Well Jamie way easier to just put up pics then explain on the phone what markings and so forth rats come in LOL. Anyone else that has other colors/markings please feel free to add to this thread. Since a lot of us breed rats and enjoy the varied results (other than just for feeding) it might be a nice bit of information.
This is Midnite. Black Blazed Face Berkshire Female Breeder. There is some concern that blaze faced and husky marked rats can carry the gene for megacolon so avoid breeding them to high white rats. So far in multiple breedings against my black and white hooded male I've seen no incidence of megacolon at all in the offspring.
Belly markings.
This is a Black/White Husky marked young female feeder rat. See how the white goes up on the sides and legs more than in the Berkshire but much less than in a Hooded (which is a hood of color plus a stripe of color down the spine).
This is HoneyChild on the left, a Beige Hooded Female and Jet on the right, an almost pure black Female. Just for size comparison Jamie...HoneyChild is a mature breeder female, Jet is a 2 to 3 month old female that's not large enough yet for her first breeding.
This is Jet's belly. Her only marking is this little white snip so I'm not even sure what to call this marking LOL.
This is an seal point siamese. See the brownish area on the nose.
This is Casanova, our male stud rat. He's a pretty typical Black & White Hooded. He does throw babies with almost perfect hoods and stripes though sometimes. He's a lot bigger now but didn't want to come out and get pics today as he's busy with his ladies LOL.
All the picking the right rats and feeding/caring for them well gets you this....
Basically Jamie you want to look for rats like you would look for a healthy puppy or kitten. Eyes bright and clear, no ear or nose discharge, no messy butts. Fur shiney and guard hairs not all fluffed up. No sneezing or wheezing. Teeth grinding is okay...that's called bruxing and means the rat is happy to meet you! LOL No hunching over, no swelled belly, no sores on the feet or tail. Try to find young rats that are reasonably okay being handled (they will be nervous but that's okay...as long as they aren't aggressive). There you go...Rat Buying 101. LOL