# Newer Mouse I think Part Field



## BlackCat99 (Jun 30, 2011)

This mouse is aprox. 7wks old she is a tiny little thing, the lady I got the line from said she got the founders from a local pet store as hoppers and the entire line is feeder quality mice, I personally think there are wild mice in them and thought I would get your opinion. I think this based on their looks as well as behavior. They jump like no domestic mouse I have ever met when they try to run from me as they are not socialized, most of them burrow instead of using the hides in the tank which in my experience mice all pile in the hides rather than burrow. I do know they are at least part domestic as some of them have white spots on their bellies. (sorry the pic is small I took it with my phone I will try to get better later). 

0708125508 by mmmickey19, on Flickr

Her eyes are bigger than the other mice I have raised and she is much much smaller than any mouse her age I have seen


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## SarahC (Oct 3, 2008)

field/wood mice can't breed with fancy/house mice.They are a different species.Fancy mice are the same species as wild house mouse though so that cross is possible.


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## geordiesmice (Oct 26, 2010)

It looks like a young Spiny mouse with the fur and white coloured markings on the ears.


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## BlackCat99 (Jun 30, 2011)

They are a differen't species??? I always thought it was like the difference between a great dane and a pomeranian lol and the reading I have done online made it sound possible... I will have to do more research into that and Spiny mice thanks guys


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## BlackCat99 (Jun 30, 2011)

I looked into spiny mice I don't think that is it as the adults look basically like the baby but about 3x as big some of their eyes aren't quite as big though


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## Stina (Sep 24, 2010)

Wild house mice are the same species as domestic mice (the difference is like a domestic dog and a wolf)....field mice are a totally different species, as mentioned, and cannot interbreed with house mice. It would be like a dog trying to breed with jackal or hyena...they are somewhat related species, but cannot interbreed.


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## BlackCat99 (Jun 30, 2011)

interesting, well the mice look like a typical "field mouse" in this part of cali but I am not sure what species exactly our 'field mice' are here lol I don't know I just know they don't look like the typical domestic mouse and I don't think it is a spiny mouse besides the fact I think those are illegal here


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## Stina (Sep 24, 2010)

Can you get a better pic?....you can't tell much of anything from the photo you posted which is probably why you've recieved only a couple of responses.....


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## BlackCat99 (Jun 30, 2011)

yeah I will try tonight its hard since i cant open the cage with her out or she jumps lol


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

Just looked it up, and in California, you have Deer Mice, same as us here in Arkansas. They're lovely little critters and very nearly untame-able. They cannot breed with your mice, nor can they give your mice hantavirus, but they can still give your mice mites, lice, fleas, etc, along with respiratory infections. 
I've bought feeder mice with very similar behavioral issues, and the large buggy eyes is also not terribly uncommon. It seems to happen mostly when the mouse is malnourished when they're small, making the eyes look much larger relative to the size of the skull. If you're not culling litters for several generations, and you tend to have larger litters, it can be pretty difficult to avoid. That, in turn, mostly happens when a feeder breeder is mostly selling adult mice, rather than mostly selling pinkies. A more balanced client base forces feeder breeders to treat their does more humanely (though plenty do it on their own) and cull half or more of the litter to sell as pinkies.
With mice like that, it's hard to tell how much is genetic and how much is environmental, so I personally wouldn't breed from them, if you're breeding for pet mice. When Mom's not well-socialized, it can be difficult to socialize her babies.


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## BlackCat99 (Jun 30, 2011)

yeah this line was not intended for pet use unless by some miracle they became tamable (doubtful as fearful as they are now lol) so for the time being we are going to cull extra males (and probably some females) and use them as feeders and see what happens with the line I doubt the lady was culling more than she needed for her snakes which was not much she only had a few snakes. Now she is breeding rats for the two ball pythons she has I can only hope she socializes those more :roll:


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

Oh, dear. It can be pretty dangerous to feeder breed rats without socializing properly. A mouse untamed won't really care to tear you up so much as it'll run from you. A rat untamed, however, is a force with which to reckon! I remember when one of my pet boys had a brain tumor, and suddenly decided he wanted to eat my contacts. Not a happy day.

She does look awfully cute, and I bet her grandbabies will be much bigger than she is. Congrats!


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## BlackCat99 (Jun 30, 2011)

yeah we are hoping to get the line larger and maybe introduce some color at some point right now the colony she sent us are all like that (varying sizes of course) except one which is a self black buck that looks like a standard pet store mouse no idea if he will or is breeding with anyone or when she introduced him... she said that one of the past babies had a white mohawk, I have never seen a mouse like that but think it would be cute to have one lol. Luckily all of the rats I have had were fairly friendly but some had bad days and as bad as they were some days I could not imagine an untamed rat not sending you to the hospital every time you opened the cage :shock: as untame as these mice are at least


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## tinyhartmouseries (Dec 30, 2010)

Sadly, a pet store near me stopped selling rats as pets because they had gotten so bad that they couldn't be liable anymore. That's pretty pathetic-it doesn't take a whole lot of care to breed decent acting rats.


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## BlackCat99 (Jun 30, 2011)

that is crazy, yeah I found when I bred rats that as long as you started with friendly parents the babies usually were just as friendly as long as you didn't abuse them and interacted with them a bit each day... and I did not spend as much time with them as I probably should have lol


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