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The 'fancy rat' or 'pet rat' is a domesticated breed of the Brown Rat (''Rattus norvegicus'') or, more rarely, of the Black Rat (R. rattus). The name "''fancy rat''" has nothing to do with the "''fanciness''" of their appearance but derives from the meaning of "''to fancy''". Thus, one who keeps pet rats is said to be involved in "rat fancy."
Pet rats live about 2 to 3 1/2 years though the oldest rat on record - a lab rat called Rodney - reached a purported age of 7 years and 4 months, according to the 1995 Guinness Book of Records. Bucks (male rats) reach an average weight of between 400 g and 800 g, while does (female rats) can average between 250 g and 450 g. Female rats tend to be more active than male rats.

Contents

Origins

Varieties

Colouring

Markings

Coat types

Hairless rats

Physical changes

Ethics of selective breeding

Health concerns regarding pet rats

Domestic rats in film, television, theatre and literature

References

See also

External links

Origins

The origin of the modern fancy rat is probably the rat-catchers of the late 19th century who trapped rats and were paid by town governments per rat, and who also kept certain rats for exhibition/gambling fights. They began breeding rats and became attached to some as they discovered how intelligent and trainable rats can be. One of the most famous of these rat catchers was Jack Black, ratcatcher to Queen Victoria, who became known for breeding and selling pet rats around 1840-1860. Rats became more and more domesticated and people enjoyed them since they are easily bred, social and intelligent^[1] pets. The first rat show was held in 1901 in England. Beatrix Potter, author of the "Peter Rabbit" series of children's books, had a white pet rat of which she was very fond, and in remembrance of which she dedicated the story "The Roly-Poly Pudding".
Rat fancy as a formal organised hobby did not begin until ''Mary Douglas'' asked for permission from the ''National Mouse Club'' to bring her pet rats to an exhibition at the Aylesbury Town Show on October 24, 1901. Her black and white hooded ''Rattus norvegicus'' won "Best in Show," and the Rat Fancy was formally launched.
The original ''Rat Fancy'' lasted until 1931, as part of the ''National Mouse and Rat Club''. The modern Rat Fancy was revived in 1976 with the formation of the ''National Fancy Rat Society'', and the fancy spread around the world.
Ratkeeping grew in popularity in the 1970s, leading to the formation of the British National Fancy Rat Society in 1976. Nowadays, fancy rats are accepted as perfectly normal pets and exhibition animals.

Varieties

As in other pet species, a variety of colours, coat types, and other features that do not appear in the wild have been either developed or arisen spontaneously in pet rats.

Colouring

While some pet rats retain the "agouti" (three tones on the same hair) colouring of the wild brown rat, other colours may include blue, chocolate, silver, black, white, and pearl, fawn/champagne/beige, and mink/cinnamon. Colour definitions tend to vary for more vague varieties like fawn and champagne, or mink and cinnamon. They can fluctuate between and even within different countries or clubs. American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association standards National Fancy Rat Society standards

Markings

In addition to the many colours, there are also many different markings. The markings are typically in reference to the patterns and ratios of coloured hair versus white hair. The two extremes would be a Self and a Himalayan (as defined by the NFRS). The former being completely coloured while the latter only has a gradual blend of colouring towards its nose. Markings usually have a strict standard e.g; in the case of hooded rats, the stripe, or "saddle" should be a single, unbroken line running down the spine and possibly partly down the tail. However, most rats are not bred strictly to the standard, and will have "mismarkings." Most marked rats found in pet shops will be mismarked.
Internationally recognized standards include:

★ Berkshire - coloured top, white belly

★ Hooded - colour running from full head down spine

★ Capped - colour on full head only

★ Variegated - a blaze, or short white strip on the forehead, with a fully coloured head and splotches or flecks of colour running down the back only

★ Essex - similar to Berkshire, only that the colour fades to white rather than ending abruptly

★ Bareback - colour fully on head, neck, and chest only (not officially standardized in the UK)

★ Irish or English Irish - In England this marking is only standardized as an equilateral triangle of white with a side beginning at the chest, or between the front legs, and the point ending mid length. The AFRMA, another international rat fancier club, distinguishes this marking as the English Irish and allows for another standard Irish in which the rat may have white of an even or symmetrical nature anywhere along its belly.

Other marking varieties include Dalmatian-like spotting, blazes, masks (only around the eyes), Siamese (typically a gradient of colour on the nose), and "downunders" (an Australian variety which have markings on the belly that correspond to those on top). Additionally, eye-colour is considered a subset of colouring, many coat-colour definitions including standards for the eyes. They may be black, ruby, pink, or odd-eyed (one of each).

Coat types

A hairless rat.

There is a relatively small variety of coats, and not all are internationally standardized as such. The most common type is the Normal or "Standard," which is allowed variance in coarseness between sexes; the males have a coarse, thick, rough coat, while the females' coats are softer and finer. One of the more exotic coats includes the Rex coat; all the hairs are curly, even the whiskers. Satin or silky coats are extra soft, fine, and have a sheen. The remaining coat types are not defined by the hair itself, but rather by the lack of it.

