OFR Harley Coated Line - Discovered by Debbi Needham in 2002
| Adult - OFR Aprilla, Dumbo Himalayan Female - Harley's Daughter - DOB May 1, 2003. |
| 2010 Repost - Original Post in 2003 IT CAN BE REPRODUCED! Harley is no longer the only rat of her kind. On May day 2003, Harley gave birth to Ducati and Aprilla, two babies that look exactly like her. Both are dumbos. I tried to capture this fur trait by out crossing Harley's lines to satin and standard rats. It was not until I bred Harley to her son, that these babies appeared. From my observations, it appears to be a trait caused by a homozygous pairing of recessive genes. HARLEY COAT DESCRIPTION This coat appears longer. I believe that is because it has an excessive amount of guard hairs; perhaps these are longer. The texture is soft and wispy like a teddy bear hamster, a Persian cat, or an angora rabbit. The whiskers curl around the nose slightly - the different whisker curling is how I can tell the velveteens from the Harley coated babies. VARIETIES The non - Harley coats coming from this line are also remarkable. The velveteens appear to have a longer, plush, ruffled coat. It almost stands up on end. It is soft, but does not have the same textures as the Harley coat, feeling more like traditional rat coats. The standard and satin-shiny coats seem to have longer guard hairs, especially as babies. But, the coat as an adult looks fairly normal, with the satins looking shinier. UPDATES ON THE LINE! The Harleys are incredible and their personalities are like creamy chocolate. However, I'm still following the health of the line. Reports from breeders about their health will be posted as I recieve them. Update 1-2004 - The Harleys have been shipped to the NE USA states. Update 4-2004 - The first Harley coated DWARF was born on 4-07-04. OFR Tea Biscuit is a Himalayan Harley coated - non-curly coated - dwarf. Harley/dwarf carriers were shipped to S. CA. Update 10-2004 - Harley rats, OFR Teacup, and her litter were exhibited at a RatsPacNW rat show. Update 10-2004 - Harley died on 9-22-04 at 2.2 years-old. At OFR, thus far, the life-expectancy of Harley rats averages around 2 years-old. No mammary cancer has been seen or reported in the line. Update 11-2004 - Harley Dwarf rat exhibited at Ratapalooza III. We obtained two Agouti Harley-coated carrier rats from Sparticles Rattery in OR, for future breeding. Update 12-2004 - There are now ratteries in CA, PA, WA, OR and MI with Harleys. In Fall 2004, they were imported from us to the Czech Repulic in Europe. Each rattery is screened to check that they understand this is a "new" recessive gene and understand the history of the line - beginning with one rat named Harley in 2002. Update 12-2004 - Harley mothers are fabulously friendly and very good mothers. Litter size is 5-10 babies. Infantile death after birth is very low. The size of babies are uniform and hearty. However, we received reports from two breeders that they lost a few babies from their litters within the first days after birth from a first-time Harley coated moms. These two does were a generation separated, but they are from the Harley line. Update 3-2005 - RatsPacNW rat club standardized the Harley coated rats. Agouti and black Harley coated rats have been born. Update 6-2005 - Harleys are now bred throughout the United States and in the Czech Republic. In Oregon, a breeder has consistently bred the straight coated Harleys from a standard rat, carrying the Harley gene to her father, who carried the straight coated gene. In our rattery, the first Harley/Burmese crosses have been bred. Harley coated rat are now being bred to established lines. We are still working on Harley coated dwarf rats. OFR Teacup died at 21 months-old. Update 1- 2006 - Harleys can be bred in straight coats. The curly coat occurs when a dominant coat gene such as rex or velveteen is bred to it. We isolated two dominant curly coat types from the original Harley line. One is a standard curly coat type like velveteen. The other is a dominant curly coat that is very loose and limp and somewhat plush. When bred with another curly coat type, it does not display and causes no hair loss. ~ Carriers of the Harley-coat gene were shipped to S. Africa. ~The first Burmese Harley-coat rat named OFR Hershell was born. ~ Harley Coat became a Standardized Variety for RatsPacNW Rat Showing Club. ~ OFR Ducati lived to be 23.5 months-old and OFR Johnny lived to be 27 months-old. Personalities from OFR Harley-Coated Rats are incredibly sweet and well natured. LINK For Harley's complete story & pictures of her first litter of babies, three velveteens and one standard...click here! |
| OFR Ducati, Dumbo Harley-coated Himalayan Male - Harley's Son, DOB May 1, 2003. His and Aprilla's coats are what the majority of the Harley coats appear like. Look around the page to see other Harley-coat variations that have popped up in litters! |
| OFR Teacup, Straight Harley-coated Himalayan female. She was the first Harley born at OFR with no curl to her hair! It remains plush, straight and long. |
| OFR Guinivere, Double Velveteen Harley-coated Himalayan Female She has inherited possibly two curly coat genes causing the very thin coat, like a double rex, but it does not all fall out. Some hairs remain long all over her body. |
| Harley's Grand-children |
| Hair Length 8-5-03 - OFR Ducati - Hair Avg. 11/16 inch length. Up to 1 inch long guard hairs or Avg. 2 cm. length. |
Teacup at 1.4 years-old - 12-04.
| OFR Johnny, Dumbo Shaggy Harley-Coated Himalayan Male. Born to OFR Ducati, Himalayan Harley-coat X OFR Bella, a Himalayan standard coat rat, but carries Harley genes, on 9-17-03. His coat is shaggy and wooly. This pic was taken on 12-04. Only his litter appeared this shaggy. |
| Johnny at 1.2 years-old. |
| OFR Tea Bisquit, Himalayan Straight Harley-coated Dwarf female - DOB: 4-7-2004 She was the first Harley-coat Dwarf rat. She had one litter. Update 2006: Last litters bred produced Harley coated dwarf rats. Then, OFR closed. |
| SPAR Dakota, Black Straight Harley-Coated Rat from Sparticles Rattery in Oregon, USA. 2004/2005. |
| OFR Hershell, Dumbo Burmese Curly Harley-Coated Rat Male - DOB: 9-22-2005 Hershell has a curly Harley-coat & Dumbo ears. He is the only Burmese Harley kept at OFR in 2005. Rats from his litter were incredibly sweet. |
| 2004-2006: The Next Generations |
| Timeline of Events for Harley-Coated Rats Est. June 2002 Harley was Born. Sept. 2002 Found in Tacoma, WA, USA Pet Store. Brought to OFR Rattery ~ Named 'Harley' ~ May 2003 OFR Harley-Coat Reproduced! April 2004 OFR Harley-Coat Dwarf Rat Born. Sept. 2005 Burmese Harley-Coat Rats Born. |
| Harley Coated Rats: 2002-2003 |
| As a Juvenile - OFR Aprilla, Dumbo Himalayan Female - Harley's Daughter - DOB May 1, 2003. |
| Rare & New coat type called "Harley Coated" rats OFR bred the Recessive coat type from 2002-2003 |
| Harley Coated 'Long Haired' Domesticated Fancy Rats by Debbi J. Needham - 2010 Repost |
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