Different Breeds of Domestic Rats

Although some people keep domesticated black and Gambian pouched rats as pets, brown rats are the most popular pet rats, and are referred to as fancy rats. According to both the American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association and the Rat and Mouse Club of America, there are six recognized varieties of fancy rat, and six sections within each variety, distinguished by coat color and body markings.

  1. Standard Variety

    • Rats of the standard variety have short, dense glossy hair that is smooth, with the males having a longer and coarser coat.

    Rex Variety

    • This variety of rat has curly whiskers and hair that is dense, and soft because it lacks coarser and longer guard hairs.

    Tailless Variety

    • Like Manx cats, tailless rat varieties have no tail whatsoever. Their rumps tend to be more rounded than other varieties, and their bodies are more stocky.

    Hairless Variety

    • This rat variety is completely absent of hair. Hairless rats have translucent, bright skin with some wrinkles, but it should be free of blemishes. They have large ears and short, curly whiskers if any at all.

    Satin Variety

    • Rats of the satin variety have longer and thinner coats than other varieties. These coats are lustrous, very fine and soft. Their whiskers are normally curled.

    Dumbo Variety

    • The ears of dumbo varieties are low set on the side of the rat's head and are large and round in appearance. Dumbo rats also have a more open base at the back of their cheeks than other varieties.

    Self

    • Self rats have an all-over uniformly colored coat. Some self rats with champagne and white coats have pink eyes. Dark-eyed selfs are available in black, white, chocolate, mink, blue, platinum, blue-biege, beige, lilac, Russian blue, sky blue, Russian dove and buff.

    Any Other Color (AOC)

    • This type of rat has a body that is entirely one color ,but the individual hairs of the coat are banded with two or more colors and are evenly interspersed with guard hairs of a single color. AOC breeds include the amber, agouti, blue agouti, Russian blue agouti, cinnamon, cinnamon pearl, chinchilla, fawn, pearl and lynx.

    Any Other Color Pattern (AOCP)

    • AOCP rats have a recognized pattern consisting of two or more colors. White is not considered a color in this section, which includes Burmese, blue point Siamese, Russian blue point Siamese, Himalayan, merle and seal point Siamese.

    Silvered and Marked

    • Rats with white hairs evenly interspersed throughout their coat fall under the silver section. Silvered colors include black, blue, chocolate, fawn, lilac and mink.

      Ten groups of rats fall within the marked section, each with a different pattern of markings: Irish, English Irish, Berkshire, Capped, Masked, Essex, Blaze, Bareback, Hooded and Dalmatian.