About us

Valiance Rats is based in South West London, but we can often be found all over the UK at rat shows and events.

This part of the webpage is where you can find out about us, our rat husbandry and breeding. These are our personal opinions and aims and they should be taken as such.

On this page we have tried to answer all the questions you may have, if we haven't please contact us.

If you are interested in homing kittens from us please read our homing policy.

If you are interested in homing rescue rats (kittens or adults) from us please see our rescues and fosters page.

Either read the page from top to bottom or click on the links in the table to jump to the subject you want to learn about.

Feeding

Our rats are fed a diet originally conceived by Alison Campbell of Shumanite Stud. This is a diet that follows certain principles and includes a home made dry mix and fresh foods.

For details on feeding rats please see Alison's site, we also highly recommend the book 'The Scuttling Gourmet' by Alison Campbell.

We buy all our dry food from ratRations.com. We buy individual ingredients but they also sell bags of mixed ingredients which are much easier for the smaller rat keeper to deal with.

We feed about 80/20 dry mix to fresh food. The following percentages are by volume, not weight. None of the following percentages are 100% accurate, we throw scoops of things together in roughly the quantities listed. Sometimes more things will be added, sometimes less. Sometimes we will add more of what the rats need at that particular time. For example, increasing the calorie content of the dry mix by adding more pumpkin seeds or nuts in the winter, or, if any are sick, we may feed the brown rice booster, add herbal tinctures to the water and add more garlic and/or supportive herbs to the dry mix.

We scatter feed the dry food and any fresh food that isn't liquid or very messy. The dry food is sprinkled across the cage floor and mixed into the bedding. This gives the rats something to do, helps control weight by making them work a bit for their food and allows them to exhibit natural digging behaviours. We try to make up a dry mix of predominantly smaller grains and seeds as this requires the rats to search more thoroughly and work even harder for their food.

Our dry mix for all rats aged 8 weeks and upwards is made up of:

• 3 scoops micronized barley flakes
• 1 scoop whole barley
• 1 scoop micronized flaked maize
• 1 scoop whole maize
• 2 scoops paddy rice
• 1 scoop oat groats
• 1/2 scoop whole oats
• 2 scoops mixed millet
• 2 scoops buckwheat
• 1/2 scoop white milo/dari
• 1/2 scoop pot or pearl barley
• 1 scoop flaked peas
• 1/2 scoop split peas
• 1 scoop micronized soya flakes
• 3/4 scoop hemp seeds
• 1/2 scoop linseed
• 1 scoop wild meadow seed (Grass Seed, Perilla, Niger, White Lettuce, Thistle, Chicory, Wild Seeds, Red Rapeseed, Evening Primrose, Small Pine Seeds, Canary Seed, Yellow panicum, Yellow Millet, Linseed)
• 1/4 scoop pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 scoop milk thistle seeds
• 1/4 scoop dried fennel seeds
• 1/4 scoop dried safflower seeds
• 1/4 scoop dried whole star anise
• 1/4 scoop dried whole cloves
• 1/2 scoop dried carrots flakes
• 1/2 scoop dried mixed veg flakes
• 1/2 scoop dried beetroot flakes
• 1/2 scoop cut kelp
• 1/4 scoop dried cranberries
• 2 scoops dried garlic pieces
• 1/4 scoop dried burdock root
• 1/4 scoop dried dandelion root
• 1/2 scoop dried coconut
• 1 scoop dried river or gammarus shrimp
• 1 scoop Shredded Wheat Bitesize
• 1 scoop mixed puffed grains (spelt, buckwheat, rice and millet)
• 1/2 scoop wholewheat pasta shapes
• 1 scoop dried cous cous
• 1/2 scoop dry rice (wild, red and brown)
• Occasionally some extras will be added such as healthy dog biscuits, dried fruits, broken dry noodles, crackers, rice cakes and/or Ryvita, dried mushrooms, dried insects, dried fish, broken brazil nuts, camomile flowers, lavender flowers, marigold flowers, dried carob pieces and things that catch our eye when shopping on ratRations!

