About Us
East Coast Rattery (ECOR) is a small scale hobby rodentry (with our main focus being rats) existing to extend lifespan, increase health, and improve temperament in order to produce the highest quality pets possible. We are located in Western Massachusetts in the small town of Easthampton.
I am a licensed and registered Occupational Therapist (OTR) with access to research databases that I use to guide me in my endeavors of selectively breeding the healthiest, longest lived rats possible. During my undergraduate degree, I also took courses such as Evolutionary Genetics, Biology of Microorganisms, Animal Science, and Plant Genetics.
How did I get into breeding rats?! Well, I got my first trio when I was in undergrad back in 2008. They were great rats, but no matter how much I socialized them, two of the three were always skittish, and one got extremely hormonally aggressive; biting me any chance he got. They all passed away shortly after a year from respiratory infections or tumors. I got another pair after that who met a similar fate. Another with aggressive tumors, and so on and so forth. As much as I enjoyed the company of these little friends, I had a difficult time dealing with loss after loss, in such short amounts of time. I remember thinking, "how can such intelligent, inquisitive, silly, playful, social, empathetic, naughty-little-things have SUCH short lives?" I thought, "there have to be breeders out there breeding for longer lived rats!" I searched and searched, and found nothing. I spoke to breeders and none shared a plan of action on how to increase rat longevity. Many showed little concern. I was able to find two breeders who stated their rats lived to 3.5 years on average. They were unable to provide photographic/time-stamped proof of this. Finally, I decided that if no one else would breed to increase rat lifespan, than I would. And so it began.
I breed solely for my own goals of extending lifespan, improving health, and optimizing pet-quality temperament. My rats are my babies. Most know their name, are potty trained, and get individual, out-of-cage time with me daily. I become attached to each and every one of them and this includes the babies I breed. Pairings are carefully selected with the healthiest, friendliest rats I have. I prefer my females to be at least 9 months old at the time of breeding (to ensure they have been problem free - recurrent URI or other health/temperament issues disqualifies them from my breeding program unless it is a special circumstance, which will be noted and will be first priority to breed away from when selecting pairings for next generations) and males as old as possible who are still in great health, done to drastically increase lifespan. I do not breed based on request or need and do not breed often.
I am a licensed and registered Occupational Therapist (OTR) with access to research databases that I use to guide me in my endeavors of selectively breeding the healthiest, longest lived rats possible. During my undergraduate degree, I also took courses such as Evolutionary Genetics, Biology of Microorganisms, Animal Science, and Plant Genetics.
How did I get into breeding rats?! Well, I got my first trio when I was in undergrad back in 2008. They were great rats, but no matter how much I socialized them, two of the three were always skittish, and one got extremely hormonally aggressive; biting me any chance he got. They all passed away shortly after a year from respiratory infections or tumors. I got another pair after that who met a similar fate. Another with aggressive tumors, and so on and so forth. As much as I enjoyed the company of these little friends, I had a difficult time dealing with loss after loss, in such short amounts of time. I remember thinking, "how can such intelligent, inquisitive, silly, playful, social, empathetic, naughty-little-things have SUCH short lives?" I thought, "there have to be breeders out there breeding for longer lived rats!" I searched and searched, and found nothing. I spoke to breeders and none shared a plan of action on how to increase rat longevity. Many showed little concern. I was able to find two breeders who stated their rats lived to 3.5 years on average. They were unable to provide photographic/time-stamped proof of this. Finally, I decided that if no one else would breed to increase rat lifespan, than I would. And so it began.
I breed solely for my own goals of extending lifespan, improving health, and optimizing pet-quality temperament. My rats are my babies. Most know their name, are potty trained, and get individual, out-of-cage time with me daily. I become attached to each and every one of them and this includes the babies I breed. Pairings are carefully selected with the healthiest, friendliest rats I have. I prefer my females to be at least 9 months old at the time of breeding (to ensure they have been problem free - recurrent URI or other health/temperament issues disqualifies them from my breeding program unless it is a special circumstance, which will be noted and will be first priority to breed away from when selecting pairings for next generations) and males as old as possible who are still in great health, done to drastically increase lifespan. I do not breed based on request or need and do not breed often.