A little about KAW Mousery :
I have been breeidng mice since 2001 and take great pride in every single one. I breed good quality friendly fancy mice for both pet and show. My main focus are Tans but I have bred many other varities, including very rare mice as well. I am very particular about who my mice are adopted to and require each and every potential adopter to fill out an application. My mice have won many awards through both ECMA and MaMa / FMA. I am also a proud member of AFRMA and am a moderator on Fancy Mouse Breeders. I am a very active member of the mouse community. My mice have been shipped to other states in the US as well as Germany. Actually, my mice were the first mice from the US to be shipped into germany and others have since followed.
My abrevations for my mousery are KAW and I chose the name KAW for a very good reason. This site has been running strong for about 15 - 16 years now. I orgionally put this site up on a free sever with the sole purpose of helping people with their pets while also helping to put a stop to animal cruelity. I also helped rescues and others find homes for pets in need. At the time I had three outside cats who were really stray cats, born and raised outside. Kitty was the name of the kitten who adopted us as a small baby. He soon brought home Shadow and Baby. Well, Kitty was much loved by all of us and became an indoor outdoor cat. To get to my point - I put this site up and named it after him - Kitty's Animal World, thus naming my mousery KAW Mousery. So, my name is not KAW (as in crow talk), but KAW as in spelled out letter by letter and stands for Kitty's Animal World.
Now on to the details of my mousery.............
The History Behind the Mousery - Why and When I Started Breeding:
I have always loved all kinds of animals and wanted to be a Vet at a young age. My first hamster Nicky really turned me onto rodents in general. I fell in love with rats and started a rat rescue/ breeding program with a close friend of mine when I was in high school. During that time we knew someone who owned a local pet store who bred mice and rats. She had a special love of rats and mice and would constantly get "colored" fancy mice and rats in her regular common feeder shipmets. She would pull them out and adopt them into loving homes. This was how we got most of our rats. One day she aquired alot of mice and asked us if we would be willing to take on a few. I have never had mice before and was not planning on getting a few as personal pets. I was so wrong about that! I completely fell in love and took two home to claim as my own. Cinnamon and Nuriko were my first two mice. I soon aquired another doe and then aquired 7 bucks.
I went to college after I graduated high school in 2000 and missed my mice. They all had to stay home with my mom at the time. I felt very empty and bought two broken blacks at a local petstore. I kept them hidden in my dorm room. They turned out to be a buck and a doe, not two does like the pet store attendant had stated. I was thinking of starting up breeding mice due to my love of them, but Apache and Domino's first litter really made up my mind. I was going to breed mice as a hobby and passion. I started out very slow and wanted to aquire a pair of angora mice to breed.
Soon I changed colleges and aquired a pair of broken black angora mice before I moved to Colorado. There my breeding really started. In Colorado I focused on mainly Blue and brokens in angora and satin. After moving back to Jersey in 2006 my mousery really started expanding and I eventually had over 300 mice (2009-2010). Now here I am, still breeding and going strong. And that pretty much sums it up.
Mice are my passion............ that is why I breed them. I want to better the fancy as a whole and educate people about how great pets mice make.
Breeder Ethics:
Breeder Ethics can mean different things to different breeders. My ethics go into the way I breed, the "why" I breed, the way my mousery is kept, the way my mice are treated, and the way in which I adopt them. All of this consitutes as my breeder ethics. All this will be discused in different sections below. So take what I say in this section and all the other sections and you will have my breeder ethics all summed up. I know........ a bit confusing, but it is the truth and best way to put it.
KAW Husbantry:
Where to begin......... I clean all my cages throughly once to twice a week. I use dish soap and warm - hot water only. Every cage is set up differently depending on the mouse / mice living in it. I prefer to use Kaytee Soft Sorbant bedding, but will settle on Carefresh or Total Comfort. I will use pine as a last resort and emergency. I am allergic to Aspen, but do use it at shows and events. Take a look into the mousery.
Bucks - 99% of all my bucks are housed seperately to prevent fighting and stress. Some of my bucks are living with others who they were raised with. I will seperate them if any fighting takes place. As of 2010 I use the extra large critter keepers for my single buck cages. I like the way the top locks down. Before that I made my own cages using plastic containers and wire mesh. Each cage has a hiddy house and a few misc toys (example - paper towel roll, wood blocks, ect). I use bigger cages when I have more then one buck living together and I always place a wheel in a cage that has more then one buck. The wheel prevents boredom and thus prevents fights from breaking out. I also place two or more hiddy houses in a cage with more then one buck. Again, this prevents fighting.
