# welcome home, dorian and felix!!!



## zuldrak (Mar 13, 2014)

for about a month i've been searching all over the place for rats. yesterday, i found a craigslist listing for some babies. immediately contacted the seller and was met with a very positive experience. (no seoul, all rats have been tested and have come from tested breeders in the past!) she doesn't have a website as far as i've found, but the name on the pedigree certificates is 'bainbridge's ratties'. definitely seemed like she knew what she was talking about, no question was left unanswered or avoided. so, we met today and i brought these two babies home!!



















dorian is the dark brown/gray, and felix is the gray/white. already they are docile and have given me kisses, so i can tell they've been hand raised as opposed to my previous rats, who were all from pet stores and very skittish for about the first week, even with constant handling. they're currently exploring their cage and mistaking litter pellets for food. 
i have never seen rats this small in real life! the pictures don't do them justice. according to their certificate they were born march 16th so that makes them just about exactly 5 weeks old. i hope they can live a very long and happy life with me. c:


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## zuldrak (Mar 13, 2014)

edit: just found her facebook and even got to see pictures of the babies' mom and dad! all incredibly healthy looking rats in wonderful cages.


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## Endlessmtn (Apr 18, 2017)

The only thing I worry about is the high white markings on your blue girl. What did the parents look like? These two look old enough that the risk of early onset megacolon is past, but the possibility still exists that the blazed one could realistically develop it later in life. I worry about any breeder that intentionally breeds or produces high white rats - even if they seemed perfectly nice and knowledgeable, it's an unethical practice. I'm not trying to scare you or put you down in any way, please understand that. It's just a very real issue that is rampant among the backyard breeders in this country.


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## Endlessmtn (Apr 18, 2017)

Edit: I just realized you said Dorian and Felix, I assume they are boys, my mistake


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## zuldrak (Mar 13, 2014)

yep, they are boys :^) they are exactly five weeks and one day old. mom had a white blaze marking & aside from that she is all gray/blue from what i can tell, and dad is all light gray/blue again from what i can tell. i've heard people argue over the megacolon & white blazes correlation in the past but never really took a side because i'd never dealt with it personally. it was definitely something i thought of and worried over, but because of their age i hoped they were beyond the point of developing it. from the pictures of their siblings, none appeared to have an enlarged belly. i worry about such things with any rat i buy, pedigree or pet store; and even some of the more well-known breeders in my surrounding states breed rats with high white. i really don't know much about rat breeding, so i can't make judgement on things like good bloodlines. however i'd still much rather buy rats from someone who actually loves their animals than from a pet store; the latter of which is something i'll likely never do again.

i have a very good intuition feeling that these boys will be healthy and i hope it's right.


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## Endlessmtn (Apr 18, 2017)

Most rats from high white litters/dams that are going to have megacolon issues are early onset - the ones who it would have been apparent as soon as they started eating solid foods, around 2 weeks, and it would be an obvious issue before 4 weeks. I certainly hope you never have to deal with it. Personally (as a breeder who began working on my own very healthy lines over 20 years ago) I would never breed a high white litter/dam - the risks are too great as the genes for high white (dominant blazes, etc) are directly attached to the megacolon gene - it cannot be separated from it. Many breeders boast of high white lines that are free from megacolon - in the US it is simply not possible. The babies affected are nearly always culled and not spoken of when they go to sell the rest of the litter. I'm not saying this is what happened in your case so please don't take offense. I wish you a long and happy life with your new additions!


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## zuldrak (Mar 13, 2014)

that's good to know, i'll still closely monitor him for any signs. with my last set, i had a brief megacolon scare with my one boy, who had a slightly bloated tummy and began having inconsistent poops, fluctuating between diarrhea and ones that were very large, but he went back to normal within a few weeks. (i think it was because of such a sudden change in food, he was very young, no more than 3 months.) i really do appreciate your concern and in no way at all take offense as it was also something i myself considered. i will always be on a close lookout for them to report any issues to the breeder.


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## RattyMomma1 (Apr 13, 2017)

zuldrak said:


> for about a month i've been searching all over the place for rats. yesterday, i found a craigslist listing for some babies. immediately contacted the seller and was met with a very positive experience. (no seoul, all rats have been tested and have come from tested breeders in the past!) she doesn't have a website as far as i've found, but the name on the pedigree certificates is 'bainbridge's ratties'. definitely seemed like she knew what she was talking about, no question was left unanswered or avoided. so, we met today and i brought these two babies home!!
> [iurl="http://www.ratforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=278265&d=1492789676"]
> 
> 
> ...


I'm sorry to quote your whole post but I'm replying from my phone for the first time amd couldn't figure out how to reply without quoting. Lol. That being said... 

Oh. My. Gosh. They are absolutey adorable!!! I have 4 girls myself and got my first ever pair of babies last month. They are about 3 months old now. They were oh so tiny when I brought them home and I too found them on craigslist and couldn't be happier with their temperaments. I feel like I've had them for so much longer than a month. They were amazingly friendly and outgoing and really did seem to trust me from the first moment I took them out of their carrier and put them into their cage. They explored everything then came to the cage door to be petted and get a treat like they had been with me forever. Very strange to me. Lolol. I wish you the best of luck with your babies!!!


