In the spring of 2025, I chose to change the name of my rattery from Umbrella Rats to Stellar Rattery, to celebrate the 2 year anniversary of my breeding, and to signify a shift in the goals and focus of my rattery.
I had originally chosen the name Umbrella in honour of my progenitor doe, Lilah, who was the mother of my first litter: the Star Wars litter. I had gotten Lilah and her sisters (Alison & Klaus) from a family friend who has been breeding rats privately for several years. She calls her rats her “old world friends,” and while she didn’t keep any paper records of her program, she knew the family lines she bred, and I felt confident using a doe from her to start my own program.
Lilah and her sisters were named after the Umbrella Academy, a graphic novel turned eccentric tv show, that my daughter and I were simply in love with (just let’s not discuss the last season, okay?). Our first rats we bought in London were named Hazel, Cha Cha, and Number Five, after characters from this show, so when we got three more little girls, we carried on with the name theme. And little did I know how breeding would change my life for the better, giving me a purpose and a sense of drive I haven’t felt for a long time.
But all things change, and after the passing of Lilah, I felt I wanted- no, needed- to change my rattery name, as I had moved past the humble beginnings of my house line and now how a clear direction I wanted to steer my program; also, I had begun to work with the marten line I had inherited from my amazing mentor, now retired from breeding rats, herself.
In a nutshell, I knew the rats I was producing were Simply Stellar rats, and so it made complete sense to me to choose Stellar as the new name for my rattery. This is not any slight of hand or foiled obfuscation. I am and always will be completely 100% transparent with anything I do as an ethical breeder. Now, two years down the line, my rattery is my heart and soul, my passion, my drive, and I am taking the steps to make it into a personal business: including revamping this website, securing the domain, and soon… registering with AFRMA and locking in my prefix of STAR to solely signify rats bred and produced by me. I can’t wait to take you all along with me on this amazing journey.