Siamese and Blues??

[sorraia]

Blues have had a history of health problems, particularly hemophilia. However this is not directly attributed to the color itself, but more likely to certain bloodlines. The most accepted hypothesis is that when blue was first discovered, and subsequently became popular, it was indiscriminately bred to produce more blue. Health was ignored, and as a result those rats with health problems produced babies who inherited the health problems, and thus perpetuated the issue. Hemophilia has been the most widely documented (within the pet hobby) health problem suffered by blue rats. The best way to avoid this issue is to obtain healthy animals from healthy lines and work to breed healthy animals to healthy animals, and keep records on your litters to be sure you are breeding healthy animals. Any animal with issues should be removed from the breeding program. A relative of an animal with a health problem should be bred after great consideration, with more reservation being placed on close direct relatives (siblings, parents, grandparents). This of course takes extra effort, in terms of record keeping and observation. For many feeder operations this may not be worthwhile. Also note, this only applies to "blue" (and all its synonyms), and not Russian Blue. Russian Blue is an entirely different gene and has not been found to have the same issues.

Where Siamese is concerned... like blue, when it was discovered and became popular, it was bred to anything and everything to produce more. No considerations for temperament were made, and somewhere down the line aggressive animals were introduced and produced more aggressive animals, and so on. As these rats are inbred to produce more of the same color, that propensity for aggression was concentrated into the bloodline, and more aggressive animals were produced. Thus Siamese obtained the reputation of being aggressive. However this is not a trait of the pattern itself, but rather of bloodline. If you want to breed Siamese, obtain friendly, well-tempered animals and only breed friendly and well-tempered animals. Consider not just the animal's temperament toward you, but also toward other rats. Cull any animal that shows any sign of aggression, toward people or other rats. Temperament is easier and less time consumer to select for than health, because it is more easily and more immediately observed. You pick out babies who are inquisitive and friendly, over babies who are nervous, shy, and skittish. Any animal that bites is an obvious cull. Out of those babies you keep, you then keep the mothers who are willing to let you handle your babies, and aren't overly nervous, anxious, and certainly don't bite. Any biting mothers get culled. Then out of those babies you again select the most inquisitive, friendly, calm babies. And so on. Keep in mind that rats, especially males, can develop aggressive behaviors as they hit full maturity around 6 months of age. This is when the hormones really starts surging. If you breed males before this age, and they then become aggressive (either toward you or other rats), you'll want to cull them and be cautious about keeping and breeding their offspring. Once you know your lines well enough and you are confident you've cemented in good temperament, you may not have to worry about it as much, but especially in the beginning you need to keep this in mind.

In the past I've only dabbled in American Blue, and didn't have huge issues. One rat was allergic to almost everything under the sun though. I've worked with Siamese (and other colorpoints) extensively, and had no temperament issues at all. My rats were very friendly and affectionate, but I also selected very strongly for good temperament.