The Essex Rat
History of the Essex
The coat pattern was developed in Essex (UK) and a few people such as myself and my co-breeder Anne Foster thought that this would be interesting to develop to it’s full potential.
We met at a rat show in Colchester (Essex) and found we lived very close to each other Southend on sea and Rayleigh both in Essex, we started breeding the Essex in October 98 with a mink Essex and have slowly progressed to other colours. Thankfully with the help of a good breeder who gave us an Opal we have now started to breed a blue and Opal line. The development of the Essex has been a very long process with lots of discoveries and disappointments along the way. We do not mass breed, we breed two females at one time and often the litters do not produce show standard Essex but lovely miss-marked Essex that are so pretty that we sell them easily because they are unusual. I do not keep loads of rats and neither does my friend Ann but between the two of us we are trying to keep one of every colour in the Essex to put on the show bench at the National Fancy Rat Society. The Standards Officer suggested the name of Essex, because neither Anne nor I could think of a suitable one. The first Essex rat that was discovered was found by a lady called Sheila and she also comes from Essex.
The markings range from a Berkshire with a head spot to almost variegated, however the desired pattern from which we have produced a guide standard is gradual fading with no obvious patches of colour.
We believe it is a dominant gene on the H loci
H’H = Essex (we use this symbol to represent this gene although this is not official)
H’h = Essex X Berkshire (to be named)
When an Essex is mated to a Berkshire the following results are
HH = Unpatterned
H’H = Essex
Hh = Berkshire
H’h = To be named (not to be mistaken for miss-marked capped)
H’h we feel it is not sufficient enough to be standardised
Essex crossed to a non pattern rat (Agouti or Self) the ration should be 50%
Essex crossed to an Essex should have about the same ratio but Mother Nature isn’t always perfect.
The temperament of the Essex is a lovely natured rat, the boys tend to be quite big my biggest Essex is Xander my Opal Essex and he weighs over 800 grams although I think I will put him on a diet soon! Essex girls make lovely mums and look after their babies well.
I love the Essex rat because of the beautiful colours that are produced and their wonderful nature. Anyone who buys my Essex have always told me how wonderful their temperament is, and to me that’s what keeping rats is all about.
The following is a copy of the our reply to a question about Essex rats in Pro-Rat-a
Sheila Sowter originally studied the Essex variety. Formally known as Robert, as this was the name of the original rat that Sheila was breeding with.
We started experimenting with this gene from two doe’s which came from a pet shop near us in Essex. We did numerous test matings, keeping records of the results and monitoring the outcome of the litters produced which proved conclusive in every case. Discussing the results with Sheila showed that she was producing similar results.
We believe that the Essex gene Hr is on the H loci and, is a lethal dominant (kittens having two of these genes (Hr Hr) will die). The Essex can therefore be represented by Hr H. When the Essex gene is combined with a hooded gene by mating to a Hooded or Berkshire the offspring Hr h have been nicknamed Baldie, these are often mistaken for mis-marked capped. If any such rats produce variegated offspring they are more likely to be badly marked Essex rather than true variegated.
The best Essex is usually produced by mating an Essex to a non marked variety e.g. black or agouti. Hr H x H H will produce more of the same i.e. Hr H (Essex) H H (non-marked). Theoretically this should produce 50% of each, however our results would indicate approximately 45% Essex, suggesting, perhaps, the Essex gene produces a weakness in some embryos which then fail to develop.
If you cross an Essex with a Berkshire a larger variety of offspring is produced in roughly equal proportion. Hr H x Hh gives Hr H (Essex) Hr h (Baldie) H H (non-marked) and H h (Berkshire).
The Essex gene obviously produces marked varieties; the Essex itself should have full colour along the top of the rat, becoming less intense down the sides of the animal. The gradual fading of colour continues until the belly itself, becomes off white, with no spotting of darker colour. When viewed from above, the fading effect should be symmetrical, having no clear demarcation. There should be no obvious patches of contrasting colour. A head spot is essential. This must be well defined and symmetrical. It also has a colour paling effect e.g. black becomes charcoal, blue becomes powder blue etc. We do not believe that the gene dilutes in the same way as blue (d d), where the pigment granules are clumped together.
We do not know anything about the Dalmatian and so are unable to comment. The name Dalmatian would suggest spotting or well defined variegated patches. It must be remembered that a good Essex fades gradually and should have no demarcation or obvious patches.
We have also been asked, "Why standardise a head spot and not a blaze? ". We have found that blazed animals, whilst being very pretty, tend to be poorly marked, with patches of white and white hairs between the shoulder blades. Animals like this could be mistaken for variegated.
We would like to acknowledge the encouragement from Ann Storey, along with the gift of Basil, the Opal buck which enabled us to improve the type. We would also like to thank Charlotte Watling, whose Cinnamon Pearl buck, founded our cinnamon and pearl line.
Joanna Holmes & Anne Foster
Here are some pictures of my Essex Rats click on one to see full size