# Hello from Georgia!



## artgecko

Hello all!
I live in Georgia and currently breed rats. I also keep other species including robo dwarf hamsters, geckos, snakes, and a blue tongued skink but have never owned mice before.

I am interested in fancy mice and so I thought I'd join and find out all the information I can before deciding if I want to work with them or not. I breed my rats for pet purposes and am currently working on improving their type and temperament. I don't know of any rat / mouse shows in the southeast and I don't think anyone in the state breeds for show. I'm hoping to follow the AFRMA guidelines for my rats, but don't plan on showing.

I don't know of any people that breed mice in my area (there aren't many rat breeders in the state and even less that work with mice), so please let me know if you breed and live in the south east US or if you know of any good breeders in GA.

Thanks for the welcome and your time / help!


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## WoodWitch

Welcome


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## Lilly

Hello, I cannot help much with giving you the name of any breeders, but I also live in GA and have been all the same issues you do. The nearest I can find to a breeder is a feeder breeder who has quite a few different coat types/colors in north Atlanta but after initially replying very quickly when I asked about price and what types have not heard back from them since asking for photos....

I am just starting out myself but my three are all from petsmart although the litter I have at the moment (2 weeks old) is already seeming an improvement in terms of tail set.


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## artgecko

Thanks for the replies!
Lilly- I know what you mean. I had serious issues with getting started with my rats. I ended up having to get stock from someone two states away that doesn't show (but at least keeps track of pedigrees and was breeding towards showing). My rats are far from show-worthy at this point and I know there are even fewer breeders working with mice here than rats.

I've thought about buying some petshop mice to try, but I'm concerned about illness, etc (since I already have the rats that could catch something).

Are you going to work towards showing yours or do you just want to improve type?


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## Lilly

I would like to work towards showing eventually on at least one line. I was hoping to get texels from the feeder breeder and after advice from the forum work with them for starting with virtual shows since type is not as important so easier for a starter with them. With not hearing back after asking for pictures though it seems that plan may have to change.

I am also concerned about health issues, but I guess I will have to deal with that if it shows up, my two girls are 9 months old and while I know that is not old, have showed no signs of anything so far.

At the moment though am mostly working on getting the colors I actually want (want to have black self for one project but have tans, pink eyes and blue dilution to try to get out of that line to have any kind of consistency) and chosing the friendly ones since my pet shop stock do not really care about being handled at all. This seems like it will not be too much of a challenge though since already just handling from 3 days old has resulted in "hopper" that will lick my hand and cuddle down happily washing themselves. Of course need to try to see health issues too.

if you decide on mice though it would be good to have someone else in the state working on breeding for type/show eventually 

If you are anywhere near Atlanta I would offer you some of my litter if you wanted (with the knowledge they are essentially petshop mice just handled from 3 days old but no pedigree or anything else) but not really a good offer there if travelling is involved.. lol


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## artgecko

Thanks!
I'm in middle GA (Columbus). When I got my rats, I was lucky enough to meet the breeder at a reptile show in Atlanta (she lives in North Carolina).

I'll keep you in mind, but it'll probably be a little while before I get started with mice. I want to get at least 3 - 4 generations into my rat program (so I can whittle down my numbers) first. I am doing my f2 pairing in February, so it'll be at least another year. I'm primarily working on standardizing my rats' temperament first and breeding out dilutes to get pure Russian blue in one line and hoping for blue-beige or Russian dove in the other.

I'll have to look into the virtual shows you mentioned... That might be a viable option for me if I get into mice... I don't think they do those with rats.

Thanks for your input!


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## Lilly

There is a reptilecon in Atlanta this weekend, when you got your rats did you notice if there were people with live mice there too? Since the texel breeder is a feeder breeder and quite a few on here have managed to get some fun varieties from a feeder bin I wonder if it would be worth looking.


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## artgecko

There is a "feeder breeder" group on facebook... I think there is one for Georgia. You could post there and see if anyone is going to repticon and what they are bringing. I've only ever seen one vendor with live mice and they were standard albino feeders. The breeder I met, met me in a hotel parking lot, as they don't allow "deals" in the parking lot at the show and they weren't vending the show. You could also look on the vendor list for repticon and message the person bringing feeders to see if they could bring live for you. You might also want to try posting in the Georgia Rat Breeders group on FB and ask if anyone is working with mice... There are several people in the ATL area, but I don't know if any have mice as well.


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## Enron

Hello! My names Georgia, so hello from me 8)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## ggpga

I'm a feeder breeder about an hour s.e. of Columbus with rats and mice. I occasionally have unique colors of both rats & mice. If you're looking for a special color or ear type for use as a feeder, check with me. Maybe I have it.


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## Laigaie

I realize it's been a minute, but I remembered y'all talking about nobody being in the extreme SE US. Maybe some of these folks are actually you (since I don't do well at matching forum names to IRL names), but there are now THREE registered mouse breeders in Georgia! One doesn't have a listing yet (her choice), and the other two didn't list any contact info (dunno why), but hey! People! Not being alone is cool. 

http://www.fancymousebreedersassociatio ... eders.html


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## micurious

artgecko said:


> The breeder I met, met me in a hotel parking lot, as they don't allow "deals" in the parking lot at the show and they weren't vending the show.


That must have looked like the world's weirdest drug deal.


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## Laigaie

That's pretty standard, at least for events hosted by outside parties. By comparison, at shows or other events hosted by various US clubs, parking lot deals are banned. Instead, everyone is expected to either do their sales at the event (where the mice are health-checked) or at the hotel (where it's clear that these mice haven't been checked and you're on your own).


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