# My nekid boy's



## Guest (Apr 15, 2012)

I noticed today just how much my boys have grown since turning up here so I grabbed a few pics 

Ethan a few days after turning up









Bastien 









And these are from today
Ethan



























Bastien




































I love my nekid boys :001_wub:


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## Claireglynn (Dec 9, 2011)

They are gorgeous.

If you dont mind me asking, what do naked's feel like to touch, is it like unshaved legs after a few days alittle spikie/rough skin or are they like soft fluffy skin?
Sorry if that sounds daft but i have never actually seen one in the flesh, only on forums and i would love to have one in the future but they very rarely come up in rescue around here.
Do they suffer with eye and skin problems often, i have read this is quite common? 

Sorry for all the questions i am just very noisy and genuinely interested in them.


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

They are gorgeous Bernie, I just want to smoosh them all up and kiss their little bellies (does that make me weird :blushing. I think the baldies feel like warm suede Claireglynn, thats the best description I can think of.


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

Aww I love nekid ratties.
Wish my berty had dumbo ears.
What are you nekids like in character bernie?
Berty is a naughty mischievous ratty always up to no good and he does a goodjob of winding the other boys up! 

Nekids feel warm and silky soft to the touch.


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## Guest (Apr 15, 2012)

Claireglynn said:


> They are gorgeous.
> 
> If you dont mind me asking, what do naked's feel like to touch, is it like unshaved legs after a few days alittle spikie or are they like fluffy skin?
> Sorry if that sounds daft but i have never actually seen one in the flesh, only on forums and i would love to have one in the future but they very rarely come up in rescue around here.
> ...


No worries with the questions, I'm happy to answer any if I can 

Well nakeds feel like warm soft velvet, they are like little hot water bottles 

Now for the problems associated with nakeds:
The is a difference depending on what variation they are, you can get two types a true hairless and the patchwork hairless.

True hairless rats have no fur at all on their bodies and usually no whiskers either. Sometimes they have fur as pups which falls out by the time they are 2-3 months old. There are many different genetic strains of true hairless and most if not all of which have come from laboratories, where they are used extensively for medical research. 
They are missing a part of their immune system called the thymus, which makes them susceptible to disease and allergies. Depending on which strain they are they can be prone to tumors, eye and respiratory infections, heart or kidney disease, diabetes or skin problems. The average lifespan of true hairless rats is 9-18 months old. 
Many true hairless does can't feed their pups, many won't lactate enough or at all.

There are 3 different strains of patchwork rats:

Double rex: produced from two rex-coated parents (ReRe). Different from the other two strains as they tend to keep some fur on the face, head, feet and ankles while maintaining a mostly hairless body. If bred to a normal-coated rat they will produce rex-coated pups. If bred to a rex or velveteen-coated rat they will produce double rex pups.

Double Velveteen: produced from two velveteen-coated parents (CuCu). If bred with a normal-coated rat will produce velveteen-coated pups. If bred to a velveteen or rex-coated rat they will produce double velveteen pups.

Double velveteen/Double rex: produced from one double rex-coated parent and one double velveteen-coated parent (CuCuReRe). If bred to a normal-coated rat they will produce rex-coated and/or velveteen-coated pups.

The patchwork rats don't have the same type of issues that a true hairless has apart from skin problems, and all the other problems that furred rats can suffer with.

Personally I believe that hairless rats are rescue pets only, I know there are some good breeders trying to breed out all the genetic defects but they are few and far between IMO


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## Guest (Apr 15, 2012)

thedogsmother said:


> They are gorgeous Bernie, I just want to smoosh them all up and kiss their little bellies (does that make me weird :blushing. I think the baldies feel like warm suede Claireglynn, thats the best description I can think of.


No weird at all but I'm not sure if I am the best judge of that really ut:



blade100 said:


> Aww I love nekid ratties.
> Wish my berty had dumbo ears.
> What are you nekids like in character bernie?
> Berty is a naughty mischievous ratty always up to no good and he does a goodjob of winding the other boys up!
> ...


