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Welcome to the Website of Alpha Centauri Stud!

My name is Estelle Sandford. I run a rattery in Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset which is in the South West of the United Kingdom. My primary aim in breeding is to improve the longevity, health and personality/temperament of the lines I breed and hopefully a few along the way will be show winners as well.

Alpha Centauri Stud is my NFRS registered stud name which was achieved by Alpha Centauri Fred, a black eyed white buck when he became a silver champion at the Bradford Championships in January 2001. 

Alpha Centauri was inspired by the late Douglas Adam's book 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy' with one of the more well know phrases from the book being.....

'In those days spirits were brave, the stakes were high, men were real men, women were real women and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri.'

The rat-room has the nickname of "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" because they all eat better than me and this is in keeping with the Hitchhikers theme.

I am Hon. Treasurer for the NFRS and show my rats at their shows. I am also an NFRS Championship Judge and have judged for many rat club shows in the UK and Europe.

I currently breed towards British Blue, Golden Siamese/Himalayan and Wheaten Burmese based variety fancy rats in normal and dumbo ear and rex and straight coat. The British blue based line can be traced back to the first ever litter I bred. The large majority of my dumbo rats can be traced back to their American origins and I have 15+ generations on some parts of the line. I almost always have other varieties of rats as well as part of breeding for the varieties I am aiming for. I primarily breed my rats as pets for health and temperament. My Rats page shows all of my present rats with photos

See my Planned Litters and Current Litters Pages for more information on what kittens I have available and what is coming in the future.