Hello from gloucester UK!

Hi everyone! I have to admit I felt a little cautious signing up here, as there are a good deal of mouse forums out there where people will just jump on your back over some silly small matter that they think differently to you on (eg methods of euthanasia; CO2 chamber or neck-break) and the thing is I am currently two months into a project, keeping mice with rats. If you guys are intrested, i can send you a lonk to the forum I am keeping a log on.

Well, besides the rat+mice project, I also keep and breed hobby mice. I have fawn, red, champagne, black, black tan, and dove tan. However, recently I hav been toying with the idea of getting some show-stnadard mice and breeding some mice for showing. If I did that I would really like to obtain a rarer colour and try to breed that, instead of the more common colours!

If anyone has any suggestions as to good breeders nearby gloucester, or can suggest some good varieties, other than texel and chinchilla, which are the two I can think of...!!

Thanks,

Joe

Hi Joe , Im Char.

We are a very open forum, no need to worry when you ask anything about culling and euthanasia. We wont jump on you! I'd love to see some pics of your dove tans, just to compare with my dove tans!

To be honest Im not quite up-to-date on the whereabouts of most show breeders in your area, although the NMC (National Mouse Club) do hold shows all over the country where (if you wanted to sign up) you could go and get chatting to a lot of show breeders and have a look at the varieties bred.

Hi Joe, I am Phil of seawatch stud. We live in Weston super mare, about an hour south of you. There are a few fanciers in the midlands, about half an hour to an hour north as well. I have to say I dont have a clue what you are doing with mice/rats, but I would point out this forum is for breeders and exhibitors of fancy mice, and your first step should be to join the NMC.

I agree with Phil - if you are serious about showing you need to join the NMC and go to some shows and talk to breeders. By doing this you can narrow down your choices of variety and make contact with the top fanciers with that variety. There are lots of good breeders about who will be happy to talk to you.

As for mice and rats together, well I do disagree with that since a rat is a mouse's natural predator (and I have heard many stories about people trying this with disasterous results every time), but this forum is about exhibition mice so I don't think that needs going into. Oh, and 'texel' is an American term (not used by UK fanciers) and I believe it means longhaired astrex.

P.S. If you join the NMC you will become 'NMC approved' by the forum owner (Sam) and you'll be able to see a lot more areas of the forum than you can now, and can get lots of advice and information regarding showing mice.

Yes I have considered joining the NMC but i'm not sure I am advanced enough to compete at that sort of level so to speak! Yes I have been breeding hobby mice for a while now, and have a basic understanding of genetics. But I don't really have a clue as to how a mouse should lok if its being showed! My mice are chosen for breeding based first on temprament and health, and secondly on what colours I like myself, and what other poeple have asked to buy off me at some point!

A good axample would be the "broken" gene in mice. I'v been told that in show mice its considered an unwanted mutation, but I personally really like them, so I'd really have to start from scratch when showing mice, as almost all my mice carry broken genes.

And Humbug Stud, yes I mean Astex! I am a member on a world-wide mouse forum and they call them either there. I'll try and remember the UK name though!

Thanks for the advice though everyone!

An adult membership is only £10 a year and that means that you can compete at NMC shows - 'novices' are welcome - after all how else can you learn and start out other than by having a go? It doesn't matter that your current mice carry or are broken (and broken is a recognised variety) because to show you'd need to buy new stock anyway. The usual thing to do is once you've decided on a variety (and only one or two complementary varieties are recommended to start off with) you talk to breeders of that variety and get a trio or two to start. When you have litters from those mice you can choose to show them to get opinions or carry on breeding for another generation if you want to before you compete. Everyone has their own method, but the mouse fancy is one where you can progress well in a comparatively short time (still talking years) compared to other fancies such as rabbits and cavies etc. It also takes up a lot less room!

Yeah I know I'd need to start over with a new line (as of course my "pet" mice arn't high quality!) but I was a little concerened that you would have to be an experienced breeder or something like that to join the NMC. However I think I'll gi along to a show or two and see how things go talking to people and such! Then maybe I'll look into getting membership probably end of this summer, if i can. £10 really isn't bad for membership is it?!!

Joe

It's pretty reasonable I think The next show will be at Honley (agricultural show with other things to see too), so you might want to come along and talk to people, see if this is the hobby for you

Firstly i would like to welcome you Joe to the forum. WELCOME!

Secondly, this forum is ( as Phil and Cait have said ) is for the breeding and exhibition of fancy mice. We can give you as much advise and infomation as we possibly can but to really learn you must get yourself along to a show and speak to many breeders. They are competitive yes but by no means in a way were you couldn't win as a new fancier. Heather ( Logan Berry ) won a number of cards at her first show it truely was amazing, and myself i am new i haven't had any 'wins' but it doesn't put me off and fancier's are still all around my giving me more information about what i need to think about doing next.

It truely is an amazing hobby and i couldn't recommend it enough, with people like Cait and Phil giving each and everyone of us the support we need to become better fanciers on here as well as everyone else out on the show ground you will find this one of the most rewarding things your have ever done.

Oh and join the NMC its a must

Sam x

hi joe,

just a litttle bit to add from me,

i had been breeding and keeping fancy hobby mice for about 4 years and when i started thinking about show mice about 6 months ago or so joining the NMC was one of the first things i did as a complete 'show' novice, so that i could get the details to go to shows and meet people who i could talk to and get help from. i have found everyone very happy to help and welcome beginners, we all gotta start somewhere!!

also with joining the NMC you get the yearbook with all the contact info, and care info to really get you started, so even if you decide showing isnt for you, you've still got the information you need to enjoy your mice! i have found i have learnt LOADS in a short space of time since joining and am about to breed my first trio of show lines

daisy

Hi, welcome to the forum.