So sorry to hear that Laura it must break your heart {{{hugs}} to hoomans and gentle scritches to ratty mum hope she'll be ok

Thanks Anne - it is heartbreaking - and it's not the first or the last time I'll go through it I'm sure :*(

Merlin'sMum - I don't think it's likely they'll roan to be siamese - I would say a) they're not roan - they're Agouti headspot berkshire (possibly a chin gene in there), and perhaps cinnamon or russian dove agouti blazed berkshire (hard to say until they moult into adult coats). b) I don't see what roan has to do with siamese? unless I misread you?

xx

When Roans first appeared over here a great many of them carried Siamese and many pet shop ones still do (PAH for example). Siamese Roans start off as a dull beigey colour quite unlike any other red- or pink-eyed dilute, 'cardboard box colour' or 'manila envelope'! After the main moult at 5-6 weeks they clear to become Siamese - the white spotting pattern of the Roan covering the points of course, and after a while they lighten to look like PEWs.

Chin is possible of course but it's not a widespread gene and only a few would show it. Agouti headspot berks are, well, Agouti from the word go... and wouldn't have red eyes... Cinnamon and Russian dove would be very low down my list of possibilities. Essex might be likely though!

I miss my rats! but my next ones will be rescues, even before this SDA it wasn't unusual to come back from a show with something and I gave up showing completely after losing some of mine post-show.

hi hope you dont mind me butting in on this thread
just wanted to say i never new there was so many different breeds (??) of rattys out there
heres my two girlies

this is jazz


this is rudi

there are both about 9 months old now although jazz is half as big again as rudi and they were got at the same time

I am aware of all you say - and I don't know why you think it unlikely that the rats in question should be either Russian Dove Agouti, Cinnamon or Chinchilla. No, not widespread in petshops etc - however, pretty widsepread within the fancy - and Gwerthfawr is a registered rattery so it's likely it could be any of the above.

I've met a good many Siamese roans however certainly it's not normal for people to breed for them. Yes they occur - however, the paler, ruby eyed rat in question is the wrong shade to be a siamese, and also, his eyes too dark.

I must say, I've not yet come back from a show with any problems. I suppose it helps to absolutely not have shoulder rats (not something I agree with personally) and to not allow the rats I take to have contact with other rats. It's not a foolproof method, but it's worked for us so far. Also avoiding shows when there are outbreaks is of utmost importance.

Knowing the breeder these came from, I'd say it's likely they are as I said, a headspot berkshire and a blazed berkshire. Definitely Agouti, and probably Cinnamon. I expect Julie probably knows what they are anyway!

xx

Awww! Loufoxyloxy - they are gorgeous - a cinnamon hooded and a mink hooded. Some of my first girlies were the same!

There are many different varieties of rat out there - it's mind boggling. We focus on Russian based varieties (see website) such as Russian Silver and Russian Blue. There are really so many out there though. One of the best places to look is the Hawthorn varieties page:

http://www.hawthorn.org.uk/varieties.asp

xx

They have become angelic - so calm and cuddly - they haven't eaten any curtains in a long long time LOL

They are looking forward to going on holiday in a few weeks and seeing the sea

So very sorry What an upsetting thing to happen

I have never had problems following the show - the only things I tend to come home with are pretty horrific raffle prizes LOL I think having the ratties regularly out and about must surely boost their immune systems.

Yes you are right - Spencer is certainly agouti berkie with headspot (and random shoulder spot LOL) Mark could be some sort of cinnamon as Mum is a cinnamon vari - I picked him for cuteness factor though so it doesn't overly matter - will wait and see what he looks liek when he is all grown up as he does seem to change colour with regularity!