Gecko, The Manx Rat

In 2021 on October 5th, I had a very unusual rat born. 

Gecko was born without a tail and is commonly known as a 'manx' in rat circles. From what information I could find, she is the second known manx to be born in New Zealand.

She was born to White Rose Gawain and White Rose Neptune. Gawain has a very long family history, primarily focused on NZ Angora/Fluffy and has ancestors in House of Kahn and Scruffians lines. Neptune also has a family line focussed on the same coat type, with ancestors from House of Kahn, Shiloh's Rattery and Christchurch based rattery Libby Rose. 

Gawain and Neptune were cousins, with Neptune's father and Gawain's mother being siblings. Linebreeding is crucial to preserving genetics, especially rare recessive genes and the goal for this particular pairing was to try and reproduce Red-Eyed White (REW). Neptune was a REW and Gawain was a fawn berkshire and the hope was that Gawain carried the recessive gene. 

Unfortunately, no REW rats were born in this litter. The litter had a total of eight babies, with an even split of four boys and four girls. There was a mix of cinnamon, dove, champagne and fawn for colours with the markings being self and berkshire. The litter also produced NZ Angora coats. 

Gecko was born without her tail, something I first noticed while checking on the babies when they were born. I first thought that her tail had been damaged or that Neptune had perhaps overgroomed her, but there was no scab or wound to indicate that this had happened. I could only conclude she had been born this way. 

While missing her tail, Gecko met the same milestones as her siblings and the only other concern I had was the way her back legs and feet were developing. It looked as if the feet curved slightly inwards, but the outcome of this would not be apparent until Gecko started to walk around and leave the nest to explore.

Until then it seemed that her back legs and feet started to develop as normal, despite my initial concerns from when she was pinkie - the photos showing her at around a week and a half old her feet seem to be fine. 

Unfortunately by two weeks of age, which is around the time the litter opens their eyes and begin to explore, it became obvious that Gecko's back legs didn't develop normally. 

I already had concerns about Gecko and her quality of life from when she was born. Despite manx rats being presented as a gene overseas, it is more in line with a birth defect. It does not "breed true" and is nearly impossible to replicate with severe consequences.

A lot of ethical and responsible breeders will never intentionally breed manx rats. Each manx rat I've seen pictures of appears to be different, in regards to the length of the stub or tail they have. This is due to the fact that the spine, which the tail is apart of, does not develop properly and results in a irregular structure.

This defect also causes issues with the pelvis and back legs.