Where To Buy Hairless Rats

The most common type of fancy rat is the standard, which has short, shiny fur. Other commonly-found types of pet rats include tailless rats, hairless rats, rex rats with curly hair, dumbo rats with large ears, and satin rats with a silky coat. These rats come in a variety of colors, some of which are bred on purpose and some of which are natural. Both hairless rats and fancy rats require a bedding material in their cage to run around on, dig in and sleep on.

Like all small animals, both types are prone to dangerous respiratory infections and other symptoms caused by the phenols in cedar and pine shaving; never use these materials for bedding. Recycled newspaper bedding or other paper bedding is acceptable, as is a soft fleece blanket. Regardless of which bedding you use, clean it at least twice a week for furred rats and three or so times a week -- at least -- for hairless rats.

Because of their suppressed immune systems, hairless rats are more susceptible to respiratory problems due to factors such as mold. It is sometimes difficult to introduce new rats to each other, so it is best to purchase them at the same time from the same cage at the pet store. Rats are extremely intelligent and enjoy being handled and exploring. Your rat will love its out of cage time to play with you. Male rats do not often get along well together unless they are siblings and purchased at the same time; also make sure to select a cage large enough to give them separate living spaces. Do not keep males and females together as they reproduce readily.

Rats are easily tamed, even if they are difficult at first. The more you handle and work with your pet, the tamer it will become. Any animal may bite in defense if it feels threatened, but domestic rats generally are not known to bite. Remember to work with your pet after dusk, as it will be more willing to cooperate since it is a nocturnal animal.

Place your pet's cage in a place in the home where it will be around the family, yet protected from direct light, drafts and excess noise during the day. Also be sure it is high enough to be out of reach of dog noses and small children's hands. Rats are prey animals and can feel threatened by large bodies above them or in their faces.

Our rats are not pet shop animals, they are all heavily, pedigreed and shipped in from the healthiest lines we could find. We have bred our current lines for 45 or more generations ourselves. And they have 25 + years of pedigree and healthy breeding behind our 40 generations of breeding's.

We have some of the oldest and most established lines in the USA. Camarattery rats are bred for health, longevity and temperament. Most of our rats live from 3-4 years which is easily verifiable. It takes us weeks or months of planning before I place each pair together so I can be sure of the best outcome. We do want to make it clear that Camarattery is not a feeder breeder nor do we sell rats to or from feeder breeders.

There are plenty of feeder breeders in Colorado and they make it very hard for you to tell if they are a feeder breeder or a quality pet rat breeder. We are strictly a quality pedigreed pet rat breeder working on lines who are proven for longevity and mellow dispositions. Safe housing is a priority for your hairless rat's health. They have special needs, both due to their sensitivity to the cold and their delicate skin.

The cage needs to be free of sharp edges and placed in a draft-free spot. A room that is comfortably room temperature will be fine for your rat, but make sure there are no drastic temperature swings from day to night. Bedding made from shredded paper or cloth provides your pet with a soft, warm home. Wood shavings and chips, common for use with other small pets, will damage the hairless rat's skin. Both hairless rats and fancy rats make ideal companion pets and entertain their owners with their inquisitive nature, playful attitudes and willingness to hitch a ride on a shoulder. Even though they are more susceptible to illness and other problems, a hairless rat can make an ideal, friendly pet for someone willing to take the time to keep their environment clean and healthy.

Keeping rats as pets can come with the stigma that rats supposedly transmit dangerous diseases to their owners. Usually, rats bred as pets are tested and treated for diseases and parasites. Norvegicus is not among the list of species considered a threat. In 2004, an outbreak of salmonella in the United States was connected to people who owned pet rats.

Hairless rats are a coat variety characterized by varying levels of hair loss. One type of hairless rat is bred from curly-coated rexes. These range from having areas of very short fur to being completely bald.

Since rex is a dominant trait, there only needs to be one rex parent to produce curly rex-coated offspring. However, when two rex parents are bred, two copies of the trait may be present in the offspring. This causes varying levels of hairlessness, and has earned the colloquial name "double rex". The other type of hairless rat is sometimes referred to as a "true hairless".

This is caused by a different gene, and is distinguishable from a hairless double rex by the absence of whiskers. Unlike a double rex, this type of hairless rat is incapable of growing hairs on any part of the body. One additional subset of semi-hairless rats, patchwork rex, constantly lose their hair and regrow it in different "patches" several times throughout their life.

Rats are social creatures, preferring the company of at least one other rat over being alone. Two females make ideal pairs, as do two males from the same litter. Hairless rats, because of their lack of fur, do well when housed with a furry rat. When they snuggle, the hairless rat gets to cuddle into the fur of his cage mate.

Rats of both types like small boxes to sleep in, as well as hammocks or pieces of soft fabric such as an old T-shirt. If you have hairless rats, one of these items is almost necessary to help keep them warm. Hairless rats are prone to small scratches from their cage mates due to the lack of protective fur.

Specialty fancy rat breeders may travel to shows or have their hairless rats available for you to adopt at any time. To locate a breeder in your area, search the American Fancy Rat & Mouse Association list of local rat clubs. A hairless rat may cost anywhere between $25 – $50, depending on where you adopt it. Pet stores that sell small animals may have hairless rats for sale, but if you want to minimize the potential for health issues, you may consider going to a reputable breeder instead. A rat is already an exotic pet, with different considerations than a typical cat or dog.

