Our varieties

We are aiming to breed rats that make excellent pets in the variety american dove. We also expect to see agouti, black, american cinnamon, american mink, russian blue, russian blue agouti and american dove agouti in our litters as well as the odd unexpected variety! Some rats will be dumbo and occasionally there will be rex but we do not breed for either dumbo or rex. We have dumbo kittens relatively often but if you specifically want rex rats I can point you in the direction of breeders that have these more often than we do.

American dove

Not recognised by the nfrs for showing purposes.

A pink-silver colour. Heathering (a subtle ticking effect) is normal. Belly colour the same as top colour, the base coat is a pale grey to the skin. Eyes are ruby. Soft coat lacking guard hairs.
Genetics: non-agouti with two copies of the american mink gene and two copies of the russian blue gene a/a mo/mo rb/rb

Many thanks to Mary for the above photographs.

American Dove Agouti

Not recognised by the nfrs for showing purposes.

A silvery pink tinged delicate brown evenly ticked with a soft brown and heatered due to russian blue genes. Base coat is pale grey, belly colour is creamy silver. Eyes are ruby. Soft coat lacking guard hairs.
Genetics: At least one agouti gene with two copies of the american mink gene and two copies of the russian blue gene A/- mo/mo/ rb/rb

Many thanks to Christine for the above photograph.

Other varieties associated with the above that appear often in our litters

American Cinnamon

Not recognised by the nfrs for showing purposes.

A blend of pale soft orange/brown/cream tones in contrast to the english cinnamon which should be a more uniform firey orange. Evenly ticked with chocolate guard hairs. Base coat is pale grey, belly colour is creamy white. Eyes are ruby.
Genetics: Agouti with two copies of the american mink gene A/- mo/mo

American Mink

Not recognised by the nfrs for showing purposes.

A richer, warmer brown than english mink. No blue sheen, more of a pink blush. Does not suffer from patchy moults. Eyes are ruby.
Genetics: Non-agouti with two copies of the american mink gene a/a mo/mo

Russian Blue

From the NFRS standards of excellence.

A dark grey-blue with a metallic sheen down to the skin. Heathering (a subtle ticking effect) is normal. Eyes are black. Soft coat that is shorter than other varieties coats.
Genetics: Non-agouti with two copies of the russian blue gene rb/rb

Russian Blue Agouti

From the NFRS standards of excellence.

Dark blue ticking through fawn coat. Belly colour is silver. Eyes are black. Soft coat lacking guard hairs. Genetics: At least one agouti gene with two copies of the russian blue gene A/- rb/rb

Agouti

From the NFRS standards of excellence.

A rich brown ticked with black. Base fur is dark grey to black. Belly colour is silver. Eyes are black.
Genetics: Wild type A/-

Black

Black rats are rarely black, but can be dark brown or grey. This is often due to age and/or recessive genes that the rats are carrying. Eyes are black.
Genetics: Non-agouti a/a

Top-eared

Ears sitting on top of the head.

Dumbo

From the NFRS standards of excellence.

Low set ears on the sides of the head. They should be perfectly rounded. Head shape same as top-eared rats, though may appear to differ due to the ear position. A prominent occiput (back of skull) is normal but should not present a 'hunchback' appearance.
Genetics: Due to a recessive gene
N.B. Dumbo rats do not differ from top eared rats in any way other than their ear position.