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## RattyMomma1 (Apr 13, 2017)

Endlessmtn said:


> The only thing I worry about is the high white markings on your blue girl. What did the parents look like? These two look old enough that the risk of early onset megacolon is past, but the possibility still exists that the blazed one could realistically develop it later in life. I worry about any breeder that intentionally breeds or produces high white rats - even if they seemed perfectly nice and knowledgeable, it's an unethical practice. I'm not trying to scare you or put you down in any way, please understand that. It's just a very real issue that is rampant among the backyard breeders in this country.


I do not want to steal the thunder of these two beautiful babies in no way, shape, or form. But I have to ask about the high white issue, as one of my girls has a white stripe on her head and I had no idea this condition was something to lookout for. I'm pretty new to the terminology for rattie coloring so please excuse my ignorance in advance lol. But my girl is a white rat with a grey head and her head has a white stripe on it. Is the high white marking an issue for my type of colored rattie? I would post a pic but I don't want to take any attention away from these two beautiful babies. I'm just worried now that my girl may be prone to this issue and it is very scary. My girl is 3 months old but as you said it could still be a problem in the future.


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## zuldrak (Mar 13, 2014)

they sound very adorable and i'm glad to hear they're doing well!! i'd love to see some pictures of them. here's a link for explanations of a whole bunch of rat colorations and markings: http://www.afrma.org/fancyrm.htm


supposedly, delayed onset megacolon is rare, and at that point, high-white rats are about at the same level of risk as any other rat in having it; or so i've read. i've read many conflicting opinions, unfortunately. however, one of the first signs of delayed onset is their inability to grow. here's two links to that as well: http://ratguide.com/health/digestive/megacolon.php / http://www.ratbehavior.org/megacolon.htm "Note, however, that megacolon may be caused by other factors. Not all blazed rats have megacolon, and megacolon can be found in non-blazed rats as well." many people have also said megacolon is an inconsistent happening. 
in my own opinion it is something to be worried about for all rats, as is any other ratty health issue. the chances are higher in high-white rats/high-white litters, but i was not the breeder of these rats, nor do i plan on breeding them. i have asked their breeder if they have ever dealt with megacolon issues in their lines (it's a very small breeder, i do not think there are more than a few litters each year), and they stated that such a problem never arose. so i'm confident these boys do not have it. :^) if you can still get in contact with their seller/breeder, never be afraid to ask questions about pedigree! anyone who truly cares about the welfare of their animals will not deny you answers.


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## RattyMomma1 (Apr 13, 2017)

zuldrak said:


> they sound very adorable and i'm glad to hear they're doing well!! i'd love to see some pictures of them. here's a link for explanations of a whole bunch of rat colorations and markings: http://www.afrma.org/fancyrm.htm
> 
> 
> supposedly, delayed onset megacolon is rare, and at that point, high-white rats are about at the same level of risk as any other rat in having it; or so i've read. i've read many conflicting opinions, unfortunately. however, one of the first signs of delayed onset is their inability to grow. here's two links to that as well: http://ratguide.com/health/digestive/megacolon.php / http://www.ratbehavior.org/megacolon.htm "Note, however, that megacolon may be caused by other factors. Not all blazed rats have megacolon, and megacolon can be found in non-blazed rats as well." many people have also said megacolon is an inconsistent happening.
> in my own opinion it is something to be worried about for all rats, as is any other ratty health issue. the chances are higher in high-white rats/high-white litters, but i was not the breeder of these rats, nor do i plan on breeding them. i have asked their breeder if they have ever dealt with megacolon issues in their lines (it's a very small breeder, i do not think there are more than a few litters each year), and they stated that such a problem never arose. so i'm confident these boys do not have it. :^) if you can still get in contact with their seller/breeder, never be afraid to ask questions about pedigree! anyone who truly cares about the welfare of their animals will not deny you answers.


Thank you so very much for breaking it down for me. I went online and was looking into it myself after I read your post about it. Uggghhhh just another thing to be worried about with my girls. Well here is a couple pics of my girls where you can see their coloring and markings pretty good.































The two on the left are Gizzy, and the two on the right are Dottie. I didn't read about the whole growth aspect of the megacolon. But my Gizzy is very tiny. She is growing but definitely not nearly as much as my Gizzy is. She was the runt of the litter from what I could tell by the size of the other babies I saw when I picked her out. But I'm just wondering if you can tell if either of my girls have the high white markings? Thank you so much for all your time and information!!! This is why I love this forum! I don't know anyone who has ever had ratties so it is amazing to be able to ask a question and get help and advice!!! Thank you so much again!


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## zuldrak (Mar 13, 2014)

ahhh they are so cute!! what wonderful names as well.
and you're welcome. honestly, i'm really not all that educated on it myself, so if you have further questions starting a thread or asking your vet definitely couldn't hurt. it can indeed be quite difficult to tell if a rat is genetically high-white simply by looking at them. here are some good lengthy posts about the subject: http://ratropolis.blogspot.com/2015/05/what-every-rat-owner-should-know-about.html / http://www.hapk.com.br/little_mammals/twister_saibamais3_lm.htm


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