Rat question!
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It looks like it has a little
It looks like it has a little fuzz to me? I really hope it's not a nude rat! It's recessive and unfortunately they don't have a working thymus and has immune issues. usually we keep our nude rats and mice in sterile houseing where their bedding and cages are regularly autoclaved, food is irradiated, and we can only touch them in biosafety cabinets that have been properly cleaned/sanitized. Also, we wear gloves and face masks.
Third Peppermint wrote:It
[quote=Third Peppermint]It looks like it has a little fuzz to me? I really hope it's not a nude rat! It's recessive and unfortunately they don't have a working thymus and has immune issues. usually we keep our nude rats and mice in sterile houseing where their bedding and cages are regularly autoclaved, food is irradiated, and we can only touch them in biosafety cabinets that have been properly cleaned/sanitized. Also, we wear gloves and face masks.[/quote]
If that was the case with this one wouldn't it have died already? Just curious I know nothing about rats.
Nah, it's possible that if it
Nah, it's possible that if it gets sick it will get VERY sick. There's still some immune function, they're just missing certain cell varieties. There is also the chance that it's "leaky" and can somewhat fight off infection. We have some nudes just chilling in regular housing and so far they haven't keeled over. Our equipment is clean and they aren't exposed to much, though.
In this case "leaky" just
In this case "leaky" just means that the rat actually produces some functional T-cells and/or B-cells instead of none like it "should." You can also find that in the lab setting where you want you mouse or whatever to have NO T cells, but it ended up with some antibody production as it got older. Inconvenient in that sitution, but if this rat IS athymic nude and he's leaky then it gives him more of a chance of avoid problems. Sort of.
Another instance where leaky SCID animals are frustrating is when you need to grow a tumor on them. Then their leakiness can be enough to reject or fight it off. You want to tumor to survive on the mouse so that you can prove it's not the immune system but rather the raspberries or whatever you're feeding it.
Here's a neat .pdf about rat
Here's a neat .pdf about rat coats: http://rodentfancy.com/pets/wp-content/…
It mentions the nudes and how they can sometimes end up in the pet population. If mom and dad were brother and sister it'd be more likely to get a nude pop up.
You got a baby nakkers! I
You got a baby nakkers! I have a bunch of boys I rescued back home. Sadly I couldn't bring them to my new apartment. I'm actually surprised that in a litter of 12 only one came out hairless. As far as I understand it, it's a recessive mutation, so both the parents are carriers.
As for health complications, the nekkids in some labs have a compromised immune system, but I don't think all of them do. I do know they were bred and developed in labs, and I think there were something like 7 strains. And I think it was in Europe where some one was able to purchase some nekkids from a lab and bred from there. But it's all a little fuzzy in my head, because I haven't been in the rat breeding community in about 2 years now.
Hopefully all you'd have to worry about that boy is the typical health of a pet store rat. He'll most likely need different bedding then the normal rat. Something low on dust. I don't do wood with my nekkids but I know some that do and it doesn't really bother them. If you get his baby balls snipped, his skin will be in better condition. Less buck grease, order, and easier to clean. If you have room to hang a hammock, try to purchase or make a pocket hammie. They are more tempature sensitive then the fur babies, because, well, their nekkid LOL.
Nekkers tend to get Zits. Black heads usually. Mine are also prone to protein lumps, which may freak you out and you'd think they are tumors or abscesses, but just keep your eye on it and if it keeps growing then see a vet.
My boys were rescued, same story as yours basically. Guy goes to the pet store to buy a pet rat, attendant scoops out a nakkid rat from the 'boys' bin and tells said person it's a boy. Later I'm getting a facebook IM question about how long it takes for their goolies to drop. 3 days later, SURPRISE. LOL
Well that's good! So far we
Well that's good! So far we have found homes for 2 of them haha. My friend just got a temp cage as she had *just* sold her huge ferret nation one! She wanted the naked one but is worried cause she has limited funds and rat specialist vets are expensive.
How much does it usually cost to get rats neutered?
Also, there were two others that were still hairless a whole back, a pair of hoodeds. But they grew in their fur and left him in the dust haha
Man, good luck getting rats
Man, good luck getting rats neutered in the US. I got my mice neutered because I work in lab animal medicine and... well... it's super easy. People just don't get rodents neutered most of the time here for some reason. Anyway, if you do get one neutered make SURE they use isfluorane. Other anesthesias on rodents are total crap and don't give you very much assurance that they're going to wake up afterwards. Iso is the way to go for sure!
In the file I linked to they described the difference between nudes and hairless since there IS a difference. I'd recommend reading is since nudes DO get in the pet population (nudes are the ones with lactation problems, btw). While there is a chance it could be okay I don't want you to get overly attached (o anyone else) if a common rat illness is going to take it out.
Here in Orlando the rat
Here in Orlando the rat community has a vet we see. And because we bring him so much business we usually can get services pretty cheaply. He charges 60 for a neuter. But back home in Palm beach, there are more exotic vets, but they are much more costly, some more then double that.
Rats come in a hairless
Rats come in a hairless variety. I don't know much about them in the commercial/pet world, but they are used commonly for research purposes.