# What age do ratties go grey?



## stephigigo (Jun 18, 2008)

At what age do ratties start to go grey?

I've had a black and white rat for a year and her muzzle has gone grey. : ( I knew she'd been in the pet shop for months when i got her but i didn't think she'd go grey this quickly. Any estimates on how old she is?

I'm talking about a few grey hairs either. Practically her entire muzzle is grey. My poor little old lady!


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## LiL_RATTiES_07 (Aug 12, 2008)

I dont know the answer to that. Alot of my past rattie where either PEWS or had white on their faces I have never seen them turn grey. It could be she is still young and is still changing. I know bandit only had a black mask the rest of his body pearl white.. a wekk ago that changed when now arounf his ears are black and one black hair on his butt..lol.. So maybe she isnt as old as u r thinking.


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## Emster (Dec 9, 2007)

Doris is a black hooded and almost 19 months.
I've noticed over the past year that she's started to get a white little 'beard' :lol: It's so cute. She's also starting to rust in places (The bits of her that are black are starting to turn brownish).


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

I don't believe they go gray 

Black rats often silver or rust since a pure jet black rat that doesn't silver or gray takes specialized breeding to obtain

What you notice when rats age is that hair thins out a bit, they have a look about them in the face that reveals much more bone structure & you will see more bone structure along the back & hips.

I believe all of that is from the slight thinning out of fluff-fur that you see in the coats of younger rats.


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## stephigigo (Jun 18, 2008)

Emster said:


> Doris is a black hooded and almost 19 months.
> I've noticed over the past year that she's started to get a white little 'beard' :lol: It's so cute. She's also starting to rust in places (The bits of her that are black are starting to turn brownish).


Thanks Emster. My Bow is a black hooded rat too. Her coat has gone rusty (mainly by her tail) so I suppose that makes her about 19 months then - maybe a bit older because her muzzle is very grey.

Sheesh, my poor girl was in the pet shop for a very long time then since i only bought her last september! How did that happen? I know rats aren't that popular as pets, but you'd think she would have been sold sooner. poor baby. No wonder she's not keen on humans.


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

rusting & silvering happens at any age

I have black rats that are silvered & have trace rusting along the rib area & they are under 6 months. Look at this silvered black rat. He is only 7 months old.









Here you can see the rusting in the chest area & on face.










If you could post some all over pictures of your girl I'm sure some of us could help you guess her age

I know there are several members, including myself, that can pretty much look at a rat & offer a really good guesstimate as to their age & this is because we have looked at & watched 100's of rat faces & all stages of aging.

Offer some above shots, side shots & pictures of the face. Avoid the fist-grab shot since that squishy body weight around. One way to get a good photo is team work. Have one person square up the shot as the other person cups hands above the rat. Just before you lift your hands of the top of the rat have the person taking the photo be prepared to take the shot right away. Do this 3 or 4 times in a row & I guarantee you will have at least one very clear shot that is focused.


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## sarahisgett (Aug 18, 2008)

Cute rats A1APassion! I don't have much experiance with rats "greying" becuase my ratties are only about 8 weeks!


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

My boy Guinness started showing Silvering at three months... Jack still hasn't and he's almost two years.


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## KayRatz (Apr 5, 2007)

My old girl has a grey tip of the muzzle. She's almost always been rusted and silvered, but lately she's become bonier in comparison to my young girls. She's also got thinning fir, especially on the muzzle and around the eyes.


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## KayRatz (Apr 5, 2007)

Here are some comparison pics, other than one rat being rusted [which has nothing to do with age] they're the same color. see if you can tell which is older, and which is younger:


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

older rat is rusting, has less body tone, her eyes seem quieter, and her stance is lower overall.


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## KayRatz (Apr 5, 2007)

^Exactly! Yep. She's always been rusty though, it's just more noticeable in old age.


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

the coat texture changes, it loses density, sheds out/looks thinner overall

less "fill" to their physique which offers you the ability to see the bone structure more clearly... kinda like the fat pudgy face kid compared to the thin face of an older person

Age does show & when you have looked at enough rats you start seeing those weeks, months & years


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## KayRatz (Apr 5, 2007)

Yeah, it just takes one glance to see how much older Zinc is than Fizz.


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## stephigigo (Jun 18, 2008)

Thanks for all the info people. I'll try and get a good shot of her tonight and post it. I'm really interested in knowing her age. She was an adult when i got her last year since she's barely grown (except maybe a bit fatter lol).

I'm glad i know about the rusting. I felt really bad about that at one point. I foolishly used to have my rats in a sunny room ( i didn't realise it would be so sunny until summer came) I caught Bow sunbathing and that was the first time i noticed the rusting. i thought she'd been bleached by the sun! Lol, silly me!


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## KayRatz (Apr 5, 2007)

I thought she'd been sunbleached at first too! LOL


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