Hairless rats

Hairless, or Sphynx, rats are a coat variety characterized by their completely bare skin except perhaps near the top of their heads (not standard) and their whiskers. Patchwork rats are a subset of the hairless, constantly losing hair and regrowing it in different "patches" several times throughout their lifetimes.^[2]
There are currently three known genes that can cause recessive hairlessness. They are denoted as rnu (Rowett nude), fz (fuzzy), and shn (shorn). When an organism is identified as having a visible recessive trait, the gene pair (from the father and mother) is listed like such: rnu/rnu. All three gene types have characteristic health problems.^[3]
Rowett nudes, first identified in 1953 in Scotland, have no thymus. The lack of this organ severely compromises their immune system, infections of the respiratory tract and eye increasing the most dramatically. Their average life span is about nine months.
Fuzzy rats were identified in 1976 in a Pennsylvanian lab. They are prone to malocclusion, or tooth misalignment - and about half of all males and 75% of all females require their teeth to be regularly trimmed to maintain normal function. However, the leading cause of death among fz/fz rats is ultimately a progressive kidney failure that begins around the age of one. Even in germ-free conditions, all males and 80% of females will die from kidney failure. Their average lifespan is 17 months for males and 20 months for females.
Shorn rats, identified in 1998 in Connecticut also suffer from severe kidney problems. All rats with this genotype die of severe kidney abnormalities by 14 months of age. Their average lifespan is only around 10 months.
All three types (rnu/rnu, fz/fz, and shn/shn) have curly whiskers and may potentially be identified as Patchwork rats. Despite their health problems and difficulties with weaning, they are all still fertile and have normal sized litters.

Physical changes

A male dumbo rat, a variety with wider and larger ears placed lower on the head.

Two of the most prominent (and thus standardized) physical changes applied to rats through selective breeding are the development of the Manx and Dumbo. Manx rats borrow their name from the tailless cats on the Isle of Man. Manx rats also come in the same stumpy, rumpy, and rumpy-riser varieties as the Manx cats. Of interesting note, on the Isle of Man the word ''rat'' was once part of a set of sea-taboos, and is commonly replaced with "longtail" by the superstitious. The Dumbo, whose origins are in the United States, is characterized by having large, low, round ears on the sides of its head.

Ethics of selective breeding

There is controversy amongst rat fanciers as to whether breeding hairless or tail-less rats is ethical. The tail is vital for rats' balance and for adjusting body temperature. Tailless rats have greater risk of heat exhaustion and falling from heights. Similarly, hairless rats are missing their warmth-preserving coat and are more likely to be adversely affected by the cold.
The issue of culling also causes a lot more controversy in the fancy rat community than in many other animal fancying communities. In the rat breeding community this has led to the move away from the breeding of "marked varieties" and concentration on "self" coloured varieties^[4].

Health concerns regarding pet rats

A fancy rat with a large mammary cyst.

Fancy rats being defined as a purely domesticated subset of either ''R. rattus'' or, more typically, ''R. norvegicus'', are more prone to specific health concerns and diseases than their wild counterparts. Conversely they are also far less likely to succumb to certain illnesses that are prevalent in the wild. The major considerations for susceptibility include exposure, living conditions, and diet.
Rats that live their entire lives indoors are able to avoid disease-causing bacteria such as Salmonella and ''Pseudomonas aeruginosa'', the latter being absent in treated water. They may also more easily avoid vectors like cockroaches, beetles, and fleas who are essential for the spread of Bubonic plague and intestinal cestodes like the Rat tapeworm. Additionally, pet or laboratory rats enjoy the natural benefits of having a consistent and well-balanced diet. However, this could be countered with the fact that outside of the laboratory rats may not always be receiving proper nutrition. Lab blocks are excellent source of nutrition for rats. Finally, rats that are in the care of humans are cured by surgery of the benign mammary tumors that are common to both sexes.

This is a Zucker Rat, a pet rat that has developed diabetes as a result of a genetic disorder that causes obesity.

