helen99: A windswept tree against a starlit sky (Default)
[personal profile] helen99
I had these beautiful fancy mice that I'd rescued from feeder bins at pet stores. Their names were Strawberry (red banded satin male) Umbra (black satin female longhair), Dawn (red and white), and Pretty Polly (cream satin). Strawberry was clearly the most beautiful mouse in the world, as evidenced by this picture (so ok, maybe not the most beautiful, but surely close).

http://www.rialian.com/strawberry.jpg

Unfortunately, mice only live a short time - 2-1/2 years if you're really good with them, 1-1/2 years if you're average like me and give them pet shop food instead of organic hand-mixed grain and fresh produce. Umbra passed at about 13 months old, and then Strawberry a few months later - I think at about 15 months. Several months prior to that, Dawn and Pretty Polly also had passed. They were all pet shop rescues, so they probably weren't that strong. None of them were very tame, since I didn't raise them from babies.

One really weird trait about Strawberry's strain was the apparent ability to gender shift. When I first got him, I thought he was a girl. Then when his son Rosie was born, I thought Rosie was a girl (until, that is, he got some females pregnant and promptly turned into a boy at about age 6 months. I didn't realize it, but Dawn/Pretty Polly's strain also had the gender shifting trait, as I found out recently.

Fortunately for me, both strains had babies before they died so they wouldn't be lost. From Strawberry and Umbra's line came Ygraine, a beautiful black satin mouse who carried Strawberry's red banded gene. Before Strawberry died, I bred her back to strawberry and got three red banded females. One died of some sort of paralysis - never did find out what that was. The other one died of tumors. But Poppy lived. Meanwhile, from Dawn and Pretty Polly's strain, I had Sunflower and Dandelion. Sunflower died of tumors and Dandelion of unknown causes about 6 months ago - but before that happened, I allowed them to breed once, and they had Luna, Ramona, and Juno - three beautiful red satin females with big black eyes.

Unfortunately, soon after that, Juno died - so Ygraine, Poppy, Luna and Ramona were left (and are my pets now as we speak). Everything was going along normally - four girl mice were easy to take care of, since they don't smell like the boys do. But I was sad that none of them were boys and the strains would both die out. They are exceptionally beautiful mice, and I like to breed them once during their life times to perpetuate them. I told them I wished one of them was a boy. (oops).

One day I decided to introduce them to a male from the pet store. To my surprise, as soon as I placed this male with them, Ramona went NUTS, and attacked to kill. I was like, huh?? Females usually don't do that with males. I removed the offending dude immediately. Then I started noticing Boy Mouse Smell from the girl's cage, in which there was no boy mouse. I checked carefully but no sign of any maleness was to be found. Four girls, just like always. They're all really fuzzy mice, so checking for nipples, which is one way to determine gender in mice, was not an option. I couldn't figure it out. I told Ramona, "Please turn into a boy, since I really need you to be one - and then do your job and reproduce, dammit. What kinna boy are you?" (oops).

Subsequently, he obliged (sproing). I caught him mating with all the females about a week later. Ygraine is too old to reproduce now and also has a large tumor. Luna never really fully developed into an adult, she's a tiny, sterile mouse - she hasn't become pregnant (thank goodness). But to my delight, Poppy is very pregnant. I expect 8 or 9 little visitors shortly. This should be most fun. Of course, Mr. Ramona will get his own cage now that he's "done his job" and perpetuated my Magic Mouse line.

But I'm still spooked by the fact that Ramona was, for all intents and purposes, a GIRL, until I asked her to switch. It must be the lighting and environment change - I'd had them upstairs and brought them downstairs. That must be it, yepyepyep...

(no subject)

Date: 2005-10-15 12:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dogemperor.livejournal.com
LOL...genderbending mice :3

I'm used to rats, and when rats are boys (and adult boys) it's usually, well, pretty obvious they're boys *laughs*...but cute. You have androgynous mice :3

And yes, rats and mice are surprisingly intelligent little critters :3

(no subject)

Date: 2005-10-15 12:55 pm (UTC)
ext_5300: tree in the stars (Default)
From: [identity profile] helen99.livejournal.com
The weird thing is, most mice are pretty obvious too. It's like most of their rear ends are comprised of nads. Not Ramona though - hir balls were all covered with fuzz and positioned in a way that they were difficult to see. Now that she's outed, it's more possible to find them, but even now they don't always show...

(no subject)

Date: 2005-10-15 12:55 pm (UTC)
ext_786: (Default)
From: [identity profile] rialian.livejournal.com
===I suspect that it hassomething to do with beingclosertothe room of mouse breeding...which is currently Kash's room. They had not been breeding as wellup in my space, but when they came back downstairs and were brought closer to his room, this happens.

