I got my first pet rat in 1998, and over the next 12 years, was a dedicated rat owner, managing a small group of around five females at a time.
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Back in the 90's, finding rats could be challenging, but as reptiles and other exotic pets grew in popularity in South Africa, rats were mass-bred as feeders. While they were more easy to obtain, this led to poor breeding practices and husbandry issues. Rats from pet stores often required extensive trust training, and many suffered from respiratory infections, lung scarring, or parasites. Additionally, young females were frequently sold while already pregnant, even at just a few weeks old.​
In response, I decided to breed my own healthy pet rats, leading to the establishment of Pretoria Rattery in 2010.
Shortly thereafter, I found the Ratanooga rat community—a small but passionate group of pet owners who had their own breeders working with imported lines. I applied to become a SARBU breeder, and within a year, I received my first pedigree rats.
Over the years, I have bred nearly every imported variety but ultimately chose to focus on a few favorite varieties.
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My focus is on breeding companion animals that excel in health, type, and temperament
The Pretoria rattery rats are descendants from the imported Thor, Bushbaby, Odin, Orla, Monkey, Devon, Freya, Blue and Raven as well as local lines.
Click HERE to see a video of the 2005 fancy rat import or the article, "The history of fancy rats".
I currently co-breed a variegated and blazed line with Littlefoot Rattery. We focus on the following varieties:
COAT & EAR TYPE:
We breed standard coat rats in standard and dumbo ear.
COLOURS:
UK Mink and pearl
Agouti
Black
Occasionally we have Russian blue in a litter
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MARKINGS:
Variegated
Blazed
Essex (Full and Black Eyed White)
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WE DO NOT breed Gambian pouched rats, Harley or Hairless rats!
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The Essex rat is a very unique variety. It is a dominant allele on the H-locus which adds white to an existing marking.
In an unmarked rat it has a symmetrical and even fading effect from the spine to the belly with the darkest area at the spine. These rats also have a distinctive head spot although I bred recessive blazed into my Essex line. Babies are already diluted by the time their coat comes in. Only one Essex parent is needed to produce more Essex offspring but is lethal when homozygous with zygotes never developing in utero. The Essex gene can’t be carried in a line as a recessive.
​The mutation was discovered in 1996 by Sheila Sowter in a pet store in Essex in the UK.
Sheila became fascinated by rat genetics and joined the National Fancy Rat Society in 1997, which she served as a national and international show judge. Her quest for the perfect hooded rat, with an even stripe down the back, in any and every colour combination, led her to establish the Flaxholme stud at her home in Brentwood, Essex.
She continued to breed Essex rats and in 2005, an Essex buck named Flaxholme Am
Wundervollsten, was exported to the USA for breeding purposes.
His son, a UK Mink Cinnamon Pearl Essex, was sent to South Africa in December 2005. His new owner, Liezl Hatting, named him Thor.
Sheila Sowter died in 2018 at the age of 81. We dedicate this page to the amazing lady who was as unique and interesting as her Essex rats.
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The document below shows the Essex linage of the Pretoria Rattery rats. Our current BEW buck Merlin, is the 23rd generation of Essex rats born in South Africa since 2006.
Sheila Sowter
The two Essex rats i started my lines with. They were 9th generation born in the RSA. Unfortunately Gabriella's line was lost. All current Essex rats in South Africa, comes from Esmeralda's line.
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Fun Fact... Esmeralda and her son Lincoln, starred in the the M-Net mini-movie, "Die Laaste Ure" alongside actors like Justin Strydom, Andre Odendaal and Anton Dekker.