# An insomniacs ramblings



## Onyx

Some will understand the joys of simply sitting and typing, some with insomnia will know that it can be an absolute blessing to help put a busy mind at ease for a while, even if it doesn't induce sleep, it does bring (me at least) some relief from the boredom and frustration.

I've been an insomniac from birth. I'm told that I drove my parents to insanity and back with a period of one hour sleep per night at the age of 9 months, which went on until a year and a half and never got too much better. A sleep therapist I was taken to see at the age of 1 told my parents I simply had a busy mind and didn't need the sleep.

27 years later and thankfully, my insomnia comes in fits and bursts and sometimes I manage a whole 6 hours. I do find though that my brain works best between the hours of 11pm and 4am and thus most of my thinking, planning and random wafflings happen between these times. It's great having friends online in the US and knowing other insomniacs for this reason.

Mice have always been very therapeutic for me. They aren't too fussy about when they get fed and watered and played with, as long as it happens at some point.

I got into mice years ago when a now ex partner kept snakes. So many reptiles that buying in frozen became a pricey option and breeding our own much more beneficial, both to us and the snakes. It's not unheard of to get a "bad" batch of unhealthy frozen mice. Finding healthy mice to breed from though was a tricky business and took many months sweet talking a reptile friend to track down three to start with. Over the period of 8 months, breeding several litters in that time, it was clear these mice were not healthy. Kicks, squonky ears, sniffles despite our immaculate housing. We culled the lot and sourced three others. Rinse and repeat the above story.

Third time lucky, right? Right. On our third trio, and two years later I joined this forum. Some members maybe remember Pickle the non-PEW that bought me many hours of joyous midnight company and many many months of fun breeding.

Word of mouth spread that we were breeding wee mousies that lived longer than a whole year and never once sniffed or sniffled AND they were friendly, can you imagine? *rollseyes* We found ourselves selling more as pets than feeding to the snakes and over time I became attached to the lines we were forming. I put by a colony of not-PEWs for the ex and his snakes and worked on working out what Pickle and her line held genetically and gained a few others along the way.

I had many a great convo on this forum and virtually met many great members, took part in a few mouse trains and got my hands on some very lovely meecers from all over the country. At this point, I was completed hooked and dedicated to erradicating the local market of unhealthy and manky looking mice and was about to join the NMC when several things happened all at once - it seems.

My ex had always been a handful.. he had a mouth and liked to use it. Arguments would erupt from no where on a regular basis and his type 1 diabetes would frequently be out of control, despite my best efforts. My mouse room became my safe haven and I would spend hours in there, if even just to sit and take photos of the now-totally-healthy mice I was proud of. It was a place to clear my head, concentrate on the mice and myself and generally take some time out. Things were going from bad to worse when the phone call came.

My Mum, who lives down in Cornwall, told me that a family friend in Wales was having a real hard time. She ran a small holding in Wales, breeding Poultry and Pigs but had been undergoing serious operations and treatment for Cancer for several months and her husband no longer had the time to split between caring for her, their daughter and the farm. Could I pop down there for a few weeks to lend a hand and maybe give an outsiders opinion on what they could do to improve their situation? So off to Wales I went. My Mum had Thyroid Cancer when I was younger - a huge story there - and so the thought of operations, Chemo and the likes didn't phase me (other than concern) and I'd grown up on a smallholding in West Sussex, so hard work and farm animals was no problem either. Our friend was seriously ill, her husband exhausted and the farm starting to take on a mind of it's own. I had to help. A month later we moved to Wales to help see them through the winter.

This meant of course that breeding mice went out the window. We passed some of our lines onto local friends, some forum members and the rest (our "oldies") lived out their days with us on the farm. We were there for 9 months, give or take. In this time we were up at sunrise and in bed well after midnight and didn't stop in-between, with me taking trips to the hospital as needed. We saw storms like you wouldn't believe, a horrendous winter and some of the most gorgeous, memorable scenery you could imagine. Our friend got no better, much, much worse and by the end of winter it was clear from both knowing her and finally from doctors reports that she now needed end of life care.

At this point, I also knew my relationship was over, we both had very different ideas of what was important in the world and priorities. We broke up and I went back to Mums, after mentally and physically recovering at home in Cornwall for three months, I made the move back to Scotland, where I am now.

I took a lot of life lessons from the experience and have since put my mind to work, becoming a fully qualified level three complementary practitioner. I never thought I'd be a qualified anything but there we go, I did it and I'm bloody proud. I have a new partner - I say new, we've been together for errrh, well, we are coming up for our third Christmas together and were friends for years before that. We've a wee flat of our own, it lacks a garden and heating but whatever, it keeps us dry and I'll get that house with a garden and a big chocolate labrador one day. I do miss "green" and outdoors but I'm thankful, things could be worse.

