This article is from the Win-Spr 2018 AFRMA Rat & Mouse Tales news-magazine.

By Karen Robbins

Telisa Overton, e-mail
Q I have pictures of a little female Dumbo Rex rat I just bought and wasn’t sure of her markings and was wondering if you could tell me what her markings are. I think she’s 5 weeks. I bought her from the local pet store and they didn’t have any information on the parents. The dark spot on her face is two shades: the top half being a smoky black color and the bottom half being a blue color. The tan color on her face extends behind her ears like a Capped rat but she is marked white down the middle of her face.

I know she’s an odd-eye, one of her brothers was too. The ruby eye is on the lighter side of her face.

A The little female’s patch of color looks like possibly Silver Black/poor Black or Agouti?, though it is really hard to tell—it looks like she has all baby coat so the color will change to some extent once the new coat comes in completely. You can just make out a large head spot and very pale beige-y color on the rest of her head in this photo. If she does have a dark spot (black) on a Beige Capped, that would be a tri-color. These are usually somatic mosaics and won’t reproduce their color.

As far as markings, if the beige-y color is just on her head, that would be Capped with a head spot. If it extends farther back and includes the shoulders, it could be Variegated—it’s hard to tell if there are spots on the back (some Variegated can have very few or no spots). Beige (and other light colors) marked rats are harder to see spots/splashes especially if they are very small. If the dark spot was all she had, then this marking is unrecognized. This type of marking usually comes from Capped or Masked breedings (some people call them Patched).

In Odd-Eye rats, if there is white on the face, then the side that has the white will have the red/light colored eye, and the side with color around the eye will have the eye that is dark colored. Occasionally we have seen Odd-Eye rats with no white on the face or a nice Blaze rather than white on one side of the face. The usual colors Odd-Eye comes in are Beige and Fawn, though they have also been seen in Cinnamon, Lilac, and Powder Blue.

Her coat looks frizzed/crimped, not curly, and some of the whiskers look curly while others look straight, rather than all being curly like Rex have. She doesn’t look like a Rex coat but rather some other kind of curly coat or another type of coat, perhaps Bristle Coat.

We would love to see pictures of her when she is older to see what the color ends up being and the type of coat.

Janet Reid, U.K., e-mail
Q I am writing from the U.K. in hopes that you might be able to help me. I am very interested in getting a Masked rat. I see from your pics that you deal in Masked rats. Is it possible to get Masked rats in the U.K.?

A Masked rats are bred from mis-marked Capped rats. If you were interested in making your own Masked rats, contact breeders of Capped and see if they have any mis-marked ones that you could use for your foundation stock. It would then just be a matter of time to get the markings to a Masked standard. Some common faults to work against are stray spots around the ears, getting the mask even around both eyes, and not having body spots.

Porc Halliday, Facebook
Q I just had a pup born the other day that has a white crown on a black head, it’s like a white spot over the entire crown. What is that called?? The rest of him is white.

I have a litter of Dumbo Dalmatians 5 days old and one has a big white T on the top of his head that has a white lower jaw and the other has a white spot on top with a black head with a white lower jaw and neck and chest. They have nice little black flecks on their bodies too.

Here is the pic of the one, the other is the same but with more of a dashing on the head and the circle of white is in a T shape. He has little dashes on his back too.

His father is a Dalmatian and he, unlike a few of his Capped siblings, has no color below the eyes. The Variegated and Capped siblings have a complete dark head today and he still has a masked look. Very cute either way. His name is Muffin Top.

He also has no markings on his snout or cheeks, just that raccoon mask and dots sparsely set around the body.

I really know nothing about identifying coat colors. Still learning.

Porc Halliday’s bunch of baby Capped and Variegated Dumbo babies with one little white with a dash of grey on his head. Photo from Porc Halliday.

I do have a Black-eyed White though in this litter. The albinos have the typical pink face but the Black-eyed White has black eyes very visible and looks to be some darker markings around the eyes, like the dad. There is a sweet little Black-eyed White (with a touch of grey on the brow) Rex that I am in love with. Is it still called a BEW if it has a dash of color on the head??

A If your baby with the white crown has markings on the back as well as the head, then it sounds like Variegated. At this age it looks like too much white on the shoulders so the marking looks more Capped. The big white spot on the head would be the head spot Variegateds have but just too big. Variegated and Capped will also have no color on the underside (chin, throat, belly) other than occasional stray belly spots. We have more on Variegated on these pages:

Variegated standard
Variegated x Self = Berkshire, not Variegated
Difference Between Dalmatian and Variegated Rats

On your BEW with just a bit of color on the brow, if it is just a tiny bit of color, then yes, it would be a Black-eyed White with stray spots. To get Black-eyed White, you take mis-marked Capped/Masked and breed the ones with little color and keep selecting the ones with less and less color. Because of their marked background, they do have stray spots and hairs that must be selected against when breeding for show. One problem with BEW though is they will be deaf (no pigment color on ears = deaf).

Shelby Acre, Pittsburgh, PA, Facebook

Shelby Acre’s rat in question—poor Dalmatian, Patched, or poor Variegated? Photo from Shelby Acre.

Shari Hofmann’s Patched rat that was posted on our Facebook page. Photo ©Shari Hofmann.

Q I just got in a few bucks. A Masked, Variegated, and what I believed to be a bad Dalmatian. I was told by a member of the American Rat Club that the buck I believed to be the poor Dalmatian was a patched (which I haven’t heard of up until this point). Would you be able to confirm him? The spotting isn’t visible on the photos because it’s just very light and minute. Thank you for your time.

A The color looks like normal Agouti. Dalmatian gene rats will have silvered/lighter color. To me he looks like a Variegated with a Blaze that is way too big

One of Kathryn Lovings, Rat Dippity Rattery, MI, 17-day-old Patched babies (born April 1, 2010) with a clean-cut patch of color on its face. Photo ©2010 Kathryn Lovings.

and covers the face (this type of marking is often called Possum) and with only a hint of markings on the back (a very lightly marked Variegated). So, essentially you have a very lightly marked Variegated with a very large Blaze. Patched rats will have a large patch of color over one eye, hence the name of Patched. We had a posting on Facebook for one (has too much extra color on the rest of the head though). Patched are usually from Masked/ Capped breedings (the better marked ones come from Masked and basically have half a Mask). There are a couple nicely marked Patched kittens on Kathryn Lovings, Rat Dippity Rattery, page along with some Masked. Patched is a non-recognized marking. Possum is only recognized in the RatPacNW club.

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