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

By Karen Robbins

Charmaine Benson, Facebook
Q Is there a page I can use to determine the colour and breed of my ratties?

A AFRMA has several pages on our web site showing the different colors, markings, and Varieties of rats (as well as mice). Go to our Fancy Rats and Mice Standards page and click on the different types to see photos and descriptions. These are what we recognize, other countries may recognize other things or as different names.

There aren’t breeds of rats like what you would see in other animals. Your basic rat is called Standard (short coat, normal ears), then there’s body type (Tailless), ear type (Dumbo), or coat types (Rex, Satin, Hairless). There is a new type of rat some U.S. breeders are working on that is smaller (Dwarf) that varies widely in its physical features (eye size, body size and shape, head shape, tail size). There is also a newer coat type some breeders in the states are working on that has longish, wispy hair called Harley but many have problems nursing their kids, have skin problems, and the hair falls out easily. The newest coat type that has been standardized by AFRMA is the Bristle Coat that has a very harsh, messy looking coat. As kittens they have curly coats similar to Rex but is softer and their whiskers are more straight with some having curled ends rather than the really curly whiskers a Rex has, so it’s easy to tell in the nest which are going to be Bristle Coat. There are several other coat types—some are similar so that it’s hard to tell them apart.

Kenzie Est, Facebook
Q Does it look like the baby on the left (above the beige and black) is a chocolate? They’re approximately 10 days old now. I brought the mom home when she was pregnant (the people I got her from didn’t even know she was). She had the babies literally the next day so I’m not sure at all who the father is.

I can guarantee only one is definitely a black, five are definitely Agoutis, there is one that’s identical to this color as well.

I’ve been a bit unsure of what I’ve been considering beige at this point as well as the one particular baby that is much lighter than the black baby.

The light one appears to have dark eyes, possibly ruby? So they aren’t really Beige then? Picture of those babies.

Also, all the babies appear to have white on their stomachs.

A On the monitors here they look like Agouti, Cinnamon, Black, and Himi/light Siamese? One way to tell the Agoutis from the self colors are the bellies and feet. Agouti colors will have pink bellies (will have a straight line between the top color and belly color) and light wrists, where self colors will have color on the belly and dark wrists (unless they have white markings on the legs). The darker colors will show this at an early age and you should be able to see white markings on the belly and white toes/feet on the Blacks. The amount of white tail tips on several of the babies tells they are mismarked Irish/Berkshire markings (lots of white on the bellies; can be seen in the video). The Agoutis will also have the brown-red/black mixed color in the fur coming in and Blacks are one smooth color. Chocolates look like a chocolate candy bar and a poor black will just look blackish compared to a true Chocolate.

The whitish looking one is the one that looks like a Himi/light Siamese. It has a dark tail and white tail tip and dark nose. With Beige you would not be able to see white markings on the tail and the tail would be pinkish.

You can go to AFRMA Fancy Rats - Marked to see photos and descriptions of Irish and Berkshire rats. Your mom-rat has the head spot required of the Berkshires, she just needs more white on the belly (Berkshires can vary in the amount of white they have on the belly).

The photo of the two light brown babies I think you are asking if they are Beige, those are the ones that here, look like Cinnamon in the original photo posted. Cinnamon looks like Agouti but instead of the red/black (dark color), they are brown/chocolatey (medium color). Cinnamon is an Agouti with the Mink/Lilac (looks brown) or Chocolate gene added (looks similar to Agouti but has Chocolate ticking) which dilutes the color down, but the color still has the ticking and multi-colors of the agouti coat type www.afrma.org/agouticinnrats.htm.

Beige looks like a light tan and will have dark ruby eyes www.afrma.org/ratselfs.htm. They are a black-based color so they will be solid/smooth looking in their color, where with the Cinnamons you can see more than one color in the coat. You can read more in the article on Beige vs. Fawn colors in the WSSF 2014 issue.

Sometimes colors will seem different at a young age due to development of the baby or the color itself (good vs. bad) when in reality they are the same color and just need more fur to grow in to tell.

To give us a better idea on colors, you’ll need to take photos when they have more fur and the eyes are open—photos of the colors separated into groups like you did on the one link would be best and we’ll see if we can help you out more.

