[moustress]

Sometimes having a mousery is just a blast and sometimes it's disturbing...I notice that there seems to be very little reporting of negative outcomes by most of the established breeders in this forum. I can understand that, I guess, though I think it's important for those new to mousekeeping to know that it's not always a walk in the park.

This week, I had a mother kill her small litter at the age of eight days. She was stressed out already even before the little ones came, as she was misidentified as a male, so the pile of pinkies in that tank was a total surprise (well, maybe not a total surprise). She was very raw, probably from being mounted repeated by four young bucks, who, I was surprised to see, did not kill all the babies. Of course, I got her and the babies out into their own tank right away. Days later, she the babies had mites, and the treatment process was too much for her. When I checked on the tank she had bit through the backs of the necks of all four, and I decided to put down her and the babies. It's a policy of mine not to keep any mousie that kills another mouse, though I sometimes will give a first time mother a second chance. In this case, she did not look well at all, or happy, or comfortable, so...

Anywhoo... it was not my idea of a good time. Along with the spate of seizure related incidents and deaths, mousing hasn't been as much of a stress reliever as it usually is for me.

 

[WillowDragon]

I totally know the feeling... some days its just such a lovely, fasinating and amazing experience keeping and breeding mice... but some days, well somedays you wonder why you do it at all.

 

[The Boggit keeper]

I am not a breeder so I don't have the experience(or the quantity of mice) of you guys, I just keep six mousies at the moment to whom I am totally devoted (they have me wrapped around their tiny little fingers! :lol and despite trying to give the various mice in my life over the years the very best in care I still seem to have had my fair share of sadness and frustrations. I would be the first to admit lately at wondering what the hell i'm doing wrong?

I guess what i'm trying to say is yes, whilst it is sad to hear of other peoples tough times with their mousies, it is also comforting to realize that you're not the only one that goes through rough patches with Mice.
But hey, good times or bad times, I just couldn't be without a mouse (or 6!) in my life!

 

[moustress]

Addicted; I know I'm addicted. From the time I first saw a whole mousery's worth of meeces of every color and marking type I was addicted. One often doesn't extend one's mind to realize that there are folks out there breeding chickens or weiner dogs or mousies in every color and marking type you can imagine (and quite a few you never would). It was a revelation to me when I was sprawled in the grass in the front hard, 'working' on my garden, and saw a couple go by with a long haired curly mottled wiener dog. I popped up from behind the lilies, startling owners and dogs, exclaiming, "They're wiener dogs! Wiener dogs!" I finally stopped pointing and exclaiming every time I saw them, as I realized the owner's of the wiener dogs were getting a bit annoyed with my childish behavior, but, them you know what They say, 'you're only young once, but you can be immature forever'. (I just love Them; my Them's give me reason to keep smiling! Thank you for being part of my Them'ses)

 

[Autumn2005]

I love my mice, and I am so glad to be able to breed them and guess the colors and everything, that part's really cool, but I've had several of my mothers eat half to all of their babies, usually due to my mistakes (moving mice at the wrong time). Just a couple weeks ago, I had a brindled doe I named after my best friend die in my hand after seizing for a couple minutes. It was very traumatic, as my friend is going through a lot of health problems now (bad omen). I lump the bad with the good, and take it as I can. The best part of breeding, for me, is that the very first baby I bred is an aguoti doe I named Ash. By far, she's the one that knows me best, because she always comes to my hand. My mice are all pet store stock, so to get one as docile and friendly as her was a great triumph for me. She's my sweetie.