[Jack Garcia]

To those of you who breed mice for show, do you ever adopt as pets?

I'm asking because a couple rat friends recently had a situation where they adopted rats with serious show faults out as pets only, and the adopters purposely bred them. This worries me for obvious reasons and is why I hardly ever adopt animals out as pets. I've done it three times and only to people I knew weren't going to breed them (and people who have in fact, not bred them).

It's weird, because if potential adopters want breeding animals, why don't they just ask? There can be a world of difference between animals that are appropriate to be bred and those which are not, so if you're intending to breed the animals, why not start off with as good a quality stock as you can?

I have another person who's asking about adopting a mouse as a pet and I think it's going to go through, but over all I very rarely adopt out as pets only.

How do you guys work?

 

[Rhasputin]

Maybe they think that when they 'buy for pets' they'll get some sort of discount? I don't know. :roll:

 

[ian]

I generally ask people whether they want breeding mice or pet mice and then can tell them which mice I have which would be suitable for breeding and which ones I wouldnt choose for breeding. Its up to them then.

 

[windyhill]

People probly think they will buy "pets" at a lower price and then turn around and breed them thinking the breeder will never find out.
But generally people tend to be truthful about wanting mice for breeding or just for pets.

 

[Jack Garcia]

Thanks guys. I don't even usually charge for either one. I've met with this person today and she seems really nice, so I'm thinking it will work out. She has young kids, but it seems most mouse people do. I'm surprised because most members of the public don't even know I exist, much less contact me. lol

 

[Autumn2005]

I think people say they just want pets because they think the breeder won't sell to them if they knew they were going ot breed to them.

 

[Lottiz]

In Sweden we have a standard for Petclass too so we do sell PET mice forcthe same price as show mice. But...it's very bad for the type of our show mice...people mix whatever to breed nice pet mice.