All our pet rats are domesticated Brown rats (Rattus norvegicus). Also called Fancy Rats. (yes even dumbos are fancy rats). The term "fancy" comes from the meaning of a pet hobby. Like saying you fancy something.
So all of our rats are the same breed we just have different varieties. These varieties include different markings, colors, ear type, coat type, and size.
On top of that there are also different names for some varieties depending on your country and club that you follow.
I prefer to follow AFRMA (American Fancy Rat & Mouse Association) Standards.
Siamese
AFRMA's Standard for Seal Point Siamese:
Body color to be medium beige gradually and evenly shaded over saddle and hindquarters towards the belly, being darkest at base of tail. Tail color to extend down the length of the tail. Belly to be light beige. Points (nose, ears, feet, tail, and tail-root) to be rich dark sepia and to shade evenly into the body color. Eyes red or light ruby.
Gene: aa c(h)c(h)
AFRMA's Standard for Blue Point Siamese:
Body color to be ivory (the darker the better) with a warm blue cast gradually and evenly shaded over the saddle and hindquarters towards the belly, being darkest at the base of the tail. The points (nose, ears, feet, tail, and tail-root) to be a medium slate blue. They should not have a definite or distinct line of demarcation but rather a toning or merging with the remainder of the coat. There should be no white hairs, blotches, streaks, or mealiness of the color. Eyes red or ruby.
Gene: aa c(h)c(h) gg
Siamese are my pride and main focus of my breeder lines. I deeply love the Siamese look.
Siamese are little color changers! They start out life as dark, deeply riched colored and on their first molt the color fades and their points darken.
The Siamese pattern has a somewhat unusual cause. Called acromelanism, this pattern develops because it is thermo-sensitive (the darkness of the fur color is determined by the temperature of its environment). The colder it is, the darker the fur comes in. This is why those areas on the rat which are cooler (nose, ears, feet, tail) have darker fur than the body which is warm. It is also why Siamese rats are darker in the winter than they are in the summer.- AFRMA
This also marks a difference between himalayan rats vs siamese. As adults they can both look exactly the same. The only way to know for sure if you have a himalayan or a siamese is to know it's history and pedigree and/or seeing a picture of it as a baby. If it is white as a baby it is himalayan, if it has color it is siamese. It can get more complicated with some less than standard breedings with lighter colored siamese or marked siamese.
This is a good picture of how Siamese changes. This is all one rat, my boy Dean. As a baby he was quite dark as you can see!
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| Siamese Color Changing |
Seal Point Siamese start off a warm beige as babies, while Blue Point Siamese begin life as a lovely gray (blue) color.
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| Blue Point Siamese |
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| Marked Siamese |
Marked Siamese:
Marked Siamese simply means it has markings; i.e. hooded, capped, etc...
Marked Siamese are kindof wonky during their molt and can be confusing as babies. I have had Blue Point Siamese babies that seemed all white but really did have light markings.
Marked Siamese often only have some points such as on their nose & bum but may have white feet. Their color still fades during a molt and they are left with points.
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| Marked Siamese |
Marked Siamese are not ideal and not suitable for showing. They are more of a pet quality vs a show quality. It is just preference and there is nothing wrong with a marked Siamese as a pet :)
I currently do carry marked Siamese in my lines, more so with my Blue Points. I am working to improve my Siamese lines to better show quality.
My Lines:
Seal Point Siamese Dumbo Standard Coat & Blue Point Siamese Dumbo Standard Coat
They are red/ruby eyed.
I am currently working to phase all of my Siamese into dwarfs.
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| Two Blue Point Boys |
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