And so, now that I am settled again, I am once again venturing into the mousie world. I finally became a member of the NMC this past weekend and plan to not only resume working on healthy AND friendly mice (  ) but to show and exhibit mice too. For the past week I've been keeping an eye out on who is breeding what and what path I want to take in the breeding world again.

This thread will, hopefully, be both a way for me to vent my midnight ramblings and thoughts but also document my progress in starting from scratch again and how that works out. You might say this is a bit of a selfish thread, as it is mostly for my own benefit but some may find it amusing or education.. or something. I do enjoy reading other peoples ongoing threads for this reason. It kept me feeling somewhat part of the mousie world even when I wasn't posting or breeding myself and I am so glad to be back.

I am looking forward to meeting some of you in person this time round at shows and enjoy chatting to others online but mostly, I look forward to having the wee furries back again. A wee friend to sit on my shoulder at 2am and the joy of friends and locals having years of mousie companions, rather than manky and unfriendly mice for two months. Hurruh!

And just like that, I've drunk one coffee, smoked three ciggies, and typed for 30 minutes. Apologies for taking up the forums monthly bandwidth in one posting


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## YourSoJelly

Hello fellow insomniac! I am in the same boat...uh, kinda! I do have insomnia and no mice as well! I probably won't be getting any mice due to my mom and step-dad being against it, but I like you already! I also had to help my friend on her farm, but this was after she had leukemia. I can't wait to meet your new mice!

I'm sorry to hear about your human friend... I wish I had a furry friend to sit on my shoulder. I have 4 little brats (guinea pigs), but I can't just take one out without the other 3 screaming up a storm and waking up my mom(who has even worse insomnia than I do). My guinea pigs are also "shelf sitters" (piggy joke) and You can't walk around with them, Unless your holding Nala...but she pees down your back. It would be nice to have a small little pet who fits on my shoulder/pockets/hair to walk around with.

If you want someone to talk to, you know where that PM button is! I always reply and I like to make new friends! When you do get mice, you just HAVE to post pictures for us to see!


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## Onyx

The so-fars in my starting over..

I have spent time registering NMC membership, getting back in contact with some members and breeders, catching up on general mousey news and working out what I need to purchase before the mice.

Registering was easy and everyone has been lovely. I've found that a fair few breeders have mentioned that breeding this summer and last has been a bit of a nightmare with sniffles and whatnot in mice and the high temps in the UK throwing the mice out of sync a little and causing less to no mating in some.

I have pre-ordered 4 tubs, ready made with meshed ventilation because I'm useless at DIY, I don't own any of the tools required any more and because it's nice to support the fanciers that do these sorts of things. I did also pick up two *emergency* tubs locally, which I can modify myself if needed before the others are made and delivered, with the use of a friends tools and handy work. I also picked up some nice looking bedding, food bowls enough for 6 tubs and instructed everyone to collect me their toilet rolls. I've also been trying to find small water bottles but everywhere local to me only has the larger rat and rabbit sizes so I will need to do an on-line order for those I think. Oh, and a shelving unit/rack has been purchased, too.

I've decided that, as I did when breeding before, I will be making my own food mixes. I found that ready-made stuff just wasn't quite good enough for breeding and making my own benefited the mice as I could adjust it as and when needed depending on if does were to be bred with, were nursing, recovering or whether mice were growing or "retired".

I noted that blue mice seem to be very popular right now, with Tris, splashed and other marked or similar coloured mice up there too.

I decided that for my mousery, I would stick with what I love colourwise and then dwindle down to absolute favourites to breed with. On my own personal list of favourites, I have: PEWs, Blacks, Chocolates, Creams and that I love Satin. I had PEWs and Satins in the past and always wanted the others too but couldn't find them at the time, so maybe this time round. I will be looking for breeders of these types to find out what they have, the quality of their mice and how to get them up north.

In the next few weeks I will be visiting a gentleman from the NMC who lives not-too-far and who breeds some of the colour types I am after. I am greatly looking forward to both meeting him, hearing his stories and advice and also seeing what he may have available.

I have planned a weekend trip to the Manchester NMC show in November to get a feel of the shows and meet up with other members and some people off this forum.

Would love to hear from anyone who has a link for suitable water bottles, I don't remember them ever being this hard to find. And also any recommendations people have for breeders in the colour varieties listed above. It is very easy to read through listings of who breeds what mice but having personal recommendations is much better, imo. Health and character are my main concerns.


