This article is from the WSSF 2013 AFRMA Rat & Mouse Tales news-magazine.

By Karen Robbins

Lauren Holtzclaw, Legends Of Rock Rattery (LORR), GA, Facebook
QI have a rat that has short hair around the neck. The area around the neck is thinning and bald in some areas. The back around the spine is slightly longer with a slight wave and it poofs out. Everything else is laid down, straight, or slightly bent and shiny. Also has crimped whiskers and is bald on the chin and lips up to the nose. He’s with my other males. Photos in an album from birth to now showing his coat. What is this?

AThanks for all the photos. The coat does look thin on the head and very shiny on the back. It looks like you have something new there. I’ve never seen a Rex or Satin Rex with whiskers that tight against the face when they are tiny babies. And Satins don’t have tightly curled whiskers like that. I’ve had some Rex lose their hair on their shoulders when they are around 3½–4 weeks but it grows back in with no further hair loss. I haven’t had any Satins losing hair. In a lot of the photos he looks like he has a bit of wave/frizz to the coat but is not there in others, so I don’t know if he is some kind of curly gene or not. In a couple of the photos when he is older, it looks like he had a bite on his neck by his ear—do his cagemates pick on him? As far as the bare skin on his nose/mouth (and it looks like on his right front foot in the one photo), I would have a vet check it out. He is very shiny and in the one photo yellowed color, which is normal for light color/white Satins. You will definitely need to try some breedings to see if you can get more like him. The Black Hooded Dumbo (sibling?) in the baby pics looks like the same coat/whiskers. Did it turn out with the same kind of coat? Keep us posted on your progress with Shiny Boy!

“Shiny Boy” as a kitten with really tightly curled whiskers. Photo from Lauren Holtzclaw.

Update: Well, all of that weird thinner and kinkier fur fell out and all of it is now that shiny fur with a slight bend in it.

“Shiny Boy” from Lauren Holtzclaw.

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