Hyshqa Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Last October before I knew I was getting Kiska I decided I wanted a pet while at university. I wanted something cheap to buy and maintain, easy to care for, something that wouldn't live for much longer than 2 years so I don't need to think about it after I've graduated, and something I've never had before.....MICE! I ended up buying 4, 2 males and 2 females, and had plans to breed them because I knew a few other people that wanted some, and my college needs some for breeding too, so I had the chance to make back some money from them One of my males, Harvey, developed a horrible skin rash/mange type disease and despite trips to the vets wasn't improving. I decided it would be best to have him pts but my mum fell in love with him when I took all my mice home for christmas and insisted I let her have him. I gave in and said he could stay with her.....then I get a text the DAY after I left to university on 10th Jan saying someone left the door to the downstairs toilet open (where his tank was) and my cat knocked his cage over and got him during the night. I hadn't even been gone 12 hours! It's not the way I would have wanted him to go because I know what my cat is like when he catches animals But at least he's not suffering anymore <3 My 3 other mice are all fine, the two females have both had litters in the last few weeks so I've now got 12 little babies running around! Harvey is definately not the father of either litter because he was in his own cage due to his illness which is a shame, but that means that I know that Ron is definately the father of all 12 Of the two females, Kimmi had 4 babies (1 male, 3 females), and Micetro had 8 (3 males, 5 females) and they were born 4 days appart. Kimmi's are just over 3 weeks old and are now pretty much weaned, and Micetro's are 2 1/2 weeks. This was Harvey a few days after I got him. He was the bold one who would encourage the others to come and investigate my hand when I tried to handle them He'd grown up in a tank in a guy's shed with little to no human contact and yet he didn't need taming. RIP This is his tankmate Ron. Ron was the subordinate one of the two, but when Harvey got sick he turned into a bit of a bully since he knew he could finally get his own way This is Micetro. She's a lot bigger now and has pale caramel coloured patches. I'm convinced she was only about 6 weeks when I got her, even though the guy tried to tell me she was around 4 months old And this is Kimmi. The guy also tried to tell me she was 4 months old but I'm almost certain she was about 8-10 weeks. He wouldn't have had a clue anyway. he just dumped a couple of mice in a tank in his shed and let them get on with it And these are the babies! You can see Kimmi's 4, they're the 4 bigger ones I believe the 4 bigger ones were 6 days old and the 8 younger ones were 2 days old in these photos. From left to right: beige/grey & white male (Jamie), beige/grey & white female, ginger & white female, and pale caramel & white female. And here they are at 15 days old! Same order, with Jamie closest to the camera. I won't post photos of all the other 8 younger ones or I'll never get thos post finished, so here's a random selection, starting with Moe, one of Micetro's 3 males who has fantastic facial markings! Ginny, one of Micetro's females. Pale caramel & white female White female. She is very much the runt of Micetro's litter but she's doing well All of the babies have opened their eyes now and have started exploring the cage so it's getting a bit crowded in there now Hope they'll all be off to new homes soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val (Zebedee) Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 aw, Steph, what a sad end for Harvey! it's strange to see the change from pinkies to fuzzies (I keep snakes) and watch them grow ... sweet little things Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kells xx Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 awwwww i want some Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuskyCouture Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 aww Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww - i want a mouse or 2 - or a rat or 2 but im not allowed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyshqa Posted January 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 You should try and do some persuading, mice are so worth having! I thought they'd be the kind of pet I'd get, be interested in for a few weeks but then lose interest, that's another reason I wanted them to be easy to look after, but they're so lovely, I love getting them out for cuddles and giving them treats - it's amazing how much a cardboard tube is appreciated! I knew as soon as they started getting their fur that I'd end up wanting to keep some but it looks like I will be anyway if they can't all find new homes. I don't mind as long as it's the females since male mice STINK something rotten. I've got 2 tanks - one with just Ron in and a bigger one with the girls and babies in, and the girls don't smell at all, the only smell I get from their tank is sawdust. Ron on the other hand REEKS, my entire room smells just because of ONE little mouse! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 right well if i ever get some - females it is lol used to have gerbils - used to put them on bingo n he would just lie there looking terrified lmao Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowKia&Flynn Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 readin this post has made me miss my mice i bought 2 females but one was pregnant so i ended up with 13 mice as she had 11 babies my mum never knew at the time and one night all the babies escaped from the cage and i had to catch them all my mum accused me of having a lad in the room lol she would have killed me if she found out i had mice lol. the markings on these ones are so cute makes me want some more but i think ill stick to my gerbils for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyshqa Posted January 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Lol! Well I've got to say I do love gerbils but I've done a lot of rodent handling as part of my animal behaviour & training course at university and gerbils are SO prone to having fits it put me right off keeping them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 the only time any of my gerbils had a fit was just before one of them died it was horrible not being able 2 do anything for her Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowKia&Flynn Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 thats the first ive heard of them having fits i bred them at college as part of my animal care diploma before going to uni and they never had any fits and never read of it in my research unless i missed it lol will keep a close eye on my 4 from now on though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 heres bings with my gerbils (yes they are on his back) lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahNukka&Shadow Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Awww sweet little things I have a special place in my heart for small rodents, especially since my mum used to read me the brambley hedge and Beatrix Potter books when I was little and lots of those stories are small mammals... I love their little hands so tiney and dextrous! Hope all your babies get homes hon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyshqa Posted January 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 It's not all gerbils, it's thought to be genetic and affects about 40% of all gerbils, so yours are probably in the safe 60% The strain we have at my university is the type prone to seizures, apparently those with a white diamond shape on their forheads are the most prone to seizures, but that's just something I heard from an animal technician who works on our animal unit with the small rodents, he said that's what he noticed with ours at least. http://www.ehow.com/facts_6048692_gerbil-seizures.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Piskorski Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Aweee the tiny babies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyshqa Posted February 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 The 4 baby boys have gone to their new home! A lovely lady called Claire came to collect them about half an hour ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 awwww bless um Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 ohhhh freaking out here!!!! *shudder* Hampsters I can deal with but not mice or rats - it's their tails - they freak me out I like the pics where the tails aren't in the shot though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoya&EisasMom Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 Please be extremely careful with them outside of their cage with Kiska around. Mice are one of a husky's favorite prey. I've seen Zoya sniff out and dig up a mouse out in our yard in less than a minute. Huskies can move extremely fast when they are prey motivated. It's not a pretty sight and there is no distracting them when they are in their "hunting zone". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyshqa Posted February 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 Please be extremely careful with them outside of their cage with Kiska around. Mice are one of a husky's favorite prey. I've seen Zoya sniff out and dig up a mouse out in our yard in less than a minute. Huskies can move extremely fast when they are prey motivated. It's not a pretty sight and there is no distracting them when they are in their "hunting zone". ...What?...Sorry if I said somewhere that I got them out with Kiska but I never have and never will get them out when Kiska's in the room. I shoo all the dogs out and lock my bedroom door before I even open their cages - one of the other dogs here is an ex-farm dog who we're pretty sure was trained to catch rats and mice, so that would be absolutely idiotic and pretty much a death sentense for them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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