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## Onyx

Thank you, YourSoJelly 

Sorry to hear that your family are not keen on the idea of pet mice in the house. It's frustrating but until circumstances change, respecting them is the best way forward. It may be that over time they will change their mind, or when you have your own roof over your head you will have stored away enough knowledge and enthusiasm that you'll be more than ready for mice 

You can be sure I will be posting pictures when the time comes. Pictures paint a thousand words!


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## andypandy29us

try the pet-supermarket.co.uk I have ordered loads of stuff from them and its all free delivery which you cant beat ... they are much cheaper than pet at home also 

I have sent my letter of to the nmc and should be a member by the end of the week  woohoo


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## Onyx

A bringer of good links and great news, thanks andypandy 

Having a gander at that link the now and putting together a mock-order for next payday.

Well done for doing those forms, mine went through really quickly and my members pack came the very next day! Can't ask for more than that lol. It has some really informative stuff in it, a good hours read through for sure and brilliant reference material.

I've done very little today as I am still feeling rough from a viral flu. I've pottered about the house and grumbled a fair bit but the one thing I did do and I'm glad for it, is put up a shelving unit. It will fit 8x16L tubs on it, or five 32Ls, depending on how things are stacked etc. This will certainly do for a month or two at least and I have enough wall and floor space where the unit is currently sitting for another 4 more, so space is no issue and I feel like I have accomplished something today, yay! Productivity n all that jazz


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## Onyx

Today is the first day we get an Autumn storm. The sun is currently splitting the trees and town is busy with shoppers but come this evening, we are due high winds and heavy rain. I'm quite looking forward to it, I do like a bit of rough weather.

I'm feeling much better now, with only a cough left over from my flu the other week there and so I set myself to making up a couple of mousey tubs, shredding paper, ironing, cleaning the bathroom.. Well, I couldn't stay ill forever, else the house would fall apart!

Today I'm making the most of the clear and dry spell before tonight and heading out for a mousey day trip. It'll be nice to get some fresh air and rid my building cabin fever but also because I'll be visiting with an NMC member. He keeps a couple of the varieties that I'd love to breed myself and I've been instructed to bring a mouse carrier..


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## Cait

Onyx said:


> I have planned a weekend trip to the Manchester NMC show in November to get a feel of the shows


I'll see you there then (I'm judging) 

And always take more boxes than you think you'll need when you pick up mice!


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## Onyx

I look forward to that =D

Today was a long day but a great one. I spent 4 hours in mousery heaven, viewing hundreds of mice, including show winners. I take my hats off to my partner who, while he doesn't dislike mice, doesn't have the interest I do, and sat through the whole thing.

I saw varieties today that although I'd seen hundreds of pictures of, had never seen in person. Varieties I though I had very little interest in were actually beautiful in person. Seeing show winners and winning lines was a real pleasure and I'd urge anyone who has an interest in showing to try to find somewhere to visit for a few hours.

So, what did I come away with then? Well! If you've read above, you'll see PEW and Black were on my wish list.. so I came away with a trio of pews - the two does have been with the male for a week already and are likely pregnant and three blacks. So I did very well there indeed and I am VERY happy with them.

Yeah, that wasn't all I came home with :lol:

The blacks were fostered with a stunning (I think) Red Mum. Her own young are red, sable and cinnamon. These were not colours that had ever been on my wish-list because I'd never really seen any pictures of cinnamon or sable that inspired me but I fell for this whole litter. They are in that "hopper" stage but coming out of it. These are colour varieties I have no personal experience with and will be glad of finding some good reading links and the like to do a bit of research on. And because Karma graced me today, the whole litter has two bucks, plus a black buck. Which sounds a lot but is actually a blessing with so many does and gives me some options to work with. I will need to find some good, true-to-life pictures of them to see how mine stand in the showing world, though. And hope to see some others in person at Manchester.

I also came away with two Maxies. A wooden breeder box. A good bagful of the food mix they are already on to slowly introduce my own mix. A small bottle. A small ceramic dish. Some good quality hay. The promise of more mice whenever I need or want them. Priceless advice and a friend and supporter.

The mice have been put into their boxes, split into the three pews and Mum and the bubbas. Everyone has had a good drink, munch and dig about and now things have quietened down.

I have taken pictures, though they are not fantastic and they've had a long day. The settings on my camera are out which is frustrating so I will need to fix that. *Adds to the mental note of to-dos for tomorrow, along with a large presentation for college on Monday*

Phew! Coffee, Ciggie and an early night on the cards, I think!


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## Onyx

Good morning folks!

