Colors of rats: description with photo

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

At the word "domestic rats" many people experience disgust and immediately imagine animals that run around the yards, damage property and may well be carriers of diseases. But in reality, pets can be quite interesting. It has been scientifically proven that rodents are highly intelligent, easy to train, and extraordinarily quick-witted.

What should I consider when choosing a pet rat? The colors of the animal are varied. There are white, black, grey, orange, brown, blue, beige pets that kids love so much.

Description of the animal

Rats belong to the class of mammals. Body dimensions can be up to 30 cm and weight 300 - 400 g. Animals lead a terrestrial lifestyle. In nature, there are rats that can climb trees. They live in minks alone or as a family.

In addition to wild rats, there are domestic affectionate, caring pets. Currently, many interesting decorative individuals have been bred. They interact very well with humans.

Among them it is possible to meet a uniquean animal without wool - a sphinx or, conversely, curly-haired animals. A rat can be tailless or with a flat tail and with ears of various shapes.

A very interesting specimen is the Dumbo rat, whose coat colors can be gray, white or black. And the dignity is the ears. The larger they are, the more valuable the item.

The color of a rat is an important criterion when choosing a pet.

In China, Ancient Egypt and Japan, these animals were revered as sacred animals, lived in temples. They were believed to be able to predict events.

Pets

Professionals know a considerable number of colors of rats. All of them in most cases appear in the form of various color combinations. Meanwhile, not all rodents meet the requirements of the standard. Nevertheless, the owners of such rats can register them in the prescribed form and present them as an independent breed.

The most important thing is to focus on the limited number of features you want. Worrying about the color and color of the eyes, breeders often neglect the concern for the physique and well-being of the animal. As a result, almost many thoroughbred rats, unlike wild rodents, are distinguished by poor he alth and reduced vitality.

Any pet can be identified by color, markings and coat type. Some rat color names were taken from other representatives of the animal world, namely cats and dogs. For example: Siamese, Rex, Husky. Currently, the colors of rats are often found in completely differentshades that can be red, black, silver. Siamese and Himalayan animals are found in large numbers.

Division of colors

Color is the color or shade of the coat of a decorative rat. Currently, there are a fairly large number of shades, and they are all divided into uniform, ticked and combined, silver and marked:

• Uniform colors - this is when all the hairs of the same color and tone. For example, black - wool is black from root to tip. The undercoat is extremely dark. There may be other colors - blue, Russian blue, smoky blue.
• Ticked colors. Ticking is uneven hair coloring. In other words, the wool has zones dyed in different colors. Among these non-standardly colored hairs, guard hairs of the same tone are identically interspersed. Agouti rats are ticked.

• Silver color is absolutely any of the generally recognized colors. They can be homogeneous and ticked. Their main feature is the periodic repetition in the same number of silvery and colored hairs. Any silver hair should be as white as possible, although it is acceptable to have a dyed tip. The skin of such an animal gives the impression of brilliance and sparkle. If there are few white hairs, then the color is not recognized as such. In order not to confuse the silver color with pearl, silver shouldbe pronounced.
• Combined colors - a combination of several colors. All shades can participate, except for white. The multicolour extends to the whole body of the rodent in accordance with the standard. This includes Siamese colors - Siamese and Himalayan.
• Marked - a combination of white and colored areas of the hair. A marking is a pattern in which a certain combination of white and colored zones participates.

A direct relationship has been established between the color of the hairline and the color of the eyes of the animal. The shade of the eyes directly depends on what color the coat has. Quite often, white rats have red or black eyes.

When breeding decorative animals with conditioned qualities, it is imperative to take into account the laws of genetics. It must be borne in mind that color, coat texture and a number of other physical characteristics are inherited by rats according to the general, well-known law of heredity.

Other animal colors

Sometimes you can find a completely unexpected color of an animal's fur. They are given specific names. For example - hood color. This is the original color that is most often found. It looks as if a dark "hood" covers the head, but the back and abdomen remain white. An animal with this color is born from two black parents.

New rare colors of rats are obtained as a result of a mutation completely unexpected for breeders.

Very rare, but still there are tricolor individuals. Numerous lovers of decorative ratsknow them under the name "mosaic". They are considered especially valuable and rare. Individuals with such an original color can be found infrequently. With their specific coloration, they look like tortoiseshell cats. In addition to white, spots of two other colors may be noted on the coat. It can be gray, and red, and beige.

According to various sources, only two individuals of tricolor rats are known.

A rat named Solaris

The first tricolor animal was born in Alaska, the largest US state. It happened in February 2002. The name of the newborn was Solaris. The parents of the magnificent animal were the owners of a black color with a “hood” marking. His offspring were entirely hoods. There were no tricolors among them. It follows from this that the color mosaic is not inherited. Tri-colored rats produce solid-colored babies.

