Rats can be cute, and we have all the proof right here. Dumbo rats are some of the most adorable rodents out there and people love them. Dumbo rats look a bit different from standard rats because of their ear placement. Their ears sit lower on their heads, giving them that endearing “dumbo-look” we all love. It gives their appearance a sweet, helpless look that makes you want to cheer them up or hug them. Other than their ears, dumbo rats are the same as standard and fancy rats.
What is a Dumbo Rat?
Dumbo rats look just like fancy rats except for their amazing ears. Everything about them is the same as fancy rats with standard ears. They have the same typically sweet, loyal, brilliant, silly, and loving personalities. Dumbo rats are fancy rats with different ears, and that’s the only difference. Dumbo rats have extra cute, floppy, big elephant-like ears that are the creation of the recessive gene mutation “dudu.” Sometimes, the gene is a little wonky and creates ears that look more like pointy elf ears.
Dumbo rats come in every fancy rat color or pattern. Everything is the same except for their ears. Some rats will have a double rex gene and not have fur at all, or might have fur grow in strange patches and fall out again. The rex gene creates curly hair and whiskers, also. It is possible to have a curly haired rex dumbo rat. The curly hair is very soft and gives them a tousled look.
Dumbo rats are like people because they each have very different personalities and can be bigger/smaller, have deformities, and have gene mutations that make them look or act differently than others, just like humans. They can also have neurological differences. Some rats are more prone to becoming aggressive than others.
Albino rats have a much more difficult time seeing, and therefore, they are a bit on the jumpy side. When you approach them, always touch them on the back or rump to let them know it’s you. Otherwise, they may just charge forward and think your finger is a treat. Males, that are not neutered, can also be aggressive over territory and the ladies and will fight. Neutering helps with behavior tremendously.
Diet
Rats living in enclosures are like royalty since their food is brought to them daily. It contains fruit, vegetables, and maybe a sweet treat. It is also essential to include rat food because it contains everything they need to be healthy.
Rats are prone to obesity, so it’s best to go easy on the fruits packed with sugar, and any sort of processed treat, like a cookie, should only be given as a treat occasionally. Rats are also opportunistic when it comes to filling their bellies. There isn’t much that they won’t at least try. Like us, some rats like to include meat in their diet while others refuse.
Habitat
Rats are opportunistic adventurers and food seekers. They also must have a den or hiding place to go catch some zzzs and raise the next generation of rats. Since they are extra smart, they check for danger of all types, make sure there is an entrance and exit, and hide well so the average predator will not be able to find them. That is in the wild; in a person’s home, the rats have it quite different.
As pets, dumbo rats need plenty of room to run and play. The most popular enclosure choice is the four-story Midwest Critter Nation enclosure. They are safest in there as long as they have all the necessities needed to survive.
Health Issues
Dumbo rats are cute little and not so cute little rodents. Like all rodents, they have superior hearing and sense of smell, but their eyesight, at best, is terrible. Albino rats have a much more debilitating issue when it comes to eyesight. The eyesight of a rat is similar to that of a person who wears contacts whose strength is -6.50. They have 20/600 vision, and that only includes rats with black eyes, not red.
Since rats cannot access rat-sized glasses, they rely on their other senses to guide them through life. Rats do not depend on colors to guide them; instead, they focus on brightness cues, states Rat Sensory World in an article about rat vision. Another fun fact brought to you by the amazing website Rat Sensory World is that even if rats could have rat-sized glasses, it wouldn’t work for them the same way it works for us with vision correction.
The shape of the rat’s eye, which allows them to see depth, would make wearing glasses and seeing slight improvements like we do when we go to the optometrist. They would need huge differences in lenses to see any difference.
For example, let’s take the average vision adjustment to a lens at 0.03 diopters, which would help us see better because it isn’t a small change. With rats, the change would need 14 diopters to make even the slightest adjustment that the rat could see. This is not a health issue because the rats rely on their other senses and do just fine.
Another health issue is cancer. Rats are highly prone to cancer, and it is common to see them with tumors. Most of the cancers that develop can be removed if caught early enough. Other than those potential issues, rats are pretty healthy. They can get respiratory infections that can be fatal if not treated immediately with antibiotics. Rats can take a lot of the same medicines that we can, but be sure to always check with your vet first.
Though many people still believe that they can catch diseases and sicknesses from rats, you are likely to catch even more dangerous things from cats, dogs, birds, and so on. Rats can pass the following sicknesses to humans: rat-bite fever, leptospirosis, hantavirus, and a form of meningitis caused by a virus called lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus. One disease-carrying fiend that we all have to deal with at some point is the mosquito. They are responsible for the most deaths in the world.
Lifespan
It is difficult to love such a small, intelligent creature, knowing that your time together would end too soon to say goodbye. Rats, like all other rodents, do not live very long. Depending on where your rats came from, they could live as little as one year, or could live to be three+ years old. Not all rats are treated as equals. There’re rats, then fancy rats, dumbo rats, and a ton of different coat patterns, types and colors to choose from, but which is the healthiest all depends on who and where you adopted your rat from.
