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Photography / Animal related (non-anthro)
Species Rat
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This is Doodlebug.
Doodlebug has something 'wrong' with him, but as yet, no-one knows for sure.
The vet of the lady who used to own him claimed he had down's syndrome.
Now, down's syndrome has not, to my knowledge, been discovered in rats yet. BUT it has been discovered in cats, monkeys, and non-human apes so far.
So it is likely that a similar condition exists in rats, and Doodlebug fits almost all the physical criteria for down's in a human.
So, for ease, I refer to him as having down's syndrome, but to clarify, Im not saying that he has this exact condition, as it appears in humans. But Im fairly sure he has a 'rat' variation of it, caused the same way.
His weepy eyes are a result of his skull being too rounded and short, which causes him the same problems as short faced dogs have: snuffling and eye problems.
Other than this, he doesn't suffer any ill effects from the way he looks.
He has a shortened tail and body also, and he cannot stand on his rear legs without support. He has little muscle tone, and he puts on weight very easily.
He is a wonderfully affectionate and licky boy once he is settled (he can be a bit timid at first) but he tends to throw sudden tantrums when things don't go his way, in a way I've never really seen in a rat before.
I think he's beautiful, and many people in the rat community have fallen for him, though no-one has seen anything like him before.
But some people still call him things like 'ugly' :(
I swear to god, if anyone wants to say shit like that about him, they are disgusting people and should die in a fire.
He is beautiful, and unique, and I'm very lucky to have him.
Doodlebug has something 'wrong' with him, but as yet, no-one knows for sure.
The vet of the lady who used to own him claimed he had down's syndrome.
Now, down's syndrome has not, to my knowledge, been discovered in rats yet. BUT it has been discovered in cats, monkeys, and non-human apes so far.
So it is likely that a similar condition exists in rats, and Doodlebug fits almost all the physical criteria for down's in a human.
So, for ease, I refer to him as having down's syndrome, but to clarify, Im not saying that he has this exact condition, as it appears in humans. But Im fairly sure he has a 'rat' variation of it, caused the same way.
His weepy eyes are a result of his skull being too rounded and short, which causes him the same problems as short faced dogs have: snuffling and eye problems.
Other than this, he doesn't suffer any ill effects from the way he looks.
He has a shortened tail and body also, and he cannot stand on his rear legs without support. He has little muscle tone, and he puts on weight very easily.
He is a wonderfully affectionate and licky boy once he is settled (he can be a bit timid at first) but he tends to throw sudden tantrums when things don't go his way, in a way I've never really seen in a rat before.
I think he's beautiful, and many people in the rat community have fallen for him, though no-one has seen anything like him before.
But some people still call him things like 'ugly' :(
I swear to god, if anyone wants to say shit like that about him, they are disgusting people and should die in a fire.
He is beautiful, and unique, and I'm very lucky to have him.
Category Photography / Animal related (non-anthro)
Species Rat
Size 1191 x 722px
File Size 1.38 MB
I hope so too. My vet has said he may have dental issues later on as his jaw is under-sized and set back too far. But he seems to have perfect teeth right now, and I think if he were going to have these issues, they'd have appeared by now.
Other than being a bit snuffly, and having weepy eyes, he is in good health.
Other than being a bit snuffly, and having weepy eyes, he is in good health.
I think his short face and plump/stubby look make him even cuter, in a sense. What an adorable little bugger <3
Wish I could have rats, but they trigger my asthma pretty badly and make me itch...allergic, I think. I admire them from a distance (and sometimes say 'fuckit' and pet them then sneeze a lot c: they're too cute not to).
Wish I could have rats, but they trigger my asthma pretty badly and make me itch...allergic, I think. I admire them from a distance (and sometimes say 'fuckit' and pet them then sneeze a lot c: they're too cute not to).
He's actually a roan, or husky, but he's lost most of his colour. You can still see it on his back a little. Roans are common as much now, since pets@home started churning them out. Was a time when you had to go on a long breeder's waiting list to get one, but now, they're the most common variety I get in as rescues. Sad really.
Black eyed whites don't tend to be bred so much any more because the variety was linked to a number of health problems.
