This article is from the WSSF 2017 AFRMA Rat & Mouse Tales news-magazine.

By Karen Robbins

Jozzette Hagemann, Jozzy’s Rat Pack Rattery
Q Someone in Indonesia has these rats. I haven’t seen these before. Tricolor? These look like adult rats and have adult coats.

A Whenever I see rats with the top of the head a different color, my first thought is it is a young rat not finished molting. How old is the rat? How long has it had this different color on the head? What do the parents look like? What about siblings? How many have this? The ones I’ve seen in the past that were tri-color, had patches of another color in areas other than the top of the head. The coat on the top of the head on this rat looks like adult coat though. Diet and environment can have an influence on color change in kittens and adults when they molt.

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