# New coloring type?



## camay (Oct 18, 2012)

I found this dumbo rat at "Pet World" in Lawrence KS, and I have seen nothing like it (I just got back into rats after a 10 year hiatus.. but have refreshed and re-researched it). His coloring looks like a ferret's coat with a white undercoat and dark tips, however with a merle tone.. maybe 2-3 colors in all of it just for the tip 

Here are some pics..


























He's going for $20 at Pet World. I can transport him an hour away if anyone wants him seeing as he is such an exotic coloring. Very strange!


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## camay (Oct 18, 2012)

:sigh: I actually meant this for another section to see if others had seen the coloring before.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

He looks like a merle (I might be wrong). Not sure what color, maybe pearl mearle. I think how "rare" a rat coloration is depends on your area - I know pearl merles are popular over in eastern Canada and all over in pet stores.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

He does look mink based, quite a warm tone to it though, I'm not sure if pearl works on American mink, if it does I would say he was a dark phase Am mink, probably mereled too, though less patchy than some I've seen.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

He is a pearl merle and actually a "poor" one as you can barely see his merling.

I have had some interesting ones over the years...










These were too current girls, the darker one just was put to sleep a week ago


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## Run Computers (Oct 14, 2012)

Those pearls are good looking rats.


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## camay (Oct 18, 2012)

What I am posting about is the color is more agouti styled.. and changes color throughout the shaft of the hair.. thus the white undercoat then tips.. I have never seen fur like a ferret on a rat before.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

That's what the pearl gene does. In a show standard pearl here in the UK most of each hair is white, with just the tip being coloured. You can get this effect with American/british blue too, though that's done by selecting for a pale undercoat as opposed to a specific gene.


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## Hgzznksss (Oct 25, 2012)

The white up the sides kinda looks like a veriberk, it looks blue to me, but it may be my iPad.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

actually those rats I posted are not pearls, that is a different looking colour altogether.

Your boy in petsmart looks like he might be more dark phase or even a light mink merle (pearl merle is mink-based)

Run Computers, this is pearl (sorry this is Tepeu after her eye removal surgery)


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## Run Computers (Oct 14, 2012)

I like that color too. Don't think there are many rat colorings that I don't like.


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## camay (Oct 18, 2012)

Yeah, I was going to say that didn't look pearl from the pearls I have seen on the internet. Not all of the tips had color really on the rat. It's what I guess ferret breeders would call roan.. but it's not roan as the rat breeders would necessarily call it in a rat, as that fades from black to silver to near white. I have another pic that perhaps better illustrates that that I may upload.


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Yep Pearl Merle, a dark one at that. Probably on an agouti based rat as If I am correct Pearl can happen on both Agouti and Black based (though I think they might be called different names, I'm not sure, I can't find any information on that part)

Curious, do you have him/going to get him? He looks friendly.if he was friendly he probably deserves a good home.


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## camay (Oct 18, 2012)

If a mink has ruby eyes, that modifies its color to lilac. If the color is 'dark' that doesn't make it the same.. He'd be pretty dark comparatively.

I'd be happy to see every friendly person get a home. I can only have so many rats =/


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