Black rattie turning brown

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C

chiahua

Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2007
Messages
21
Location
Columbus, OH
I have a black rex girl, Coca, who's about 7 months old. She was shiny black when she was little but the fur on her back started to turn brown since maybe a couple of months ago and now she looks like she has black hoodie over a brown background. I had a black-hooded girl before and she also had patches of brownish/reddish color on her head when she got old. So I am curious how common is this color change in rats? I also hope this is not a sign of any health issue. I know Coca's mom has brown fur so it could just be genetic.
 
It is called rusting, and is more likely to show up on an older rat. It can be genetic or poor nutrition even too much sun. :)

My former girl Saffi had the hoodie markings you are talking about, I'd love to see a pic of your girl as I had never seen a wanna-be hoodie like Saff before. :mrgreen:

morepicsofSaffisbutt.jpg
 
lilspaz68 said:
It is called rusting, and is more likely to show up on an older rat. It can be genetic or poor nutrition even too much sun. :)

My former girl Saffi had the hoodie markings you are talking about, I'd love to see a pic of your girl as I had never seen a wanna-be hoodie like Saff before. :mrgreen:

morepicsofSaffisbutt.jpg
Click to expand...

wow look at that looks so pretty.
 
Sid has a lot of rust on him - its even started on his face :? and now Patrick is starting to get it too.

Is there any way to tell if a rat has urine stains on them or rust?

Say the rust is from nutrition, if you changed the diet - would the rust go away and how long would it normally take if it does?
 
Yeah! The pattern looks very similar to Staffi's except Coca has really curly hair. I'll try to take a pic when I get a chance. Did Staffi start with all-black color as well?

As for nutrition, I used to feed them mixed rat food (they like Brown's Tropical Festival) but I have switched to Oxbow for awhile. I don't remember when I switched food and if the timing coincide with the color change. Coca has always been a small girl though. She is obviously smaller and weighs less than her sister.
 
Once they start rusting, it's not going to change back. Don't worry about it too much, it is pretty common.

Like lilspaz said, it can be any number of factors that cause rusting, so don't get too hung up on malnutrition or any one particular cause. Rusting is only a problem if you are planning on showing your rat :D

Ryelle, the best way to tell if it is rusting or something else is that rusting doesn't wash off, LOL
 
My Hugo's started doing this...I couldn't tell you what color he is anyway lol but his lower half has gone more..bronzy as opposed to his grey-brown upper half...

he was like this a week ago...
DSC00172.jpg


and all of a sudden has a clean cut blonde backside!
DSCF0128.jpg


I'd be really interested to know what that is...I'll be taking him and his bro to the vets soon for snuffles and porphy eyes (which haven't changed since I got them), it might be something more sinister...
 
I don't think Hugo is rusting, I think he is moulting... also normal :) In colours like Hugo's you notice it more than others, because his guard hairs are differently coloured than his undercoat.
 
Ah that's a relief >.< I have noticed a lot of tufts of hair whilst cleaning out-I thought he was taking chunks out of Mako! Would you be able to put a name to his official color? I've gone from blue agouti, to silvered mink and I can't quite put my finger on it >.<
 
Hehe thankies-I'll stop hijacking the thread now :p

I think rusting is a beautiful thing in my opinion-you end up with really unique looking ratties!
 
Ahh! Good to hear how common it is. As promised, here are some pictures of Coca.

Here is Coca and her sister Lucky Charm when they were close to 2 month old. They stole a fortune cookie and ripped it into two equal half :giggle:


This pic was taken about a month ago. Some brown patches started to show on her back.


Now the pic I just took tonight.

The color looks lighter in the picture than it actually is but you can see her lower back is almost all brown now.

p.s., pardon my weird pictures size in the post. I couldn't figure out how to post images that are nicely sized like yours. :p
 
Its so bizarre how it affects rattys do differently! Sid only had rusting on his back hips, and now he has it down his face aswell. He looks like a blue & brown husky, instead of white & grey lol
 

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