because they aren't as inbred and kept in such poor conditions.

I hope that little one thrives for you.. Why did you want to make one so bad, to the extent of possibly killing her mother(and the other pairs you tried)? They are rarely good breeders, and if her mother had problems, it's very likely she will too. She may end up just being a pet, and likely an expensive pet too. They are very prone to respiratory and heart problems. Russian blues are much healthier, have very good temperments, and don't usually have breeding/birthing problems.

I hope that momma rat gets better.. You can get some Nutrical at Petsmart which will give her needed calories to get better. I wouldn't advise breeding her again since it took so much out of her this time.

I finally found the site I thought was best for comparison shots of different shades of blue
Ratz.co, I don't know why I always forget where it is, but this lady has some really nice color rats going on.

Hi,

Wow, I really want one of the ones on the right in this picture - what are those called and where do you get them. :wuv:


dr del

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

Her cagemate isn't mink(she'd be a dark chocolate color). She's a seal-point siamese.

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Thanks...I wasn't sure when I asked the question but her coat is starting to change and the seal-point is much more defined so I am very happy. :)

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I hope that little one thrives for you.. Why did you want to make one so bad, to the extent of possibly killing her mother(and the other pairs you tried)? They are rarely good breeders, and if her mother had problems, it's very likely she will too. She may end up just being a pet, and likely an expensive pet too. They are very prone to respiratory and heart problems.

I hope that momma rat gets better.. You can get some Nutrical at Petsmart which will give her needed calories to get better. I wouldn't advise breeding her again since it took so much out of her this time.

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Thanks for the concern but as a rat breeder the goal is to improve the health and line genetics of these little guys. You are correct the American Blues have a very poor genetic background (the original blue came from a pet store in California and was over imbred...leading to what we have today). My goal (and others) has been to outbreed the blues to much healthier stock and try and re-establish a healthy line. So while the goal was a Blue Dumbo it was really just the end result of multiple outbreedings to different strong genetic lines to get to her. Personally I am very happy - I started out with genetically weak (and in most cases sterile) line but through patience got a breedable Het Dumbo blue female who again was outbred with completely separate male. I only used dark self animals to keep the genetic issues to a minimum. This didn't happen overnight it has taken over 2 years of careful breeding and record keeping (I can account for 22 generations throughout the project). With each generation I have gotten rid of some genetic issue so I "think" when done not only will I have bred out most of the genetic issues with this line of American Blues but also have some really cute little guys to show. :D

As for the Mom she is much better now and has regained her weight. I think her issue was more the fact she had a litter of 22 and got a cold vs. just being a blue and having a genetic issue. She has always been healthy up to a couple weeks after giving birth.

Our dumbo was a surprise, and Peekaboo was a blue. I've got two of her sons, one is a hooded, the other is a self, but Peek's daughters are all ending up with mammary tumors, so I'm probably going to have to feed them all off :tears: :tears: and starting over with some other line of females from some other source. :(

Reaaaaaaaally cute little girl, there LJ! Good luck with her!!

Adorable Sean, nice to see all your hard work paid off. That siamese is beautiful.

That's odd that there seems to be a common health issue related to the blue rats. I have several in my breeder racks, actually one bin is just blues and blue dumbos. We produce several variances of rats because local petshops buy our excess rats to sell as pets. We have never seen any health issues with the blues. The ones we seem to have issues with are the normal albino rats.

http://thetegu.com/modules/coppermin...l_100_3627.jpg

Rick

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Originally Posted by SiscoReptiles

That's odd that there seems to be a common health issue related to the blue rats. I have several in my breeder racks, actually one bin is just blues and blue dumbos. We produce several variances of rats because local petshops buy our excess rats to sell as pets. We have never seen any health issues with the blues. The ones we seem to have issues with are the normal albino rats.

Rick

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Do you know what type of blues you have? (American, Russian, etc.). American Blues are the ones that we see most of the issues in. This is not to say they all have issues but the majority seem to have less then stellar health...pry similar in concept to the head wobble in Spider Balls.

The whole basis of blues being sickly is from the idea that pet shops around the country saw that the english/american blues were a huge hit, and from there they were mass produced and not selectivly bred. The major inbreeding and line breeding brought about poor immune systems, inheritable conditions and just a poorly bred and adjusted rat.
Many blues bought from the pet store are said to be sickly, mean and die young.
I think on the good side, the rats being bred for feeders aren't (usually) being bred for color, and whatever color or pattern we get is purely random. That outcrossing for several generations, and the "survival of the fittest" idea could very well have given you a line of healthy american blues.
Outcrossing your own blues is different than intentionally picking out a blue rat from a pet store situation and expecting it to breed and be healthy.

This is where I read about the blues
AFRMA- Blue rat

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Originally Posted by lord jackel

Do you know what type of blues you have? (American, Russian, etc.). American Blues are the ones that we see most of the issues in. This is not to say they all have issues but the majority seem to have less then stellar health...pry similar in concept to the head wobble in Spider Balls.

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Honestly, I am not sure what type of blues they are. They pop up now and then in my colony and now and then I see one I like so I grow it out to become a breeder. I have heard people who purchased them from me call them Russian Blues (hooded, marked face/blaze, dumbos, rex, etc), but honestly I don't get into the genetics of rodents too deeply. I just breed for a rodent that is healthy, fast growing and docile. I used to try to breed just the plain normal agouti rats so that my wife wouldn't get 'attached' to them, but over time I realized it is harder to sell off the excess if they were all agouti. If they are fancy dumbos, hooded, etc., they sell easily. I also stopped breeding the agouti (wild type) rats because if a neighbor complains about a loose rat in their house or garage, it's easier for me to say "If it's not fancy colored, its wild and not one of mine" :P

Rick

As for albino, are you talking about a simple recessive albino? Or a Pink eyed white. The PEW are just many dilutes in a rat and can have some complications tied to it. The albino is a simple recessive and the only problems I have heard are poor eye sight and smell. I could be overlooking some major problem, but that's all I can think off the top of my head. But, so far your system of the biggest and best seems to be working well, so props to you! ;)

thats pretty cool. I've got an off blue line almost purple in color that doesn't have any health issues.

here's a young super rex dumbo purple

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...uesrexdumb.jpg

Awwwww...she is sooo stinkin cute:gj: