Type This 6-week-old Agouti lg. EI Standard male has a very square butt, bad rear end–chunky/not smooth blending rear legs onto body, flat over hips area, narrow shoulders (picture below),
and small ears (head photo below). |
Type This 7-week-old Silver Black Dalmatian Standard male has a flat back/no arch over the loin, flat over the hips area, the rear legs stick out from the body/not smooth blending, a square butt, and small eyes and ears. He also has poor markings/needs more spots. It is common for Dalmatians to just have markings on the butt and head. |
Type This 3-month-old Himalayan Dumbo female is flat/indented in the hips area, the rear legs stick out from the body/not smooth blending, and has a square butt. |
Type - Rump This 8-month-old Cinnamon Pearl Standard female has a very flat rump (like you took a knife and sliced off the rump area). |
Type - Shape This Black Self Standard female has a good height in the shoulders but is very flat over the back and has silvering in her color. She does have a nice tail set, good eyes, and nice sleek, smooth coat. |
Type - Shape This young Blue Agouti Hooded Dumbo has a very flat square body shape but a nice Hooded marking. |
Type - Shape This 16-month-old Russian Blue Self Satin male has a blocky body shape, small squinty eyes, long head (head photo below), and is moulting. He does have good height in the shoulders. |
Type - Shape This 14-month-old Lilac Hooded/Bareback Standard male has a square body shape, very weak/small neck, long head, and square butt. He has a stand-up curly-type coat over the rump that is seen in some Standard males. This is not from a curly gene. |
Type - Shape This Black Self Standard female has a very choppy outline to her back, is weak in the shoulders/narrow shoulders, has a square butt, is a little long in the head and needs more depth on the side, and needs a thicker rounder tail, but has good eyes and ears. |
Type - Shape This Black Self Satin male has too high of an arch over the loin causing a bit of a steep rump and square butt. His head is a little long but he has good eyes and ears and good bone and substance. |
Type - Shape This 13-month-old Russian Blue Agouti Standard female is too high over the loin and too low in the shoulders. She does have good eyes, ears, and thick tail. |
Type - Shape This 5-month-old Blue Self Standard male has a ski slope for a back—too high over the loin, too low in the shoulders, drops off too sharply over the rump, has a long head, and could use bigger eyes. He is also too fine boned for a male (feminine looking). He does have good color. |
Type - Body Length This 4-month-old Russian Blue Agouti Dumbo male has good bone and substance, arched loin, thick tail but is short bodied and needs bigger eyes. |
Type This 14-month-old Russian Blue heavy marked Dalmatian Standard female has a good arch over the loin but is a little low in the shoulders (dips down behind the head), has good bone, a good tail set, tail, and head, but could use bigger eyes. |
Type - Bone This 6-week-old Black Self Standard male kitten has good ears, tail, and an arched loin, but needs more bone (is very light/feminine looking) and has a long head. |
Type - Bone This 3-month-old Russian Dove EI Standard male has a very long head with pointed nose and needs more bone. |
Type - Bone This Black Standard female is fine boned, needs more substance, is low and straight in the shoulders, has a long head and square tail. She does have good eyes. |
Type - Bone This Seal Point Siamese Standard male has a good arch over the loin but is too fine boned for a male (feminine looking), needs more substance, is a little low in the shoulders, has a long head, and could use bigger eyes. |
Type - Bone This Seal Point Siamese Standard male is too fine boned for a male, weak in the shoulders, and has a long head. |
Type - Bone This one-year-old Agouti Berkshire Standard female has good eyes and ears but needs more bone, has a very long narrow head, thin tail, and is too dark in color on the back. |
Coat This 9-month-old Pearl Standard female has a lot of staining (red in fur on head, neck, side) on the coat. This is caused when the rat itself or cagemates groom it that have a runny nose (porphyrin staining). Commonly seen in light colors. She has nice eyes but a long head. |
Coat This 11-month-old P.E. White Self Dumbo has a fluffy coat from being bathed right before the show. Bathing needs to be done 1–2 weeks before a show so the coat gets some of the oils back. |
Coat This Cinnamon Standard male has a very long, open (separated) coat. He could use more bone and substance. |
Coat This 13-month-old Cinnamon Pearl Standard male has a short, separated coat. He has very good bone, substance, and head. |
Coat This Pearl Standard male has a greasy coat (seen on the back/rump area). Diet and genetics play a factor in this. Males that have this condition need to be bathed before being shown. He does have good bone, head, and tail. |
Coat This 13-month-old Black Variegated (heavily marked) Blaze Standard male has a puffed up coat from aggression (he smelled other males that had been in the cage and puffed up like a porcupine). |
Head This almost 6-week-old P.E. White Self Standard female has a good head shape and good width in the muzzle but the head is a little too long. |
Head This 21-month-old Russian Dove Standard male has a good head shape and good width in the muzzle but the head is too long and he has small eyes and ears. |
Head This Black Self Satin male has a nice head shape but could use more muzzle. |
Head This Amber Standard kitten has a pinched muzzle. A pinched muzzle is when it dips in behind the whisker bed. |
Head This 6-month-old Cinnamon Standard male has a pinched muzzle and cheeky head. A cheeky head is when it is rounded/fat in the ckeek area. |
Head This 16-month-old Russian Blue Self Satin male (side view above) has a pinched muzzle, cheeky head, and small squinty eyes. |
Head This 8-month-old Cinnamon Pearl Standard male has a very short wide head with good shape. |
Head This is the head of the 6-week-old Agouti lg. EI Standard male (type above) which is very short and blocky
and he has small ears. |
Head This 8-month-old Russian Blue Agouti Standard male has good width in the muzzle but the head is too straight going back to the ears which caused him to have a narrow body. You need good width in the head to get the width in the body. |
Head This B.E. White Self Standard male has a very long, narrow head with pointy nose (small muzzle). He also has small eyes and ears. |
Head This 3-month-old Russian Dove Standard male has a very long, narrow, pointy head with a small muzzle. He has ears that are long and narrow in shape. |
Head This 8-week-old dark Agouti Standard male has a very long, narrow pointy head with narrow depth on the side. He has excellent eyes (very large). |
Standards
Type - Shoulders This 6-month-old Black Standard male has narrow shoulders making him pear shaped in the body. Notice how the width of the head determines the width of the shoulders—narrow heads equals narrow body/shoulders where a wide head gives you better shoulder width. He does have a nice tail-set and nice tail.
