# Hairless rat colors?



## SmangoandFern

Hey there.  Yes, I'm the one who asks all the weird question. ;D So, I was scrolling through some breeder's page, and saw that she had listed "mink masked hairless".. So, if there's no fur, how can she tell that he's mink? ???


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## lilspaz68

Lydia;*;Grace said:


> Hey there.  Yes, I'm the one who asks all the weird question. ;D So, I was scrolling through some breeder's page, and saw that she had listed "mink masked hairless".. So, if there's no fur, how can she tell that he's mink? ???


HAHAH..because the coat colour is actually determined on the skin.

For eg.

Rhesus is a tilty himilayan (red eyes)









Eli is a black self (black eyes, black hair on his feet)..this is before he lost his 2nd eye to something congenital (bad breeding)









and little Lilith...a black hooded...she has a plushy thin coat layering her body









but her son Yoda is very hairless and still a black hoodie


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## SiNi5T3R

I think the blue hairless are the nicest. they look soooo pretty


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## Rhasputin

The skin on any hairless should be pinkish, and transluscent. 
On a dark animal, it can be a bit purple, but typically you shouldn't be able to see markings on a hairless rat, because the skin doesn't retain the pigment.

I have seen some lines of 'nude' mice which have tinted skin, but I think it's a form of a diferent gene, and not an actual hairless variety.

Notice how all of the rats that Spaz posted, still have hair. 
That's how you can tell on a poor example of a hairless, what colour they are. 
Eyes can hint at colour, and if you know what you're doing (as a breeder) you should be able to predict the outcome very well. Also, when they are babies, they have a thin coat of fur, and up until they start losing it, you can determine their colouration.


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## SiNi5T3R

Rhasputin said:


> The skin on any hairless should be pinkish, and transluscent.
> On a dark animal, it can be a bit purple, but typically you shouldn't be able to see markings on a hairless rat, because the skin doesn't retain the pigment.
> 
> I have seen some lines of 'nude' mice which have tinted skin, but I think it's a form of a diferent gene, and not an actual hairless variety.
> 
> Notice how all of the rats that Spaz posted, still have hair.
> That's how you can tell on a poor example of a hairless, what colour they are.
> Eyes can hint at colour, and if you know what you're doing (as a breeder) you should be able to predict the outcome very well. Also, when they are babies, they have a thin coat of fur, and up until they start losing it, you can determine their colouration.



Dont think that's entirely true. I have seen Hairless rats in pet stores that are blue, black, the normal pinks, ones with black spots, and they are true hairless, no fur at all like the ones in the pics above.


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## Nekopan

Even true genetic hairless rats grow fur. As babies they have a covering of fuzz that they lose around 4-5 weeks. This is how breeders know what colour they are. Most hairless rats retain some fuzz around their face.


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## lilspaz68

Well there is hairless and there is double rex. I thought that Lilith was a double rex until she bred with a standard male and had 4 boys standard coat, and 4 boys "hairless". The breeders I know determined that she is a mock hairless. LOL

Most times you cannot tell the difference between real genetic hairless and double rex without breeding them to see what the offspring are. Most "nakies" as I call them are double rex as they are much more common in the pet industry.

And the pigment definitely shows up on their skin. Are you thinking mice Rhasputin? I don't know anything about hairless mice but they are likely different.


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## SmangoandFern

That's very interesting! I have seen some hairless rats at petsmart with black spots on them.


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## eluin

My petsmart hairless was black capped, I think. He had a little bit of fuzz on the end of his nose, and none anywhere else. All of the hairless baby threads I've seen posted so far, the babies start out just like normal babies. They get pigment, grow fur, and then lose it during their baby molt. The pigment in their skin sticks around though.


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## SmangoandFern

Wow. I was just looking at the petsmart website, and I think the purposely crop the rats tails out of the pictures because they think people will be grossed out. Their selling to the wrong people if they get creeped out by looking at rat's tails on a website.. 




















Idk. It gave me a chuckle. :


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## SiNi5T3R

lilspaz68 said:


> Well there is hairless and there is double rex. I thought that Lilith was a double rex until she bred with a standard male and had 4 boys standard coat, and 4 boys "hairless". The breeders I know determined that she is a mock hairless. LOL
> 
> Most times you cannot tell the difference between real genetic hairless and double rex without breeding them to see what the offspring are. Most "nakies" as I call them are double rex as they are much more common in the pet industry.
> 
> And the pigment definitely shows up on their skin. Are you thinking mice Rhasputin? I don't know anything about hairless mice but they are likely different.



I think Double Rex is a Dom Gene or you got lucky and the male had the hairless gene because the hairless gene is a recessive gene so both parents have to have the gene to even get a chance to make a hairless baby


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## Alethea

"Depending on the gene responsible for the hairlessness, there may be a complete absence of hair, a few thin fuzzy hairs, or a patchy bald appearance. If whiskers are present, they shoud be curled, kinked, or bent. Skin should be pink for show varieties, but there are hairless rats with dark skin and a very new *variety with markings * that resemble that of chinese hairless dogs w/ spots."
http://reocities.com/Petsburgh/7989/rats/varieties.html









How can you state that they are always pink skinned? I can clearly see the markings where, if there were to be fur, those darker spots would surely be black hair? No?


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## sorraia

Hairless rats do NOT lack pigment. The pigment is still there, always will be. Only way the rat is going to lose their pigment is by magic, some kind of skin disorder, or possibly a condition like vitiligo (which I am not sure even exists in rats). True roans *might* lose their skin pigment, but I am not sure as I have never had one, however gray horses, who lose pigment in their hair (as true roan rats do) do NOT lose pigment in their skin. 

If the rat is a lighter color, you may not be able to see the pigment well. This does NOT mean it isn't there, it just means your eyes cannot recognize it. This is similar to some people having trouble telling different shades of the same color apart, like yellow green and pea green. 

Perhaps some show standards call for a rat lacking pigment. If this is the case, the animal would most certainly have to be a Pink-Eyed White, as these are the ONLY rats that would be completely without pigment. Not all show standards call for this though. AFRMA certainly does not:
http://afrma.org/ratvar.htm#hairless
"Hairless rats should have a thin, bright, rather translucent skin, free of scars or pimples, and be as hairless as possible. The skin may be of any color or recognized marking, and wrinkling should not be penalized. The eyes may be of any color, but should be bright and free from any problems. The ears should be very large and wrinkle free. The whiskers may be very short or missing; they are usually curly."

And although there are different variations of hairless, the typical hairless variety found in the pet population does have fuzz as a baby. Some may be fuzzier than others, but this is like some rex rats being curlier than others. Not all animals of a given variety are going to be show quality and perfectly fitting the standards. In fact, most animals probably are not. This doesn't make them something else, it just means they don't follow the assigned standard. And honestly if they are pets, who really cares? They are still good pets, regardless how well they may or may not show.


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## Sidders

My hairless girl (or double rex, whichever) is a bareback because her skin on her head and neck has a darker pigment.  So if she did have hair, the different coloring of skin would correspond to a different color of hair.


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## RatfanaticLady29

This is my Black-eyed white hairless girl, Nya. Not a mark on her since she would have been all white if she had hair.
















This is my double REX girl, Korah.
























I have seen many completely hairless rats that have different colors and markings. The only thing in their genes that makes them differ from regular rats is the fact that they don't have hair. They can still have color and markings.


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## Alethea

*wiggles* See see  They have to have pigment in their skin or else where would those markings be coming from? lol ;3


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