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.
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.
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Below is the progress of this generation – Frosted to non-frosted pairings
Gaston
Paulette
Laurette
Claudette
6 Weeks
Gaston
Paulette
Laurette
Claudette
7 Weeks
Gaston
Paulette
Laurette
Claudette
Approximately 3.5 months
Gaston
Paulette
Laurette
Claudette
Like all rats, frosteds molt. Because of the frosting gene it is easier to see than a solid colored rat. . If the molt stays like this for a long time, it is considered patchy and patchiness should be selected against when breeding. Below are a few pictures of frosted rats molting.
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 went to different breeders around the country to help access and work with the gene.
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Kokopelli Kritters in Colorado got m/f pair and is currently working on mink and black frosted.
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Delta Exotics in Arkansas got two males.
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Enchanted Hills Rattery in Kansas got a m/f pair.
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.
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