Does - My does are housed in 10 gallon and larger glass tanks and kept in groups of 6 - 12 mice. I do ocasionally make my own cages using strong plastic and wire mesh. Every cage has 2-3 hiddy houses and some extra toys (paper towel rolls, wood blocks, ect). Retired and Non Breeder Cages - I follow the same guidelines as above except that I make sure each and every cage has a wheel. I tend to only use wheels in the breeder cages on an alternating basis due to the fact that I do not want their tails to curl if I am to show them. If I am not going to be showing a mouse, they will have a wheel at all times.
I handle all my mice everyday and start handling the babies at about 3 days old so they are used to people at the time of adoption. My mice are friendly and like to be handled. I DO NOT BREED SKIDDISH OR FEARFUL MICE. If I do come across the skiddish mouse who I cannot tame I will adopt out to a pet only home.
Mouse Diet:
All my mice, whether breeding or not, gets the same diet unless certain circumstances prevent it (example - allergies, sickly mother after birth, ect). I feed a wide range of foods. Below os a list of what I mixx together for their everyday diet.
Harlan Lab Blocks
High Quality Dog and Cat Food
Small Dog Bisquets
Barley
Brown Rice
Lentels
Green Split Peas
Pasta
Cracked Corn
Ramen Noodles (broken down)
Browns Hamster Seed
Black Sun Flower (Used Carefully in Moderation)
Wild Bird Seed
Oatmeal (uncooked)
I mix all the above together and place in bagges that I keep in my fridge to preserve their freshness. They also get varius different hays every week and fresh veggies (apples, carrots, greens, cabbage) once a week. I also like to add treats once to twice a week as well (millet, yougert drops, ect). Once a week I also add powdered vitamins to their food. Lets just say that my mice eat better then I do! lol
Mites and My Mousery:
I always say that prevention is the key! I like to freeze my bedding when I can and treat it with mite spray. I also will use Permaguard in my cages once a month during the hotter months. I treat my mice every three to four months with revolution (oked by my vet) as a precaution. In the event that my mice do come down with mites they are treated with revolution and I use bird / reptile mite spray once a day for 7 days. It is rare that my mice get mites, but you never know when the bedding has them unti it is too late. I do treat all my mice with revolution before a show or event. All my mice are adopted out mite free.
Breeding Ethics, Standards, Policies:
I take great pride in each and every one of my mice. I will be the first to admit that not all of my mice are of breeding quality. I have very high standards that a mouse must meet in order to be deemed a "breeder" and even then not all "breeder" quality mice are bred. I breed for health and temperment, with color and coat pattern last but not forgotten. I have pretty much eliminated cancer and tumors from my lines because of selective breeding. Any flaw in temperment disqualifies them as breeders. I do not breed skiddish or fearful mice. I also do not breed aggressive mice. I breed for Quality, not Quanity. I do not label a mouse breeder quality until they reach my breeding age. I tend to breed my mice a bit older and in turn I get mice that live longer and who can breed at an older age. My mice tend to be healthier and have fewer health problems then mice who are bred at young ages. I rarely breed my does twice their whole life.
Breeding age/ retirement age - I tend to wait until a doe is about 4 months old to breed her. Some breeders will breed their does at three months. My standard breeding age can be changed due to certain factors such as the size of the mouse and / or the health of a mouse. Depening on the health / state of a mouse, I like to retire my does between the ages of 8 months to one year. Some of my lines (my tan lines) can have a litter as old as one year two months and come out just fine. It all depends on the mouse. I do not like to breed does past one year old. I have retired does as early as 5 months old due to poor pregnancies, ect. I do not have a set retirement age for my bucks. It all depends on their health.
Breeding Ratios - I prefer to have one buck to one doe, but I have put as many as three does to one buck in the past. I do not do this often, but will in very special cases. Multiple pairings will be watched more closely to insure no one becomes stressed or their health becomes compromised. Older bucks never have more then one doe while breeding.