Kylie Fullerton, Australia, e-mail
Q I have obtained a male rat about 3 months old through an adoption centre, and he has fit in so well we have named him Rexey. However, Rexey is a very unusually feeling rat even for a male, and at his age in comparison to my female Silks, he is much softer and strange feeling, almost like you can’t stop stroking him when he’s with you, even his tail feels like a length of silken rope, but he is furry not smooth? Also, his coloration I haven’t seen and I have asked several Australian breeders but no one can tell me. You have been recommended by the Australian fancy rat owners society as someone who might know? I have attached some images of Rexey, but honestly the photos do not do him justice in the slightest. He’s mainly cream (I think? Remember, this is a novice here); however, he has what I can only describe as a perfect, almost looks stenciled on, cloak that runs perfectly parallel up either side of his body to his shoulders and wraps around under his chin exactly as you could imagine him wearing a mask and cloak!! But the difference in colour from the rest of his body is ever so slight yet neat as a pin even down to his guard hairs being in perfect uniform and are prominently longer yet as soft as the others. His face has a perfect mask over his eyes which joins round either side of his neck and shoulders, and the top of his face, head, and ears are the light cream. He has an irregular white pattern on his tummy and amber eyes. He could be just a one-off, but your opinion could also help in my decision on neutering him!

Thank you for any insight you could provide!

A I don’t know how much help I can be since there are some different genes in Australia than here in the U.S. Based on what I read about the Silk rats, their coats are supposed to be softer, longer, finer, more wispy, and have a shine, while Silky coats are softer, longer, and with guard hairs. He obviously has guard hairs and I see no shine or finer looking coat. The coat looks standard in the photos.

As far as feel, there are many variations in a standard coat from being harsh or rough feeling, to feeling slick, to being very, very soft. So since I can’t feel or see him in person, I can only give you what it looks like in the photos and by your description. There is a time when some young male rats will have a very nice coat—not harsh, not too soft. This would be when they are around 2½–3 months. Then as they age they lose this and it becomes more rough feeling like a typical male coat. Other males will have a harsh feeling coat as soon as 3 months that just gets more harsh as they get older. So it’s hard to say if he actually has a different type of coat or just a healthy feeling coat. He looks very feminine and fine boned for a male and this may be playing into his coat feeling so nice. Also, diet, bedding, cage cleanliness, etc., all have an influence on the feel of a coat as well as genetics.

As far as color, in the first photo he looks like what we would call Beige (too gray though; what you call Buff). Beige rats can vary greatly in their color from being a very pale creamy color to being very dark and gray. The ideal is a medium version of a warm grayish-tan. However, in the fifth photo that is in focus, he looks more like a grayish-whitish color. We have a color here that is similar but has pink eyes (a P.E. Platinum that is Blue + Mink + pink-eye gg mm pp or Blue + Chocolate + pink-eye gg bb pp) but your rat has ruby eyes. The color Dove over there sounds closest in its description but in photos they are much darker than your rat (being more of a light brown color). In the last photo it looks like he has brownish guard hairs. Since you got him from a rescue, you don’t know what his parents or siblings were, so can’t use that as a guide as to what he might be color-wise.

Your description of the cloak on the body and mask on the face are typical molt patterns that happen when a rat molts for the first time from baby coat to adult coat at 6–8 weeks, then again around 3 months. We have an article on this subject Color Change Rats; Color Variations in Rats; What Color Rat? on the web site. The molt starts on the underside working up the sides to the back, and the nose up the face to where a cap on the top of the head is the last to change. The 3 month molt is usually not as dramatic looking as the 6–8 week molt since the rat is going from one adult coat to another adult coat. In some colors you don’t really notice the change, where others look like a completely different rat from the old color to the new color. Also, the 3 month molt often leaves the butt the last place to molt instead of the head and takes longer. So my suggestion is to watch him over the next few weeks to see if the color pattern changes.

I don’t know if you have had any judges or show-breeders take a look at him in person, but that would be my suggestion as seeing and feeling in person is much better than photos. Perhaps with all the different clubs in Australia and events they put on, there would be something close to you you could take him to for a live evaluation, or a judge or show-breeder in your area for you to contact. They could then tell you if he is indeed something unique or a version of something already known and help you on the neutering decision once they see him in person.

Good luck in your quest! Let us know what you find out as we would be most interested to know what he is.

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