Type - Shoulders This is the top view of the 6-week-old Agouti lg. EI Standard male showing the narrow shoulders, very square butt, bad rear end–chunky/not smooth blending rear legs onto body, and flat over hips area. He also has a thin tail for his size.
Type - Shoulders This 8-month-old Black Rex male has narrow shoulders but a nice tail set (the hips taper very nicely into the tail).
Type - Shoulders This is Mink Rex brother to the Black Rex. His shoulders are a little better (not as narrow). He also has better curl to his coat and nice tail set.
Type This is the side view of the 8-month-old Mink Rex male. He has good bone, arched loin, good tail set, and nice head.
Type - Butt/Tail Set This 7-month-old Sky Blue Standard male has a very square butt (the body doesn’t taper smoothly into the tail and is chopped/pinched looking at the base; the tail looks like it was stuck into the body rather than like it is part of the body), long head, and could use bigger eyes, rounder ears, and thicker tail. See the article Type Question:
Square Butts on Rats for more.
Type - Shape This 10-month-old Black Berkshire Standard female doesn’t have a good shape–she is big in the shoulders, skinny in the middle, and big in the rear (more pronounced in real life) and has a very square butt. She does have nice eyes and a good tail.
Type - Shape This 15-month-old Russian Blue Self Satin female has a very narrow body and narrow long head. You want a racy body but that doesn’t mean long and skinny like a tube or ferret. This is not the condition (body weight) of the rat, but the body structure. She is also moulting very badly.
Condition This 19-month-old Black Variegated Standard male is too fat
Condition This 9-month-old Black Variegated Standard male has fat pads behind the front legs and in front of the back legs. He has good type, bone, substance, and tail, and needs more variegation on the side.
Condition This 25-month-old Agouti Rex male has flabby condition (loose skin behind front leg), a nick in the ear, and thinning coat. Thinning coats are normal in old Rexes. Rats with flabby condition don’t feel firm in the muscle.
Condition An old Russian Blue Standard male that is extremely thin and sunk-in in the flank area. You can see the outline of the ribs and backbone.
Condition This 18-month-old Russian Blue Self Satin female is very thin and narrow bodied. She has loose skin on the side from being too thin.
Condition This 4.5-month-old Cocoa Self Standard female is thin and sunk-in in the flank area. You can also see the outline of the bottom of the rib cage.
Condition This 16-month-old Russian Dove Dalmatian Standard female is thin in body condition. She needs her markings broken up more.
Coat This 8-month-old Russian Blue Agouti Standard male has good bone, substance, arched loin, good tail-set, thick tail, nice head and eyes, but needs a smoother coat.
Coat This Seal Point Siamese Standard male is going through a terrible moult. At this age it is usually from environment to be this extreme.
Head These 1-day-old male rat kittens shows the one on the left with good head shape and the one on the right with a long, narrow head and small muzzle.
Head, Eyes & Ears This Black Self Standard female has good ear size and shape, good eyes, but narrow depth of head on the side. She also has a long head and narrow shoulders.
Eyes These 2 kittens (Black Self Standard and Russian Blue Self Standard) both have extremely small eyes.
Eyes & Ears This B.E. Siamese Standard female has ears that are too high set and a rounded head shape. She has very good eyes.
Eyes & Ears This 3-month-old Standard male has large ears but they are set too far apart. He has FG (fairly good) eyes (little small).
Eyes & Ears This 3-month-old Seal Point Siamese Satin male has ears that are long and narrow in shape and small, squinty eyes.
Tail This Siamese Satin male kitten has a square tail. You can both see and feel this. It is common for kittens to have square tails that they then grow out of and it becomes round later. If a rat has a square tail as an adult, then genetics/environment needs to be looked at as the cause.