Black eyed whites don't tend to be bred so much any more because the variety was linked to a number of health problems.
Its normal for roan rats.
They start out with colour on their back and extending onto their face, and that colour can be any recognised colour, but the blacks, agoutis and minks seem the most common.
Then, over time, the colouration fades, and the rat can end up completely white. This is specific to roan rats.
A lot of people get a little black and white rat because they like the markings, and end up with a pure white rat a year later!
Most roans fade to some degree. Some fade very fast, others retain most of their colour throughout their life. Breeders try to breed for a roan that retains colour, but all of mine have faded out by about 18 months of age, with only little bits of grey left on their back. You can see in the last pic of Doodlebug that he has little grey flecks of hair on his back still. That would have been all dark right over his back when he was a baby.
They start out with colour on their back and extending onto their face, and that colour can be any recognised colour, but the blacks, agoutis and minks seem the most common.
Then, over time, the colouration fades, and the rat can end up completely white. This is specific to roan rats.
A lot of people get a little black and white rat because they like the markings, and end up with a pure white rat a year later!
Most roans fade to some degree. Some fade very fast, others retain most of their colour throughout their life. Breeders try to breed for a roan that retains colour, but all of mine have faded out by about 18 months of age, with only little bits of grey left on their back. You can see in the last pic of Doodlebug that he has little grey flecks of hair on his back still. That would have been all dark right over his back when he was a baby.
My god he is fucking adorable, he looks so dopey I could just cuddle up with him and love him forever.
It' so strange, from the bottom left picture he almost looks like a ferret because of his skull. I don't know why people would call him ugly, he has such a sweet face and he sounds like such a doll. <3 You're right, you are very lucky!
It' so strange, from the bottom left picture he almost looks like a ferret because of his skull. I don't know why people would call him ugly, he has such a sweet face and he sounds like such a doll. <3 You're right, you are very lucky!
I can see! It makes him look really cute though, that cutie face just compliments his bulky body :3
Does he have any response problems? Like if you call him does he notice or does he sometimes act like he's deaf? I'm really interested in his mental behavior, since he really is very unique.
Does he have any response problems? Like if you call him does he notice or does he sometimes act like he's deaf? I'm really interested in his mental behavior, since he really is very unique.
He's definitely not deaf. I have a deaf rat, and its very obvious that he doesn't hear.
But Doodlebug can definitely hear; he responds to noises I make.
I can't be certain about his vision, though, as blindness in rats is hard to pick up on as they don't use their eyes as their primary sense anyway, and they have bad eyes at the best of times.
Its also hard to know whether his behaviour is shaped by the way he lived prior to coming to me. He was a lone rat, and his owner was scared of him so never handled him. Any rat kept alone with no contact from another being is going to be affected in his behaviour, so I take that into account.
But even now, after having been settled in a group with others for a fair while, he still isn't normal.
He's quite clumsy and brutish with the other rats; he'll just climb over their head, sit on their heads, blunder past them. Its like he doesn't understand the unwritten social rules of being a rat. But again, this may be due to his past lifestyle of not having had that contact for a long time.
He also throws tantrums when something is in his way, or doesn't move aside when it asks it to (he had a tantrum today over my hoodie, as it kept flapping onto him and he wanted it to be moved aside, so he ended up getting quite upset by it).
But Doodlebug can definitely hear; he responds to noises I make.
I can't be certain about his vision, though, as blindness in rats is hard to pick up on as they don't use their eyes as their primary sense anyway, and they have bad eyes at the best of times.
Its also hard to know whether his behaviour is shaped by the way he lived prior to coming to me. He was a lone rat, and his owner was scared of him so never handled him. Any rat kept alone with no contact from another being is going to be affected in his behaviour, so I take that into account.
But even now, after having been settled in a group with others for a fair while, he still isn't normal.
He's quite clumsy and brutish with the other rats; he'll just climb over their head, sit on their heads, blunder past them. Its like he doesn't understand the unwritten social rules of being a rat. But again, this may be due to his past lifestyle of not having had that contact for a long time.
He also throws tantrums when something is in his way, or doesn't move aside when it asks it to (he had a tantrum today over my hoodie, as it kept flapping onto him and he wanted it to be moved aside, so he ended up getting quite upset by it).
