# Pink Eyed White... Albino?



## Awaiting_Abyss (Jul 24, 2012)

Are pink eyed white rats actually albino? I've seen many people refer to PEW as albino, but I was wondering if this is actually correct. For example, many people call pink eyed white gerbils albino, but actually there is no such thing as an albino gerbil; they are just white with pink or ruby eyes. Is it the same with rats? Or is there actually an albino rat?


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## elliriyanna (Jul 27, 2011)

How are they not albino if they lack all color? The gerbils I mean as that's what albino refers to. I have seen the same my impression was Ruby eyed whites are albinos and pews are pews


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

elliriyanna said:


> How are they not albino if they lack all color? The gerbils I mean as that's what albino refers to. I have seen the same my impression was Ruby eyed whites are albinos and pews are pews


I have been looking for a better explanation for the difference between true albino and PEW rats, but was unable to find one yet.

For now we will say that phenotypically (appearance) albinos and PEW's look the same, but genotypically (genetically) they are different. An Albino will always breed true, but a PEW is actually a hooded or marked rat that has so many dilutions in it that it appears PEW and if bred to another PEW will have a litter of PEW babies but if bred to a hooded rat you can have all those unexpressed colours show up in the litter.

Bronwen came to me from a kill shelter, she was young and pregnant. My first rescue litter ever. She a PEW, produced PEW's, black berkshires, black hoodies and 2 agoutis.


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## PrincessRat (Aug 22, 2012)

Albino means they have absolutely no pigment, their eyes are actually clear not red and when you see the red eyes it's actually the blood not their eyes color. It usually isn't very hard to tell an albino from a PEW, all you need to do is look at the rat's eyes from different directions in different lighting and you will be able to see whether the rats eyes are colored or clear. If they are clear, the rat is albino. Albinism is caused by a lack of a certain chemical which gives the pigment (the name of this has slipped my mind, it's been a while. I will look it up later.) Lack of this chemical also causes poor eyesight and sense of smell. 
Even two pure black rats could produce albino offspring. All it takes is for both parents carry the recessive gene and the kittens could turn out albino. Albinism is not a color like Pink Eyed White, it is a complete absence of color. A rat who was supposed to be hooded could turn out albino if each parent passes down the recessive gene for albinism.
Regarding the hamsters, any animal or human can be albino. It is just more common in certain species than others. Albinism is common in domestic rats, because people have bred albinos with albinos a lot and if you breed to albinos you're going to get more albinos because all of their genes are recessive for that trait. It is rare for albino hamsters, but they do exist.


-Rats are my life-


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## Awaiting_Abyss (Jul 24, 2012)

Okay so my question has been answered. There are both PEW and albinos. Thank you for explaining that to me. An albino does not exist in gerbil genetics (not sure about hamsters as I have never owned any and I'm not really sure who they got into this conversation o.o). The albino gene has not yet appeared in gerbils. Albinism is shown in gerbil genetics by a lowercase c, but currently there is only C, cb (also known as cchm) and ch.


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## PrincessRat (Aug 22, 2012)

Awaiting_Abyss said:


> Okay so my question has been answered. There are both PEW and albinos. Thank you for explaining that to me. An albino does not exist in gerbil genetics (not sure about hamsters as I have never owned any and I'm not really sure who they got into this conversation o.o). The albino gene has not yet appeared in gerbils. Albinism is shown in gerbil genetics by a lowercase c, but currently there is only C, cb (also known as cchm) and ch.


Sorry, I meant gerbils not hamsters. From what I have researched there are albino gerbils. However, though I find it quite unlikely, it is possible that everything out there about albino gerbils is just white gerbils with red eyes who people mistake for being albino. I guess you would have to have seen the animal in real life to know for sure, and I haven't come across any albino gerbils so I can't necessarily say they do not exist. What I meant earlier is that it is possible for albino gerbils to exist, because it is possible with any animal. But anywho, glad you found the answer you were looking for about rats! 


-Rats are my life-


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## PrincessRat (Aug 22, 2012)

Ahem, I decided to do a little research again and found you are correct, albinism has not yet appeared in gerbils so it is really just people calling red eyed white gerbils "albino" as people mistakenly also do with PEW rats. Well I learned something new too today..though it doesn't do me much good since I'm not gerbil person. Thanks for that though. 


-Rats are my life-


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## Awaiting_Abyss (Jul 24, 2012)

You're welcome. ^^ I'm a registered gerbil breeder so I've studied up on gerbil genetics. Which is why I was questioning about the PEW/albino rats, since people mistakenly call PEW/REW gerbils albino.


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