A hairless rat is even more particular than a regular furred rat and requires some special attention and care. The care tips in this guide will cover cage and bedding, food, exercise, grooming, and health. Rats are intelligent, affectionate creatures that make great pets for people who want an exotic companion. For those who want an even more unusual pet, hairless rats are perfect. They have many of the same personality traits and care requirements as furred rats. But hairless rats do differ from furry rats in a few distinct ways.

If you want to adopt a hairless rat, check out this guide to ensure you're ready to take on the responsibility of adopting a hairless rat. Hairless rats are definitely adorable, smart pets that make amazing cuddlers. If you decide to take one home, make sure you take into consideration their special care needs compared to a "regular" rat with fur. You also will need to understand that it's best to keep at least two as a hairless rat will need a companion to snuggle with even more than a regular rat will. Otherwise, once you're ready to handle their skin and health concerns, hairless rats can be loving, engaging companions with a unique look.

Double rex rats have two rex genes which results in a hairless rat rather than one with a kinky rex coat. These rats do have eyebrows and short, kinky or curly whiskers. You may see small patches of peach fuzz-like hair on their head or feet. These rats can also come in different colors, though the coloring will show up on their skin, much like a hairless cat's coat color. Double rex rats can come in just about every color and ear type and may have black or red eyes. While they may appear the same at first glance, there are actually three different types of hairless rat pets with different genetic backgrounds.

Aside from their unusual coat, these rats tend to be a bit smaller than other common fancy rats. Some owners consider them to be hypoallergenic because of their lack of hair, which is not the case, but people with allergies may find them more tolerable than furry rats. To care for a hairless rat, prepare a cage with at least 2 square feet of floor space, and line it with paper bedding or newspaper. Make sure to clean the bedding 3 times a week, since hairless rats are prone to respiratory infections caused by dirty cages. Additionally, provide your rat with a lab block to eat, which will give it all the vitamins and minerals it needs to be healthy. You can also offer it fruits and vegetables, like strawberries or carrots, once a day to give it something fresh to eat.

Hairless rats are smart, inquisitive, and driven by food. While many people assume that having a rat as a pet means keeping it caged, they can spend time outside their habitat as long as they are supervised. They can learn to respond to their name, come when called, and even play fetch. Rats bond easily with their cagemates as well as their humans.

If you regularly spend time with them, they will learn quickly. Supervision is important any time your pet rat is out of their cage, but particularly so with the hairless rat, whose delicate skin can be damaged easily. We breed because we love, love, love what we do, our job is to bring love into people's homes.

Rats are fantastic little kids and we love to share that with others. They are smart, clean, can learn tricks like a dog, yet litter train like a cat. We love the antics of the rat as they are such little hams. They get so excited to see you and wrestle, play and bounce around when you come to their cage.

Adopters are fun, the rats are adorable and I love the "camaraderie". Grooming is one of the areas where hairless rats need a lot more care and attention than furred rats. They need a weekly bath with shampoo designed for sensitive skin. Choose either baby shampoo or mild, non-toxic pet shampoo.

Dry your hairless rat off completely after the bath, and place your pet near a heater or a source that generates warmth. A hairless rat resembles a furred rat in size and weight, but you'll see pink skin instead of white, brown, or black fur. Hairless rats also might make better companions to people with bad allergies, but their lack of hair doesn't make them totally hypoallergenic. We use a mutant hairless Sprague Dawley rat to evaluate the capacity of retinoids to inhibit the epidermal ornithine decarboxylase activity induced by sellotape stripping. In order to minimize the variability introduced by the animals in our model we decided to validate the hairless rats used.

A number of animal parameters were examined using a single lot of 50 males and 50 females aged from 4 to 11 weeks and acclimatized to laboratory conditions. Nude animals present two periods of hair growth, the first at 6-7 weeks and the second at about weeks. No histological change was observed in the stratum corneum but an increase in epidermal thickness was noted in males aged 9 weeks.

Removal of the stratum corneum by sellotape stripping was more effective and reproducible in the females, as determined histologically. Sellotape-stripping induction of ornithine decarboxylase in the epidermis was higher in rats aged 5-6 weeks and reached a plateau in animals aged 6-12 weeks. Individual variations obtained were lower in females (about 5%-10% in females and 10%-20% in males). The present research suggests that female rats aged about 8 weeks provide maximum reproducibility of response and ease of use.

Domesticated rats have a longer lifespan than that of wild rats. Because domesticated rats are protected from predators and have ready access to food, water, shelter, and medical care, their average lifespan is around two to three years, in contrast to wild R. Norvegicus which average a lifespan of less than one year. However, wild rats generally have larger brains, hearts, livers, kidneys, and adrenal glands than laboratory rats. Fancy rats were originally targets for blood sport in 18th- and 19th-century Europe.

Later bred as pets, they now come in a wide variety of coat colors and patterns, and are bred and raised by several rat enthusiast groups around the world. Fancy rats are generally easy to care for provided plenty of research is done and are quite affordable, even compared to other small pets; this is one of their biggest draws. Additionally, they are quite independent, loyal and easily trained. They are considered more intelligent than other domesticated rodents. Both hairless and regular rats require bedding material on the bottom of the cage to run, dig, and sleep. While wood chips such as aspen are fine for regular rats, the sharp edges can cut the skin of a hairless rat.

Hairless rats have mostly bald, smooth skin, except for a few patches of hair, such as around the face or on the genitals. Hairless rats make playful, inquisitive pets, but they may require a bit of extra attention due to their lack of hair. You can provide your hairless rat with excellent care by learning about how to feed, house, and protect your rat's health. The species of rat bred for pet purposes is known as the fancy rat.