Freddie is an agouti hooded

Freddie was one of two brothers I adopted when a fellow rescuer was in desperate need of space. She had recieved a sudden influx of rescue rats needing to be brought in, and was having to turn rats away as she just didn't have room for them. She put out an appeal for anyone who could home some of the rats she'd had in rescue for a while. I had space for a pair of boys at the time, so offered my help. I am particularly fond of elderly male rats, so was happy to take Freddie and his brother.

No-one is sure how old Freddie is, but he's estimated to be over 2. He spent the first year of his life living with his brother in the cage you see below:

I wouldn't even keep my hamster in a cage this small, so the idea of two adult bucks spending any significant amount of time in it is disgusting.
Both boys had some degree of muscle wastage in their hind legs due to, presumably, not having any room to actually move about for most of their lives. They also both had respiratory issues, which are still present, despite treatment.
It is likely that I won't have Freddie with me for a long time due to his age and condition, but for now, he is a lot happier and is doing well.

When Freddie arrived, it became clear he had never seen another rat besides his brother in his life, as he was quite hostile to all my other boys. As he was the alpha of the pair, and presumably had been for his entire life, he wasn't used to being in a situation where he would no longer be the boss. He took a few weeks of gentle intros before he would go into the big cage happily. It was Freddie that was responsible for the accident that caused Kyuss to break his shoulder.

Freddie has mellowed out a lot since, and is now a fully accepted member of the group. He sleeps in with the others and has settled in wonderfully. Hes an old boy, so doesn't tend to do much these days but just sit back and chill out. Im happy he will be spending his retirement with me.

Why Freddie? He was named after Freddie Mercury.