This article is from the WSSF 2016 AFRMA Rat & Mouse Tales news-magazine.

By Karen Robbins

Bobbie Sue Peno, PA, e-mail
Q Can you tell me if I have Siamese or Himalayan rats? I have been told when I got them that they are Siamese but upon looking at different web sites, they appear to be Himis. From what I have read, the Siamese is a cream color and points are there as soon as the fur comes in and the Himis are born white with colors that come in later. But I have read sites and seen where Siamese are born light with points and get lighter and the Himis are dark when born. I’m starting to get confused and so are some of my friends who thought they had Siamese but are turning out to be Himis. I think I have it figured out that Himis have less points as in not all the way up the back like the Siamese and are on a white or light cream base and the Siamese are cream in color and have large point spot areas. Our rats could be all Siamese—just some have lighter point marks then others, and one I think is an off Siamese as she has marked butt patches going up her back a bit.

One of the marked Siamese rats that can only be shown in pet classes, with a Black Variegated rat in foreground. Photo from Bobbie Sue Peno.

All my babies are dark when fur starts to come in and some are very light but then fade and come in a little later. Fantasha and Lunna’s (two of my Siamese) mom is a standard Black Bareback with back markings and their father was just like them only Blue and they along with the babies are the brown in color. The father to Fantasha’s babies was an Agouti Variegated. Lunna’s litter was the same way with the colors darker when the hair was coming in. The father to her litter was a Chocolate which we think is really a faded Black Dumbo English Irish.

Some of my babies have remained the same and have close to the show points and some are a little off from when they were younger.

In the photos I sent, do I have any that have the potential for show or close to it that with proper breeding could produce nice rats?

Is it true that Siamese will have a darker tail even if an off Siamese, and Himis always have the light tail?

Shades of Siamese and marked Siamese babies. Photo from Bobbie Sue Peno.

One of the nicely marked Variegated rats. Photo from Bobbie Sue Peno.

I am working on the Siamese and Himalayan along with Rex and double Rex and trying for the true black color and some off marked. I try for show but I also do breedings on the off marked to try for unique markings. I do have a self female but most rats around here that have a solid color are Berkshires as in white belly.

This is also summer time so I am going to watch the babies that I have decided to keep and see if they darken with the colder months. I only have a select few rat breeders to get rats from and most of theirs are nice but not the ones I am looking for to breed the babies.

I always look at the temperament, health, and over all picture, then the color because I could make pretty babies but what if they don’t match up with everything else, then I have nice colored crazy rats, which I don’t want that.

So, do you think you could help me tell the difference?/p>

A Read the Siamese article for more on Siamese rats. Also, the following articles have more on Siamese and Himalayan rats on the AFRMA web site:

• Siamese Rats & Hairless Rats
• Breeding Blue Point Siamese Rats
• Himalayan or Siamese Rats?
• Making Himalayan Rats
• Rat Genetics, part 1
• Rat Genetics, part 3

The Rat Genetics book would also be helpful for you to have.

Siamese babies in the nest are brown (varies from light to dark in color), Himalayans are an off white. The Siamese brown is different from other brown colors such as Beige or Chocolate, so you can tell at that time what they are. The really nicely colored ones (will be better color as adults) will be an even brown all over where the lighter ones will have a lighter brown band across the shoulders breaking up the darker brown color (these will be lighter in body color when adult). Points show up after their eyes open (at first molt), later on the Himalayans. Poor Siamese can look like Himalayans when adult but have darker point color than Himalayans do. The N.F.R.S. actually uses poor Siamese as their show Himis since you can get a darker point color this way.

One of the marked Siamese babies, a Variegated Siamese. Photo from Bobbie Sue Peno.

On marked Siamese you can see the pattern when they have their baby coat but it pretty much disappears when they get their adult coat, unless it is a very dark colored Siamese or the marking is on the nose, rump, feet, or tail. If it is marked or has white feet or white on the tail, those are disqualifications for show and should not be bred from as they can’t be shown in breed classes, only in pet classes.

If you have marked Siamese/Himalayans, they will usually have white on the tail and feet and will appear to have light/dark tails or may even look like only white tails if they just have pigment at the tail base. Show-quality rats will have completely colored tails. Siamese tails are usually darker than Himalayans unless they are very poorly colored Siamese.

Siamese have dark points, Himalayans have lighter color points; some Siamese females may look Himalayan because they don’t have much/if any shading as the males always have the better shading. To get Himalayan, you breed a Seal Point Siamese to a Pink-Eyed White (Black Self based)—all babies will be Himalayan; breed two Himalayans together and you will get Siamese, Himalayan, and P.E. White.

To breed show-quality Siamese, you must use Self rats (Black), not Marked, as any kind of white on the body is a disqualification. It takes a long time to take marked Siamese and breed off the white to get show-quality ones out of them.

In regards to the photos sent, they look mostly like poorly colored Siamese and marked Siamese (you have them listed as dark whites). You do have Black Variegated and Berkshire in the litters so the Siamese would be Variegated and Berkshires as well.

A litter of lightly colored Siamese, Black Variegated, and Black Berkshire babies. The Siamese will all be marked. Photo from Bobbie Sue Peno.

Also remember that marked Siamese can look like Beige marked when babies, when in fact they are a color pattern and will develop their points and lighten the body color once they get their adult coat, at which time they reveal what they really are.

On the other hand, a couple of the Black Variegateds you have are nicely marked. When working with marked rats, it is best to stick with a simple color such as black so you can concentrate all your work on the type and marking rather than also having a color to try and perfect along with it (of course health and temperament must be correct to even breed them).

Your description of a Bareback with back markings would be a Variegated. Variegated can range in the amount of markings on the back from none to just a couple spots to being nicely marked to being so heavy it is one big patch of color with a little brindling/splotching on the edges. Also, Variegated and the Berkshire out of Variegated will have head spots that can vary from a few white hairs to a large spot to becoming a streak/lightening/slash blaze to a full blaze. See these articles for more on head spots and how to tell Variegated from other markings.

• Head Spots On Rats; Marked Siamese? Siamese Rat With Head Spot?; White Head Spot = Variegated?
• Differences Between Variegated, Dalmatian, Bareback, and Essex Rats

Siamese, Himi, and the Burmese colors should never be purposely bred as marked as you lose the features of what makes this unique color pattern.

In any litter bred for show, there are many pet-only rats produced so there isn’t really a need to breed rats not to show standards. When working with marked, you get lots of variations on the marking you are breeding for of which those not up to show or breeding standards can go for pets.

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