===We can only wonder what will happen to Kash.

===I think we need to watch out for him getting pregnant. The emmanations affected the mice...what effects might they have on him?

(no subject)

Date: 2005-10-15 01:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] aekiy.livejournal.com
Ai.. should I be concerned about waking up with different parts?

(no subject)

Date: 2005-10-15 02:11 pm (UTC)
ext_5300: tree in the stars (Default)
From: [identity profile] helen99.livejournal.com
You'll have to work on the shapeshifting skills, for real. That room is probably the best place for it since it's happened before in there...

(no subject)

Date: 2005-10-15 02:17 pm (UTC)
ext_5300: tree in the stars (Default)
From: [identity profile] helen99.livejournal.com
If you succeed, that wouldn't just be a skill. It would be skillx0rz.

(no subject)

Date: 2005-10-15 03:22 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] laurelindel.livejournal.com
l33t skillz0rz, no less.

(no subject)

Date: 2005-10-16 03:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ahril.livejournal.com
K'eth. Listari...

(no subject)

Date: 2005-10-15 02:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] stardansr.livejournal.com
*giggles*

(no subject)

Date: 2005-10-15 02:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] quantum-kitty.livejournal.com
come rescue me from this damn mouse that's tormenting me....

me and mice loose in my house....

well....

we just don't get on so well.

(no subject)

Date: 2005-10-15 02:31 pm (UTC)
ext_5300: tree in the stars (Default)
From: [identity profile] helen99.livejournal.com
One way to get rid of them is to get a cat... Our Siamese has caught two wild mice in the three years we've had her. I was so proud of her. She was a small kitten when she got her first one. Of course, then you're stuck with a cat, and if you want any semblance of order in your house, this won't be a good way to go...

boo on allergies...

Date: 2005-10-15 02:35 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] quantum-kitty.livejournal.com
um, yah. And my landlord offered use of his lovely cat.

Which, if it didn't send me nigh onto continuous boughts of asthma, I'd have taken him up on.

So, I've had an unwanted roommate for about 3 weeks now :-/ He won't eat the bait, won't eat the peanut butter I leave out so I can at least catch him. Yes, it's a he, definitely a he. *scrunches nose* And I haven't gotten my lazy butt to the store to get peppermint oil to spray around, yet.

That's on my list to pick up today.

Re: boo on allergies...

Date: 2005-10-15 02:41 pm (UTC)
ext_5300: tree in the stars (Default)
From: [identity profile] helen99.livejournal.com
Hopefully only one, and no breeding-age females around... Peppermint should at least confuse the scent and prevent breeding situations (though they've outfoxxed me enough times that I doubt it would really keep the girls away). Maybe if you got him something like granola or mouseblock he'd take the bait.

Re: boo on allergies...

Date: 2005-10-15 02:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] quantum-kitty.livejournal.com
Ah, granola. I hadn't thought of that one, and I have some around. I'll definitely have to do that.

Thanks for the suggestion.

And, actually, the peppermint is because of how batty it drives mice. They tend to relocate instead of dealing with it. My mom has peppermint plants all around her house (in the swampy area of Alabama) to keep them away and it's worked for 15 years. I can't exactly shove a peppermint plant back where this little guy is, but I can at least mix up some peppermint oil in the sprayer and get it back there.

I don't necessarily want to kill him if I can get him to relocate. I just want him out of the house. He's stinking it up.

Hypoallergenic Kitties

Date: 2005-10-15 02:54 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gleef.livejournal.com
Aparently Siberians don't trigger most cat allergies, a friend of mine recently got one with that in mind. More information.

The Rex is another breed people seek out for allergy reasons.

Re: Hypoallergenic Kitties

Date: 2005-10-15 03:38 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amberite.livejournal.com
. . . and of course there's always the rather pathetic-looking, hairless Sphinx.

Re: Hypoallergenic Kitties

Date: 2005-10-15 04:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] quantum-kitty.livejournal.com
hahah, I haven't seen one, I'll have to google for it.

Re: Hypoallergenic Kitties

Date: 2005-10-15 04:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] quantum-kitty.livejournal.com
Ilove the siberian. It's adorable. However, I don't have $650 on hand. I'll have to keep an eye out for local people offering them.
:-)

Thanks for the information. I would certainly like to have a mouser around...and if I can have one and not have an asthma attack or my eyes swelling shut, that would be perfect. :-)

Re: Hypoallergenic Kitties

Date: 2005-10-16 02:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] quantum-kitty.livejournal.com
hee hee yah - I love it :-D

(no subject)

Date: 2005-10-16 05:38 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rhiannasilel.livejournal.com
Maybe Ramona's fairy godmother does sex change operations on the side.

April 2010

S M T W T F S
    123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930 

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags