Rats’ mini masterpieces sell for thousands

By Hannah Van De Peer

Meet the rats with a passion for painting who use their paws to create mini masterpieces which have been snapped up for more than £2,000.

Ella Woodland, 18, decided to see if her eight pet rodents - Gubler, Rumple and Reid, aged one, and Hotch, Morgan, Luke, Rossi and Gideon, six months - had an artistic flare when she let them play with some paints in February 2025.

She got the idea to explore their creative side when after seeing a Facebook creator, TooGoods Tiny Paws, selling her rats' artwork online.

To nurture their talent, Ella bought watercolor and kids' paints and encouraged her rats to run through them - using their paws to 'paint' on mini canvases - and is thrilled at the colorful abstract results.

The student, who is currently waiting to start a degree in clinical psychology at the University of Worcester in September, now sells the prints on Vinted.

Prices started at £10, but demand has seen Ella increase them to £500 a pop.

She's made £2,000 since March - describing her side hustle as "the best summer job in the world".

While the majority of the money Ella has made from Vinted goes towards the rats' care - including a £250 premium cage, tunnels and food mix with pasta, cereal and mealworms - she's also saving up for driving lessons.

Ella, from Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, said: "I didn't expect it to take off - I just posted a few pictures on Vinted and now it's my summer job.

"They just walk around [canvases] in kids' paint - then I sell them for £10 each with a mini easel.

"It just randomly blew up one day - it's a win/win because I can save up for a car and lessons to drive, and the rats have so much fun running around and eating lots of baby food.

"I plan to keep it going as long as the rats are alive."

Ella was gifted her first three rats - Gubler, Rumple and Reid - as an early Christmas present in September 2024, by her parents.

In February, she was given newborns - Hotch, Morgan, Rossi, Luke and Gideon - to complete the set of eight and started joining Facebook groups to learn how to care for her furry friends.

In one of the groups, members kept posting content made by creator TooGoods Tiny Paws, in which she let her rats run around tiny canvases with paint on their paws.

Feeling inspired, Ella set up a "studio" for her eight rodents - including a playpen, a set of watercolors and a jar of baby food to tempt them across an easel.

She said: "I started putting them in a little playpen I'd bought for them.

"They walk around in the paint, which is laid on the floor.

"Sometimes I have to put my finger in a jar of baby food and let them follow it around, so they can walk around the canvas.

"The paint varies between watercolors and kids' paint, like poster paint."

In February 2025, Ella began selling the mini-easels on Vinted for £10 each.

Sales were slow for the first few weeks, with Ella only able to shift two to three easels per week - making £80 total in February.

But just one month later, Ella says a stranger posted a picture of her rats' paintings on X [formerly Twitter], garnering 7 million views.

Demand for the paintings on Vinted increased by 500%, with Ella flogging them for "approximately" £500 a month.

To date, the business has made £2,000 and Ella has even been able to turn it into a fruitful summer job.

"I put 20 paintings on Vinted a week," she said.

"They each sell straight away - people really love them!

"It's become a summer job for me, and I'll continue to have it as my part-time job when I start uni.

"People are really positive - aside from a couple of people telling me how much rats scare them - I've only ever had good feedback.

"One of the reviews even said: 'Gubler's talent is unlimited'."