What color is this?

Hey everyone,

I have been trying to figure out what color this rat, Bella, is for quite some time now. Sorry I cannot get better pics, but I am never home before dark now. Also...our lighting and camera suck.

She looks more beige in the pictures than she does in person, and now that she has grown up a bit, she clearly has the berkshire white markings on her belly. In addition, when we were first trying to describe the color to Connie after her molt, we said she looked like pale steel. I have since found a color called silver that calls for "off white color with an ice blue hue". Problem with this color is that it called for a PED, which as far as we can tell, isn't present in the colony. She had pink/ruby eyes when she was younger, and still has the red tint in her eyes in the light, but I would not be able to tell the difference between the two unless I got to look at some side by side.

Mom is an English Blue Rex, het for RED. Dad is a standard coat black berkshire, possible het english blue, and het RED.

So, without further ado...a couple of Bella, then mom and dad.
For more pics...http://s261.photobucket.com/albums/ii41/Thy-Tempest/

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/i...laagain001.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/i...Bellav2001.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/i...Bellav2002.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/i...Bellav2005.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/i...andRats008.jpg
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/i...andRats008.jpg
Pics rotate from No flash, flash, no flash, flash...then the parents. Also, the first pic is about a month or so old.

She looks like a blue-based platinum to me. Be careful with breeding the american blues into your lines. They generally aren't the healthiest and can have some bleeding disorders and immune system problems.

Rats can be recessive for a truck load of genes. Just because you don't think something is present in your colony, doesn't mean the genetics aren't there. :)

Honestly, judging by nothing other than appearance, I'd say a dilution of Platinum. Platinums can either be produced from a Mink x Blue or Blue x Red Eyed Dilute.

There are also Silvers, which are a Blue x Pink Eyed Dilute.

Platinums made sense to me genetically, but when I read some of the standards, it didnt seem to be spot on.

How would you suggest proving this out? I obviously have her father available, but we also have a beige male that could be used to cut the het out of the RED equation.

Lol...just realized I posted mom twice...either way...dad is black, woo hoo.

Also, Becky, thanks for the heads up. Connie gave me a heads up when she lost one of her English Blues. So far so good with ours, though she didnt have a bit of a rough patch right before her litter. She hasnt had a litter for about 2 months now, but we may be breeding her again soon.

she actually looks like our new rat, Alfred.

I tend to agree with Becky, American Blue lines can be weak. There is no safe way to prove her out to be a Platinum (100%). You'd have to inbreed the lines, further weakening them.

However, by breeding your male to a Pink Eyed Dilute(PEW) or Red Eyed Dilute (Example being a Fawn), you can see if he produces more "Platinums". That would be the safest way to find out. Obviously, you'd still be breeding your American Blue, but you wouldn't be inbreeding.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Michelle.C

I tend to agree with Becky, American Blue lines can be weak. There is no safe way to prove her out to be a Platinum (100%). You'd have to inbreed the lines, further weakening them.

However, by breeding your male to a Pink Eyed Dilute(PEW) or Red Eyed Dilute (Example being a Fawn), you can see if he produces more "Platinums". That would be the safest way to find out. Obviously, you'd still be breeding your American Blue, but you wouldn't be inbreeding.

---

I didnt quite understand that...

Mom is English Blue, dad is black berk....both het for RED, but I also have a beige male and a beige female available to help prove out. And we almost certainly dont have any PED's in hiding.

The Red Eyed Dilute would serve the purpose of proving if she's a Silver (American Blue x Red Eyed Dilute).

Work with what you have. Breed the Beige to your American/English Blue dam.

I got the sexes of the Blue mixed up. I thought your male was Blue. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Michelle.C

The Red Eyed Dilute would serve the purpose of proving if she's a Silver (American Blue x Red Eyed Dilute).

Work with what you have. Breed the Beige to your American/English Blue dam.

I got the sexes of the Blue mixed up. I thought your male was Blue. :)

---

Our beige male is currently "busy", but we can set him up with the blue girl for her next litter. The two parents are littermates, as well as the two beiges, but we are not planning on holding any back, since we already held back the one female from the sibling/sibling cross. We are currently working on some trades with a local breeder to get some new blood.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ThyTempest

Our beige male is currently "busy", but we can set him up with the blue girl for her next litter. The two parents are littermates, as well as the two beiges, but we are not planning on holding any back, since we already held back the one female from the sibling/sibling cross. We are currently working on some trades with a local breeder to get some new blood.

---

Good luck! You have healthy looking ratties, as well as being very cute! :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Michelle.C

Good luck! You have healthy looking ratties, as well as being very cute! :)

---

Thanks!

Bella has a sweet spot in the hearts of me and my girlfriend, but we just held back a beige self female and she is a real sweetheart...hard to beat.

I love ratties!

Sorry I didn't see this thread.

I can't see the pics at work, but my idea has been that bella is either beige blue, or siamese beige.

I don't have PED in my colony, and so far, from the line of the english blues they've only carried RED and of course, english/american blue. I've only line bred up to the first generation from that line, but I'm still doubtful that they carry PED or mink; although I no longer have the english blue, I can rebreed the original daughter and father to see if anything new pops up besides english blue.

And yes, we lost our english blue girl during birth. By all appearances she hemorrhaged and was unable to birth.

Sorry to cut in...

Are you guys breeding for snake food or trying to win a blue ribbon at the state fair?

Sorry if we ruffled your feathers, but people do like rats as pets and are interested in the colors and patterns in their colony, and I happen to be one of them. Yes, I can feed rats as feeders and still take a very keen interest in the genetics and improving on them and health, while enjoying them as pets.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

Sorry if we ruffled your feathers, but people do like rats as pets and are interested in the colors and patterns in their colony, and I happen to be one of them. Yes, I can feed rats as feeders and still take a very keen interest in the genetics and improving on them and health, while enjoying them as pets.

---

:confuzd:

:handshake

:petting:

:licking:

:grouphug:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JohnNJ

Sorry to cut in...

Are you guys breeding for snake food or trying to win a blue ribbon at the state fair?

---

I took this humorously; I hope it was meant that way.

And I'm pretty sure Connie could do both quite effectively at the same time! :D

that rat is white

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by N4S

that rat is white

---

Nope.