# My First Mice



## Boggles (Dec 4, 2011)

I posted some baby pictures and the story of my CL mice in the new litters forum, but these are the other three mice I picked up. I had gone to get just the little brindle female, and of course ended up bringing them all home. Any feedback about their colors and any faults/things that need to be improved on, much appreciated. I'm planning on keeping just the brindle and the fox, the banded is pregnant, and I'll wait and see what colors her babies are before I figure out what to do with her.

Brindle Female (Is there another name for her color?)


















Fox Female (Chocolate? I know the white behind her ears is a fault right?)


















Banded Female (Is she a chinchilla? The grey seems to be ticked. Also, I hate her ears)


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

The body shape on that banded is lovely and stocky! And the color on your fox belly looks pretty nice from the side. How even is it when viewed from below? The brindle's very evenly marked, but they're not terribly clear as stripes.


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## mousery_girl (Nov 13, 2011)

awww poor doe don' hate her ears :lol: i think she is uk lilac or blue. chinchilla has whiter hairs. my blue is slightly tickled too but had no agouti babies so i think its just where the furs faded


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## Cait (Oct 3, 2008)

It might be the lighting but their fur seems to be quite rough. It would be worth keeping them away from other mice until you can be certain they are in perfect health.


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## windyhill (Jan 19, 2010)

Aww! Lovely


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## Boggles (Dec 4, 2011)

MouseBreeder said:


> It might be the lighting but their fur seems to be quite rough. It would be worth keeping them away from other mice until you can be certain they are in perfect health.


Thank you for the tip. I picked them up from someone off of CL, so I don't know anything about what they were eating or what kind of bedding the girl was using. I'm currently feeding them Native Earth lab blocks and a seed mix and keeping them on rice hull bedding. How would I go about getting their fur to be less rough? Also, would this be a problem that can transfer to my pet rats? I currently have them in different rooms of my house, but I'm paranoid...


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## Cait (Oct 3, 2008)

Rough fur could be a sign of illness or it could just be a condition problem that you'll be able to fix fairly quickly with a good diet and hygienic environment. Since it sounds like you don't know a huge amount about where they came from it's best to keep a close eye on them for any sign of sneezing, sounds when breathing or a hunched posture (especially when walking).

I don't know anything about the Native Earth brand you have mentioned (I'm in the UK) but hopefully one of the US members can help you out on that score. As long as you get the balance and quality of food right it doesn't matter too much about the brand - there are lots of different foods that people use that work well for their particular mice. Generally they are composed of oats, barley and similar grains, complete dry dog food and mixed bird seed.


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

If your mice and rats aren't sharing airspace, and you're washing your hands between handling them, you'll likely be fine. A mouse's coat is one of the fastest to lose condition, but a great diet, improved environment, and quarantine for 30 days or until they improve (whichever's longer), will help keep everybody happy.


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