# High whites? Megacolon?



## SarahEden (Mar 5, 2013)

I got a rat from an online ad, she was to be fed to a snake but the snake didn't want to eat her. So I took her in. Turns out she is from a local feeder breeder where I have gotten 2 of my other rats as well. Anyways she had a litter of 10 on the 13th. They will be 3 weeks old on Wednesday. 

Anyways I am confused as to what a high white would be and if they would be considered to be high whites. Some of them are also odd eyed which I know also is bad for the megacolon?

Here are some pics.


----------



## SarahEden (Mar 5, 2013)

Seven of them look very similar. All like these two pictured. Then there is two hooded, one black one mink and a black mismarked. But the rest are these blue? blaze/headspot capped?? I don't even know. 
They are all eating fine at the moment and eliminating fine from what I can tell.


----------



## Phantom (Apr 4, 2012)

They look high white to me. One of my rats, Pastoolio, is a high white. This is a picture of him for comparison. He did not have any problems with megacolon.


----------



## Devyn (Oct 30, 2013)

Adorable little things! It looks and sounds like you have a lot of high whites, check this out if you haven't already: http://spoiledratten.com/highwhitecont.html

My litter was nearly all high white also, but at the time I didn't realize what megacolon was. It was obvious that something was different about one of them; she was smaller with very thin feet and tail. As the rest of the litter grew, she fell significantly behind. I ended up keeping her, but we didn't have very long together.

I don't mean to worry you though, the chances are very slim.


----------



## Ratatosk (Sep 11, 2013)

my two little ratty babies look like yours but i'm not sure if high-whites are in UK too ? ( i remember reading something that they are called Roan )
one of mine Fire lost all his markings and now just looks creamy coloured , he started off with red markings on white.
the other Ice she is now merle colouring on her blue marks (she is very pretty ) she started off just like the one in the first photo blue on white.


----------



## Phantom (Apr 4, 2012)

Ratatosk, I'm pretty sure the roan rats in the UK are not affected my megacolon from what I've heard.


----------



## Ratatosk (Sep 11, 2013)

Yes.That is what i read somewhere too but wasn't certain if that information was correct ,thank you for confirming this for me :'D


----------



## SarahEden (Mar 5, 2013)

They all look to be growing at the same rate. Even the runt has caught up and looks about the same size as all the others. I am hoping they all wil be okay. more than half of the litter already have homes lined up and I would hate to have to tell someone their baby has passed or will pass soon  

I have read a everything I can find but it still all confuses me. 

thanks everyone. I can only hope I guess that they will all be okay!


----------



## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

They all look like high white to me. Pretty much any rat that has white markings like a spot on the head, blaze, roan/husky, or is patchy like Pastoolio (he looks like a black version of my Bijou!), or have just a spot or two of color anywhere are all high white. Plus more. It's a wide umbrella term and covers many different colorations. The odd-eye is definite as well. My Bijou is HW and is odd eyed, and 3 of her babies were odd eyed. All the babies were high white. The most "normal" baby she had was a berkshire, but he has one small area on his belly where there is a finger of white going slightly up his side which is also a high white sign.

Some people are lucky and have healthy pretty little HW babies, but 2 of my 8 babies have megacolon. Thank goodness for this forum!!! I joined after I adopted my pregnant girl from the pet shop to get advice on raising the babies correctly, and I was informed by all you nice people about high whites and megacolon so I did a lot of reading and when the babies were about 2 weeks old and starting to eat solid food, I saw that 2 were having difficulty pooping and I began helping them multiple times a day, and have been doing that plus more everyday since. When they're tiny, I think they might have a harder time absorbing nutrients in solid food which is when a lot of megacolon babies wither and die. I bought nutri-cal paste which is a tasty nutrient dense oily goop and gave that to them multiple times a day when they started falling behind. I weighed the babies everyday and after they started showing signs of MC, they stopped putting on weight. With the Nutrical, they were able to catch up a little and fatten up with the others.

How old are they now? Check their butts multiple times a day. Lift their tails and look at their little buttholes carefully and feel their tummies gently. If it looks like they have poop stuck in there it might be the start of megacolon. I can tell you more if you're interested, but this is already starting to become a little long haha. Please let me know if you'd like to hear more about megacolon baby care if you have any. I really hope you don't!!


----------



## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

I agree with finnebon, the markings look HW. However, there's a bit of hope -- if the markings are "dalmatian", have grey ticking instead of solid black they will be safe.


----------



## SarahEden (Mar 5, 2013)

They are 23 days old. Just over 3 weeks. They eat a mixture of oxbow, lab blocks, dog food, rice cereal, cheerios, wheat cereal, and veggie pasta along with different foods daily.. fresh fruit and veg, spaghetti, oatmeal, etc etc. They even had meal worms today and loved those. And also daily I give them a bowl of whiskas cat milk in the morning and one in the evening. This is them with their cat milk, they love it. 











I handle them all daily, I haven't checked their bums but I feel their bellies often and they are all normal to me. Only one or two are odd eyed that I can tell and one is ruby eyed in both eyes and the rest seem to have black eyes. I think they would be dalmatian as the color is not solid... it is many shades. 

I really would like to know more if you don't mine, Finnebon! Hopefully these babies are okay but better to be safe than sorry I guess!


----------



## zombiesrkewl (Nov 28, 2013)

I know this has nothing to do with this thread, but I've got to say that the black hooded at the bottom (the one with a solid line going down its back) is _gorgeous_​! You have lovely rattie babies.


----------



## saratherussiandog (Aug 9, 2013)

They are so pretty. I'm really glad that they all seem healthy.
Ok this is a little off subject, but that picture of all the rats drinking milk really reminds me of the rats at the Karni Mata temple


----------



## Gannyaan (Dec 7, 2012)

saratherussiandog said:


> They are so pretty. I'm really glad that they all seem healthy.
> Ok this is a little off subject, but that picture of all the rats drinking milk really reminds me of the rats at the Karni Mata temple


I know they are wild ratties... And its probably weird for me to say this.. But... I SO want to go there!!!! >.< 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## RattasticRatstache (Nov 26, 2013)

What the heck is high white and what's it have to do with megacolon? 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

nanashi7 said:


> I agree with finnebon, the markings look HW. However, there's a bit of hope -- if the markings are "dalmatian", have grey ticking instead of solid black they will be safe.


Does Dalmatian only refer to black and white marked rats? My rats all have silvering or gray ticking sort of in their spots of color. Would that count as dalmatian? I'm still not sure what term to use for their coloration. It's like a cool toned beige with silvering. /shrug


----------



## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

SarahEden said:


> I really would like to know more if you don't mine, Finnebon! Hopefully these babies are okay but better to be safe than sorry I guess!


Absolutely! Send me a private message with any questions you have and I'll help you out.


----------



## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Finnebon said:


> Does Dalmatian only refer to black and white marked rats? My rats all have silvering or gray ticking sort of in their spots of color. Would that count as dalmatian? I'm still not sure what term to use for their coloration. It's like a cool toned beige with silvering. /shrug


They don't have a hood right? I think it is a white background, any color splotches. They can't be any nice shape, just 'splashes'.


----------

