| OFR Dash, Hairless Rat on Picture taken on Monday, April 17, 2001. Dash had babies a few days later. |
Breeding Hairless Rats by Debbi J. Needham
| Update on Hairless Does: March-7-2002 Both does failed to lactate well after they had their babies. I hand-fed the babies and fostered some out to other does. Only a small handful of the two litters survived to weaning despite enormous efforts. I went on to breed two more hairless does with similar problems. Rosebud, a pink hairless, ate her entire litter and Lucky, a Nude, ate half of her litter, but lactated well and reared the remaining babies well. A year later, Roswell and her baby Peanut, (now grown) are doing well living with Lucky. Dash was euthanized last Fall because she had a severe head tilt. Both Roswell and Peanut have had treatment for eye ulcers and colds. Also, last winter, Peanut had a huge abscess that was removed surgically. Unfortunately, he developed a head tilt during her treatment,but she remains highly functional to date. I never did breed Roswell or Dash a second time and never bred Peanut. Lucky was bred again and did the same thing to her second litter. I now breed hairless male rats to haired carrier rats so the hairless babies inherit the stronger immune system from the haired line and the does lactate and rear babies well. For more information on hairless rat care...Click HERE! |
| Update 2010 This information was first published in 2001-2002. Since then, many hobbyists in the USA worked on breeding Hairless to be healthy and have little or no trouble having babies. |
| OFR Roswell, a few days before delivery (right). |
Copyright D. Needham
2001/2002/2003/2004/2005 -Updated 2002
Reposted 2010
Links on this Site
Hairless Rat Care Sheet
OFR Hairless Rats
Hairless Rat Care Sheet
OFR Hairless Rats
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