Vitamins and minerals are added to the processed wheat biscuits and pellets in commercial mixes. As we fed a minimally processed diet of mostly straight grains our mix lacks vitamin D and calcium. We overcome this by feeding mineral rich fresh food (such as chickpeas, cooked animal bones and dark green leafy vegetables) and using the supplements detailed below.

Fresh food for all our rats always includes fresh vegetables such as curly kale, carrots, dandelions, pak choi, greens, broccoli, corn, fennel, peas, squash, sweet potato, pak choi, bell peppers, garlic, onions and tomatoes. At the weekend will give them a small water bottle of Dr Squiggles Calcivet and Daily Essentials and mid-week we mix salmon flesh oil, ratRations own vitamin powder and B vitamin complex liquid (0.15ml per rat) into the fresh food. Once a week they are offered a small water bottle with cooled dandelion, mint, jasmine or other tea. Occasionally we give other fresh food like the following:

• Chickpeas and other pulses mixed with healthy oils or homemade vegetable sauces
• Wholemeal pasta or brown rice in a homemade vegetable sauce
• Cous cous or wholegrain bread with a healthy oil such as olive, avocado or walnut oil and mixed vegetables
• Oily fish (eg. sardines, mackerel, salmon, trout), eggs, meat bones, chicken, banana, avocado and sweet fruit (eg. apples, figs, strawberries, blueberries)
• Cooled herbal teas such as nettle and peppermint are offered fairly frequently in small water bottles.

Our dry mix for kittens and nursing mothers is made up of:

• 3 scoops micronized barley flakes
• 1 scoop whole barley
• 1 scoop micronized flaked maize
• 1 scoop whole maize
• 2 scoops paddy rice
• 1 scoop oat groats
• 1/2 scoop whole oats
• 2 scoops mixed millet
• 2 scoops buckwheat
• 1/2 scoop white milo/dari
• 1/2 scoop pot or pearl barley
• 1 scoop flaked peas
• 1/2 scoop split peas
• 1 scoop micronized soya flakes
• 3/4 scoop hemp seeds
• 1/2 scoop linseed
• 1 scoop wild meadow seed (Grass Seed, Perilla, Niger, White Lettuce, Thistle, Chicory, Wild Seeds, Red Rapeseed, Evening Primrose, Small Pine Seeds, Canary Seed, Yellow panicum, Yellow Millet, Linseed)
• 1/4 scoop pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 scoop milk thistle seeds
• 1/4 scoop dried fennel seeds
• 1/4 scoop dried safflower seeds
• 1/4 scoop dried whole star anise
• 1/4 scoop dried whole cloves
• 1/2 scoop dried carrots flakes
• 1/2 scoop dried mixed veg flakes
• 1/2 scoop dried beetroot flakes
• 1/2 scoop cut kelp
• 1/4 scoop dried cranberries
• 2 scoops dried garlic pieces
• 1/4 scoop dried burdock root
• 1/4 scoop dried dandelion root
• 1/2 scoop dried coconut
• 1/2 scoop dried river or gammarus shrimp
• 1/2 scoop dried mixed insects (crickets, earthworms, mealworms, silkworm pupae)
• 1 scoop Fish4Dogs small bite kibble
• 1 scoop Shredded Wheat Bitesize
• 1 scoop multigrain flakes cereal
• 1 scoop Whole Earth organic cornflakes
• 1 scoop mixed puffed grains (spelt, buckwheat, rice and millet)
• 1/2 scoop wholewheat pasta shapes
• 1 scoop dried cous cous
• 1/2 scoop dry rice (wild, red and brown)
• Occasionally some extras will be added such as healthy dog biscuits, dried fruits, broken dry noodles, crackers, rice cakes and/or Ryvita, dried mushrooms, dried insects, dried fish, broken brazil nuts, camomile flowers, lavender flowers, marigold flowers, dried carob pieces and things that catch our eye when shopping on ratRations!

