small rats

I adopted three sisters in June. They were 3 months old, I thought, although I was told 4. Now, at 7 or 8 months, they're still very small. They look like little babies more than any of the other young rats I brought home did at that age. I will have pictures tonight, but they are each still not quite as long as my palm and noticeably smaller than the other females of comparable age. Is this normal. Like I said, I will have pictures to add to this tonight, but I'm just confused by how little they really seem to be growing.

I wonder if they could be dwarfs? I did have a petite female once, she was barely 250 grams all her life.

jorats said:

I wonder if they could be dwarfs? I did have a petite female once, she was barely 250 grams all her life.

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I've had people ask me before if my rats are dwarfs because I seem to attract petite female rats, but these really could be. I might try and track down the lady I got them from and ask her but, honestly, she breeds mostly to feed (she just had a moment of guilt and gave me my three because she couldn't bring herself to sell them as feeders, it's a weird story) and I doubt she knows much of anything about those lines.

They're about as long as the side of my hand, which is almost 5 inches. My hand is right next to her. The angle is just strange.

They sure are adorable.

jorats said:

They sure are adorable.

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Thank you. I think so too.

I'm doing some research into dwarf rats and the could be.

UhHuhHer said:

I'm doing some research into dwarf rats and the could be.

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I was researching it too but there seems to be different info on them which is always the case with breeders trying to make claims. Some say a true dwarf have very short tails and short legs/arms but others say that a dwarf is simply a smaller rat. I don't know who it right.

No, me neither. That's the problem I'm running into as well.

That is confusing about the different information.

From what I understand there are Small Rats and than there are Dwarf Rats. A true Dwarf animal has to suffer from a mutation that causes dwarfism, or stunted growth of the limbs or entire body. However, pygmy animals are often mislabled. A pygmy or miniature animal is one that is to proportion (or only slightly different) but much smaller.

GitaBooks said:

That is confusing about the different information.

From what I understand there are Small Rats and than there are Dwarf Rats. A true Dwarf animal has to suffer from a mutation that causes dwarfism, or stunted growth of the limbs or entire body. However, pygmy animals are often mislabled. A pygmy or miniature animal is one that is to proportion (or only slightly different) but much smaller.

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That's interesting!