Dilutes and Specializations: Pros and Cons

All rat colors are produced with a recessive dilute gene of either Black or Agouti (see Agouti and Black: Foundations of Color) which works by increasing or decreasing the eumelanin and phaeomelanin in the hair, causing either a blue/grey color or a lighter yellow/red color. These genes can also work polygenetically, with more than one recessive giving rise to diluted dilutes, turning Cinnamon into Russian Cinnamon or American Blue into Platinum.

Many breeders advertise that they "specialize" in a few colors, but many also add "and their dilutes" after this claim, giving rise to a full spectrum of colors. It is impossible to specialize in a dozen different colors, at least not without having an entire floor of your house dedicated to keeping the hundreds of rats this would produce.

However, the necessity of specializing is mostly for those concerned with the show table. Your average pet owner will not care if their Black rat is not really jet black, or if their Cinnamon is a little more yellow than red. Is it really necessary to specialize?

The Benefits of Specialization

Specializing can benefit a rattery in a multitude of ways. First and most obviously, a rattery that only specializes in a single color requires less resident rats. If it takes 10 adult rats to keep a Siamese line going (5 males and 5 females, pick the best and breed once every 6-8 months) then adding an additional bloodline takes another 10 animals and so forth. Now add to that, animals that you get from other breeders, animals that you ended up keeping or taking back after an adoption fell through, animals who live over their expected lifespan and overlap cage space with great-grandchildren, and you can see how every bloodline you add is a serious space consideration.

Secondarily, dilutes tend to "muddy" colors. A Black or American Blue carrying a host of other colors will not look as "clean" as one without the extra recessives. Mink-based colors are the worst about showing carried recessives, changing tone and hue dramatically with every extra gene.

Not having the extra recessives can be a real blessing, both on the show table and in breeding. On the show table, your rats will have a truer, clearer color, which can help put them over other rats with equivalent conformation.

When breeding rats with lots of recessives, your litters will tend to be a mix-and-match bag of colors. Some may not even be properly identifiable, even into adulthood, as you try your best to determine exactly which recessives are in play. Additionally, other breeders may be less willing to adopt your stock, as bringing in a whole host of recessives is often not what they are seeking.

When working toward a goal, the more focused one is, the quicker one reaches it. That is true in everything, including rat breeding. There is nothing quite so frustrating as breeding a perfect pair of rats to continue your bloodline and having something unexpected and unwanted crop up, rendering your litter less of a step forward than you had hoped.

The last, and I would say best, benefit of working without excessive dilutes, is that you can allow pure conformation to be your own criteria when choosing your keepers from your litter. It no longer becomes necessary to balance a rat with a slightly better head against a rat who is the right color for your continued breeding program. With an entire litter that is the "right" color, cosmetics can be discarded as any measure for advancing your program.

The Benefits of Dilutes

Let's face is: a monochromatic litter is boring! Though it can be immensely satisfying to have an entire litter full of perfect Blacks or stunning Siamese, the truth it, it carries its own confusions as well. It can be hard to tell your babies apart without marking them in some way. A diverse, "rainbow" litter can be fun and exciting.

Adopters may also be less willing to take a pair of babies they cannot tell apart, or grow attached to posted baby pictures when all your babies look alike. Though we should be breeding primarily for the betterment of the fancy rat and the continuation of our own programs, we must take into account whether or not we can place babies with pet adopters. Without being able to place our "culls" - rats that we do not desire to place in our breeding program - with pet adopters, the rattery either becomes grossly overcrowded or other methods of culling become temptations.

Additionally, the discovery of new colors and combinations can be very exciting. When you get a baby that you honestly do not know what color it is, or it is exhibiting a dilute combination you have never personally seen before, it can be quite an adventure! Sometimes, those discoveries can lead to love, and the re-dedication of breeding plans in order to bring out more of this color in your rats.

The Happy Medium

The best compromise between having a nice, dedicated bloodline of a strong color and being able to have more diverse litters is usually to pick two colors which work well together, and combine the bloodline. Some common examples are Russian Blue and Russian Blue Agouti, Black and Siamese, Mink and Pearl, and American Blue and Russian Blue. In each case, breeding rats carrying both of these colors together can give you a litter with enough diversity to satisfy the aesthetics of adopters and yourself. You can still select for a nice, clean shade without having to go with a completely monochromatic litter and a laser-beam focus.

For new breeders especially, going with the two-complimentary-colors single-bloodline is a particularly good idea, as it keeps numbers down and prevents a lot of mystery colors, which new breeders usually will not recognize correctly, from popping up as they learn genetics and start to establish their own lines