Fresh foods for kittens up to 7 weeks and nursing mothers includes:

• Everything listed for adult rats along with:
  • Daily protein fresh food, most often sardines tinned in olive oil or other oily fish (fresh and tinned), chicken wings/legs with the bones and eggs.
  • Large daily portion of curly kale (pak choi if I cannot get kale)
  • They get banana and avocado mashed together regularly.
  • Dr Squiggles Calcivet and Daily Essentials in the water roughly twice a week.

Our rats live in mixed age groups, kittens move in with adult rats when they are 8 weeks old. They are given the kitten diet outlined above until they move in with the adults, then the whole cage is offered cooked white rice with whisked egg mixed in and microwaved. The amount of this is reduced gradually until they are on the normal adult diet by 10 weeks. They are fed on the normal adult dry mix from when they move in with the adults. This results in slower growth but just as good growth, increases longevity, keeps the rats healthier and protects all the rats from kidney problems and obesity.

Our dry mix and fresh food for elderly rats is the same as for adult rats. We offer nutrical (a vitamin malt paste) to individual elderly rats that are struggling to maintain body weight, and we will supplement with softer foods (fed to the rats that need it in a carrier separate from the group they live with) if they need a bit of extra help. The white rice and egg mix (cooked white rice mixed with a beaten egg and microwaved), egg and rice burns wet dog food or lite naturediet wet dog food is all used with vitamin supplements mixed in as and when the rat could benefit from them. Supplements include ratRations vitamin powder, flax oil (shown to slow progression of kidney disease), crushed rennie tablets (binds phosphate in the diet, phosphate is detrimental to kidney health), B vitamin complex (improves associated anaemia and may help slow spinal degeneration), high strength glucosamine and chondroitin (helps support joints), echinacea & goldenseal liquid herbal extract (may help support immune system health), Co-enzyme Q10 (helps support energy generation in the body), Turmeric root extract - standardised at 95% Curcumin (may help prevent some cancers) and for females are given a small square of miso paste if they will eat it (fermented soya may help prevent mammary tumours).

Pregnant rats are fed the same as adult rats. We make sure they are given high calcium and nutrient rich fresh food such as curly kale or broccoli everyday and supplement the whole cage with calcivet in the water twice a week for the duration of the pregnancy.

Nursing mothers are fed, along with their young, the same way we feed all kittens. We will give Dr Squiggles Calcivet in the water and Dr Squiggles Essentials One or ratRations vitamin powder in the fresh food roughly twice a week. During the massive growth of the babies and the strain on the mother we feel that extra vitamin supplementation is important, they help to make sure that their diet is as nutrient rich as possible.

Treats

Our rats are rarely given treats. Any treats given will be homemade treats made by us or healthy bought treats. We also occasionally give dried fruit, nuts and dried insects as treats.

Housing

Visit our ethics page to learn about our husbandry ethics.

Our rats are housed in different types of cages that we've found to suit us and our rats over the years. The number of rats that will live happily together can be influenced by age, activity levels, sex, temperament, cage furnishings and type of cage as well as the volume of cage space. Space within a cage is made available to our rats via shelves, hammocks, ropes, baskets, wheels, tubs, ladders, parrot toys and other larger items.

Our rats are always housed in all metal cages with very narrow bars, this is to prevent rats from getting through the bars or chewing out of their cages. We like large aviaries as they offer a lot of height for climbing and if the space is used correctly it is possible to make a large cage into a huge cage. At the moment our girls live in a mito type cage and our boys in a smaller unbranded aviary.

We use shredded cardboard or cardboard squares as a substrate. We find this to be good for smells, using for the rats to dig through and carry around to make nests and it doesn't get walked around the house on our feet!

