# Fawn Hooded Rat!



## kgroxatlife (Aug 12, 2013)

Can i prevent pulmonary hypertension in my fhr? Also, do you have to care for a fhr (fawn hooded rat) differently than a normal hooded rat. If so, how should i care for her? What foods, if any, should i give to my fhr (that will help)? What do i need to do to make sure she is healthy and lives a long life!?


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## JudeWriley (Aug 1, 2007)

Different colors and coat types don't change how to take care of your rat. Just be sure to get her a cage mate (either another female or a neutered male. It's important she have a friend), budget some money every day for vet care, find a good local vet that will see rats and read all the resources and stuff that are on the message boards here


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## Mitsy (Apr 8, 2013)

As was said by judewriley the coat and color doesn't make a difference and the other things as well. Make sure you get a healthy food mix for her and get her a friend along with a cage that is big enough for two rats and give them lots of attention as toys to play with.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

They do in some cases, Fawn (along with Buff) is caused by a gene called Red Eyed Dilute, this gene causes blood platelet storage pool deficiency, which is incedentally why they are used as an experiemental model for Hermansky–Pudlak syndrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermansky-Pudlak_syndrome). This means that amongst other things it can cause a reduction in blood clotting times. Its worth noting that this is very variable though, some rats show no obvious symptoms, some have fairly serious ones (incedentally much like humans). There are other varieties that can have health problems associated with them too, and if you know about them you can try and help the rats as much as possible,

In terms of specific care, i've only recently started digging into this (since having 2 RED babies pop up in my last litter) but heres some tips;

if you ever find your girl has a cut then monitor her carefully, it may clot fast and heal but if she's bleeding for a while then she may need help, keeping some stypatic powder on hand can be helpful.

Before considering surgery with your girl make sure she has a 'nick test' this would be used to check the blood clotting time and is normally done on the tail. From our teams research normal clotting times are; PT (prothrombin) clotting time: 4 - 19 seconds, PTT (partial thromboplastin) clotting time: 12 - 25 seconds. These were taken from Shalm's Veterinary Haematology, 6th edition, 2010. They will probably mean something to your vet. If she has abnormal readings then i would only risk lifesaving surgery. I'm assuming you have no interest in breeding from her, but the risks are similar so the test should be carried out first.

Keep her healthy and slim, dont let her put on lots of weight, whilst i haven't found a direct link between the two a lot of the issues with blood platelet storage pool deficiency would also be affected by excess weight and theres no reason to double the risk factors up.

Try and keep her diet healthy, so pleanty of good vitamins, things like Vit C and E can be useful, low salt and sugar is also a good idea, and if she falls ill tell the vet that this could be a factor. Most RED rats live perfectly happy lives, but it is true that on average they dont live quite as long as other rats. I hope your girl is one of those that buck the trend.


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## katkandy (Mar 3, 2012)

thats so interesting Isamurat. I had a fawn hoody pass only last night due to what I suspect was congenital heart failure (cold ears/feet/purple tip of tail/weight loss and then sudden bloating of his abdomen last night and gasping for breath)... He lost some hair due to mites and even when the mites were gone his hair never really grew back and the bald area seemed to be constantly covered in scratches and sores that would take ages to get better no matter how i treated them (paw paw cream, honey, olive oil for dryness and then cortisone cream when nothing else worked). I wonder if he suffered from this clotting disorder... He was always a happy, loving, hungry little guy and was around 18/19 months old when he passed. He didn't seem to be tired or lazy tho, but his behaviour did change - he started nipping and escaping from his house (i always leave their door ajar cos they have a balcony and i've never had any issues in the past) and apparantly that is a symptom of heart disease too. i think i'll do some more research on fawn hoodies... thanx.


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## DustyRat (Jul 9, 2012)

Very informative.


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## Alethea (Jul 14, 2010)

Thanks for sharing that information, Isamurat! The more we know, the better


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