black-eyed whites

[littleindiangirl]

I contacted the breeder:

This really seems to be a new mutation!!
Until they are about 5 month old, they have a small dark dot on their neck that then disappears! Their coat is much softer than that of normal ASFs. They are very gentle and can be handled. The production rate is normal. And this coat color seems to be dominant over all others...

Sounds quite interesting, doesn't it?

Any chance you could get the breeder to give you some more information about the ASF's? Like, if she were to breed this white one to an agouti self, what would she get?

I'm hesitant to label it acromelanism, since it does not show the tell tale gradient at the nose and rump, and the ears are completely pigmented at the skin, which is not the norm for norway rats. Also, the animal's eyes are black, acromelanism is on the albino locus in norway rats, making pink/ruby eyes. (Their eyes are lighter than the picture shows, it was bad lighting)

I'm more of the mind that it is likely a modifier gene in cahoots with the white spotting, causing an extreme pied effect rather than acromelanism. But who knows?

Randy, I think african rodents are still banned from importation.

[littleindiangirl]

I forgot to update you all. I have spoken with a breeder in Germany, she bought the ASF's from a feeder breeder, and she has confirmed that it is the work of selectively breeding the pieds for higher white.

She didn't originally breed for the all white, she bought them that way, but she is working more on perfecting it for the fancy. Sometimes the colored spots will fade with age, and she is working on making sure the ears stay pigmented, and the body stays pure white.

I believe she knows the breeder (or it's her I'm thinking of) she bought them from is also working towards putting the super high white into the Fawn/Amber color, so they would look like pink eyed whites/albino, but in reality, they are still the extreme white from the pied gene.

So there you have it Mike, let us know what kind of progress you make!

[matt71915]

interested to see what happens with these guys
if someone does find a way to get some i wonder how it will affect prices in the long run.
and also if these do have a better temper and are less nippy that would definetly make these guys take off as feeders and pets since there so darn cute lol

[susi´s trainer]

hello from berlin again!

i FINALLY got my white ASFs ...

black-eared

grey-eared

black-eyed white

pink-eyed white

and ruby-eyed white (have to take some better pics):


just before i got them i seriously thought of giving up on asfs because i got bitten SO hard again (took me to the hospital for a week!). but i'm perfectly happy with these now, they are the friendliest pets ever.

the grey-eared on the pic already has a litter (to my big surprise- must have bought her pregnant).

i can't wait to clicker train them and find out how smart they are. but i'm afraid the pink-eyed are almost blind ...

until then,
marina

[greghall]

Nice they make pretty snake food! LOL but I would love to have some to mix in my colony! for real

[susi´s trainer]

hi! i don't sell mine alive (only pre-killed/frozen), so you won't be very happy with them.
and the two breeders i got mine from are out of stock now. ...but you could be lucky with this one.

btw, i'm not sure about the genotypes of the grey-eared. the breeder thinks they are Bb's (he says that the high-white modifier gene may also dilute the ear/eye color), but to me they look exactly like cinnamons. and he also thinks the ruby-eyed are just Pp's... i don't (want to) believe him.

[irishanaconda]

wow, missed this thread the first time, good bump

[greghall]

never seen them in the states & havent had any pop up in the 100's ive bred.

[Pixtaker]

hi! i don't sell mine alive (only pre-killed/frozen), so you won't be very happy with them.

You wouldn't part with any of the black eared?

[susi´s trainer]

the old female on the pic is the only black-eared adult i got. and she is far too old to breed.
there are at least 4 black-eared pups in the unexpected litter, but they have quite a few random spots on their necks, this one even on his nose:

the nose spot has become much more prominent since. he is SO sweet!!!
unfortunately, the breeder has no idea who's the father. so i still don't know if it's really true that only the homozygous agoutis will have black ears.
this is his mother, looks like a cinnamon to me:

half of the litter seems to be PEW, the others black-eared.

...but as i said, i don't give away living rats anyway.