Our "first Autumn storm" turned out to be nothing but a blustery, damp day, which is a bit disappointing but heyho. My bedroom window is now partly fixed, in that the joiner forced it closed and bolted it in place until a plan B can be formed and put into action.

In the Mousery - if you can even call it that yet - things are going swimmingly. Everyone is looking healthy and happy, which makes me happy. I've been reading and asking a few who know, about where I should go with the Reds, Cins and Sables and I think I have at least a first step to be working on right now. The litter are needing split this weekend, so that is happening. Bar the three blacks who are a week younger and although they eat more than everyone else :lol: I think could do with an extra week being kept with their adoptive Mum. I will be keeping the red buck in there, he is a few weeks off of doing his job, I think, as he has no interest right now. But he will be bred back to his Mum to hopefully get some more Reds and build up their numbers - this is the first step.

The PEWs are doing fantastic. The buck is certainly keen on doing his job! If the girls were not pregnant before, I'm sure they are now. I'll split him up this weekend also and see what happens with the girls.

It has been a real pleasure having mice again, I love hearing the noises they make as they do their thing and I do love that mousey smell  I feel very lucky to have been gifted a litter, particularly because of their age, it is such a fun time. They have no fear, they are bouncy and they are that stage where their ears and tails look almost too big for them :lol: I could photograph them forever.


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## firstmice

I am an insomniac as well, so am tired most of the time. Anyway glad you got some new mice, look forward to seeing pics


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## andypandy29us

MouseBreeder said:


> Onyx said:
> 
> 
> 
> I have planned a weekend trip to the Manchester NMC show in November to get a feel of the shows
> 
> 
> 
> I'll see you there then (I'm judging)
> 
> And always take more boxes than you think you'll need when you pick up mice!
Click to expand...

Ill be at manchester too  looking forward to seeing people from here very much


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## Onyx

It will be fab! And it'll be nice to have a wee break away, even just for the day. Not having a car or a fortune to spend on public transport, means we get out very little on day trips or such. I tend to get cabin fever/itchy feet and like to get away now and then to break things up. I usually head down to Cornwall to visit once a year. This year it will be a few months over that as both my sisters are pregnant and due their babies early spring, so we will time our trip away then.

All pretty quiet here this past week. Been on the phone to their breeder this week just for a catch up and whatnot. I will hopefully be getting a Sable male from the same line as my girls. So I can work on getting a Sable line going in the future. I am quite excited! They don't seem to be very popular amongst pet keepers/breeders, a little more "boring" to look at than the Tris and Dutches, I suppose! But I like their colouring and think it will be a fun wee project to work on 

The PEW girls have been shacked up with the PEW buck for a total of three weeks now and I -think- I can see the first signs of pregnancy, tummy shape changing and nipples are a little more pronounced than "normal". I do hope so, it will be nice to have the pitter patter of tiny feets! I'm looking forward to my partner seeing his first litter, seeing them grow and the like. And picking out my own keepers from the litter to breed with etc. Then it will start feeling like the mousery is -mine-. I will remove the male in about a week if they continue to grow around the middle. They were given the cardboard box of some biscuits today and the buck went straight to work making it into a nesting ground, quite cute. I do love to watch their behaviour 

Of the Doe and babies, their tub is just about ready for the younger girls to move into. Just need to pick up another water bottle and then they will be moved over, leaving the young red buck and his mother.

Looking forward to seeing what happens over the next month =]


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## Onyx

Well, the young does have been moved into their own tub now. They spent a good solid three hours investigating all the new space, smells, etc and then crashed out for the whole night. Very fun to watch!

Red doe and Red buck are in the breeder box together. He's not particularly interested in his buck duties just now, so it'll be a while before anything happens their I expect.

The trio of PEWs moved to a larger box, this way the two girls can settle and when they are close to birthing, I can pull the male out and all will be well there.

Next month I will need to get another shelving rack and 5 more tubs as I will be picking up mice from Manchester show, a Sable buck for my Sable does from the same line and will have the pitter patter of tiny feet (hopefully) to start separating again. Such fun!


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## Onyx

Well, much has happened over the past week or two but I've not really had chance to pop by and waffle a while.

