Questions about Hairless Rats.

[chiahua]

Does anyone know if hairless rats are hairless their whole life or have hair at a young age and then lose it?
I've been looking to adopt another rat and someone told me that her hairless rat has babies and will be up for adoption in ~ 2 weeks. I asked if any of the babies are NOT hairless. Nothing against the naked ones, I'm just used to furrier pets. She told me that all the babies have fur now and she couldn't tell which one will lose hair later. So I'm really curious, is this how it works?

I need your opinions for one other thing. I'm allergic to my rats. I get sneezy and wheezy when I clean their cage or play with them too closely. My boyfriend told me I should get the hairless baby coz he thinks they are cool and may help with my allergy since they have less hair. (I think he just wants one and tries to talk me into it :roll: )
So, do you think if hairless rats are better than the furry ones for people who have allergies? I've also heard that hairless rats need additional skin care because they are more likely to get dry skin and scratches from their cagemates. Is this something easy to do or something I'd have to worry about? Anything else I should be cautious about having hairless rats? Afterall, do you prefer a hairless baby or just a regular one? I can't really decide so I'd like to see what people think.

Thanks for your help!!

 

[user 78]

Having a hairless rat won't stop your allergies simply because it's hairless. Allergies are generally caused by the pet's dander, which are skin scales. Fur tends to trap the dander, which can give you more of a reaction, but a hairless won't stop your reactions completely. Most people who are allergic to rats tend to have reactions to their urine, too, which would be why you get wheezy during cage cleaning. When cleaning cages, when the rats pee on them, and when the rats scratch them with their nails are usually the times people have reactions. You can take a general OTC antihistamine to help reduce your reactions, something like Claritin or another non drowsy sort.

Hairless rats, and double rexes [which are more common usually] are all born with fur. Sometime between 2-4 weeks of age, they go through their first baby moult, where their coat changes into whatever it's to be as an adult. Some rats never have their hair grow back, which is your common hairless. others grow it back, only to have it fall out, which is a double rex. You can tell whether or not there's a chance they'll be hairless by their whiskers. If the whiskers are curly, it's going to atleast be a rex, and by the time it's 4 weeks old [about the time they're reading to go to new homes] their hair will have started falling out already.

Overall, a hairless rat is no different from your standard furred rat. You want to offer them more places to keep warm, since they can get colder faster than a furred rat. They also eat a bit more than furred rats, since they have a higher metabolism to keep their body temperature up. They get scratches and nicks from everything, but 99% of the time it's nothing to even bother about. Looks bloody awful, but they couldn't care less. I've never noticed hairless rats getting dry skin more often than a furred rat, but investing in a humidifier for when the air's dry in your home is something that will benefit everyone, including you. I know some people use all natural lotions on occasion for their hairless, but it's not absolutely necessary. I feed my furred rats a bit of olive oil every now and again to help condition their coats and skin, I would think it would have the same effect for a hairless rat's skin.

Hope that helps!

 

[lilspaz68]

Sounds like hairless momma is a double rex. Do you know what daddy was? standard coat, regular rex or another double rex? This could give you an idea of what the babies may be like

 

[Lise]

I think there are several different genes that can cause hairlessness, and they all work in slightly different ways. Hairless rats can have peach fuzz type fur which then falls out and they become hairless for life. Hairless rats can actually have fur remain on their face throughout life as well....

Here is an example:

http://www.ratzrealm.com/onion_jr_x_lana.htm

You can see how the hairless babies are still fuzzy. That being said, they are not nearly the same type of fur as their standard counterparts.

 

[chiahua]

Thanks for the great information! Wow the website Lise has is great!!