Myself and my partner live in a flat in Cheltenham, Gloucsetershire. I have kept rats as pets since 2000. Before that I had kept dogs, cats and hamsters (Syrian and Russian) as pets. Nowadays the 'RR' (RatRoom) contains mostly rats, although there are a couple of rescue mice in there somewhere!

I am currently at university studying a degree in Animal Behaviour and Welfare, and my partner is currently at university studying a degree in Multimedia Computing. We travel a lot due to shows, and personal commitments, so are usually able to help out with 'rat trains'.

Our Siamese (Seal Point) line originated in 2004 - with our first litter being from Alpha Centauri Gemini, a Ruby Eyed Siamese Rex, and Milo Ferret, a Ruby Eyed Siamese. From this litter we kept 4 rats, of which three were bred from. Two of these rats (Taurus and Virgo) lived to be just short of 3 years. We are hoping to see the general lifespan of the line increase over time, so that more rats reach 3 years.

The choice to breed Siamese came about originally because my love of the Siamese cat, I'm glad I took the variety on, as it has enabled me to dispell the thoughts that Siamese rats are aggressive. I pride myself on the fantastic temperament of all my Siamese rats, licky, bouncy and friendly!

To this day all my Siamese line rats have been named with astrological references in mind.

My second line choice was a Russian Sable Burmese line, currently we're still working on actually creating a Russian Sable, but expect to have produced one by mid 2008. Russian Sable is not currently a recognised NFRS variety.

My first litter towards the Russian Sable Burmese variety was in 2006 from Alpha Centauri Fleur, a Russian Burmese Irish and Alpha Centauri Ichabod, a Russian Blue Agouti point Siamese. I originally didn't keep any rats from this litter but 2 girls (Hypnotic poison and Gucci Envy) returned to me at about 4-5 months and I decided that it was obviously to be!

I have now decided to pass on the Russian Burmese line to a friend, who has great plans for them, and I know will do them proud. I will be having one more Russian Burmese litter in Summer 2008, before passing the line on.

I have plans for an Agouti and Topaz Varigated line to start towards the end of 2008. Please keep an eye out for plans, an email with any queries.

As well as the rats we breed, we also take in a lot of foster rats, rats from owners who can no longer keep them, and more recently pregnant mums, or mums with babies from large rescues. We enjoy being able to find these rats loving homes, so please do have a look at the rescue pages too.