This is something I’ve thought about writing for a long time. I realise I’m biased – as a breeder, as a judge, and as someone who wanted to learn everything they could about rats from the moment I got my first pair of boys – but hopefully there are some points in here which people will consider.
The latter part is certainly true – rats are fantastic animals in their own right and the vast majority are amazing pets, something which coat colour, ear type, coat type and markings (all the things that amount to which variety they are) don’t influence.
But bear with me a minute; I think variety does matter. Variety is the manifestation of certain genes. Sometimes we’re lucky and those genes don’t have any effects other than altering colour, or ear position; sometimes they do have added effects on the rats.
Some examples of this include Topaz/Buff (known as Ruby Eye Dilute/Red Eye Dilute) – this specific gene has been associated with Platelet Pool Deficiency, a type of clotting disorder; British Blue (also been known to have clotting issues, some lines can be prone to eclampsia); Black Eyed White (a rat entirely covered in white markings – they can suffer from deafness and audiogenic epilepsy due to the lack of pigment cells in specific locations i.e. ears). Some of these things can be bred away from, or minimised to a point where there’s a negligible effect on the rat; some of these things are intrinsic to the variety itself, a direct result of how the variety is ‘created’ on the body.
I do take issue with people saying that variety is entirely irrelevant. Here are some things I’ve heard, and the things I probably should’ve said in response (but my anxiety-brain prevented it at the time):
A rat who looks like a hamster wearing a pretty fur coat does not win a show. A poorly rat with beautiful markings does not win a show. Also a rat, no matter how stunning, fit and nicely coloured they are, who bites a judge… does not win a show. They get an instant disqualification for that one! So, no.
It is true, however, that the more ‘features’ you add to a rat, the harder it’ll be to do well in shows. For example, if you breed for Lilac Agouti Variegated Rex Dumbo… you have a lot of elements to select for. A lot to get right. In that sense, most show breeders do tend to shy away from rats who have All The Recessives.
Well.. that depends, surely? Would you consider a rat with a higher risk of bleeding out during a routine surgery a good candidate for a pet? Would you consider a rat having seizures every time you hoover an ideal children’s pet? Most of us want our pets to have healthy, long lives, right?
The above issues do not cancel out how amazing a rat’s personality/temperament can be. They can still make great pets in that sense in spite of these health issues – and I do stress that not every British Blue will have a major clotting issue, and not every Black Eyed White will be deaf or have seizures. But shouldn’t we (breeders) be aiming for more than “in spite of”? Shouldn’t we try to minimise the hurdles rats have to overcome in order to be the great pets we know they are?
This one sort of makes me laugh because it implies that every breeder who has a variety-oriented goal in mind doesn’t breed for health and temperament as a bare minimum anyway. It’s possible to care about more than one thing and aim for more than one thing! Aiming to improve head shape doesn’t mean the rats suddenly go “oh no I’m going to have to rip your face off now”; aiming to bring the fire out in an Agouti doesn’t make the rat go “well crap, now I must drop dead at 5 months old”. These selection criteria don’t happen overnight. Breeding for sound all round rats is a balancing act.
I’d go so far as to say that I’ve noticed that people who “don’t breed for colour” – who also magically seem to have 473984438934 colours in their litters, and often like to point out that they’re ‘rare’ colours (they’re probably not but I’m sure I’ll get to that) – run the risk of creating litters with recessive upon recessive upon recessive. ‘Rainbow litters’, as some people call them. I suppose that’s fine – as long as the only recessives being brought in are related to phenotype (i.e. physical characteristics). Can that be guaranteed, though?
Ah, I did say I’d get to it. So this is a paradox for me. Firstly, thinking ‘blues’ are rare is a strange concept and demonstrates a slight lack of understanding of what happens to create a ‘blue’ rat.
For a start, there are 2 well-known Blue genes in the UK: British and Russian. “Blue” gives no indication of which gene the rats are based on and believe it or not, that does matter. Both varieties can be beautiful. Both can live long, happy lives. Both can be delightful pets. But one of them is probably best for breeders with some experience under their belt. If your breeder doesn’t know which ‘blue’ they have, then how are they minimising or mitigating the negative effects which can sometimes appear in some blue lines?
People have dedicated years of record-keeping, test matings, discussion, collaboration and research to figure out the effects of certain genes. This information isn’t skin (or fur) deep.