Posted by:
duffy
at Tue Feb 3 16:21:01 2004 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by duffy ]
Normal black rats can be mostly black or may retain a fair amount of their pattern as they mature. Texas rats will retain the juvenile "saddles" and pattern into adulthood. On average, the texas rat will have a much stronger pattern as an adult, while the black rat may have little or none. To complicate matters, the two do produce natural intergrades where their ranges overlap, which may explain the existence of some pretty darn black looking "texas" rats.
Both are great animals. The texas has the bad reputation, but as you have discovered many if not most of them will mellow out with proper handling. Mine sure did. She was a terror as a hatchling, but now is a sweetie. My 7 year old handles her with complete confidence. Enjoy. Duffy
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