Lesley started off her obsession with rodents back in 1991 when we had our first fancy rat. From this point she has been involved in showing and breeding of rats, of all varieties.
Lesley is a keen pet enthusiast and has kept a wide variety of animals including birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish.
Lesley found her first Gambian in 2007, a 5 week old female which she named Ziyal. Ziyal came from a small reputable breeder who specialised in exotic mammals. Ziyal was hand reared from 2 days old and this was reflected in her very gentle nature. Ziyal was fully hand tame and there was not an ounce of aggressive behaviour evident.
Lesley subsequently found Ziyal a mate sourced from a separate breeder to ensure that the blood lines were not mixed; she named the male Odo. Odo was purchased at around 10 weeks old however Odo was not hand reared by his breeder and required work to enable him to be handled.
Ziyal and Odo were introduced when Odo was 3 months and Ziyal 7 months. The pairing proved to be a great success. The first successful mating of the pair occurred in spring of 2008 with the healthy arrival of their first litter.
As time has gone by UKpouchies has grown and so has the number of rats we have owned over the years, along with the addition of new team members to help with the day to day running and adding their own experiences of owning pouched rats.
In January 2015 Lesley and her family moved to America and sadly had to leave their pouched rat family behind with members of the UKpouchies UK based team, due to restrictions imposed on importing and owning pouched rats in the USA.
However dispite the move to America, Lesley is more than happy to offer any advice to anyone who has an enquiry regarding these fascinating creatures.