Things "In real life" are going well, though college is testing me. Last year I did an intensive diploma in complementary/holistic therapies. It was incredibly in depth and focused as much on the theory behind everything as much as the practical. Tutors pushed us hard with many many assignments, exams, assessments and the like but were fair, encouraging and thorough. I changed college this year, dropped a few academic levels and chose a course that was similar but taught a few different therapies, wanting to add them to what I already knew. This new course is structured horribly. I am thankful I have some background knowledge now on Anatomy and Physiology and the practical side of things, as the "girls" (many older women who have a personal interest but haven't studied for many years) are being pushed hard to find the theory out for themselves, already know many things that haven't been taught yet and such, and it's hard to see their struggle. I help where I can of course but it's structured so differently that I am under pressure too. I have one tutor in particular who is snappy, seems like she doesn't have the time to spend teaching people thoroughly and her ethics in working are so different from what I was taught before that I am finding her classes incredibly difficult. She doesn't like that I already have some background knowledge in the area and her favourite phrase is "Since you know it all" despite the fact I don't answer questions put to the class, I study like the rest and ask her questions that are in areas she seems more knowledgeable and experienced in than myself - taking an interest in HER. It is incredibly draining.

Never mind.

Things with the mice are going very well! The two litters are growing well. The first litter have their coats coming through and their eyes are not far from opening. They are a talkative bunch and there is a constant stream of squeeks coming from the nursing tub. I managed to get two Satin in the first litter. It will be a week or so before I find out what exactly was got from the second (normal/satin wise) but since they are from the same line, I wouldn't be surprised to see another Satin or two from them.

I've been keeping a careful eye on everyone from the Red line and changed their food up a bit - they are not fat and showing no health problems but were starting to look a little bigger than the others, they are now back down to a healthier size and condition. Red doe is still in with Red buck and -maybe- has the start of a baby bump, so keeping an eye on that at the moment.


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## Onyx

Not updated this in a while. Things have been super busy and stressful but all sorted now. I'm dropping my college course. Lots of things have influenced this decision but now it is made I feel much better. Things will be difficult financially for a while but rather that than misery at college every week.

This weekend we took the trip down the to NMC Manchester show. I wanted to meet the club members, see how things work at a show and see mouse varieties I hadn't seen in person before. It was really really worth the money and travel time. Absolutely loved it, there just wasn't enough hours in the day to meet everyone I wanted to. I did get to watch a lot of judging though, get a lot of advice off of those I did meet, I met some forum members and brought home some beautiful new additions for my mousery.

The mice are settling in well and I am starting to plan what will be paired next and when, so that I have some 5-10 week olds to put on the show bench at the next Manchester show. Lot's of maths.. not my favourite thing in the world but kinda fun when planning litters


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## Onyx

Small update. 
We are expecting a babyboom shortly in the mousery. I have a Blue doe x Blue buck and Black doe x Blue buck, two PEW does x PEW buck with the possibility of Creams from them, all expecting soon. Paired up I have a Cream and PEW doe to before mentioned PEW buck, Choc doe to Lilac buck and in two weeks I will pair up two Cream does to the PEW buck.

What I'm hoping to achieve: 
As many creams as possible in the relevant pairings. A really nice, good eyed PEW or Cream doe would be fantastic and a really nice Cream buck would be ideal. I need to increase my Cream line, slightly reduce my PEWs and get some better eyes on them both.
Build on Blue numbers, I want nice slate blue, even coats and as little tan as possible, as fast as possible. This is also a sort of project with another member on here and going to be great fun I think!


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## andypandy29us

Im putting my mice together next weekend so I will have some 6 week old mice ready for manchester or worcester If i can convince the parents to take me there  will be putting one of my blue does with my blue stud buck , the other 2 blue does to my new blue buck, my satin ivory to my satin choc, my lilac doe to the lilac buck and my black doe to my stud blue buck to try and darken my blues a little ....


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## Onyx

Woop! Super exciting 

It's a hard decision for me, choosing which of those two shows to get to. I really enjoyed Manchester, everyone was great, the mice were fab and it's the closer of the two. However meeting different peoples in another location and seeing some different judging and how an auction works would be really valuable experience. Hmm, I'll maybe ask around for opinions.

Over the next two weeks I need to purchase and set up some more tubs and supplies and get another shelving rack too. 
Doing a quick count in my head, I currently have 21 adult does, 5 adult bucks and a litter of 5 at 3-4 weeks old. This will more than double within the next two months after the babyboom.

It's great just starting out and getting the numbers increased, with some hard decisions being made on quality over quantity at the same time. I'm really enjoying being back in the fancy again with the added challenge of breeding for the bench


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## Onyx

The baby boom has begun! I have 12 little ones from Blue doe x Blue buck and Black doe x Blue buck. One of the PEW does is looking like she will burst any time now, really keeping my fingers crossed for a couple of Creams.

I've been looking through my current growers, at 4 weeks old they are starting to look lovely. It is going to be super hard to choose a keeper or two from the four does. And I've been having a play with an 8 week old Buck who is also looking like he will be super fab, possibly more so than his father. I'm going to need to seek out some advice regarding picking keepers and such I think.


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