Rattie Rascals Rattery
Port Orchard, WA
Est. 1998
(360) 876-0236 day - (360) 874-9085 evening
Rattie@boardmanweb.com
Owned and operated by
LeAnn & Beth Boardman

Frequently Asked Questions regarding our Rattery & Rats

What is a blue rat?
Blue is a color.  There are many different shades of blue and two main types.  The one we breed is the American blue (slate), the other is a Russian, similar to the Russian cat color.  The difference is in the gene.  The American blue is based on the dilution of black.  The gene that represents this is 'g.'   Two  of these genes - g/g, one from each parent, allow the offspring to express the blue coloring.  For showing purposes, the color of blue should be as dark as possible.  There are also newer blue colors- powder blue and blue smoke.

What is Blue Agouti?
Blue agouti is a ticked color.  The hairs have more than one color (banded).   On a blue agouti, the hair is medium blue at the base with a yellow-tan top.   The guard hairs are blue and the belly is a light or silver blue.  Our blue agouti's carry both the agouti gene and a solid color gene.  This means if bred to a solid color animal, the offspring will be mixed (solids and agouti's).

What are Dilutes?
Dilutes are variations of a color that have been diluted by eye color or a modifying gene.  Dilutes of blue are- platinum and silver. 

What is a rex?
Rex is a coat/hair type.  A rex rat has curly or wavy hair.  We have two types of rex & wavy (velveteen)

What is a dumbo?
A dumbo rat has larger, low set ears.  They are also called, elephant ear rats.  The dumbo's are noted for their placid, laid-back dispositions but all rats are individuals and may not follow this rule.

What makes the best pet, boys or girls?
This is actually a personal preference.  Both sexes are very social with humans.  Females tend to be more active throughout their lives, while males sometimes become 'lap pets.'  While young, both tend to urinate and defecate wherever they may be (kind of like young children).  As they mature, they do this less often and most will hold it until they reach their cage again.  At times, males and female will mark their territory with bits of urine, this includes you. 

Both our males and females love to interact with people.  The females prefer to do this while not being held, while most of our males LOVE to be held and scratched.  Both sexes enjoy being with other rats (actually they thrive on it being social creatures).   You will see them playing with and groom each other.  Our adult males, on the average weigh 1 1/4 lbs. (590 grams) as young adults (7 months) and the females, approximately 10 oz (300 grams).

What do you feed your rats?
All our rats get a good quality lab block by Mazuri plus a mix of grains.  They get treats of people food, veggies and some fruit.  We start the babies on a gruel of kitten step 2 formula mixed with cream of rice, cream of wheat and dry rolled oats. 

We mix our own flaked cereal grains as a supplement to the lab blocks.  This mix is 14% protein and 4% fat.  This mix consists of Oats, barley, rye, triticale, & veggy noodles.
This is approx. 2 parts oats to 1 part each other grains; 1/4 part veggy noodles.  3 parts of this mix is mixed with 1 part Diamond Low Fat dry dog food.

Do you ship?
I'm sorry, we don't ship at this time.  We do and have gotten animals ready to be put in shipments (air only) that other breeders are handling.  We can, depending on our schedule, meet or deliver in the Puget Sound area or areas that we, or family members are traveling too.

How do we reserve a rat from you?
See our page - Obtaining a Rat from Us

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