# High white rats - Megacolon



## amyk2978

Hi,

So basically I just realised that my two babies are "high white rats" (I thought "high white" meant all white..?!) and now I'm worried about megacolon :| The woman I got them from openly admitted that she was new with breeding rats (she breeds mice, gerbils, rabbits, etc. and I think the first rat litter was a mistake, then she decided to carry on with it..)
So is there only a high risk of megacolon in the pups if both parents are high white?? I know that their dad was albino (PEW??), but I can't remember what their mum looked like...
Albino/PEW ISN'T high white, is it...? I'm so confused by all of this! 

Anyone got any advice/info..? Much appreciated!


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## elliriyanna

The wedge blaze is not a high white marking but the belly markings are. They do have some risk but I believe at this age they are only vulnerable to late onset currently. Pews are not high white either. I don't know how much this helps but its all I know.

There is also a pinned thread on high whites

Also watch for a ballooning belly.


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## rhodri

You should try contacting the person you got them from and ask her if shes ever seen any signs of megacolon in her rats or their pups, and keep a close eye on them.


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## amyk2978

Actually, I've just confused myself even further by looking at lots of pictures...
Are my rats high whites??
I'm thinking they're huskies/roans, because of their markings and the fact that I've noticed their markings fade quite a lot over the past few weeks. Are huskies high whites...?? 

Here's some pics:


























I'm really worrying myself now, I've just had to deal with my two big old fatties dying, I can't bear the idea of my two babies getting megacolon!


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## YellowSpork

Your question made me wonder what high white markings are so I was reading a very interesting article and she said that roan isn't a high white marking.  Here's the link if you're interested.  There was a few things I only skimmed over, but in general I am a bit less confused about what high white means, so it's worth a read. lol

http://www.spoiledratten.com/highwhitecont.html


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## amyk2978

Yeah, I think I'll get in touch with her.. I've got her on Facebook anyway so should be pretty easy! Think I'm just worrying unnecessarily though..(or hope so!) 
After reading a bit more about it I've realised that roans/huskies aren't high whites, and that's almost 100% what they are 'cause they've faded so much. 

Here's a picture of the mum by the way, I found it on the Facebook page.. What d'you think of the markings?


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## amyk2978

YellowSpork said:


> Your question made me wonder what high white markings are so I was reading a very interesting article and she said that roan isn't a high white marking.  Here's the link if you're interested.  There was a few things I only skimmed over, but in general I am a bit less confused about what high white means, so it's worth a read. lol
> 
> http://www.spoiledratten.com/highwhitecont.html


Really?? That article is what initially made me really worry!! This bit in particular... 

"A very common marking seen in high-white rats is the blaze. Not all blazed rats are high-whites, but most seen in the fancy in the US seem to be as it is a dominant marking (some blazing is recessive, but this is much less common). The rats below have dominant blazes (high-white), though they are not always "wedge" blazes; some are "lightning" blazes or other asymetrical blazes:"

...followed by some pictures of rats that look just like mine! 

But then this website made me feel better as it made me realise mine are almost definitely huskies, and that means they're not high white! >> http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...ite&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&client=firefox-a

It's all VERY confusing... So like, some high white rats look just like husky rats...?? But husky rats aren't high whites? Crazy. I don't know how people get their heads round it!


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## amyk2978

Thanks for the help though guys


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## YellowSpork

Oops. Well. It did say that the huskies arent' high white, at least. XD

Really I don't know how people tell which blazes are high white and which aren't because she was talking dominant and recessive and all that (which I'm good with since I'm a biology major, but she can tell just from looking? @[email protected]), but the point here is that roans/huskies aren't high white, I guess, so you don't have to worry much. XD Maybe when I know more about rats in a few years I'll try understanding high white a little better, and just avoid blazed rats in the meantime. 

And I'm not sure about the markings on the mom cause now i"m just confusing myself, but either way she's really pretty. :3


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## amyk2978

Yeah exactly! 
Yeah, good idea... The thought of megacolon and people who don't know what they're doing breeding rats and creating litter upon litter of poor little megacolon-prone pups makes me saaaaaad!
I wonder if my boys' eyes are gonna go red too then? I've just been reading more stuff about husky rats, and it seems like some do and some stay black.. strange! So basically, in a year I could end up with two PEWs after all! Weird, 'cause the litter that I was choosing from were all either the markings that the two boys I've got now have, or PEWs, but now it seems like they'll all end up the same by the time they're adults! Baffling. Haha.. I've only just found out today that their colours are going to fade! I had no idea.. Kinda sad really 'cause I love their markings, but I'm sure they'll be just as adorable all white!


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## YellowSpork

Yeah they're so cute right now! It's disappointing they won't stay looking like that. Once they've both faded you might have problems telling them apart!  But I do actually think albino rats are super cute and never understood why some people think they're creepier than marked rats. :/ And siamese rats. x3 If I ever come across a female siamese rat I am going to snatch her up no matter what my boyfriend says, because the only kind I ever see around here is hooded, black, and albino. And they're all cute, but all of my girls are hooded, so no more! lol Otherwise I'll have problems remembering whose stripe looks like what. 

And you know, you'd think that if a lot of their babies were getting megacolon and dying the "breeders" would stop because something was wrong... ;_; It's really depressing. I read somewhere (maybe yahoo answers) about some lady talking about how her kids got a male and female rat over the summer and basically just used her as a baby-machine to get some money. -_-" Some people just don't have common sense, I think. lol


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## amyk2978

Oh God! Some people baffle me... How much of a profit are they gonna make out of that, realistically?! Stupid...

Yeah I know! I was thinking that... (not being able to tell them apart when they're completely faded) 
The lighter one is almost white on his back now.. it's crazy! They're still adorable though  Here's a couple of more recent photos... 

This is Sil today (the darker one)









Both of them in their hammock... 









And this is Paulie a few days ago


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## amyk2978

I think Paulie's gonna get the pink eyes too... They've got a bit of a pink tint to them (as you can see in the bottom photo up there...) S'pose that's how I'd tell them apart if so!


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## elliriyanna

Actually that pink is just a result of the flash rats are born with pink or black eyes though sometimes red darkens


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## amyk2978

I didn't mean in the photo actually, his eyes just look like they've got a pink-ish tinge to them in general..


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## skattarat

Roans generally all have those eyes. Look mostly black but are infact dark red in the middle. Not all roans fade completely to white, some keep some colour til they die, some go white after a few months, it depends on the rat.
The majority of megacolon cases die when they start eating hard feed, so way before they are old enough to be rehomed.


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