While living indoors decreases the risk of contracting certain diseases, living in close quarters with other rats, being unable to always seek proper protection from environmental factors (e.g. temperature, humidity, drafts), being fed an unhealthy diet, and the stresses naturally associated with living in an unnatural habitat can all have adverse effects on a rat's health making them prone to specific conditions. Specifically, Tyzzer's disease, Protozoic infections (e.g. ''Giardia muris''), and Pseudotuberculosis are usually seen in stressed or young rats. While ''Streptococcus pneumoniae'' is a zoonotic disease caught from humans, another bacteria associated with humans, ''Pneumocystis carinii'', is actually found in almost all domesticated animals. However it is asymptomatic unless the rat's immune system is compromised by illness, then it can develop into pneumonia. Several diseases, like Rat Coronavirus Infection (RCI), Sendai virus, and Murine Respiratory Mycoplasmosis (MRM, ''Mycoplasma pulmonis''), are more prevalent simply because their highly contagious natures work in tandem with the way rats are kept in laboratories, pet stores, and by breeders. It should be noted, however, that MRM is far less likely to occur in laboratory rats than those kept as pets. Pet rats can also develop pituitary tumors if they are given high-calorie diets or come down with ringtail if placed in areas with low humidty, high temperatures, or drafts. ''Staphylococcus'' spp are a mostly benign group of bacteria that commonly reside on the top of the skin. Cuts and scratches can open up the pathways for them to cause ulcerative dermatitis. Cuts and scratches are a normal part of every rat's life, they are social animals who periodically spar for positions within their loose hierarchy. However when being caged, stressors can increase aggressiveness between rats, causing more frequent and intense fighting.

Domestic rats in film, television, theatre and literature

Since Muybridge's first films, rats have been widely used in entertainment media. Due to their intelligent nature and trainability, rats have appeared in over 413 major film releases throughout the world, and in at least seventy-one television series. For example, Scabbers is a rat-animal in the ''Harry Potter'' book/film series. In ''The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time'', Christopher Boone, the autistic protagonist, keeps a pet rat named Toby. In the ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' TV series, the character of Amy is turned into a rat and is kept as a pet by Willow for several seasons before she is changed back into a human.
In 2007, Disney/Pixar released one of the few movies to actually feature a rat as the main character - "Ratatouille" stars a rat named Remy who wants to be a Parisian chef.
In the book series Babysitter's Little Sister, Karen Brewer, the main character, receives a pet rat after her pet fish dies. She names him Nicodemus, after the character from Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh.
The computer game ''Phantasmagoria 2: A Puzzle of Flesh'' features a main character who has a beloved pet rat named Blob. Blob is actually instrumental in a beginning puzzle, where she retrieves the character's wallet (although it's revealed she's the reason it went missing to begin with).
In the Sega Game Comix Zone, the main character, Sketch Turner, has a pet rat, RoadKill, whom he rescued from the street, becoming his sidekick.
On ''House'' the titular character, Gregory House, adopts a rat he finds in his ex-girlfriend's house, after treating it for mycoplasmosis. He christens the rat Steve McQueen, after the actor of whom House is a fan.
In the British comedy series Fawlty Towers, the waiter Manuel keeps a pet rat named Basil, named after the hotel owner Basil Fawlty. Manuel, who insisted the rat was a hamster has to keep it a secret from Basil or he will be fired.
In the children's novel ''Stargirl'' , by Jersry Spinelli, the main character, Stargirl Caraway, has a pet rat named Cinnamon, who stays in her bag during school hours.
In the movie The Abyss Alan 'Hippy' Carnes has a pet rat named Beany who is used to demonstrate that mammals can breathe an oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion. In one scene Hippy puts Beany in a plastic bag to ensure that she doesn't drown while the ship fills with water.
Rats in films are often depicted as squeaking, usually for dramatic effect. However rats do not usually squeak, normal vocalizations being too high-pitched for human ears; they only may do so if distressed or annoyed.
Rats are often in roles that emphasize the popular perception of them as malevolent vermin. The 1971 film ''Willard'' is a notable example; it features a horde of rats trained to exact revenge on behalf of a social misfit, but also shows some realistic social interactions among the rats. An alpha rat named Big Ben becomes jealous of the attention a smart rat named Socrates is getting, and tries to murder his rival.
In The Secret of NIMH, genetically enhanced lab rats are portrayed as nearly human.
As far as radio is concerned, perhaps the most famous horror story of all time features rats: Three Skeleton Key. First broadcast on Escape, and later re-performed for Suspense, it features three lighthouse keepers who are trapped in their lighthouse by an army of starving rats coming off a derelict boat. Vincent Price played the narrator, Jean, in most of the adaptions.
Celebrities who have had fancy rats as pets include Angelina Jolie, Nicole Richie, Jamie Lee Curtis, Rupert Grint, Kim Basinger, Clint Eastwood, John Cleese, Frankie Muniz, Justin Berfield, Edward Furlong, animal show host Nigel Marven, and Pink.^[5]

References

1. | Rats Capable Of Reflecting On Mental Processes
2. Australian National Rat Association standards
3. Recessive Hairlessness: The True Hairless Rat
4. http://www.cosmicsqueak.freeservers.com/whats_new.html
5. http://www.ratsrule.com/celeb.html

See also

★ Rat

★ Black rat

★ Brown Rat

★ List of fictional mice and rats

★ Rat-baiting

★ Rat genome database

★ National Fancy Rat Society

★ American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association

★ Rat agility

External links

★ The National Fancy Rat Society (UK)

★ American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association

★ "Biology of the Rat." Louisiana Veterinary Medical Association, 2000.