The only tricolor beauty

The second tricolor rat was born in 2006, received the original name - Dusty mouse Shabu-Shabu. This is an amazing baby that violates all previously formed concepts about rodent genetics. Its individuality lies in the fact that the wool is dyed in three colors. According to the marking standard, this animal has a champagne hood color. The tricolor Shabu-Shabu rat has a champagne-colored stripe along its back, head and shoulders, and the rest of the body is white. But in addition to these colors, black spots are also visible on this original. Theoretically, it is considered impossible.

More than 40 types of markings and colors are knownprofessionals involved in breeding and keeping rats.

However, there is not a single individual in which exactly three colors are combined. Shabu-Shabu Dust Mouse's parents were champagne and black hoods. Nothing like this was observed in other litters of these parents.

Recently there have been rare white rats with red eyes. These are albinos. Such a white color and eye color indicate that they have problems with the production of melanin.

Cute cat-like animals

Most recently, a rat with an interesting color - Siamese - was bred. The color of this variation is very similar to the color of the Siamese cat. A black mask is marked on the muzzle.

Rats of Siamese color throughout the body have a light beige color of the skin. The beginning of darkening is noted closer to the tail. In front of the head, in the area of the nose and paws, they are black. There is an opinion that the darker the color, the more “pedigree” the rat looks. The eyes of Siamese pets are almost always pink. However, more recently, Siamese-colored rats with black eyes have appeared. As it turned out, a large number of animal lovers prefer individuals with dark eyes.

Pet regular color pet

The variety of shades represents the agouti color. The impeccable beauty of this suit wins the hearts of even harsh experts. Agouti - "wild" color. Listed as grey, but actually red and black.

This is exactly what they keep at home in most cases. An agouti rat has a golden coat.colors. Most individuals have a dark back and a light yellow or white belly. Sometimes a shade of orange may also be present in the color. This is due to the fact that the rat has a shiny coat. The lifespan of an agouti at home can be up to 20 years.

A rat with a color like a four-legged friend

People who hear the word "husky" immediately think that we are talking about sled dogs. However, in nature there are other animals with this name. These are domestic ornamental rats.

Variety of the animal is very interesting, with different properties. The husky breed rat has its name due to the similarity of color with this breed of sled dogs. Unlike other varieties, they can change coat color. Cubs are born with the usual color. May also be black.

Their markings may look like banded. This means that the colored spots are located on the body or body of a dark-colored rat, as if covered with a cloak, and the tummy is white.

But over time, as the animal grows up, the children's fluff changes to adult wool, and white hairs appear in the color. This dilution with white occurs throughout life. Over time, the original color seems to fade to white. This is how the rat changes color.

The ideal color for a husky is s alt and pepper. On the muzzle of the rat there is a white spot that resembles the spots on the muzzles of dogs. It has a V-shaped upside down design and is called a blaze.

It is because of this sign that the animal was assigned such title.

Markings for this color scheme

A husky rat can only be one of two available markings:

1. Berkshire Husky.
2. Banded Husky.

Berkshire Husky is a mantle type marking with a white belly and a painted back of a rat. The head, like the back, is also painted.

Banded Husky is a hooded marking where the animal's head, chest and shoulders are evenly colored. Blaze is an exception. From the so-called hood, a strip of dyed wool runs down the back. In this marking, such a strip is very wide.

Beautiful blue rats

This amazingly beautiful animal deserves special attention. Among a large number of decorative animals, a blue rat is considered an aristocrat. The coat of the animal to the base and the undercoat have a blue tint. The belly can have a different color: white or gray, a blue tone is possible.

This rat has a very beautiful glossy coat. Loneliness is undesirable for her. She doesn't take it well. Therefore, they are brought in pairs. But if there is no desire to have several of these animals, then this one existing pet will have to pay more attention. During the day, one hour of communication with a person is enough for them.

Predators in nature

As a rule, in urban areas, you can often find ordinary rats. They may have a gray, sometimes black skin color. The colors of rats in nature have a palette from grayish to red. Sometimes you can meet a brown rodent.

The most common types of rat colors innature:

• Gray rat. Young animals have gray fur. When they mature, they acquire a reddish tint. On the abdomen, white hairs have a dark base.
• Black rat. On the back, the color of the skin has a greenish tint. Dark gray or ash colored hairs on the abdomen.
• Small rat. It has a brown skin color.

In central Russia, two types of rats are mostly found: black and gray.

Conclusion

A fairly common occurrence in the modern world is keeping animals as pets. In Asia Minor, white-colored rats were kept as tame animals as early as 1000 BC. Already at that time, among them there were not only white rats, but also individuals with various other colors, which were obtained as a result of mutations. Animals of various colors as pets appeared later.