No litters

Gosh, it feels like forever since I've had my last litter here.

The last pairing I put together was a pair of hairless mice a few weeks ago, but the doe seems to have reabsorbed the babies or something. I have my Abyssinian mice paired together, as well as the rumpwhite buck in with a black and an agouti doe. . . The suspense! I can't wait for the UK mice to breed, that will be a huge accomplishment.

Waiting is so painful! I can't wait to see some babies over here!

You're breeding 2 hairless together? :/

Wouldn't it be better to breed them out or to carriers so that you can get bigger, healthier babies?

Even with breeding only carriers I end up with dinky little TH babies. It's driving me crazy! I can't imagine trying to breed 2 TH together... I know you don't get as many TH with carriers, but at least they're bigger and healthier in the end.

It must be the weather change. I always have one or two problems does right away in the spring.

Love2read wrote:You're breeding 2 hairless together? :/

Wouldn't it be better to breed them out or to carriers so that you can get bigger, healthier babies?

Even with breeding only carriers I end up with dinky little TH babies. It's driving me crazy! I can't imagine trying to breed 2 TH together... I know you don't get as many TH with carriers, but at least they're bigger and healthier in the end.

Breeding them to carriers doesn't make a difference in the health of the offspring.
The only potential problems with TH is the possibility of the mothers having nursing problems, which these lines don't seem to have. I haven't had any problems with dinky babies. . . Other than right when they shed, they seem to lose a little weight, but it's probably just the transition between fur and naked.
Everyone seems to have luck with these hairless mice nursing, and I have previously before this pairing as well. It makes it easier to breed in type when I have more options on who to breed to who!


Also, turns out she is still pregnant, I guess I just figured she'd be further along than she is, but I checked on her a little while ago, and she's looking plump!

You must post photos?? Abby Mice. Wow!!! I would love to get one those!! Put me on a future list. Yes Yes.

Stina sounded like she'd have some third gens available by the end of the summer, and those won't be outcrossed, since both imported does went to her.

It's going to be a while before any Abys are available, I'd think.

As much as I'm sure we'd both love to give them out as soon as they're weaned, we have to make sure we have enough back stock to keep the lines running smoothly before we can pass them out.

Same goes for the rumpwhites, though this will be easier since it's a dominant gene.

I only wish I actually had both does that belong to me....

Just my humble opinion here, but if the goal is to spread the genes in the US, wouldn't it make more sense to not have all the eggs in one basket? If only one person (or two people) has all the abys or rump whites, isn't there a lot of room for disaster there? What if illness wipes out the colony or something happens to the mousery room or one of the billion other things that could happen?

Half the mice I reserved for RF didn't even make it to me because of issues like that (Note: I'm not blaming the breeders- I'm just saying that things happen).

doganddisc wrote:Just my humble opinion here, but if the goal is to spread the genes in the US, wouldn't it make more sense to not have all the eggs in one basket? If only one person (or two people) has all the abys or rump whites, isn't there a lot of room for disaster there? What if illness wipes out the colony or something happens to the mousery room or one of the billion other things that could happen?

Half the mice I reserved for RF didn't even make it to me because of issues like that (Note: I'm not blaming the breeders- I'm just saying that things happen).

It's not the plan to keep all the eggs in one basket, it's just that the original breeders need to create a base stock, so that they can assure that they can breed more in the future.
If someone gave their litter away completely, and then had their only buck die, it would put them in a predicament.
Though, I do see your point.



EDIT: On a side note, I'm very sorry to hear that you had trouble with some of your RF finds.

I'm not talking giving the litter completely away- but rehoming one or two from a litter couldn't hurt!

The RF thing wasn't a big deal. I just have to get creative to get what I want color-wise, but I'm learning a heck of a lot about genetics along the way!

Good to hear you're learning! It's really exciting once all the information starts to fall into place, isn't it?

Giving out a few extras, is reasonable, obviously. But only if the litter produces a good M / F ratio, if the mothers can raise a large enough litter, if the litter is large enough to begin with, etc.

The blacks and tans and reds will be easier to pass out, because we imported a lot more of them, I think.


I wish we could just run these things through a Xerox and make copies!!!

As long as we're wishing, I wish we could email mice!

Mousemail would be great! Like Willy Wonka did with the chocolate bars!

Haha! Mouse exchange would be easier!

Rhasputin wrote: As much as I'm sure we'd both love to give them out as soon as they're weaned, we have to make sure we have enough back stock to keep the lines running smoothly before we can pass them out.

But you don't have any to give out. You've said that you own no Aby does. Your Abys will have to be outcrossed and bred back, producing mice that are 75% British. That's why I mentioned Stina's, as unless she's planning on sending you does from her litters, she's the only one who'll have 100% Brtitish Abys. I suppose, though, that with the rarity of the variety, having 100% British ones doesn't make as much difference as it does with some other varieties. Mostly, it's the gene that needs to make it around.

Right now, nobody has any to give out.

My abbeys from Holland/ germany always acted as a dom gene. Unfortunately I had other issues going on at the time and the few I gave to others were never bred. Not that they couldn't , they just were not. I hope to get some in about a year from a friend of mine out there. But we will see.

They are one of my favorite varities as well as Dutch and rump white.

Dominant? Really?