Random Genetic Shifts in Rats...

[DragonBoy]

I have experienced what I guess you would call a random genetic shift among my blue rex rats. I have a male from a seemingly normal litter that started going bald about 2-3 weeks of age. I had heard that multi-generation rex breeding could result in production of a near hairless rat but I had no idea it would produce a rat who started out with a normal rex coat and ended up completely nude of fur.
I kept him and a sister of his who is a smooth coat from the litter as future breeders. I honestly thought his mom had over groomed him and the hair would grow back but now it is 3-4 weeks later and what hair he had then is gone so there is nothing but blue skin where the hood was or should be and pink skin over the rest of him.
He is a dumbo which makes him all the more interesting. He will be put with his new females in another week or two so if this is indeed genetic I would expect to see this in his off spring.
I have seen hairless at shows but have ran a closed colony for close to 12 months now, which is what amazes me. Nothing thus far has been hairless so this is most interesting.
Pics will follow...

 

[DragonBoy]

Photos as Promised...sorry he would not hold still.

 

[LostNFound]

he is cute!!! I want one!! hehehe I don't need one tho ... Sigh. I really am interested to see if he proves out ...

Do keep us updated!!

 

[MedusaCorns]

Yep, hairless rats and mice start out with hair then loose it by the time they are 12 weeks old. The Mutation is caused by retroviral integration and provirus (Retroviral: Any of a group of viruses, many of which produce tumors, that contain RNA and reverse transcriptase, including the virus that causes AIDS.) **Not to worry NOTHING is catchy

If they keep hair they are fuzzy hairless, if the hair grows back it's still a fuzzy hairless. You want to be sure to put the boy to females that carry the gene but have hair. Often the female hairless has inverted nipples and can't feed her pups. It's not only common in rex but also longhair.

Nude mice/rats are born hairless and never grow hair and also die by the time they are at weaning age.

LOTS of ventilation for these guys. Inclosers tend to irritate their skin. Also NO wood shavings of any kind because of the oils in the wood. Aspen, Pine and Ceders which shouldn't be used anyway. Carefresh "brown" or shredded paper/tissues/cottonballs. These guys catch colds faster and need to be warm but also need air flow because of their mutation. The rex also need more air flow and does better on a non wood shaving.

Soooo cute !!! I have a TON of hairless mice

top mouse is a fuzzy hairless

I don't let to many go out of my kennel for pets or breeders as the mutation can be tricky to latch on to though they say the rats are much more easier to maintain then mice...

 

[DragonBoy]

The trick now will be deciding which females carry the hairless gene. I would be inclined to think that his sisters would have the gene but my blue lines are rather tightly inbred/line bred so it may be evident in the blue line with a dominant male present.
I feed so many off at the fuzzy stage this could have been present for awhile and I simply was not aware of it. I have 2-3 females in mind for this boy so I will keep you all posted on his progeny. I expect for whatever reason not to see the evidence until the F2's since I am not sure I have the gene in any of the females. I figure the F1's could be on the ground as early as the beginning of May.
Thanks again for the info.

 

[MedusaCorns]

you could also try back to mom as you already know she has it

 

[carnivorouszoo]

.
He is a dumbo which makes him all the more interesting. He will be put with his new females in another week or two so if this is indeed genetic I would expect to see this in his off spring.
I have seen hairless at shows but have ran a closed colony for close to 12 months now, which is what amazes me. Nothing thus far has been hairless so this is most interesting.
Pics will follow...

Don't keep ant females that develope this way hairless females do very pooly with their babies so alwys breed a hairless male to furred females you'll get 50/50 or so each.



Have fun!

 

[ratsncorns]

You have what is referred to as a double rex. It is caused when breeding two rex rats together. Not a true hairless (hence they wont have the same issues lactating as a true hairless would), they will retain some fuzz around the face normally. They will also go through periods where they lose all their fur, then gain it back. I love double rex rats!