Rat Terminology

Thought I would share some terminology used in the rat community and some specific to myself!

Pinkie: When baby rats are born they are naked (no fur) and pink. So we call them pinkies.

Jellybean: Also refers to little babies. IDK why... They are small I guess? But it is a pretty common phrase.

Ritten/Kitten: Ritten is a fun name we sometimes use to refer to babies as well. It is the words Rat + Kitten combined. Kitten refers to babies. Though some also use pups.

Buck: A male rat

Doe: A female rat

Mischief: It means a group of rats. Like a group of lions is called a pride, other animals are called herds or swarms or packs, a group of crows is called a murder. For rats we call it a mischief. Hence my ratteries name!

Brux: The noise rats make when they grind their teeth together. They do it quite often to keep their teeth trim and it can also be done when they are scared or even in pain. But quite often they do it when they are happy or excited.

Boggle: This is when a rat's eyes will vibrate rapidly in and out of the eye socket. It is something you just have to see! It often happens when a rat is Bruxxing and is often a sign of contentment or excitement.

Sway: Rats with red eyes may often be seen swaying back and forth. This is because they have a bit poorer vision and the swaying helps them focus and see. It is no cause for concern and does not mean they are blind.

Barbering: Is when a rat over grooms themselves (or another) often leaving a spot bald. It can be caused by stress or sometimes a skin issue or even something like mites.

Culling: Simply means to remove a rat from your breeding lines. There are two types of culling.

Soft Culling: This often means either keeping the rat yourself as a pet or selling/giving it away to a pet home.

Hard Culling: Euthanasia.

Euthanasia: Intentionally ending the life of a rat usually to end pain and suffering. Always should be done humanely.

Head Tilt: The rat will have a tilt head and can interfere with how the rat moves. This is almost always a cause of an ear infection and they should be treated by a vet asap.

Hooded: I see people get this marking wrong all the time. It is when a rat has color covering their head AND it continues down their back in a line.

Litter: The entire offspring of a rat pairing.

Lab Blocks/Kibble: This started off as a term for rat food in block form that was created for labs. For some reason we kindof call all block type foods lab blocks now.

Manx: A rat born without a tail or only with a small nub of a tail. They must be genetically born this way opposed to rats who have had their tail's docked either by their owners (yes it is cruel) or by their mother's during an over grooming.

PEW/BEW: PEW stands for Pink Eyed White, it is an all white rat with pink eyes. BEW stands for an all white rat with black eyes.

Mycoplasma: It is a bacterial infection that all rats carry (except some lab rats but they would catch it the moment they came into contact with other outside rats). Usually they will show no symptoms and have no issues. But sometimes because of stress, illness, or environmental issues they will have a flair up which often leads to a URI- Upper Respiratory Infection.

Poryphin: A red discharge that gathers around a rat's eyes/nose. Seeing alot or if it is common often means the rat is ill, stressed or having a reaction to an environmental issue.

Odd-Eyed: Having two different eye colors. Sometimes black and pink, or ruby and pink.

Pedigree: The family history of the rat. Showing their parents, grandparents, etc...

Harley: A long haired rat

I'll update with more terms soon :)