All of my rats live in the Rat Room which is a brick built outhouse in my back garden. It stays warm in the winter without needing to be heated, as they share the room with the boiler. I have three Ferplast Duetto cages for my adult groups and also a Marchioro Tom cage for my youngest girls. All of my rats live in groups of three or more, giving them plenty of socialisation with other rats. The rats also have time out from their cage, when they can run around the Rat Room itself - giving them more exercise than they can have living in a cage 24/7. My rats are bedded on Ecobed - chopped cardboard. I use shredded newspaper inside their houses and Yesterday's News cat litter in their litter trays. Cages are fitted with toys, levels and hammocks to provide maximum enrichment! Cages are cleaned on a regular basis, usually every one to two weeks depending on the number of rats in each cage. I spot clean shelves and change litter trays more often.

Pregnant does are house in a tank-style cage, e.g. a Zoozone 2, a few days before giving birth. This cage is secure and any wriggly babies cannot escape! When the babies are older, they are moved into a Ferplast Mary, to enable them to climb and exercise more. I split bucks and does when they are roughly five weeks old. Litters are fed on dry mix (an unlimited amount); plenty of vegetables; high protein foods such as egg and chicken and are given a bottle of Lactol (puppy milk) in addition to their water.

The dry mix that I feed to my rats is homemade based on straights. This consists of flaked peas, wheat, crushed oats, maize and barley. In addition to these I add parrot food and dog kibble. I also give the rats fresh food daily; mostly vegetables like curly kale, carrots and brocolli. Sometimes the rats will have any bones or scraps leftover from dinner, as long as they are low in sugar/fat content. Fresh water is available at all times and I often add "The Daily Essentials 1" (a vitamin supplement, also known as Dr. Squiggles), to one of their water bottles.

Any ill animal will receive appropriate veterinary attention from my local veterinary practice; The Valley Veterinary Group. If a rat needs to be euthanised, this is done humanely by a Veterinary surgeon.