HISTORY OF RAT KEEPING by Debbi J. Needham, c. 2010

Since the turn of the 20th century (1900s), people in England, and then eventually the USA, collected and displayed what they considered oddities of
nature. One such oddity was the small, prolific, and highly adaptable rat called Rattus norvegicus or the Norway rat. Stowing away on ships, they
quickly spred across the world inhabiting many different environments.

Because of its frequent and prolific reproduction, (litters every 4 weeks), there was plentiful opportunity to discover unusual specimens. The first rats to be
collected were white, black, and patterned.  Once discovered, they were kept in cages in the house, and displayed to visitors as curios or examples of
natural genetic change, variation or natural selection.

It's possible that the publishing of Charles' Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection, 1859, spurred hobby animal collecting. Natural Selection is the process
by which an animal adapts to its environment by surviving, and passing on, changes to its body that help it to better survive their environments. Charles
Darwin published this theory in his book: On the Origin of Species in 1859.

By the mid 1900s, social clubs in England and the USA were formed around rat keeping. By the end of the 1900s, rat showing clubs formed in Europe
and USA. Due to hobbyists breeding rats, unusual colors, markings, and fur type were discovered and developed. Domestication occurred as club
leaders encouraged hobbyists to breed only calm and friendly specimens. Coat colors were developed that included blue, lilac, orange, cream,
cinnamon, and fawn, as well as may different spotted and patterned coats. At the beginning of the 20th century, hobbyists focused on coat types resulting
in curly, long hair, rex and hairless types. The place that the hobby breeder kept their rats is called a rattery.

Beginning in 1999, and completed by 2004, scientists finally mapped the DNA of the rat  through the Rat Genome Project. This spurred further enthusiasm
for hobbyists to discover more genetic varieties.

OFR Rattery was a hobby rattery maintained by Debbi & Allie Needham in Washington State, and supported by Connie Perez in California, from 1999 to
2006. OFR specialized in breeding extremely rare genetic varieties of domesticated rats, sometimes establishing lines from one single specimen. These
lines were test-mated and line bred for inheritance patterns, whether the inheritance pattern appeared dominant or recessive and the lines were health
checked, followed and sent out to other enthusiasts in the rat hobby community. A yahoo social group was formed to share genetic information between
hobbyists throughout the rat hobby community. Hobbyists from around the world joined the list. Much information was gained through the work of Connie
Perez and Debbi Needham of OFR. They are the originators of many of the rare fancy rat varieties kept in the hobby today.
History of Rat Keeping by Debbi J. Needham
Copyright D. Needham 2010.
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