A Colorado Rat Breeder & Rattery : Colorado Mountain Meadows Rattery / Colorado Rattery

A Colorado Rat Breeder focusing on Quality not Quantity! Specializing in Quality Merle, Siamese, American Blue, & Dwarf rats. Breeding to improve health, temperament, and type. Working to improve each generation!

Colorado Mountain Meadow's Rattery is the place to be if you are looking for Quality Siamese, Merle, or Rich Dark American Blue!

 

Goals...


I specialize in Siamese & Self rats. 

Siamese - I intend to breed Siamese rats to the breed standards.  My goal is to work on and achieve Siamese with solid feet and rich dark points. 

Dark American Blue - I intend to breed American Blue rats to reflect a Rich, Full, Dark blue color.  Displaying no silvering, rusting, spotting, fading, or white undercoat. 

Merle - I intend to breed Pearl, Mink, and Lilac Merle rats to display distinct color splashes throughout the coat. 

Goals for ALL my rats - I am striding for healthy happy rats with great builds and temperaments, long lives and free from known genetic defects.  I want to produce show quality rats, I plan to start attending rat shows in the very near future.

GIF Main Logo (Transparent)

 

Siamese

CMMR Paparazzi, bred by Colorado Mountain Meadow's Rattery.

Siamese are my pride and joy and is my number one specialty!

The Siamese rat is a beautiful play of dark on light.  Siamese should have nice dark points on the nose, ears, base of tail, and feet.  Eyes should be Ruby.  A quality Siamese will have a beige or ivory cast or shading over the saddle and hindquarters.  This beautiful play on colors is the result of acromelanism, temperature sensitivity that cause the extremities to show darker.  This is what gives the Siamese its unique appearance. 

Today the only recognized colors Siamese are shown in are Seal, Blue, and Russian Blue point.  Though Siamese can come in every point color imaginable, most colors not mentioned above do not appear as dramatically beautiful. 

The breed standard calls for Siamese to be of Self pattern.  The number one show fault in Siamese rats is white feet or white on the feet.  A Siamese of any other pattern will display white feet.  Siamese with white feet have picked up the nickname Trimese.  The name originating from the 3 different colors they display being the dark points, the ivory or beige cast, and the white that separates the markings.  Examples of Trimese are Hooded, Capped, and Variegated Siamese.  Most of the Siamese rats you see from non breeder locations are Trimese.  While Trimese are beautiful in their own way, they are not recognized in the fancy rat showing community and are considered poorly bred Siamese.  It takes more time to correct this poor breeding than it takes to make the mistake to breed for them.

At this time I am breeding 2 Siamese lines, the first has a long pedigree that can be traced back 26 and possibly more generations.  My second is my "Siamese from scratch".  For more information about my "Siamese from Scratch" Line please click HERE

Silent Specialty...

Black self's are my silent specialty.  While I dont talk much about them I work hard on perfecting them.  Black selfs have an elegant simplicity that I personally find attractive.  If you are looking for a nice black self you have come to the right place, I am crazy about them!

Black self’s are the #1 ingredient to making quality Siamese.  Every effort I make to perfect my Black Self’s also helps perfect my true passion, the Siamese.  I think of black self’s as a Siamese's shadow, you never find one without the other!

 

Merle

 
 
Left Nine day old Pearl Merle's & Right eleven day old Mink Merles.  Pups Bred by CMMR.
 
Merle rats display a distinct splash or spotting of color on a lighter background.  Little is known about this newer pattern.  What has been tested is that Merle shows up best and possibly only on Mink based rats.  Pearl Merle is the most dramatic combination but is also seen on Lilac and Mink. 
 
My Merles are bred using US Mink.  Because of this my Pearl Merles are darker in color when the adult coat fills in.  US Pearl Merles are sometimes also referred to as Mink Pearl Merle.  From my experience UK Pearl Merles tend to me more of a whiter color with very minimal Merle splashes of color where US Pearl Merles have larger bolder splash's of color.  Both are very beautiful.
CMMR Faded Glory Bred by Colorado Mountain Meadows Rattery.
 
 

Dark American Blue

 
CMMR Rouge Wave Owned and Bred by Colorado Mountain Meadows Rattery.

For the most part Siamese is my specialty, but I also breed many other colors and patterns.  This speciality focuses on a rich and dark shade of American Blue.  Blue comes in many shades ranging from a rich full blue to a light faint blue.  I prefer the darkest shades available.

Of all the blue rats I have encountered, none have been as dark and full of color as my Blue Lightning Blazed doe named Tsunami.  The only exception is in the case of Russian blue but this is an entirely different color.  She is just an extremely dark American Blue and has inspired me to pursue this magnificent color.

One of my goals with this color is to eventually bringing me to a dark blue perfect self to breed into my Siamese line.  This dark blue will look stunning on a blue point Siamese.  It will show darker and truer where most blue point Siamese look faint and dull.  I intend to not only breed for this color, but keep good quality rats by also paying close attention to confirmation, health, and temperament. 

Here is a color chart to show you up close what the shades of blue in my rattery look like.  Starting from the left is my Dark American Blue, Average American Blue (aka Sky blue), American Blue Dilute, and last on the right is Russian Blue.  Russian blue is a completely different color that also breeds completely different.  I breed Russian Blue in my rattery but it is a totally separate color from any American Blue.  My American blue is almost as dark.
 

Dwarfs...

 
Dwarf rats owned and bred by Colorado Mountain Meadow's Rattery.

I've had the pleasure of working with Dwarf rats since 2006 and have really grown to love them!  They are everything that their standard size relatives are but in such a tiny, compact package.  The size of a dwarf rat varies, but runs around 120-200 grams full grown and truly fit the description of a pocket pet.  Dwarfs rats tend to be a bit more active and are much more agile.  I have noticed they tend to have a better range of ear movement and larger eyes.

My dwarf rats are being bred to compliment my other specialties. They can be expected in any rainbow of colors and patterns but more in Merle, American Blue, and Siamese.  While I prefer these smaller guys they are not yet recognized in AFRMA standards.  I still continue to work with these tiny wonders but also breed their larger relatives.