Any idea on the lifespan of a hairless rat

I heard 2 once, but mine is already that age and seems extremely healthy. I don't want to seem morbid. I just want to be prepared when it is his time. I love the little guy.

The rats that we find in pet stores are known as peachfuzz hairless (having whiskers and an almost invisible coat, but feels like velvet when you pet them), patchwork hairless (hair comes and goes throughout their lives so they look patchy), hairless (they have whiskers, they also can have hair as a baby, but it can fall out and remain bald as the baby coat falls out, or they are born hairless and remain hairless), and Double Rex ( having a curly coat but it falls out and remains bald as they age). I've had all of them except a true hairless and experienced an older then 2 years life-span with 3 out of 7.

Only breeders can breed a true hairless, a rat that has no hair what-so-ever, not even whiskers. The "true hairless" are difficult to breed because some hairless mothers have trouble lactating or producing milk for their babies. Just for this reason you will not find true hairless in a pet store.

From the website

http://www.skyclyde.com/hairlesscare.htm...

"Hairless rats are prone to Illness. Generally, hairless rats are fragile creatures in comparison to furred rats. They may have more allergies and may be more susepticle to environmental stress causing them to become ill. This is especially true of strains of hairless deriving from laboratories and passed onto the pet stores. Diseases common to laboratory and pet store hairless rats are cancer and tumors, excessive abcessing, wasting, kidney and bladder infections, heart disease, eye disease, diabetes, excessive respiratory infections, headtilt, and skin problems.