# What to Start with?



## Effy (Dec 30, 2008)

So I've restrained myself so I got past the "I want to do that! I want that!" phase, so I can do this whole thing properly.
I know some types are harder to start with than others, so I'm asking for a little advice about what colours to start with. =]

I figured I'd list the things I like. Obviously I wouldn't want to do them all, it's just a list of things I'd be happy with, so if there's something there that would be 'easy' to a: obtain and b: breed it'd be great, because I'd still be having mice I loved.

Blues, lilacy/stoney/dovey/silver colours (I still get confused with those...), extreme blacks and Sables.
Dutch, rumpwhites, foxes, tans and herefords.
Astrex/rex, longhair, satin.

(And tricolour...but let's not even go there...)

An suggestions or tips?

Thanks guys.
Effy. x


----------



## daisy (Oct 4, 2008)

it's easier to start with selfs or tans, and they are generally easier to obtain...

dutch are known to be a little more nippy and jumpy, and are a labour of love to breed as a marked variety so not nececarily a good beginners breed but it depends if you want to breed for hobby or show or just keep them as pets... herefords, astrex and longhairs of a showable quality are probobly harder to get hold of and you would need to join up to the NMC and come to some shows to get closer to that idea i would imagine..

the best advice would be to choose one variety and stick to it for a while... its easy to try doing many varieties at once, but also possible that the quality will suffer. i would rather concentrate on one or 2 varieties and give them my full attension


----------



## Effy (Dec 30, 2008)

:roll: I knew I forgot to say something.
I wouldn't be breeding to show, I couldn't even if I desperately wanted to! So it would be just for me and whoever else wanted hobby mice.

If dutch mice are more jumpy, I'll count them out, then! I'm comfortable with the little guys, but don't think I could handle if the were even more jumpy. :?

Thanks for the input! 

Would extreme blacks, or blues be very hard to source, do you think? Given that I can't travel VERY far?


----------



## ian (Oct 3, 2008)

Would you be able to get to any of the NMC shows this year?

I breed blacks and blues (and rumpwhites). If your not breeding for show then rumpwhites aren't hard to breed as long as you dont care about the markings. You also get a mix of marked and unmarked mice and you can play with the colour a bit. Also I quite like having the rumpwhites as you can easily tell the difference between the mice which you cant really with individual blacks.


----------



## Cait (Oct 3, 2008)

If you're not showing it makes the whole thing a lot easier because you don't have to be so strict. For example to show marked mice you need to breeds hundreds if noth thousands (not joking!) to produce a handful of showable animals - if you don't need to show them then you can keep much smaller numbers. You also don't 'have' to breed like to like if you're not showing, so you could have a couple of complimentary varieties to produce different babies since as pets people usually ask for ones they can tell apart (be that colours or markings or both). Marked mice are always popular as pets, pink eyed mice can put people off (though not people here I bet!). If you can get to a show I could bring you some mice if I have any varieties you're interested in at the time  I also second the opinion that dutch aren't really a great pet variety.


----------



## NaomiR (Feb 9, 2009)

for showing I would only buy from someone who shows because then you know what you're getting but as you're not, you can afford to be a bit liberal I think and just go for what you like


----------



## Effy (Dec 30, 2008)

Thanks everyone.
I can't really get to any shows until there's another one in Harrogate or closer...but the mother is getting a car soon, so I guess I could bribe her with something at some point. 

I think I'll definitely get looking more into blues & extreme blacks, then. Possibly even blue tans, I think they look beautiful. ^__^

I don't understand why people like marked mice so much...I mean, yeah they're different to each other, but I just don't think they're too special.  *Apologises to her own marked pets*
And pink eyes aren't my favourite, either. :lol: I certainly wouldn't disown any pink eyed animals or love them any less...I would just choose something else if I HAD the choice. :roll:


----------



## Peteyandthegang (Jan 20, 2009)

Effy said:


> I don't understand why people like marked mice so much


 :shock:

 
I do love blues though


----------

