some of my rats

[lace90]

I'll buy two!! I'm picky with what rats I choose for pets, and they are some of the best!

 

[happyherps]

in my rat book it says that you r very lucky if you get different patterns and then can isolate that pattern to make a new line because their dna is so stable meaning that they havent changed much since they came into existance so it might be only one in 10,00 that throws a freak one so for both of u to have gotten fantastic patterns on your rats is imo just incredible hope u suceed with breeding them colours

 

[ingie]

How many generations does it take to get interesting stuff to show consistently?

It is just like snakes The parents have to either display or carry the genes for the different colours, patterns and coat types. There are SO many different colours and variations available. Some are recessive and some are dominant just like in reptiles - so you could try pairing up your rats in different combinations and you might get lucky to have something recessive pop up The genes are quite complex but it is really fun when you start to selectively breed... I have been been selectively breeding for different patterns etc. for about 6 months now and have some amazing ratties

Black lightning blaze and wedge blaze variegated rats

Black wedge blaze berkshire rats

Agouti wedge blaze variegated, mismarked split cap, and other things lol

Dove blazed berkshire, mink banded hood

Blue based cinnamon silk berkshire

All these patterns are easy to breed once you understand the genetics and purchase rats who you know display or carry these genes.

Looks great...nice rats everyone!

I'm a bit miffed at the moment...it would seem that one of my females must have some wild rat in her because she is thowing bubs that have the typical wild rat coloration. Looks like all offspring are going to be feeders and I'll cull her before the summer heat.

That 'wild rat' colour is agouti, it doesn't mean there is any wild rat in your rat at all, it is just another colour and happens to be dominant over black and other colours people seem to like. Agouti rats with pink or ruby coloured eyes have a lightened coat that can be bright orange and other pretty colours. The coat colours change when the eye colour changes - for example a genetically black rat with pink eyes is a very pale champagne colour Have a look at the info on coats, colours, genetics and markings on the website 'Sunshine rats'. That is where I learnt some really useful info about selectively breeding my babies.

 

[saximus]

Aww that first picture is awesome Ingie. Thanks for the info too. I'm really looking forward to getting into selective breeding so I can get some results like the people on here. Just need to work out an effective way to keep them cool during summer so they don't all die :/

 

[lace90]

Awesome work Ingie Do you keep many as pets?

 

[CentralianKing]

They look like most of my coloured rats, what you want is weird patches and unusual patterns, I've tried line breeding for patterns but after 1000's of births I can tell you patterns are just random, no genetics involved, I've bred thick saddled rats to thick saddled rats and had rats come out with no saddle? I do like to mix colours though, keeps the litters colourful and interesting.

 

[snakebag]

I've been trying to find the thread with the link to the auto water nozzles for rats can anyone let me know the products name

 

[ingie]

Patterns are passed on through genetics. Occasionally you might have something weird pop up but it is certainly not a case of complete randomness. Of course there will be variation in each litter though but you generally see a trend. If you look into rat genetics you will see that some patterns mask others (bareback masks saddle, black eyed white masks all colour), but these patterns don't come out of nowhere they are hidden in there somewhere! It is not as straight forward as simple dominance and recessive in some patterns though... I am trying to breed consistent rats that are all white with black eyes and black spots, but it is hard to get the spots regularly in places other than ears. These rats are called 'mismarked black eyed whites' and they are produced when the masking BEW gene is faulty and lets bits of the masked colour be expressed. Then there is all the business of headspots and blazes - they are not completely predictable, but even so are genetically inherited. If I breed together 2 headspots I might get some black eyed whites (BEW) and some blazes, and if i breed a blaze and headspot or 2 blazes or a BEW I can get better bigger blazes and maybe a wedge... Haha rat people are as crazy/crazier than reptile people...

Awesome work Ingie Do you keep many as pets?

I do actually I keep all the biggest healthiest ones with the desired markings, and the rest are for food... I have favourites that will never be food - I would re home them as a pet if I couldn't keep them any longer. I play with my rats all the time and treat them like any other pets (except for the culling part which still makes me sad).

Three of the most common patterns are 'hooded' (hh), 'berkshire'(hH) and 'self'(HH) rats.... Everyone knows the typical hooded rat; berkshire is when the rat is all one colour on top with a white tummy; and self is when they are all one colour with no white on the tummy. If you breed two normal hooded rats (hh) you get all hooded babies; if you breed two self rats (HH) you get all self babies, and if you breed two berkshire rats (Hh) you get all three patterns. Different combinations of the three patterns have different expected ratios of each marking per litter, easy to work out with a simple punnett square

 

[icedmice]

They look fawn to me. But might be argente, but I'd still lean towards fawn as a better response.

Fawn is ruby eyed agouti. Ruby eyes also dilute the coat.
SOOOO badly want some of those blazes. You know how hard it is to get a good one, or even to get them to live over 1.5 years!

Haha rat people are as crazy/crazier than reptile people...

I'm offended....I'm not crazy....the politically correct term is "phycologically challenged".