We use Yesterdays News in the litter trays, this is by far the best cat litter for our needs. It is made up of small, very solid, 100% paper pellets that do not break up much, if at all, when wet. We always give them bags and bags of shredded paper, kindly donated from our parents, siblings, friends and workplaces to carry around the cage and make nests with.

Free-ranging and Playtime

All rats are handled individually each day. This is to check for illness and/or injury and to allow us to kiss and snuggle with each rat.

Every rat is given as much time as possible out of their cage. We offer the rats the option of coming out of the cage for free range time, but we don't force them out daily. For those that want to come out it will be a minimum of an hour each day most days of the week. Some cages will happily mix together when they are out of the cage which makes everything a bit easier.

We are quite relaxed in the rat room and the rats often toddle off for an explore when we are in there saying hello, cleaning or feeding but official free-ranging is done in our bedroom or occasionally the bathroom. We spend most of our time in there and the rats have access to everything except inside our wardrobe!! We also have a wire mesh screen for the window, so we can have it open without it being a risk to the rats.

Very young kittens have a controlled free-range time on the bed. Once they reach a certain level of mental maturity, about 8 weeks, they are given the same access to the room as the adults. The girls are mostly very active and get into everything, the baby boys are like this too. Adult boys do run around for some of the time but like to sit and have a cuddle with us. The elderly rats mostly cuddle and sleep on us, but they do wander around for a bit on the bed. Some elderly rats never slow down and scale the shelves with the youngsters!

They are given toys at freerange time, cat toys are great as are tubes, boxes and other large items. See dapper rat for great toy ideas.

The rooms are rat proofed by covering wires in wooden boxes if possible and aquarium tubing or hosepipe if not. This won't stop a determined rat but should slow them down enough for us to notice they are about to eat through a wire. Our rats are also supervised constantly when they are out.

Pot plants are kept out of the bedroom and rat room. Even if they aren't toxic, the rats will still just dig them up! There are no holes in the rooms but if there were they would be covered.

Vet care

Our rats receive veterinary treatment as soon as they need it, even if it is the middle of the night or a bank holiday. We drive and have cars, however if we are unable to drive the rat to the vet we have arrangements with saintly friends and family to drive us and the rat, or just the rat, to the vets. A lovely family member once drove one of our ferrets from our house in South West London to Coventry for eye surgery with a specialist because Alison had broken her leg, had a huge cast and could only just about hop around using crutches!

We put money aside each month into a savings account just for vets bills, but our vets are very understanding if we would rather spread the payments out. We also have credit cards that could and would be used in an emergency.

We have very knowledgeable vets that are happy to listen to us and to try new treatments. Any ill rat is given the treatment it needs, regardless of expense or time, but will be euthanised humanely if no more can be done and/or they will have a very low quality of life.

When a rat dies a postmortem will be carried out if necessary to determine the cause of death.

Female rats are spayed if/when they have their first mammary tumour removal, this has so far prevented another mammary tumour appearing in all our rats that have had this done. Multiple lumps are very common, so much so we are considering routinely spaying all females that will not be used for breeding while they are young. We are also considering castrating all boys that will not be used for breeding. We are considering this for the health benefits associated from neutering, removing the risk of accidental litters in those rats and so greatly reducing the risk overall, and allowing more options for cages, free range time and friends.

We have a very good vet that specialises in small pets, I would not recommend routine neutering to those that do not have such a competent and experienced vet.

Breeding

To learn about our breeding ethics see our ethics page.

Our rats are, and always will be, our pets first and foremost whether they are used in our breeding plans or not. We will only breed from those rats with excellent physical type, health and temperament. Although we do breed towards certain varieties, the variety of a rat is secondary to their pet quality. We have decided to work on a particular variety as well as temperament and health as we don't see why looks and pet quality have to be mutually exclusive.

