16/02/2024
Coat Types
REX
WHAT IS A REX RAT?
Rex rats have hair that is curly. They can be any colour or marking and the density and extent of their curl can vary from barely noticeable to tightly curled. Their whiskers are also curly.
ORIGIN OF THE REX RAT
Rex rats were first bred in England by geneticist Roy Robinson. The variety was standardised by the NFRS in the same year.[1]
Three Rex rats were exported to the USA in 1983 where several breeders, including Geri Hauser and Karin Robbins from AFRMA, worked with the variety.[1]
In 2005, fancy rats were exported from the USA to South Africa. One of the rats was a Rex rat called Teddy.[2] Unfortunately, Teddy was infertile and Rex could never be bred in RSA.
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT TEDDY
Teddy was an Australian beige (Red eyed dilute) hooded downunder tailless Rex.
He was born July 2005 at Bonnies Friendly Furries in the USA. We did not receive a pedigree for Teddy but we know he was closely related to Loki and Minky, all from the downunder and tailless lines which had fertility issues. Sadly, the entire line was lost soon after the import.
GENETICS AND BREEDING
Rex is a dominant gene where you only need one parent and copy of the gene to produce more Rex. When the gene doubles up, the rat may have a patchy or even hairless appearance. (Drex or Double Rex).
Most Rex pups start out with a curly sheep-like coat but most unfortunately lose their curl once they change into their adult coat at 6-7 weeks.
Sometimes the curl improves after 7 months of age.
There are 5 different genes causing curly or wavy coats. The code for the dominant Rex gene is Cu-1 with
Cu-1/Cu-1 rats producing double Rex (hairless / patchy) coats, Cu-1/cu-1 producing Rex and cu-1/cu-1 rats will have a standard coat.
HEALTH PROBLEMS
Rex rats have no known health issues but curly eyelashes may irritate the eyes.
[1] AFRMA Rex Rats https://www.afrma.org/rexrat.htm
[2] Interview (2014) with Annalie Prinsloo, the geneticist who wrote the RSA pet rat breeding standards and who worked on developing the first fancy rat lines after the 2005/6 import.
Photo credit: Annalie Prinsloo from Aurora rattery. (2006)
