Tortoiseshell rats
They do exist!
Many believe that tortishell rats don’t exist or are extinct. However a few breeders have bred a consistant line, that produces what appears to be torti patterned rats. As of May 2019, I am working on my 5th generation. Each generation is getting better, with patterns visible at the beginning of fur development. My rats from this line are often marked with diluted patches of fur the moment they begin to get fur. It’s absolutely not rusting as some would say. Rusting in rats is dead coat, that hasn’t yet been fully shed off of the body. A rat that has had fur for a day or 2, can’t possibly rust, that‘s simply not logical.
Shadows which many have found, are often linked to torti rats. None of my rats are mock agouti, they develop nice tort markings and do not wash out to appear like a basic agouti rat. A shadow rat is best seen in dark colors, the top of the rat will be dark and the belly a silvery color. Many of my shadows now, have brown or salmon pink bellies, depending on the rats base color. There are other colors possibly connected to this gene, including; mock agouti, midnight blue, midnight mink, midnight russian blue, leaden/graphite, steel, charcoal and others.
Below are some pictures of rats born at GBR. I have also included some informative links from the internet. This page will be updated often.
