Jumbo Rats?!

[Amber]

Me and my dad just got home from the petstore, he had to get stuff for his fish. Anyways I went off looking at the animals. When I got to the rats, they had just the other rats, and then a cage labled "Jumbo Rats" They did look big, but I didnt think there is a such. Whats your ideas?

Is it even true? jumbo rats?

[wolfsoul]

Pet stores often name the full grown rats "Jumbo rats." There's nothing different about them. :)

[Amber]

ahhhhh, I see


Kinda like calling a long hair syrian hamster a teddybear hamster

[wolfsoul]

Yep, that's right!

You can actually get real "jumbo" type rats. They have a more technical name that's on the tip of my tongue...Well, they usually come with health problems like diabetes and don't live very long, so most breeders discourage breeding them. I don't believe you can find one in a pet store.

[wolfie]

Do rats come in different sizes though?

At the petstore I have seen a cage with "small rats" and a cage with "large rats." - so are the large rats just older, or a different varitey?

[wolfsoul]

Rats all come in the same general size range. :) Individual ones will be different though, of course. My rat Icarus is full grown, but just a tiny guy at 183 grams! My other guy, Frisco, is fairly small for a male rat, but is much bigger than Icarus at 275 grams. :)

[Desert Arabian]

Amber,

Jumbo rats are just plain old rats- just larger than normal. They aren't a certain breed or anything, there is no such thing as different breeds of rats, just different types and colors.

:D

My male Fred is 1 1/2 pounds...he's a really jumbo fatty! :D

[wolfie]

Ah, thanks wolfsoul and YellowLabLover. :)

[luckies4me]

Yep, no such thing as jumbo rats. I really hate when pet stores label them as such. All rats come in different sizes. Some are small and some are big. I have one boy here who is 2 pounds plus and is just a big boy, mainly because his line is bred to be big. Rats who are inbred tend to be smaller, whereas rats with more genetic diversity are larger. The smaller rats they display as small are just younger rats.


You can actually get real "jumbo" type rats. They have a more technical name that's on the tip of my tongue...Well, they usually come with health problems like diabetes and don't live very long, so most breeders discourage breeding them. I don't believe you can find one in a pet store.

I need to correct you, that's false. There is NO such thing as a jumbo rat. Yes there are certain lab strains of rats who are prone to being obese, but not larger. Also breeders don't breed any rats such as this, and it's near impossible to get ahold of these rats unless you work in a lab. I would like to know and see proof of where you heard this, and if their genetics have been tested in order to prove these rats get massive, as in LARGE, not obese. There's a big differece.

I forgot to say they are called "Zucker" rats.

[Desert Arabian]

Originally posted by wolfsoul
Yep, that's right!

You can actually get real "jumbo" type rats. They have a more technical name that's on the tip of my tongue...Well, they usually come with health problems like diabetes and don't live very long, so most breeders discourage breeding them. I don't believe you can find one in a pet store.

Are you thinking of the Gambian Pouched Rat maybe!? Otherwise Luckies is right about your statement.

[wolfsoul]

Cass is right; I was talking about Zucker rats. There was someone on rfc that had a Zucker rat. There was also more info on Rfc about breeding rats that carry the Zucker gene and such. Apparently there was a rattery that found out that some of the rats carried the Zucker gene and then they had to discontinue breeding the rats. I don't know if they were breeding homozygous ones, or whatnot.

[CathyBogart]

Zucker is recessive, or it would have to be if a rattery discovered that they were breeding rats heterozygous for the gene.

If the rats were homozygous for Zucker, they would have been Zucker rats. You can't be homozygous without showing the trait.

[sirrahved]

All I know is that I love my little mice but I would never want a two pound rodent in my house!!!! (call me crazy!)

[Desert Arabian]

Originally posted by sirrahved
All I know is that I love my little mice but I would never want a two pound rodent in my house!!!! (call me crazy!)

So, you wouldn't want a Capybara then would you!?! :p

http://www.wildland.com/trips/details/Images/Capybara.jpg

They are the world's largest rodent weighing up to 150 pounds. :D

[lv4dogs]

Originally posted by sirrahved
All I know is that I love my little mice but I would never want a two pound rodent in my house!!!! (call me crazy!)

i would love a big rat then he/she could be free roam all the time, just like my dogs & cat! lol


all of the above are right about the "labeled sizes" of rats. a lot of pet stores label them this way cause they can also be used for feeder rats. poor rats, but heck i love all animals & realize that snakes gotta live too.