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

By Karen Robbins

Sariah Lily Jones, Facebook
Q I have three girls—sisters. The photo here is Charity, a mismarked Hooded. I’ve never heard of any markings though that put a dark spot on the tummy, except for Down Under, but this wouldn’t be DU would it? It’s too tiny compared to her hood. Neither of her sisters have any markings like this on their bellies. One is a Champagne mismarked Hooded, the other is mis-marked Berkshire.

A Hoodeds do occasionally have tiny spots on their stomachs like your female here (a lot of times where their belly button is). It is common for Hooded males to have groin spots (photos of groin spots on these pages: Breeding Hooded Rats and One In A Million, The Hooded Rat). Other marked rats such as Variegated and Dalmatian will occasionally have tiny spots on their bellies. These are all considered faults. And the little strip of white on her chin is very common in Hoodeds, though needs to be bred against for show purposes.

Sariah Lily Jones, Facebook
Q I’m curious about the dark spot on my mouse Thunderstorm’s tummy. Is that a common mismark among Bandeds?

A Yes, it is common for Bandeds to have stray spots in the white or have a white stripe (zip) running up onto the chest or towards the vent. We have some articles on Banded in our Mouse Genetics book www.afrma.org/sales/contentsmsegen12.htm, and the article Working With Banded Mice by Dave Bumford is online. Also, Cait McKeown’s (now Walgate) Fancy Mice web site has a good article on Banded.

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