About Ronnie & Derek

  

Ronnie and Derek are Pink-Eyed White (Albino) rats, born in early December 2018. They moved to their new home in Chelmsford, England on 30 January 2019.

Names

It was clear from the start that Derek is a bit shyer than Ronnie, so he was named after the shy, dithering 1990s Coronation Street character Derek Wilton. Ronnie’s livelier nature means he’s named after a few energetic and entertaining Ronnies – Ronnie Corbett, Ronnie Barker… and of course BBC local radio’s Ronnie Barbour.    

Appearance

Derek has a slightly darker coloured coat than Ronnie, but apart from that, there’s not currently much difference in how they look. It’ll be interesting to see if they develop any distinguishing features as they age.

Personalities

Ronnie is generally a bit more adventurous and lively than Derek, who tends to be a bit more suspicious of new things and is the first to go to bed and last to get up. Derek copied Ronnie when they were young, meaning he quickly came out of his shell.

Derek’s more agile and climbs the inside of the cage in a more elegant way than Ronnie, who seems a bit clumsy!