[Sky14]

Eskyda's a black hooded rat and her black is turning brown!! WHY!?!?! What is it? How do I fix it? HELP ASAP!!!!!

PLEASE HELP!!!

 

[Dimitrius]

How old is she?
Change in fur color doesn't really sound like anything to get too worked up about, I don't think. Is she maybe just getting old? Or is she a very young rat that's maybe just growing into her adult color?

 

[Sara_C]

Are you sure it's not just dirt?

Edit: Sorry, i read that as her tail for some reason :lol:

 

[Forensic]

Black can go brown. Calm down.

 

[Poppyseed]

Wow, yeah sometimes black fades in animals. It happens lots, nothing to worry about.

 

[twitch]

yeah, i've had black rats that went almost completely chocolate on me when they got older. though spider seems to be going grey instead so go figure. coat coloring changing isn't uncommon at all and doesn't normally pose any problems, well unless you were showing her or something but that'd be about it. i had a young rat who's but turned brown from pitch black about 5-6 months. i thought it was just the sun lighting up her hair as she would bask in it for hours but then she got old and turned brown (mostly) so it could have been that too. in any case don't worry about it, its normal.

 

[Sky14]

Ok if you say so.... It's just that I've owned alot of ratsys with black fur and this is a first for me. lol Is it a lack of vitamins or something? I noticed it a few days ago but dismissed it as a light trick but it caught my attention again last night so I inspected farther and found that her fur was brown at the base of her hood strip. So it IS somewhat "normal" yes...?

 

[yonksgirl]

I know with horses if you want them to darken up you can feed them black oil sunflower seeds...not sure if it would work with ratties

 

[Stephanie]

i have two rats that have turned from black to brown also one of the girls i just rescued has a black hood with a brown butt stripe

 

[Night]

It's called rusting. It happens in some rats as they age - most of the time it's from bad genetics.

 

[lilspaz68]

If its a baby, she is getting her adult coat which isn't pure black. If its an older rat its rusting. Perfectly normal.

I have noticed that bad nutritition can rust out an adult rat's coat as well but it can return to normal with proper care.

 

[hydra]

my girl grace was all black, and is now sporting a brown butt

 

[IceLore]

It's called 'rusting' and is completely normal. A lot of dark, solid (non-agouti) rats will rust with age. I had a mink girl who rusted in big patches all over her back as she got older. It's genetic. Some rats 'silver' (get white hairs) and some rust. Most breeders try to breed away from that to get more vibrant colors that stay true longer. Either way, calm down and don't worry, it's no big deal.

 

[fallinstar]

well i thought i knew my rats lol toby was rolling over and im sure as can be his belly is/was all white but theres a brown strip on it now can rats sudenly get more markings?

 

[Sky14]

Ok thanks. I understand now.

But boy! I thought it was somthing bad! lol

I'm just glade it's a "normal" thing that happens (to some ratsys) with age. :wink: :roll:

Thanks again.

 

[Sky14]

It's getting worse! And now she's getting this brown/orange color on the white parts of her fur! Are you SURE it's "nomal"!?

 

[Poppyseed]

That sounds like buck grease to me, but I didn't think females got it that much. You may want to give her a bath and look into the protein content of her diet. It also shows up when a rat is having a myco flair up. Is she sneezing?

 

[Sky14]

No "out of the ordinary" sneezing the ocasional "got something up my nose" or "that smelled gross!!" but thats it.

I'll give her a bath as soon as I get something to use as "shampoo".

And I give them only the best of foods. :wink:

Oh and could you refresh my memory on mycro flair up. Just in case.

 

[Sky14]

Hello?

 

[Forensic]

Myco flare up would involve sneezing, difficulty breathing, etc.

Do you feed lots of protein? Do they get oily treats?

Have you tried the bath yet?