We do not kill kittens nor older rats that are surplus to our breeding program. Our personal ethics and morals would not allow us to do this but it is also very important for us to know as much about our lines as possible. This means we need every rat to live out their life for us to gather as much lifespan, illness and temperament data as we can. Kittens that we do not wish to keep ourselves will be homed with people that we believe will give an excellent level of care to our babies. As all our rats are pets, no ex-breeding adults will be rehomed except in very special circumstances and if it is in the best interests of the rat concerned.

We attempt to keep in contact with all the people that provide a home for our rats throughout the rats lives. We do this to provide support and advice and to gather as much data as we can about our rats and our line of rats. Any of our rats that cannot remain in their home for whatever reason will come back here to us and/or are rehomed subject to our approval.

We are hoping for all our rats to live longer than the average lifespan of 21 months and eventually for 75% of our rats to reach 3 years old. Our goal for now is for 75% of litters to live beyond 28 months and/or for those rats to remain completely healthy up until 24 months.

Rat lifespan can be influenced in many ways. The owners can influence it with diet, medical intervention, husbandry, exercise and moderating stress. As breeders we hope to influence it with our breeding practices and by manipulating the genetics of our line. Our husbandry may differ from that of people that home our rats, which is why we need detailed data of the way our rats have been kept throughout their lives.

Even though we keep our rats in a certain way we do not expect everyone to keep their rats the way we do. So long as certain essential criteria are met we will only offer guidelines on how rats from us should be cared for. Gathering lifestyle data on as many babies bred by us as possible should help us to narrow down what factors most affect our rats and their health, temperament and lifespan so we can better advise people on what conditions suit them best.

For more detailed information about how lifespan can be influenced please see this article written by Alison Campbell and this article by Alan DiGangi.

Our does are mated when they are between 6 and 10 months old, although we will be pushing for the does to be regularly mated between 10 months and one year for a first litter. Does will mostly only have one litter, but some may have two. Bucks under one year are very rarely used for mating and there is no upper limit for the age of males, but they must still have a youthful spark and vitality. In the future these ages may increase but genetic abnormalities are more common in older rats sperm and eggs. By mating rats when they are older we are hoping to allow for a slow maturity, select for increased fertility and give them more opportunities to become ill and/or develop behavioural traits that we don't want to see in our rats. Any rat that does not meet our high standards of temperament and health will not be bred from.

A chosen pair of rats will be put together overnight if the doe is receptive to the buck, in the morning they will both go back to their cagemates in their normal cages. Does are fed the same diet as our adult rats. The quantity of food eaten by a pregnant mother increases through the pregnancy, so we feed more of the normal diet as time goes on to match her appetite. If any of her cage mates put on weight during this time they will go on a diet as soon as the expectant mother has left to live in her nursery cage. We expect most does to give birth on the 23rd day, but they are moved on the 21st into a Ferplast Mary or Savic Ruffy cage. She is given no cage furniture but she is given enough bedding to make a large nest.

Once the babies start to wander around and are showing a proficiency at climbing and exploring the whole family is moved into a larger cage (eg. a Savic Freddy). Once the babies are 5 weeks old the boys are moved into a separate cage (eg. another Savic Freddy). At this point the mother will start to spend less time with her daughters and eventually move back in with friends permanently, leaving her daughters to live in their own freddy.

The babies will be homed in same sex pairs or trios when they are 8 weeks old. As we are aiming for our rats to mature later the babies are usually not mature enough at 6 weeks to move home. We will keep babies from each litter that will help advance our line (and occasionally those we just fall for!) and the rest will be homed to people on our waiting list.

Homing kittens from us

If you would like to go on our waiting list please see our contact page to download an application form.