All my nekids are dumbo's 
Ethan is a cuddle monster but Bastien and the 3 girls are all like your Bertie they are always into things they shouldn't be


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## Claireglynn (Dec 9, 2011)

That sounds much nicer, i had always thought of them feeling like old people's skin, abit rough and dry, i have no idea how i reached this, but warm and silky sounds much more pleasant.

And they do look so cute.

Do you have to look after them any different to hairy rats, with there eyes and skin to keep them looking this good? They are some of the best looking nakied rats i have seen.

Thank you for answering my questions.

Claire


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## Guest (Apr 15, 2012)

Claireglynn said:


> That sounds much nicer, i had always thought of them feeling like old people's skin, abit rough and dry, i have no idea how i reached this, but warm and silky sounds much more pleasant.
> 
> And they do look so cute.
> 
> ...


Aww thank you, that is very sweet of you to say 
The only thing I do differently to my furred lot is, I moisturise their skin once a week to stop it getting flakey and they all get a good stable diet 
The rest they take care of themselves


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

Do you know berty is now 6 months and I haven't had to do anything with his skin but I have noticed his eyes seem to have started producing lots of phorhyrin (sorry spelt wrong??) so I'm having to bath his eyes once a day. He'd not been making any noises at all.
I must have a double Rex then as berty has fur on his head a little round his chops and on his legs the rest is bald. He reminds me of a sheep. Lol.


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Is there a way (without knowing very much about their breeding) to tell if what type of hairless rat you have? Neither of my boys have any hair at all but they do have a few whiskers (curly ones), both of their parents appeared completely hairless too.


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## LostGirl (Jan 16, 2009)

I'll have to take some new pics of their brothers they have got really chunky they love food!! Lol 

They are gorgeous tho I love the feel of them aswell all
Soft smooth and warm I love kissing little fattie bellies!


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## Guest (Apr 15, 2012)

thedogsmother said:


> Is there a way (without knowing very much about their breeding) to tell if what type of hairless rat you have? Neither of my boys have any hair at all but they do have a few whiskers (curly ones), both of their parents appeared completely hairless too.


The only certain way is a dna test.
The curly whiskers indicate double rex to me tho because the true hairless is a different gene to the rex gene.


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## sully (May 3, 2008)

Never seen hairless rats before...... i saw a hairless cat on tv yesterday then someone mentioned a hairless hamster on a forum which again i hadnt seen apart from babies so had a look on google...... all very sweet!


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## CRL (Jan 3, 2012)

i do have a nekid myself (Serin) but i must admit i am not very keen on them. i prefer my rats furred.


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## Wobbles (Jun 2, 2011)

Wow they're certainly... different. Never seen hairless rats before, though like CRL I prefer them furry.

Are some rats naturally hairless or is it a deliberately bred type of thing? Is it for a reason? (like to keep them cool cos of where they come from or something)


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## Guest (Apr 16, 2012)

colliewobble said:


> Wow they're certainly... different. Never seen hairless rats before, though like CRL I prefer them furry.
> 
> Are some rats naturally hairless or is it a deliberately bred type of thing? Is it for a reason? (like to keep them cool cos of where they come from or something)


It is a genetic mutation, they were originally bred for laboratory testing.
The reason the pet market still breed them is the same reson that people breed any hairless animal - because they are different :cursing:

If you read one of my posts on page one 1 explain a bit about them 

I will say before these guys came here I wasn't a fan of the hairless  I thought (as many do) that they would have tough skin, almost like leather. Also I was never really a fan of their appearance 
When these guys (and their 3 sisters (they can from the same rescue so I call them sisters ) turned up, it was love at first sight :001_wub: These little ones have really wormed their way into my heart 

I have a bit if a thing for hairless rats now :lol:


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## CRL (Jan 3, 2012)

they do feel nice. very warm and soft. but im not keen on the look tbh.


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