THE DWARF RAT
There is some misinformation going on about the dwarf rat and I'd like to post my opinions on these amazing little fellas. I've had dwarf for about 4-5 yrs and I've worked with two different lines. But the lines are all related at some point down the road (or way back in their peds) My very first dwarf were from a rattery called BAR (Big Apple Rattery) they were based out of NYC and I believe her lines went back to TTR (Tiney Toes Rattery). The dwarf were super sweet and calm at the eight weeks of age. His name was BAR Pee Wee of MAC, he was a fawn badger dumbo. Such a sweet boy, he lived with his standard cousins with no issues what so ever. All of my rats whether dwarf or standard can live together in harmony. NON of my standard rats have ever killed a dwarf they've been housed with.
The dwarf mutation is a simple recessive, meaning that it's carried and two copies of the gene must be present in order for the gene to pop up. If you breed two standard rats that carry dwarf you'll get about 25% dwarf in the litter, if you bred a standard dwarf carrier to a dwarf (which is VERY possible, with out risk) you will get more dwarf in the litter then if you were to just breed two dwarf carriers together. Breeding dwarf to dwarf you'll get an entire dwarf litter.
The dwarf I currently work with are wonderful, super sweet from the moment they are born. The dwarf rat is typically 1/3 the size of a standard rat, some dwarf maybe a bit bigger boned, but they are a lot smaller then a standard rat, But looks wise they are a standard rat in a smaller body. The dwarf mutation is just like the dwarf mutation in humans. Both male and female dwarf are active, and love wheels to run on. But they also love a good snuggle. Where as standard boys are too lazy (at least mine) to run on a wheel. They end up sleeping in it, or using it as a toilet. But the dwarf boys LOVE wheels. Dwarf and Standard rats can live in the same cage with out issues. I often put my weanling bucks in with my dwarf bucks. They do just fine together and have been since I've had the gene. Don't let anyone tell you other wise.
There are A LOT of good breeders that have dwarf and if you are looking and need to find a breeder just ask and I will try to find a good one. I do adopt out dwarf too, but seeing dwarf to dwarf litters only have 2-4 pups per litter and my waiting list is long it might be a while if you wanted to get dwarf from me. My latest litter of dwarf were born to first time parents of 18 months old. I will be providing some links below on the dwarf rat.
Here are some medical links on the dwarf rat, very interesting to read.
http://www.pnas.org/content/88/12/5227.abstract
Evidence from dwarf rats that growth hormone may not regulate the sexual differentiation of liver cytochrome P450 enzymes and steroid 5 alpha-reductase.
http://press.endocrine.org/doi/abs/10.1210/endo-124-5-2519
Growth Responses in a Mutant Dwarf Rat to Human Growth Hormone and Recombinant Human Insulin-Like Growth Factor I
http://carcin.oxfordjournals.org/content/23/6/977.full.pdf
Mammary Tumor resistance in the dwarf rat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJxlLVtPlCY
This is a video of one of my dwarf males at eight months old. Notice how calm and sweet he is. He's always been this way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ICeGvYprgE
Here is the same dwarf boy at six days old. He is super chilled out even at such a young age.
http://www.youtube.com/my_videos?o=U&pi=2
Here is a dwarf doe, from the first line I had. She is on the bigger boned side but still a dwarf and her weight was about 145 grams.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2jnQJA3RBA
Video on the comparison of dwarf and standard rats at three weeks old.
The dwarf mutation is a simple recessive, meaning that it's carried and two copies of the gene must be present in order for the gene to pop up. If you breed two standard rats that carry dwarf you'll get about 25% dwarf in the litter, if you bred a standard dwarf carrier to a dwarf (which is VERY possible, with out risk) you will get more dwarf in the litter then if you were to just breed two dwarf carriers together. Breeding dwarf to dwarf you'll get an entire dwarf litter.
The dwarf I currently work with are wonderful, super sweet from the moment they are born. The dwarf rat is typically 1/3 the size of a standard rat, some dwarf maybe a bit bigger boned, but they are a lot smaller then a standard rat, But looks wise they are a standard rat in a smaller body. The dwarf mutation is just like the dwarf mutation in humans. Both male and female dwarf are active, and love wheels to run on. But they also love a good snuggle. Where as standard boys are too lazy (at least mine) to run on a wheel. They end up sleeping in it, or using it as a toilet. But the dwarf boys LOVE wheels. Dwarf and Standard rats can live in the same cage with out issues. I often put my weanling bucks in with my dwarf bucks. They do just fine together and have been since I've had the gene. Don't let anyone tell you other wise.
There are A LOT of good breeders that have dwarf and if you are looking and need to find a breeder just ask and I will try to find a good one. I do adopt out dwarf too, but seeing dwarf to dwarf litters only have 2-4 pups per litter and my waiting list is long it might be a while if you wanted to get dwarf from me. My latest litter of dwarf were born to first time parents of 18 months old. I will be providing some links below on the dwarf rat.
Here are some medical links on the dwarf rat, very interesting to read.
http://www.pnas.org/content/88/12/5227.abstract
Evidence from dwarf rats that growth hormone may not regulate the sexual differentiation of liver cytochrome P450 enzymes and steroid 5 alpha-reductase.
http://press.endocrine.org/doi/abs/10.1210/endo-124-5-2519
Growth Responses in a Mutant Dwarf Rat to Human Growth Hormone and Recombinant Human Insulin-Like Growth Factor I
http://carcin.oxfordjournals.org/content/23/6/977.full.pdf
Mammary Tumor resistance in the dwarf rat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJxlLVtPlCY
This is a video of one of my dwarf males at eight months old. Notice how calm and sweet he is. He's always been this way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ICeGvYprgE
Here is the same dwarf boy at six days old. He is super chilled out even at such a young age.
http://www.youtube.com/my_videos?o=U&pi=2
Here is a dwarf doe, from the first line I had. She is on the bigger boned side but still a dwarf and her weight was about 145 grams.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2jnQJA3RBA
Video on the comparison of dwarf and standard rats at three weeks old.