Hairless rats

Tue Feb 14, 2006 6:24 pm

I was just wondering something. I read on one of the rat club websites that hairless rats are prone to maloclusion (sp?) and carry some kind of disease that can transmit to your other rats. Has anyone else had experience with either one of these things happening to their hairless kids?

Here's a link to the site
http://www.rmca.org/Articles/truehairless.htm

Tue Feb 14, 2006 8:33 pm

Sorry, i cant help with your questions just wanted to ask another question along the same lines
Can you get hairless or dumbo rats in england?

Laura

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RIP Curly My Little Friend

Wed Feb 15, 2006 11:30 am

if I am correct, this article was based on the knowledge of lab rats. Not rats bred to specifically crry the hairless gene. I could totally be wrong, however I will add, that my hairless was in perfect health and I have never heard of any special problems other than possible lactating problems in nursing mothers. I think that if you are looking into getting a hairless you should look for a reputable breeder, that can assure you that there will be no problems! I loved my hairless and wish I could get another..... Not untill I find a breeder though. It was heart wrenching to have him leave us so soon.

Wed Feb 15, 2006 3:45 pm

Actually, the problems are related to specific hairless genes rather than just lab strains. For this reason, in the UK the NFRS (the National Fancy Rat Society) discourages breeding of hairless rats, and bans the showing of them at NFRS shows. While the health of some lines of hairless rats have now improved with work from good breeders, they are still prone to certain problems and may still have shortened lifespans. The problems depend on the gene that causes the hairlessness.

As for whether we can get dumbos and hairless in this country - yes to dumbos (there are many good breeders of dumbos and they're also appearing in some pet stores) and very unlikely to the hairless. The demand isn't there on the whole, and generally - as stated above - in the UK there's a lot more of an issue about the potential health risks with hairless rats. The same is true for manx (tailless) rats - they too are banned from NFRS shows and the NFRS discourages breeding of them because of the potential risk of spinal and pelvic deformities associated with the lack of tail.

In fact, S1msy, my little girl Maisie is a siamese dumbo rex.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Wed Feb 15, 2006 4:51 pm

I have never seen any dumbos or hairless rats before in any pet shops
Could you give me any information on any good breeders for dumbos in the midlands area please?

Laura

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RIP Curly My Little Friend

Wed Feb 15, 2006 8:49 pm

How do you know if you're getting a well bred healthy one?

Wed Feb 15, 2006 9:13 pm

Like I said - we don't have hairless on the whole.

If you contact the NFRS, they will be able to provide you a list of breeders.

If you want a healthy, well-bred one, you need to research and find yourself a good breeder.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Wed Feb 15, 2006 9:35 pm

I have 4 nekkids and one deceased nekkid, none of them have had malocclusion. However I have seen in at least 2 of them subcutanious lumps, and my new nekkid rescued from a rat mill has a persistant abcess on his belly . Another thing i noticed for instance w/ my departed Dobie, when they get ill it comes on so fast and strong. i love my nekkids but I handle them with kid gloves and constantly give check ups. I view them as more delicate rats

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Rest In Peace, My Lil Naked Man- Dobie, 2004 -Nov 11, 2005. My perfect acting English Gentleman, my heart still cries.
King George I- 2001-August 2004 My heart is always with you, my sweet departed friend

Thu Feb 16, 2006 2:53 am

Our Rosie seems to be the exception to the "hairless rule"....she never gets scratches, is just as healthy as out furred ratties, her teeth are fine and she's only had one cyst (it was on her belly, eventually ruptured with help from the vet, then dissapeared).

However, our latest rescue girl Rose seems to have a lot of what I've heard. She loves to scrap with the others and gets scratches on her all the time......Neosporin is our friend. She also has lots of scars on her back from former scrapping sessions, I assume. She came to us with a cyst on one leg, that eventually went away. Now I see a tiny one on her arm. She also gets what appears to be zits or ingrown hairs on her face and near her eyes. They always clear up on their own. She seems otherwise very healthy though.

Rosie is a year and a half and still going strong. Rose just turned a year old.

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Debbie and the gang of spoiled furries

Thu Feb 16, 2006 4:58 am

It is sad to say that here in the US, instances of malocclusion in hairless rats are more common than one may expect. It however is not limited to hairless as furred rats can also get this. "Malocclusion may be due to injury (such as loss of a tooth due to root damage or trauma), dental disease, genetics, tumors, or other non infectious reasons. " -Ratguide
The condition results from the hairless genes themselves- It is not something that other rats can "catch" though as it is isolated to the rat what has the faulty genes. Unfortunately with many breeders out there are breeding for the uniquness and rarity of the hairless and they breed on this fault on knowingly or not in oder to get more hairless.
I have been very lucky to have a great line of hairless rats that a fellow Cobreeder and I have been working on for a long time. We also do not adopt out rats of this line to any breeders and thus limit the line from falling into bad breeding. We also make sure that we are working with only the healthiest and best stock to make our improvements. However, my fellow co breeder had taken in some hairless last year from another breeder who was very inexperinced and all of the hairless ended up with the maloclusion. It was difficult to deal with it. WHen choosing to get a hairless, please do your homework research and only go to experienced established breeders of the hairless variety. Hairless found in petstore, feeder tanks and some breeders will be much more at risk for developing this and other health issues.
Check out this article on Malocclusion:
http://ratguide.com/health/digestive/malocclusion.php
Amy

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Phoenix Gate Rats
www.pxrats.com