Ohana Rattery
The Frosted Rat
When I first started breeding I was interested in getting rats from breeders around the country. One of those breeders had these rats, these soft light colored rats, which stood out to me in such a way that I never stopped dreaming of those rats. Those rats were called frosted. In late spring and early summer of 2016, I contacted another feeder breeder about getting frosted rats. She had acquired them through an interesting situation but none the less, had some babies available. In early June, I took home four frosted rats from the same sire, his name is Bandit. He is a black frosted rat, pictures are below, used with permission of his owner, Michele B aka Twilight Magick Rattery who has since had to retired due to allergies from the rats. Two of the rats were from a rat named Oreo, a black Berkshire and the other was a rat name Crystal, an American blue poor rex. All of them were black, frosted, the three from the same litter were dumbos while the rex baby was a standard ear. These are the frosted rats I started with.
The Sires and Dams of my Frosteds
I named the females Paulette, Claudette and Laurette the bimbettes from Beauty and the Beast and the male is Gaston. The temperament of the group wasn’t superb, they were flighty and jumpy but no one showed an ounce of aggression. The girls did take some time to assimilate into my colonies after their quarantine period was up.
Below is the progress of this generation – Frosted to non-frosted pairings
5 weeks
Gaston
Claudette
Laurette
Paulette
6 weeks
Gaston
Claudette
Laurette
Paulette
7 weeks
Gaston
Claudette
Laurette
Paulette
Adults appox 3.5 months old
Gaston
Claudette
Laurette
Paulette
Like all rats, frosteds molt. Because of the frosting gene it is easier to see than a solid colored rat. Below is a picture of Laurette during an interesting molting phase. If the molt stays like this for a long time, it is considered patchy and patchiness should be selected against when breeding.
A long wait occurred as I waited for the frosteds to be able to mate. The first pairing I did was to one of my sweeter and better looking females, an agouti. I knew she didn’t carry black so this litter would be all agoutis.
This litter gave me 7 males and 2 females, 4 of the litter were very marked, two blazes, with 5 of the males being Berkshires. Out of the 9 only 3 males were frosted. It took a long time to be able to see the frosted clearly. 7 weeks old before the clearest signs appeared.
This gorgeous rat is who I chose for my first outcross for the frosted. She was bred to Gaston. While she is heavily marked, I picked her because her type is good, temperament is superb and she carries no c locus or black recessives, other recessive have not been noted either.
These are the boys at 7 weeks old when I first noticed the frosting a degree that could be caught on camera.
Take note of picture one. The lightened fur around the eyes and muzzle, the start of the extreme lightening up the sides and up his front arm.
Picture 2 shows the blondeness of the frosted gene on agouti especially around his eyes and shoulders.
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Pictures 3 and 4 are of the two berkshire rats that showed the frosting gene. Both of them show the gene around the eyes indicated by the lighter fur growing in as they molt into their adult coats.
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These are the boys at 8 weeks old
Picture one shows the variegated boy whose mask came out the best.
Picture 2 shows the molting line seen with frosted as the color begins to move up from the belly. This is my biggest boy in this litter.
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Pictures 3 and 4 are of the smaller male. While his frosting is more heavily distributed at this point, it isn't quite as light as his bigger brothers is, picture 2. Notice in picture 4 that the separation between the belly color and fur color is no longer distinct on frosteds like a normal agouti.
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At 9 weeks old, I finally got some good outdoor pictures taken.
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Picture one shows the characteristic patchiness that occurs throughout life in these frosteds. They are almost always left with a "bald" cap as they age and it tends to come and go. This rat is my holdback from this litter.
Picture 2 shows how light the mask is on the variegated boy. Out of the litter he appears to have the lightest frosting, possibly due to his markings. See notes below about markings and frosted.
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Picture 3 shows the face molting of a berkshire agouti. You can still see the bald cap on him as well. His face has frosted out more than his berkshire brother but not more than his variegated brother.
Picture 4 shows that the frosting gene comes in waves as well. The rat is almost completely frosted but as he continues to molt into his adult coat the frosting gene continues to lighten.
4
The next litter was a frosted to frosted litter. Claudette and Gaston.
With this litter, whether or not because they are black or it was a frosted to frosted, I was able to tell some of the babies were frosted by two weeks. She gave birth to 11, 4 females and 7 males. 2 of the females are frosted, both are hooded and 4 males were frosted and one was a hooded. 2 frosted females were culled for temperament early on as they were screamers when picked up.
Here are some early pictures of the three frosted that I was able to tell early on.
These are the pictures taken at almost 7 weeks old of the litter.
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Picture 1 is a male hooded and a good example of the type of mask they can have. Note the bald cap again on this fellow.
Picture 2 shows the frosting on the side of this female. It's very noticeable at the start in the shoulder and jaw area.
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Picture 3 is a female hooded showing a more consistent frosting all over. All the hooded in this litter are considerably more frosted than then berkshire siblings.
Picture 2 shows the belly frosting. This is the biggest indication I have seen of the frosting gene when it can be seen early on black rats. The belly goes first.
4
Somethings I have noticed. Frosted to Frosted does not seem to increase the amount of frostedness in each baby but only increases the amount of frosted in each litter. Frosted, at this point, seems to appear more clearly and intensely on marked rats, the hooded and variegateds in my litters have the better masks and display the frosted gene better. This is also seen on spotted tabby/marble coats as well.
Taking picture is also something that has been very hard. I have found two lighting situations that seem to be ideal, a shadowy area in bright sunlight or using a light box with a direct uvb light bulb.
Non frosted agouti sibling
Frosted hooded female unable to see frosted due to direct sunlight.
Frosted hooded female unable to see frosted due to light box.
"bald" cap on vari male
Health issues noted - None so far
Temperament issues noted
- Claudette was extremely skittish when she had young babies. She never bit but would attempt to grab and move babies all the time and was squeaking when picked up. After weaning, she went back to her normal self.
- Laurette abandoned her litter after taking months to get pregnant. She was in a bin with another pregnant female and that female was attempting to nurse. I removed Laurette and placed her in her own bin. She did not show any interest in the babies. I was able to get a foster mom to take them but I will not be breeding the litter. I will not attempt to rebreed her.
- Gaston is good with other males except one specific male which he picks on. This male is the only adult male I have that is smaller than Gaston. Gaston is not aggressive towards me but prefers to be left alone.
- The frosted to the frosted litter are better than their parents but are still on the skittish side where I prefer not to sell to the public. Two frosted girls were immediately cut from my program as they were screamers when picked up.
-Paulette is distant but has the best temperament of that first frosted group. She showed no signs of aggression when she had her litter, she doesn't want to be held but does not squeak or run away, just wiggly. She scruffs the best.
From these litters, frosted rats will be heading to different breeders around the country to help access and work with the gene.
Kokopelli Kritters in Colorado will be a getting a m/f pair.
Delta Exotics in Arkansas will be getting two males.
Enchanted Hills Rattery in Kansas will be getting a m/f pair.
FairlyRats Rattery in Wisconsin will be getting a 2.1 trio.
I want to say a huge thank you to these breeders. It is with their willingness to work with a new gene that we can help new varieties.