Anyone that wishes to home rats from us will be expected to complete an application form. It is not a test, it is just a way for us to get to know the people that will be caring for our babies and to learn how they plan to keep them. Some basic requirements must be met but otherwise we do not dictate that they be kept exactly as we would do. The basic requirements are:

• They must live with other rats of the same sex. They may live with opposite sex cage mates if they or their opposite sex cage mates are neutered.
• They must never ever be bred from, under any circumstances, unless the owner has discussed it with us and signed a breeding contract.
• They must be kept in cages where there is 2 cubic feet or more per rat plus an extra 2 cubic feet or more.
• They must be kept safe from harm and receive vet care promptly when it is needed, they must not be allowed to suffer unduly and they must be humanely euthanised if this is required.
• They must be kept comfortably fed and watered and their cages must be kept clean to a reasonable standard or better at all times.
• They must be fed a diet appropriate for rats.
• Attempts must be made to enrich the rats' lives, such as giving them toys in their cage, ample climbing opportunities and the chance to display natural rat behaviours.
• They must be allowed a reasonable amount of time out of the cage to freerange most days.
• You must sign a contract stating that you will uphold these basic requirements on homing your rats from us.
• You will endeavor to keep in contact with us throughout the rats' lives. We will contact you every six months of the rats' lives with a questionnaire to fill out, requesting details on all aspects of the rats in your care, but we will always be delighted to here about your rats at any time.

Kittens are homed at 8 weeks old to people on our waiting list, although some may become available to those not yet on the waiting list. Priority is given to those that have been on the list the longest. If you require a specific rat variety you may wait longer than someone that just requests a specific gender and does not mind about variety.

If the person first on the waiting list does not want the rats yet we will move down the list until the rats are homed. Turning down rats at a specific time does not mean you will lose your place on the list, if you are first you will remain first until you are ready to receive the rats that meet your requirements. You will be removed from the waiting list once you have received the kittens you were waiting for or if you request to be removed.

For details of future litters see our planned litters page.

We do not currently have any rescue rats looking for homes.

Our Lines

At present we do not have an established line, but we do want to tell you a little about the rats we are breeding from and what we hope to see from our line or lines once they are established.

Very special thanks go to Lucy Heath, Mary Giles of Zephyr Rats, Alison Campbell of Shunamite Stud and Kyra Murray and Tom Bunce of Atlas Rats for all their help in setting up and starting the Valiance lines.

Initially, we mixed rats from Kyra's line with rats from Mary's line and now we are working to try and fix temperament first without losing the russian blue gene, as this element of the line will be the hardest to get back if lost.

We predict that mammary tumours may be a problem in this line, but because Kyra and Tom's rats do not have the same problems with lumps we can't accurately say which way the line will go with regards to mammary tumours. The rats that will form the base of this line are very people orientated, licky and bouncy and we hope that our babies will retain these qualities. They are very intelligent and bordering on hyperactive. They love people and try and get you to play with them all the time and have an insatiable curiosity, they want to know everything! The varieties in this line are agouti, black, american mink, american cinnamon, russian blue, russian blue agouti, dove and dove agouti.

Our second line is from a mix of rats from Shunamite and Rivendell studs, this is our dumbo line. The varieties in this line are agouti, black, american mink and american cinnamon, some in dumbo. The temperament is very playful and people orientated, they just adore people and most will lick you to death! They are really puppy like and love to play and groom you.

Our third line is a merge of the two lines above to try and select the best traits from each line. Our ultimate goal is for this mixed line to be our only line, but while it is unstable and being mixed we will keep the other two lines ticking over in case the mixed line doesn't work out well. After a few years will hope to be able to only have the merged line, but if any of the lines perform very poorly in terms of health, temperament and/or longevity that line will be dropped altogether but these are very far reaching plans, and not ones we can predict accurately now.

At the moment we have no data to present to you, but as soon as we do this data will be presented on our webpage as graphs. These graphs will show what percentage of our rats have developed health problems and which health problems they suffered with, what ages the rats were when they died and what they died of. We will aslo have graphs for the percentage of rats with behavioural issues and how many have been neutered for aggression.

To see photos and a short description of the varieties we breed please see our varieties page.