Aw, yeah, being alone with no contact doesn't really help. His tantrums actually sound kinda adorable and remind me of one of my old boys, Pickles. :c I miss him.
Sounds like he's quite the unique rat though, he's certainly lucky to have you taking care care of him c: Do you ever video tape your rats? It would be neat to see him (and all your others) fumble around being adorable.
Sounds like he's quite the unique rat though, he's certainly lucky to have you taking care care of him c: Do you ever video tape your rats? It would be neat to see him (and all your others) fumble around being adorable.
I think he looks adorable! He almost reminds me of a ferret with how his face is shaped. <3
My only concern would be this "condition" showing up with someone who would breed it to make more rats like him provided that there is something wrong with him compared to other rats.
There was a rat that showed up at the shelter where I adopted my two who has an interesting build to him too. Though he doesn't look so cute. He had an interesting convex curve to his nose and his belly flared out towards his hind legs. Though other than his looks, the rescuer can't find anything wrong with him behavior wise or health wise (she thought maybe his nose was broken and healed strangely). He even seems to be getting along fine with the other rats.
My only concern would be this "condition" showing up with someone who would breed it to make more rats like him provided that there is something wrong with him compared to other rats.
There was a rat that showed up at the shelter where I adopted my two who has an interesting build to him too. Though he doesn't look so cute. He had an interesting convex curve to his nose and his belly flared out towards his hind legs. Though other than his looks, the rescuer can't find anything wrong with him behavior wise or health wise (she thought maybe his nose was broken and healed strangely). He even seems to be getting along fine with the other rats.
My only concern would be this "condition" showing up with someone who would breed it to make more rats like him
Yeah, this crossed my mind too. And I know that there are people out there who would breed from a rat like this without hesitation to try and get 'pug faced' rats. There was a flare up of people attempting to breed pug faced rats some time ago, I've been told, but this was quickly nipped in the bud.
Im not even sure if his condition would pass on to offspring. Or if he'd even be able to breed. I know that in human downs syndrome, the males are often infertile. And if they do have children, there is a certain percentage chance that the kids would have the same condition.
I'd kinda hope rats like Doodlebug were infertile, because if someone started breeding them deliberately to be like this, that would be sad :( He doesn't have any major health issues, but he has eye and breathing issues relating to his short face, which I don't think would be ethical to pass on to any other rats.
Yeah, this crossed my mind too. And I know that there are people out there who would breed from a rat like this without hesitation to try and get 'pug faced' rats. There was a flare up of people attempting to breed pug faced rats some time ago, I've been told, but this was quickly nipped in the bud.
Im not even sure if his condition would pass on to offspring. Or if he'd even be able to breed. I know that in human downs syndrome, the males are often infertile. And if they do have children, there is a certain percentage chance that the kids would have the same condition.
I'd kinda hope rats like Doodlebug were infertile, because if someone started breeding them deliberately to be like this, that would be sad :( He doesn't have any major health issues, but he has eye and breathing issues relating to his short face, which I don't think would be ethical to pass on to any other rats.
I think he's adorable. :3
I have a downs syndrome cat. She's the sweetest cat I've ever met. Just because they are different, doesn't make them 'broken'.
And that first picture makes me miss the way my dumbo rat, Scabbers' ears would go when he ate or cleaned his hands. Maybe he had this condition too. Though, he wasn't very sweet, he hated hands and fingers with a passion. *sigh*
I have a downs syndrome cat. She's the sweetest cat I've ever met. Just because they are different, doesn't make them 'broken'.
And that first picture makes me miss the way my dumbo rat, Scabbers' ears would go when he ate or cleaned his hands. Maybe he had this condition too. Though, he wasn't very sweet, he hated hands and fingers with a passion. *sigh*
He is gorgeous! Dont listen to what negative nancys and naysayers say.
They just dont understand rat love and a bond between these beautiful creatures and humans when done right.
He is a lovely rat and I am sure he feels the same way as you do, lucky to have you in his life. :D
They just dont understand rat love and a bond between these beautiful creatures and humans when done right.
He is a lovely rat and I am sure he feels the same way as you do, lucky to have you in his life. :D
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