About Kkpets
 
Our main goals:

Here is a bit about us and how we became to be who we are today:

Hi, my name is Kyrie, and my facination and love of rats first began in 2005, when I bought my first female dumbo rat named Sadie from a local pet shop.  I purchased her half because she was on her own pressed up against the side of the tank looking terribly miserable and lonely, and half because I had been told by my family that rats make excellent pets and wanted to see for myself.  I've since learnt from then that buying from a pet shop is a definite no no, as you can never tell what kind of underlying health issues the rat may have.  Better to just buy from a small private/hobby breeder who knows what they are doing and has all the rats lineage.

Anyway, as  I was saying that started it all off!  She was my favourite best friend from day one, and went nearly everywhere with me! Her favourite sleeping spot was in my school rucksack, and  every so often she would come into school with me and I would do a presentation on animals for my class, using Sadie as the main attraction.

I did hours upon hours of research on rats, and the first Christmas after getting her I was desperate to get a male so breed her and have one of her babies.  I finally got a fanatastic hooded white and peach dumbo with the friendliest nature ever.  I called him Mylo, and within a week of me introducing him to Sadie she was pregnant.  She gave birth to a completely healthy litter of 12 beautiful babies 3 weeks later.

Gradually, my dumbo rats increased in numbers and I became a more experienced breeder.   I did everything to ensure all my rats were healthy and happy, and figured out my own ways to make the babies the tamest rats they could possibly be.  Within a year I had got my name as a rat breeder, and very soon I had people coming from all across the country who had heard about my dumbo rats to buy some from me!  I was amazed by just how far people would travel to get them, and this made me even more committed to looking after, rearing and producing the best babies I could.

In 2007 I met the love of my life Kristen.  Although he didn't fall for my rats straight away like I had, he eventually grew to love them, and is now just as obsessed about them as me.  He designed a website for us, gave us a name, and was constantly trying to find ways to improve the way we did things and make life more fun and interesting for our pets. It was also especially nice to have an extra pair of hands to help me with the rats as well, and him being with me most of the time meant that they got double the attention!!!

We heard about Gambian pouched rats on the internet a few months later, and were absolutely taken aback by them.  They were BEAUTIFUL!  After a couple of weeks researching and debating, we finally  bought our first female Gambian Pouched Rat called Akila together in 2008. She had a fantastic character, but wasn't entirely sure whether she liked being handled by us or not.  We also got her a male friend called Kito so she wouldn't be lonely, but unfortunately both Akila and Kito died from lung disease within the year, so we decided that we would wait a while and try to find another pouched rat or two to fill the hole when the time was right.

It wasn't long before a big boy named Abu and second female called Sifera made our way into our lives.  They formed our first breeding pair, and were so well bonded to each other that even now we have a huuuuuge fight trying to seperate them even for a few seconds!!!  Our first baby pouched rat was born in 2009, and she went to Longleat Safari Park where there is no doubt in my mind whatsoever she will be treated like royalty and pampered within an inch of her life!

Our third female pouched rat called Sahara arrived in 2009, and she was the most fantastic animal we had ever owned.  She had an obsession with Kristen, and if he ignored her when she was sat on his shoulder she would grab his cheek and pull it so he was looking at her.  She didn't have a bad bone in her body, always wanted to be with us, and would lick your hands so much you would start to wonder what you had on there. :)  
Unfortunately in May 2010, after being treated with amoxicillan for a small cut on her leg, Sahara had a bad case of diarrhoea caused by the antibiotics and suffered with severe dehydration.  After taking her to the vets and putting her on a drip to try and rehydrate her, she sadly passed away that night.  There will never be another Sahara, and we will never be able to fill the gaping hole that she left, but we will aways remember her as our wonderful little girl that stole so many peoples hearts.

All we would say to anyone who doesn't like rats is don't judge them by their cover.  They have the most amazing personalities you will ever find in such as small creature, and they will show their love for you just as much as a dog or cat would. We have changed a lot of peoples minds about rats, and hopefully will continue to do so for as long as we are around.


Thank you for reading this page, we hope you found it interesting!