Back in 2004 we became interested in what we like to call 'cow mice'
because of their numerous and unpredictable spots. We know now that
these mice are called Broken Marked, and we still love them to peices.
We first adopted a single male, Chance, when he was due to become a
feeder that same night. He was just a doll. After a lengthy quarantine,
we set him up in the
kitchen and he enjoyed various tidbits of food throughout the day. If
Chance was this endearing, certainly other mice could be the same. We
adopted a few more, including two PEW girls that were living in a
shelter for more than 6 months, but all have now since passed. Mice do
not have the luxury of long life spans.
Looking around on the internet we fell in love with a few
different varieties of mice, including Siamese and Tricolors. The
opportunity came up to bring in some Tricolors from
Serendipity Rodentry in
Delaware and we jumped in with both feet. They are so unique looking,
none of them being alike, and so much fun to watch. Thus, in May we
brought in our first Tricolor and Splashed mice. What a joy they've
been ever since! Many thanks to Shanna for breeding those special
litters for us and being so helpful during the whole process.
The whole reason behind getting the tricolors, though, was to
start off with a good foundation that has been documented for
generations. We felt that the mouse world was lacking in ethical
breeders that kept good records of their mice. In the rat breeding
world (in which I am also very active) there are entire databases
filled with information on lineage.
Since our journey began we have found some rather local breeders
that also keep great records of their mice and hope to 'do business'
with each of them in the future.
As is stated on our main page, we are now focused on the
Tricolors and would like to bring in standard Tricolors as an outcross
for our current line. We would also like to bring in quality Blues,
Siamese, Merles and Broken Marked mice in standard, satin, and texel
coats. All in good time! And now, information on how we care for our
mice.....
We
have experienced some mouse escape artists in the last few years due
to wire cages and now house all of our mice in 10 and 20 gallon
aquariums with fitted screen lids. Each cage contains at least one
wheel, two hides, food dish and water bottle, and jingle ball toys,
toilet paper tubes, or other things that provide enrichment to them.
They -all- agree that the wheels are their favorite!
The mice typically eat the same thing my rats
eat, and that is a staple of lab block or high quality dog food and a
mix containing Cheerios, Tri-color rotini pasta, puffed rice, puffed
wheat, and a few sunflower seeds. They also enjoy fruits, vegetables,
baby foods, etc a few times a week.
We use
Regular Carefresh, Carefresh Ultra or Carefresh Colors in our
aquariums. Occasionally we will use Yesterday's News but we really
prefer the Carefresh for the mice.
Breeding
We
breed our does between 4-6 months of age. This is different from rats
in which we do not breed them until
they reach 6 months of age. Mice have drastically shorter lifespans and
it can be dangerous to breed a female over 6 months of age. Males can
breed indefinitely, but typically sputter out at about 12 months.
We intend to breed each male or female only once, unless there
are special circumstances surrounding another litter in which it would
be necessary or beneficial to breed them twice. We believe in breeding
to improve each generation and therefore each litter of pups should
have a few candidates to further improve the next generation, otherwise
there is no point to breeding the litter in the first place. Not every
mouse we adopt or keep will be used for breeding. Only the best mice
will have the opportunity to pass on their genes.
We do not intend to ever use an undocumented mouse in our
breeding program as we see this as a huge risk in regards to health and
temperament problems that could be brought out in future generations
from an undocumented mouse. We want to stick with mice that have at
least a 3 generation pedigree on both sides. We may make a very
occasional exception to this rule, but at this point in time we do not
think it is necessary.
Quarantine
We
are very consistent in properly quarantining every new mouse in a
separate building from our current crew. This is to ensure no viral or
parasitic infection or infestation is passed from the new mice to our
current mice. Any other method of quarantine (separate room, across the
room) is inadequate and will undoubtedly lead to heartache
-eventually-. We want our mice to stay as healthy as possible
throughout their lives.
