History:
I received a buck, Berkeley and 2 does, Marmion and Ingmire, from Pretoria Rattery. Both the buck and does are distantly related to the chocolate line. Marmion and Ingmire were both paired to Berkeley, however Ingmire was infertile and only Marmion took. The Berkeley X Marmion litter yielded unbreedable rats, as all kits were skittish and/or aggressive to varying degrees. Marmion was then bred to CLR Arcanus from the blue line, in hopes of improving the Essex line temperament. Thus far, the buck and doe retained from that litter have phenominal temperament and far surpass their mother and the previous litter. 

The Marmion x Arcanus pairing produced a litter of 4. 1x Spotty/Dapple Essex doe (According to the notes of certain breeders, this should have been a genetic impossibility, we will be test breeding further), 1 variegated Essex Buck (Irish + Essex) and 2 Headspot Berkshires (1 buck and 1 doe). The Essex based pair (Emelia and Othello) were held back and later bred. They produced a litter of variegated Essex, Ghost Essex, Irish, Blazed Berkshire and Headspot Berkshire. Most kits were black aside from 2 Russian Blues and a Blue. The Blue doe (Titania) is Variegated Essex and was held back for pairing to the Poor Black Harley Buck (Wall-E) from the Disney Pixar Line. If needed, she may later be paired to the Ghost Essex buck (Puck) also retained from the litter.

Emelia and Titania were both bred to Wall-E. Titania x Wall-E produced variegated essex, variberk and Ghost Essex. Emelia x Wall-E produced Variberk and Ghost Essex. Puck was paired to an unmarked doe in hopes of figuring out the genetics of the Ghost Essex. The results of the litter were inconclusive.

Goals:
I would like to improve and perfect the temperament of this line, and eventually merge it with the Harley line to make “sheep rats” (BEW Harley)

Timeline:
The following is a timeline representing all the major events of the line from obtaining the founding rats, up to all future pairings. All future information is purely speculation and estimates, outside factors and unexpected events may change the planned course.

• October 2018- Obtained Berkeley

• December 2018- Obtained Marmion and Ingmire

• March 2019- Founding buck and does paired

• April 2019- Gen 1 litter born (yielded unusable rats)

• September 2019 – Marmion and Arcanus paired

• 3 October 2019- Gen 1 litter born

• January 2020- Gen 1 buck and doe paired

• 3 February 2020- Gen 2A litter born

•  June 2020- Gen 1 & 2A doe paired to Gen 4 Disney Line buck

• 7 & 15 July 2020- Gen 2B & 3 born