Back to back breeding - I will ocasionally let a mouse have one litter back to back. I will leave the buck in with the doe to help raise the first litter. He will help raise the pups and it also makes it easier to seperate the pups into sexes because the bucks can stay with dad for a bit longer. During this time the doe usually gets pregnant again and will give birth to her second litter around weaning age for the first litter. I will seperate the pups and dad before she has her second litter. Usualy if I breed back to back the doe will be placed into retirement afterward or will get a two - three month break before having another litter. I will not allow another back to back breeding on that same doe.
Line Breeding, Inbreeding, Out Crossing - I do use line breeding and inbreeding on a very limited number of my lines. My tans and earless lines are line bred and inbred while outcrossing as often as I can. It is important to carefully monitor lines that are inbred and line bred to be sure there are no genetic / birth defects. I also feel it important to line breed and inbreed to achieve a certain goal. After that certain trait is sucessfully produced and / or isolated then others can be added into the colony to outcross the lines.
Colony Breeding - Personally I do colony breed my earless line and keep a very close eye on them. I usually have three bucks to about 10 does BUT I am sure to monitor the health of my mice, does especially, and willl seperate the does if they have two litters in a row. Luckily with so many does I usualy do not have this problem with this line. Other then my earless line, I do not colony breed. As long as the colony is monitored I feel this can be done sucessfully but I do not recomend it. I also cull heavily to ensure that my numbers do not get out of control.
Culling:
The act of culling has been a controversial subject between breeders and the public in general. I was once completely against it, but have changed my stand on this issue after talking with other experienced breeders over the years. I have been praticing culling in my mousery for about 3 - 4 years now. I cull to keep my numbers down and ensure my does do not become overwelmed with pups. I try to keep 4-6 pups per doe unless the doe is unable to handle them. I find that culling my litters down really affects the pups as well - healthier and bigger pups are the result. I mainly cull pups before their eyes open and rarely after. I cull adults only when they are sickly and are untreatable. I also cull adults who develop cancer and tumors when their quality of life is bad. I NEVER cull adult mice to keep my numbers down and I NVER cull mice just because they are not the best show quality. The adults I do not breed or want as pets will be adopted to other breeders or to the public as pet only mice or other depending on the mouse. My adults will live in my mousery till they die of old age. They will not be culled due to their age and other such factots. I will not get into culling details. If you are a breeder or a "breeder in training" and would like to know more, then please feel free to email me.
Adopting:
Every mouse I adopt or sell comes complete with a 30 day limited health guarrentee, pedigree papers, and an information care packet (when needed). Anyone interrested in becomming a breeder will also get a "breeder " information packet. I am always available via email and phone to anyone who adopts my mice to answer questions and such. I also give you the option to return a mouse at any time if you find yourself unwilling or unable to give him/ her enough care and attention they need. I make sure all my mice go to loving homes, so don't be surprised when asked a ton of questions. Anyone interrested in adopting my mice must complete an application. Depending on why my mouse is being adopted, you may be required to fill out either a pet application or a breeders application that I must aprove before any mice are released. I reserve the right to end the sale of any mouse and I have the right to refuse the sale of any mouse for any given reason. I also expect that you, the adopter, contact me with any questions or healthy concerns you may encounter. I also have an adoption contract that must be signed at the time of adoption. I DO NOT sell mice for food for other animals!!!!! I also do not adopt any mice out to schools or for any sort of projects. All prices of KAW Mice are private treaty between me and the adopter. Prices will not be quoted until you are aproved to adopt my mice, but keep in mind that some mice are higher in price then others
I do ship mice and my policies and such are posted in my adoption section. Same as above, I must approve your application first. When it comes to shipping mice, one must be patient. It all depends on how many shipments I have going on at once and weather or not I am shipping out of te country, which takes more time and effort on my part.
Record Keeping:
Record keeping is a very important part of the mousery. It is my way of keeping track of my lines and ensuring that my mice stay cancer free and live longer lives. I keep records of every mouse I have ever owned and of every breeding. I have my written records as well as my computerized records dating back to 2001. Online I use the Mousery Database. It is a great way to generate pedigrees, which are important to any breeder. I track my lines carefully to make sure they stay cancer free. In doing do you will help me to better my lines and continue to offer healthy pet mice into loving pet and breeding homes.
Sick Mice at KAW Mousery:
Sick mice are taken to a vet and given medication when needed. Mice are no different then a dog or cat. They are companions who depend on us when they get sick. I prefer to use an exotic vet in Staten Island and as a backup I use my local vet who does have an exotic vet on staff as well.
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