The Hooded Rat

We have all seen hooded rats, especially in dreadful stores such as Petsmart. The hooded rat is super common, and can be found in many rat households. Nearly every rat owner has owned a hooded rat at some point. Hooded rats can come in a variety of colors, with many different patterns.







The hooded rat is a descendant of the brown rat. After years of domestication, different colors and patterns were bred from uniquely marked rats, making the available colors, patterns, and coat types appear more within the pet rat population. Almost every pet rat can trace its origination to Rattus norvegicus, a species common in Europe where they were first heavily domesticated.

Black and White Hooded Rat

rat yawning and sleepyThe black and white hooded rat is the most common hooded color that you will see. It is bred prolifically in commercial farms, is embedded in tons of private breeding stock around the world, and it always seems to pop up out of nowhere! It is a very strong trait, but it can be bred out. However, the pattern can mix with other colors as you will see below.

Blue Hooded Rat

dumbo rats

Dumbo rats come in a wide variety of colors and coat types. Isn’t Pico the rat adorable? He’s in a brass like tiny vintage bird cage.

The blue hooded rat is going to come in several different shades of blue. It could be a light slate gray color, or perhaps a dark steel blue. Sometimes, lilac colors may become confused with blue; but they are tinged with purple. Blue colored rats will not have any purple, silver, or brown tinge. They are an all over, even color. I do not have a photo of a blue hooded to share, but this blue in the photo will demonstrate the proper coloring for a rat with a blue hood.

Chocolate Hooded Rat

3A chocolate colored rat is a nice, dark brown. It’s not a rusty black, but instead a slight red, dark brown. Think of a slightly darker version of Hershey’s chocolate. The color is very warm and welcoming; as plain as it might sound, it’s actually a VERY beautiful color. It’s more rare than black, blue, and champagne hooded rats.

Champagne Hooded Rat

IMG_0659A champagne hooded rat is much like an orange, red, or fawn hooded rat. While it can fall under the same general category with the quick glimpse, it is a VERY light color. It is so light that a difference is barely seen between the champagne and the white. It’s a very pretty color; and can be accompanied with red or ruby eyes. Rarely, you will see them with black eyes.

Orange or Red Hooded Rat

fawn hooded rat

Meet Sativa, the Fawn Hooded Red Rat! PHoto Courtesy of Laurel L. of Pet Rat Lovers!

The Fawn, Champagne, or Beige hooded rat is more commonly called an orange hooded or red hooded by those who are not quite familiar with the rat colors. There are also other shades, but these will be the three we mention here. These coats can range from a lighter beige that seems like a light orange, to a very fiery, deep color that reminds one of a redheaded human. They are, indeed, a GORGEOUS color!





Agouti Hooded Rat

Meet Mouse, the Agouti Hooded Rat! Photo courtesy of Laurel L. of Pet Rat Lovers!

Meet Mouse, the Agouti Hooded Rat! Photo courtesy of Laurel L. of Pet Rat Lovers!

The Agouti color is very pretty in itself; however, when you produce an Agouti HOODED rat, the outcome is spectacularly gorgeous! The agouti color is a reddish cinnamon brown; it is multifaceted because the individual hairs are banded! They are banded with varying shades of brown, red, cinnamon, black, and even gray. It’s just a beautiful color that is truly underappreciated. Most people do not like the color because it “reminds them” of wild rats.