Help please

2310 Views 15 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Kallan, May 9, 2011

lauraflora

Discussion Starter · May 8, 2011

Okay so ive just bought a mouse, ive been strugglin g to find one in in north wales and a friend mentioned a tiny little pet shop in llangefni had one lone one in a cage so i bought him. Hes very jumpy....its a male and hes sort of black and brown, more brown under his belly, im all new to this so if i could post a picture would you be able to help me see what its called (the colour/pattern) im guessing hes a "mongrel" if you will, whatever the mouse term for that is. they just had one because a woman had had unexpected babies and gave them to the pet shop to get rid, they dont usually sell them and she couldnt give me any information about the parents. They gave me hamster mix to feed it on which has dog biscuits and seeds ad nuts and alsorts in, is that okay? also i have aspen snake bedding she said it would be okay as long as hes not eating it, is that right too?? he doesnt seem to be eating it he eats the food in his bowl but loves burrowing in it, is this normal behaviour? and are they noctornal? he seems to be more active at night and squints a lot if i distrub him during the day. i will post a picture

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tinyhartmouseries

· #2 · May 8, 2011

Hi Laura,
The aspen bedding is a great choice. What is the protien level of the food? most hamster mixes are fine except they have too much loose corn and sunflower seeds. I usually pick those out of my mixes!
Your boy SOUNDS like a black and tan, but we'd just love to see pictures!!!

Matt Haslam

· #3 · May 8, 2011

mice are crepuscular , so active most during dawn and dusk, which are good times to feed them.

I feed something like this

50% oats
30% wild bird food
20% protein source , I actually use chicken pellets, but this can be a dog biscuit or as some others use a dried complete kitten food.

Hamster food is ok, but when its finished, try to recreate something like the above.

Oh and Congrats on becoming a mouse owner!!

P.s North Wales is my Fave place, especially Snowdonia and Denbighshire oh and Anglesey! (I know i'm strange!

)

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Tinkers Mousery

· #4 · May 8, 2011

hi laura. im in wales too. I have a variety of mice for sale. glad to know there is another mouse keeper near me

lauraflora

Discussion Starter · #5 · May 8, 2011

tinyhartmouseries said:
Hi Laura,
The aspen bedding is a great choice. What is the protien level of the food? most hamster mixes are fine except they have too much loose corn and sunflower seeds. I usually pick those out of my mixes!
Your boy SOUNDS like a black and tan, but we'd just love to see pictures!!!

Ahh i'm glad the aspen bedding is good. The food comes in a premade bag with no label so i dont know about the protein, do i need to get to pets at home or somewhere bigger and get a proper brand version? Whats best, is there a mouse specific food?
Im not sure if hes a tan theres not really a distinction between the brown black its kind of a hmmm, i need to just post a picture. Im going to go and try snap one now.

Thanks for the advice mad house stud, i'm glad you like anglesey thats where we're from!

Tinkers, YAY, where in wales are you from??

Tinkers Mousery

· #6 · May 8, 2011

Im in carmarthenshire so west wales rele. glad ur not too far away!! at last another person in wales lol

Matt Haslam

· #7 · May 8, 2011

laura, I make my own mix up from huge bags of feed, but seen as tho you only have the one mouse you can get everything you need from a super market.

buy some cheap porridge oats, some wild bird food (places like Quality Save, B&M tend to be the cheapest for a KG or a pet shop) and a small packet of Go Cat Complete Kitten food. Mix in the ratios I have suggested. Thats a lovely diet for a mouse!

lauraflora

Discussion Starter · #8 · May 8, 2011

Okay so heres some pics, i dont have any of his tail but its long and black and has ridges on, so this is his little face (winking

hes a ladies man

arnold2 by -LauraFlora, on Flickr
His belly, this is the brownest part of him, looks quite ginger close up actually

arnie4 by -LauraFlora, on Flickr

arnold3 by -LauraFlora, on Flickr

arnold by -LauraFlora, on Flickr

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4

lauraflora

Discussion Starter · #9 · May 8, 2011

Madhouse Stud thanks verymuch for that ill get on the case tomorrow as a i have a p/t job in a conveniece store.

Someone mentioned they come out more at dawn and dusk so thats the best time to feed him, does that mean you should take the food away during the day? and not just leave it in a bowl like a rabbit. He really likes these flake type things in the master mix, pinches a peice from the bowl and runs off and sits and eats it with his little hands

Matt Haslam

· #10 · May 8, 2011

leave the food in all the time.

he's a black tan, but probably the product of self x tan mating. the tan is very poor on him.

nice colour black, very dark on them ears

lauraflora

Discussion Starter · #11 · May 9, 2011

Awe thanks for that mad house stud!! So if he had a lady friend who was all black or a good black tan would the babies come out like that? Because some of the litters I've seen on here with one of every colour!

How big will he get? He's 2 months old now is he fully grown??

tinyhartmouseries

· #12 · May 9, 2011

I'd really stick with self if you are trying to breed him. He's got a beautiful "extreme black" look about him and it would take AGES to breed the tan properly. If he is bred to a black self he would produce a few tans, but you'd just want to select for the selves.
His color really, truely, is wonderful...can't believe you found him so randomly. As far as size, I'd give him another two months before he's fully grown. Some of mine really go through a growth spurt around the fourth months that amazes me!

Anne

· #13 · May 9, 2011

Wow, i wish i would find a mouse like that in a petshop (or just somewhere!).

Matt Haslam

· #14 · May 9, 2011

lauraflora said:
Awe thanks for that mad house stud!! So if he had a lady friend who was all black or a good black tan would the babies come out like that? Because some of the litters I've seen on here with one of every colour!

How big will he get? He's 2 months old now is he fully grown??

fully grown around 12 weeks. If you want to breed some pets then it doesn't matter too much what you put him with, but black self would be good.

if you want to breed for show then you need to get some other stock or it will take you years to get anywhere close. might seem harsh but thats the honest truth.

I'm still struggling to get a section win, with decent stock.

lauraflora

Discussion Starter · #15 · May 9, 2011

Awww thank you for your kind words, arnie is flattered. I have read some info on Nmc about selfs and tans and unfortunately he's a bit too rugged, haha. They would be appauled at his creasey ears lol

Thanks for the advice everyone x

P.s I phoned the petshop today to order a proper mouse house and arnies sister is in the shop...I have a 30x30x30cm Exo terra empty, will she fit in that??

Kallan

· #16 · May 9, 2011

Would love to get a black that dark, if you ever have a litter off him, send some this way!

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