Types of Exotic Pet Rats

When humans began to hunt less and farm more, wild rats learned that where humans lived, they could find food and shelter. As rats began to heavily colonize Europe, rat catchers were employed to eliminate them. In England, Royal Rat Catcher Jack Black kept and bred strange-colored rats. He bred albino, black, fawn, grey and marked animals, which he sold as pets. Such pet rats became known as fancy rats, and breeders created rat clubs, societies and associations.

  1. Old World Rats

    • As brown Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) infested Europe, they drove out the indigenous black rats (Rattus rattus), which still exist and are called such names as roof rats, house rats and ship rats. Both of these Old World rat breeds date to ancient times, although the brown Norway rat is thought to be the first domesticated rat. A few breeders today keep original brown Norway rats or black rats as pets.

    Coat Color Types

    • Fancy rats come in a wide variety of colors. The term fancy rat derives from "to fancy," which means to like or appreciate. Several rat fancy groups exist worldwide. Breeders in such groups have created many new coat colors and patterns. Single-color rats can be blue, agouti, chocolate, lilac and many other colors; patterned rats come with white base coloring. Patterned varieties include hooded, variegated, silvered, masked and Irish.

    Coat Texture Types

    • Regular rats have short, smooth coats of hair. Some breeders concentrate on breeding for certain coat traits. Rex rats have curly coats, including whiskers. Satin rats have longer coats that are soft and shiny, while nude rats have hardly any hair at all. The velveteen has a soft, wavy coat. The Harley has a long wavy coat.

    Body Types

    • Several body types have been bred into rats. According to the American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association, rats should have long bodies, 8 to 10 inches, good weights and long tapering tails. Breeders have shattered this general description with the creation of tailless, dwarf and dumbo varieties of rats. Of course, tailless rats have no tails and dwarfs are smaller than normal. Dumbo rats have enlarged ears that sit on the sides of the head instead of the top.

    Other Types of Rats

    • Kangaroo rats and giant kangaroo rats, both visually similar to gerbils, are among the many wild animals caught for breeding to the pet trade. They are not true rats. Endangered giant kangaroo rats are native only to southern California and are illegal to possess. Gambian giant pouch rats, which weigh about 6 pounds and are native to Africa, have been kept as pets, though most undomesticated animals like these do not make very good pets.