# moustress' generic meeces



## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

These babies are from Petsy (standard agouti) and Hissself who are from a litter I bred from reptile store PEW and pet store pied agouti.


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## BlackCat99 (Jun 30, 2011)

:queen so cute! I love the spotty one


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Thanks! They're sort of an experiment to see how many generations it will take to see typier mousies from these 'generic' specimens. I don't necessarily prefer humongous tail and huge ears. They are not survival oriented characteristics. I do like nice clean ears and strong tail with the nice fat set-on.

The parents had acceptable ears and they had a tail set that was pretty good. They both had the good size that I think all of us would like to see any of our litters. I like pretty meeces; my definition of pretty is, I think, not far off the show standard in general, but I don't mind if they get fat, or have their ears shaped a little different than what is considered 'typey". I really dig healthy, playful mousies. If they run a little flashier or are nice specimens of a certain color or marking or coat type, that's great!


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## MoonfallTheFox (Nov 12, 2011)

I second that last post. They don't have to be perfect- health and happiness are the most beautiful thing in ANY animal, regardless of confirmation. I have pet store mice, and they are (IMO) very pretty. Only one has any type to her at all, the others are built with practicality in mind, they're stocky with smaller, round ears.

These are lovely bubs.


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Thanks! 

I just love them meeces to pieces!

I can't help wanting even the nice wild ones that run from my composting area when I have to turn it. The leftover chow makes them so shiny and it's really something to see 18 different variations on the agouti scampering in all directions. (no! not up the pants leg, not up the inside of the pants leg....eeeeeeeka....haha....YAAAHHHH...  :!: ...)


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## Paziqi (Feb 10, 2010)

Mousetess, you have some lovely babies there. I really like the pied one.

I've been tempted to have a try at the wild ones around here, too. But they are all deer mice, and quite scrawny looking, so that sort of makes me think twice whenever the idea starts seeping into my brain again.


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Deer meeces are fun to watch, but almost impossible to handle. You surely have regular mus mus there too, but those are really not good for pets either. Even the half breeds I kept from one of does going on a 'vacation' for a few days :roll: are nervous, but better than some I've 'gotten' in the past. I've taken the time to handle them from day one, a policy that is a really good idea with any litter. Any doe that is nervous enough to act out from that probably isn't a good candidae for breeding. I leave the babies alone for the first day or so...if it's a new mother.


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## Paziqi (Feb 10, 2010)

Before I brought the domestic mice home, I thought all mice were the same.  Figured out the first time I caught one of the wild ones in a trap that I was wrong. 

I've seen many deer mice around here, never anything else though. Maybe the wild mus mus are more timid? Or maybe they are just smarter? There are 6 cats currently living in my house....

I think the idea of breeding in 'wild' blood is very tempting, but from everything I've heard, it just doesn't do any good. Though if you can figure out how to get all those different shades of agouti that you mentioned without it, at least the idea may have inspired something nice.


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

How they grow! These are the boys.

This time, I am asking for a critique, as I bred these from pet/rodent store stock as an experiment to see how many generations it would take to see an improvement in type when starting from fairly good common stock.

I'm especially interested in hearing about the tails. I see them as fairly decent, I'm wondering about the tail set. I see these as being deficient in that they come out of the tail and stay the same thickness, i.e. they should be wider at the hairline. The rear should be a bit longer, too, I think.


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## sys15 (Nov 26, 2011)

house mice are not very competitive with deer mice and other native mice in most native and semi-native north american habitats. they typically only persist near human disturbances. in most areas of the US, it is common to only encounter native mice in rural areas and in low density suburbs.


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

And here are the girls:

[IMG=http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/760/fatmamanotalittlelady00.jpg][/IMG]





Here's nice pic of Petsy.


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

I don't know much about types, but Petsy looks pretty and shiny!


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Thanks!

I thought of putting her in a post as a great example of what can be done with mutt mousies. First, though you have to find better than average meeces for sale somewhere. Actually ,first you need to be able to recognize better than average when you see it in a store.

Petsy and Hissself are good F1's; their litter is the first to be routinely culled in my mousery. I'm going to follow the English technique, and we'll see what happens with inbreeding, culling, and so forth. It should be informative.

I just notices that she has a little pink growth sticking up in her fur; it shows as a little divot in her coat on her flank. I've seen this before; I wonder what causes it. I shall have to get a closeup and post in the Health section.


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