Jessicat
All Pied Everything
I have never been successful in raising mice. I have attempted to keep feeder mice several times all with failed attempts for babies. I think many of my problems sprouted from setting up a group and then trying to alter it.. such as grouping together a 1.1 and then trying to add another female to that.
I like mice and think that they're incredably amusing to watch. Breeding for different colors sparks my interest as well. For those reasons and for the benefit of my snakes I've picked up a 1.2 group and hope to have some fun breeding mice.
I've already run into problems. =/
To backtrack a little, I or rigionally got a 1.1 pair to start my colony. I took the bus home from the mall but had to walk about 5 blocks to my apartment from the stop nearest my apartment. I set the two carrying boxes down in a large plastic tub and opened them so the mice could meet eachother for the first time. Instead of two inquisitive mice sniffing eachother I only saw the male moving around, he headed towards the female box. When a few minutes of quiet had passed I checked things out. I found my male hunched over a freshly dead mouse. She must have gotten over heated on the 5 blocks walk. It's been pretty hot lately. I was pretty discouraged that I had done something very wrong, but the female was pretty small so instead of blaming myself too much I gave my 05 Motley a little snack.
I set up a nice little home for the male with plans of adding another female once I found a mouse to my liking. A few days later, visiting my parents in Portland I decided to check out the selection of mice at a local pet shop. I found a few nice girls and set them up in a small temporary home. I brought them home to the male and put their cage next to his. I had a lot of cleaning to do and was excited about my new vacuum so i left them like that for awhile. When I checked on them again the male's cage looked somewhat vacant. I decided to put the two females in it anyway so they could meet while I set up a larger cage for the three of them to live in. I watched them for a few seconds and didn't see the third little nose poke out! I grew sick to my stomach thinking that I had somehow killed the poor little male. I started thinking things like "maybe this corner is not far away enough from the window", and "what if the cat litter I'm using was toxic?!"
I removed the females from the cage and started cleaning out the male's old cage, looking for the body. To my great suprise it was NOT buried under the wood shavings or cat litter!
My cat found the little escapee today to my relief. Although the little guy seems pretty scared from being carried around in a cat's mouth for about 10 seconds I think he'll live. I set him up in the little temporary cage I was using to house the girls in. I want to let him settle down and realize he's safe before I introduce him to the girls.
My main question is: The two females have been exclusively together for 2 days now, is that long enough for them to reject the male as part of their "group"? How should I go about introducing them? I'm thinking of introducing them in the temporary home that the male is in right now. Any advice/thoughts on how to procede?
Thank you ahead of time, also, if you've actually read this far THANKYOU VERY MUCH for taking the time!
You will now be rewarded with a few pictures of the gang
I've named her Ray (with Raven in the back of my mind).
It was kinda hard to get a picture of the other girl, she wasn't being too cooperative. Also these are through glass =/
Despite a few tiny white marks on her back she's very evenly colored. I like the white marks though.
Here's my little escapee male.. He's looking a bit freaked out right now.
I like the blue creeping out from his undercoat. Maybe if these guys are successful I'll start another thread concerning bringing that color out!
here's his little temporary home.. yup, that's a measuring cup as a water dish, the ceiling is too low for a drip bottle!
Thank you
I like mice and think that they're incredably amusing to watch. Breeding for different colors sparks my interest as well. For those reasons and for the benefit of my snakes I've picked up a 1.2 group and hope to have some fun breeding mice.
I've already run into problems. =/
To backtrack a little, I or rigionally got a 1.1 pair to start my colony. I took the bus home from the mall but had to walk about 5 blocks to my apartment from the stop nearest my apartment. I set the two carrying boxes down in a large plastic tub and opened them so the mice could meet eachother for the first time. Instead of two inquisitive mice sniffing eachother I only saw the male moving around, he headed towards the female box. When a few minutes of quiet had passed I checked things out. I found my male hunched over a freshly dead mouse. She must have gotten over heated on the 5 blocks walk. It's been pretty hot lately. I was pretty discouraged that I had done something very wrong, but the female was pretty small so instead of blaming myself too much I gave my 05 Motley a little snack.
I set up a nice little home for the male with plans of adding another female once I found a mouse to my liking. A few days later, visiting my parents in Portland I decided to check out the selection of mice at a local pet shop. I found a few nice girls and set them up in a small temporary home. I brought them home to the male and put their cage next to his. I had a lot of cleaning to do and was excited about my new vacuum so i left them like that for awhile. When I checked on them again the male's cage looked somewhat vacant. I decided to put the two females in it anyway so they could meet while I set up a larger cage for the three of them to live in. I watched them for a few seconds and didn't see the third little nose poke out! I grew sick to my stomach thinking that I had somehow killed the poor little male. I started thinking things like "maybe this corner is not far away enough from the window", and "what if the cat litter I'm using was toxic?!"
I removed the females from the cage and started cleaning out the male's old cage, looking for the body. To my great suprise it was NOT buried under the wood shavings or cat litter!
My cat found the little escapee today to my relief. Although the little guy seems pretty scared from being carried around in a cat's mouth for about 10 seconds I think he'll live. I set him up in the little temporary cage I was using to house the girls in. I want to let him settle down and realize he's safe before I introduce him to the girls.
My main question is: The two females have been exclusively together for 2 days now, is that long enough for them to reject the male as part of their "group"? How should I go about introducing them? I'm thinking of introducing them in the temporary home that the male is in right now. Any advice/thoughts on how to procede?
Thank you ahead of time, also, if you've actually read this far THANKYOU VERY MUCH for taking the time!
You will now be rewarded with a few pictures of the gang
I've named her Ray (with Raven in the back of my mind).
It was kinda hard to get a picture of the other girl, she wasn't being too cooperative. Also these are through glass =/
Despite a few tiny white marks on her back she's very evenly colored. I like the white marks though.
Here's my little escapee male.. He's looking a bit freaked out right now.
I like the blue creeping out from his undercoat. Maybe if these guys are successful I'll start another thread concerning bringing that color out!
here's his little temporary home.. yup, that's a measuring cup as a water dish, the ceiling is too low for a drip bottle!
Thank you
