so hes a BEW like i thought in the first place?

 

I breed BEW/Dalmatian rats, and see this often. The piebald spotting gene can cause decreased pigmentation in the iris. I see it rather often in my piebald kiddos, as do other breeders breeding the piebald gene.

It's nothing 'special', and no, those are not "blue eyes". They are black eyes, which were mildly diluted by markings so are giving off a lighter tint with flash. In normal light, and genetically that rat is a Black Eyed rat.

The trait is also not something that seems to be "genetic". Breeding two parents who showed that trait, but were and genetically black eyed, has never given me a whole litter of those weird "piebald eyes" as I've been calling them as a nickname. Instead no matter the litter, it's always hit or miss whether I'll get those kiddos, or regular-eyed kiddos, and since you can't even see the trait past infancy, it's nothing special IMO.

I'm a firm believer that this is random pigment decreased by the piebald marking gene. It could hypothetically be related to odd eyes, who are also due to pigment displacement caused by markings.

Emily~

 

Hmmm. I have never heard of a blue eyed rat.

My rats with black eyes look like that when you take a picture with flash.

Blue eyed rats seem to be genetically impossible. There have been a few scientific articles about that, and seems rat iris' can't dilute that way. Cataracts is the closest thing I've ever seen, or heard of for 'blue eyed' rats.

 

He is beautiful! He is such a clean shade of white that I would be all over naming him to complement his amazing coat. Here are a few names that I personally think would suit him.

Koros (Koro) -Greek for "Pure"
Junshin (Jun for short just 'caus it is cute) -Japanese for "Innocent"
I also love the idea of the many names for 'moon'
Yue (chinese) Tsuki (japanese) or even Crescent

Just a few ideas, I love coming up with names, I spent two months choosing names for my rats the from the moment I found a breeder in my area. XD

He is just so cute~~~I can't get over it~~~

 

Well I'll swear to you my Jake has brown eyes, so I'm not surprised by the grey.

 

Wait. What is this then?

 

the little bit of skin that on the eye i've seen that many times.. the color of the eye looks to be brown..

 

I'm a firm believer that this is random pigment decreased by the piebald marking gene. It could hypothetically be related to odd eyes, who are also due to pigment displacement caused by markings.

Emily~

I use to have a Odd eye rat about 2 years ago when i had 70+ rats of my own.. named him oddy lol he had one black eye and one rubby eye.. beautiful rat tho..

 

Well, sounds like you got yourself a BEW!

 

Interesting! Are you sure his eyes were ruby? I've never heard of a complete eye color change.

 

yeah they were ruby at the beginning..

 

Wait. What is this then?

A dark/black eyed black hooded rat? XD In the right lighting you can see that black eyes are actually a dark brown (you'll be able to see the dark brown and then the darker black pupil.)

 

Well I'll swear to you my Jake has brown eyes, so I'm not surprised by the grey.

That's normal actually, a dark eyed rat's eyes look black in most lighting but in the right lightening you can see it's just a really dark brown (you'll be able to see the dark black pupil of the eye too.)

 

The mom and the dad of the baby are beautiful, but what are the red specks on their fur? Looks like it could be rat lice or mites. (I think rat lice is species specific and will only feed off of rats)

 

Well I'll swear to you my Jake has brown eyes, so I'm not surprised by the grey.

That's normal actually, a dark eyed rat's eyes look black in most lighting but in the right lightening you can see it's just a really dark brown (you'll be able to see the dark black pupil of the eye too.)

Oh? Well I noticed it when I got up in his face with a camera flash so that makes sense now. But it was cool to notice that because he's named after my boyfriend who also has dark brown eyes. :3

 

The mom and the dad of the baby are beautiful, but what are the red specks on their fur? Looks like it could be rat lice or mites. (I think rat lice is species specific and will only feed off of rats)

I see what you're talking about but it doesn't look parasitic to me so much as that the fur is colored (porphyrin, dyes from something?). Also, I'm unsure of what bedding they are on. Charlet_2007 is that aspen?

 

The mom and the dad of the baby are beautiful, but what are the red specks on their fur? Looks like it could be rat lice or mites. (I think rat lice is species specific and will only feed off of rats)

no they needed a bath at that time...

 

yeah its aspen changed over to rabbet pellets now...

 

Wait. What is this then?

That is not the eye, that is the membrane AROUND the eye, and is called 'wall eye' in show standards. It's a common show fault in rats, and is hard for show breeders to breed that common fault out of their lines.

Emily~

 

well thats what i meant lol just couldn't think of the word lol membrane lol

 

that is the most sickeningly cute thing ive ever seen...looking at it is like drinking melted marshmallow milk.

 

i still say he should be bear (polar bear, teddy bear, marshmallow bear....MY bear....lol). so whats his name?

 

Somnium (som for short)

 

Since the name was my idea, I get half-custody right? :lol:

 

Awww what a cutie! I wish I had one dumbo girl or a boy ^^