I will get to that change later. 2 years ago, I started breeding rats as a means to provide whole prey for my animals. I started with three females and three males in my basement turned rattery. I spent months looking for well-tempered unique rats up and down the front range of Colorado. Save for a few breeders who had no interest in selling rats to me, the pickings were slim but I managed to find
some unique rats that were well tempered and others that were, well, not. I carefully began to choose my breeders and with the help of some amazing friends, my rattery began to be something I was incredibly proud of. In January of 2016, my rattery had grown and I began to see in my rats what others were looking for in pet rats. That month I began Ohana Rattery and sold my very first litter as pets. I continued to research and connect with other breeders who shared the same passion as I did. One of which is my best friend and cobreeder now who runs Kokopelli Kritters. In April of that year, my rattery was hit with a deadly virus that took nearly a quarter of my rats from me. In the beginning of May, the virus ran its course and my rattery remained on locked down for months to be sure the virus was cleared. 8 weeks passed before I began breeding again. In August of that year, I was able to obtain my first pedigreed rats from a dear friend who had shown me the world of show mice. I brought home Spotted Tabby, D’Argent, Harley, and Marten, my first pedigreed rats. That fall, a group of breeder friends and I decided to go all out and planned a huge rat trade from California to Arkansas with a stop in Colorado. Then the Seoul Virus hit and I was stuck in a limbo of what ifs and with a thousand of dollars’ worth of rats in quarantine waiting to be delivered or worse. I remained closed and waited with apparition for the CDC and state to finish their investigation. The trade eventually happened and I was blessed with Siamese Sable, Aussie Mink, Chocolate, Veleteen, High White Variegated, Roan, highly pedigreed rats from breeders I nearly worshipped. It was through this whole process that I realized Ohana Rattery had transformed. I was no longer just looking for advice, but giving it, I was not just guessing rat genetics but studying, memorizing, teaching. Through the countless friendships I have made, I became something bigger than I ever expected Ohana to go. And with that came the need for change, the need for a new name to go with a new attitude and a new passion, something I could no longer say was just a hobby but a full blown obsession. Rats had infiltrated my life like the plague, much pun intended, and I knew that Ohana was no longer big enough, or worthy enough to capture what my rattery has become. Ratology Tales was born in my brand new home in the Denver Metro area.
