3-week old rats

[Michelle.C]

Laney was a Mink. Some babies just aren't meant to make it, for one reason or another. Make sure the genetics you are working with are healthy or you'll have more unexplained deaths. Just remember, when working with feeders, breed for healthy animals (not cute, pretty markings or colorful).

The parents don't sound like they should have genetic flaws due to their colors though. Just watch a few more litters and see if you end up with more babies kicking the bucket. It could be that the doe wasn't producing enough milk or something down those lines.

[Jay_Bunny]

Thanks for the reply. She had an umbilical hernia as a pinky/fuzzy so that may have contributed to it. The other two are growing well.

So is mink recessive? I looked it up on a rat genetics site and it says mink is represented by m while the normal M is the non-dilution allele. So as long as each parent carries mink, you might produce a mink.

I will try the pairing again and see if I get any more minks from them. I LOVE the color. Of course Noel's first litter was not very big but of course it was her first litter.