Name: Holly Sex: Doe Variety: Black Berkshire (mismarked) Date of birth: 5 December 2000 Died: 9 August 2002 (pts - uterine infection) Number in litter: 12 Weight: 311g (23 February 2002)

Holly and Willow were our first two rats. They were sisters and we collected them from Gill Thomas when they were 6 weeks old. If Holly and Willow weren't so lovely we wouldn't have got all the others!

Holly was a very friendly and relaxed rat who really enjoyed being with people. She was very intelligent, and came when called by her name and she was quick to learn new tricks.

Although we left it too late to breed her, Holly was the reason we decided that we'd like to breed rats. She was very attached to her sister, and suffered from respiratory infections several times after Willow died despite settling in well with her new cagemate, Skye. She developed a uterine infection which didn't respond to antibiotics in August 2002 and we decided it would be kindest to have her put to sleep.