Rat Genetics/Breeding Questions

[guyabano]

Quick question, can a male champagne hooded bred to an albino female produce black hooded offspring?

Has anyone here ever experimented with hybrid vigor in rats? Does it actually make a difference in quality or is the gene pool already so limited that it wouldn't matter? I have a litter that was bred from two parents that were at least one generation inbred to siblings. They're still at the fuzzy stage, so I can't really tell yet. The 8 of them look big and healthy though.

[TheZoo]

To your first question you will probably get light colored rats ie champagne with red eyes (real albino is rare in rodents so its probably just red eyed white) however if the red eyed white is masking something you could get all sorts of things depending on what the parents both "mask" sort of like hets in reptiles.

In-breeding rats is not hybrid vigor its just unhealthy... It may not be a problem right away however later you will end up with sickly rats and many health problems. Just trust me don't do it.

A final note you want your healthiest rats from different bloodlines skinny sickly rats only breed more skinny sickly rats. With the "you are what you eat" stand point you want the best diversified stuff you can get. Personally id get your breeders from a real breeder there tracked lines with healthy stock. Pet store rats are going to be your worst when it comes to health and yes they are often brother to sister mom to her kids.