u/No-Midnight7724

Hi! I have some good news about this foster fail guy :)

I have gotten his new cage from a friend! He's already a lot more active, and loves climbing. He's also grown a lot more brave, and will even sometimes climb onto my palm when I offer. He finally got a name, instead of me calling him stupid mouse. I realize I still have a fair way to go, as I'm not really used to being a permanent home for rodents, only a foster one, but I've really been enjoying this guy.

He unfortunately never did figure out how to use a wheel, I've offered him multiple options by now and had them in his cage for a while, but he never showed much interest, so I ended up taking them out to give him more toys and stuff to climb on.

The cage is a mess right now haha, I ended up building and diy-ing a lot of stuff for him, as well as using packaging from my business to try and build him some more stuff. He absolutely loves the cardboard netting at the top.

I haven't found any sprays near me at this time, only millet ones. I've decided to try avoiding plastic in his cage as much as possible, as it's a hassle to clean and he loves chewing up cardboard. You can't see it in his pictures but I ended up making him a multi chamber hide out of cardboard that he immediately adopted as his home.

Not a ton of pics of him at the moment, he's quite flighty but is really doing better. He's not as scared of me anymore and comes out more often.

If anyone has any tips they want to share, I'd be more than happy to listen!

I just made some bullshittttt, this is really self-indulgent as I'm actually goth, maybe this will connect with someone here :')

(May be putting these on some shirts if there's interest)

I'm honestly at a loss at the moment, usually I'm good at banging out names but this guy has escaped me.

Also small update on him, he's the mouse that looks a bit "odd" and is most likely disabled and/or has some sort of neurological issue. He still hasn't figured out how to run on a wheel and I doubt he ever will.

However the good news is that he's officially figured out how to drink water from a bowl without my guidance! He will also be getting a new large cage this Wednesday, it will be a bit smaller at 60x40cm just because he struggles to get around, but it should be a nice upgrade for him for the time being, especially because it has a huge glass bottom.

He really is the sweetest guy, shy still, but accepting sunflower seeds from my hand. It's most likely that he will stay with me permanently.

Anyway back onto the topic, what to name him?

(Ps his current temporary name has been "loll hiir", directly translating to "dumb mouse" in my language but that feels a bit mean)

Stupid question I'm aware, this is a picture of my 10 gallon I took from across the room, this girl is HUGE and she just won't stop growing. I would estimate her to be around 3.5cm long and growing. What the hell???

DISCLOSURE AT THE START! This is not a suitable cage setup, I'm a foster home for rodents and this is temporary while I wait for a mutual to lend me a bigger cage for him. He's only been with me for a few days and won't be in this cage for long. Do *not* let a mouse live in this setup. His cage is in a dim area with low traffic and I avoid handling him as much as possible, only taking care of his needs for now.

With that said, I want to know if I'm being over-worried or if something is wrong with him. He was given to me as a curly-coat male mouse. His exact age is unknown unfortunately. He comes from a breeder in my area, a girl around 17-19. I was offered him for free because he "hadn't sold". I wasn't set up for a rodent right now, but there aren't really many options in my area for unwanted pets, especially mice. (There are zero rodent rescues in my country)

With that being said, the breeder described him as "energetic and brave", as well as loving humans. He is anything but that, he is not aggressive, he doesn't bite, but he is extremely odd in his behavior. He darts at everything, he doesn't know how to use a wheel, I've offered him standing wheels and saucer wheels, he doesn't know how to drink water properly, so I have to lead him to it every time.

The most worrying thing for me is his face. I've had pet mice in the past, and maybe I'm not caught up on all the different breeds, but his snout is super short, giving him a face like a rabbit, and his eyes are tiny. I don't want to call him "stupid", but basic things like eating or chewing on things come to him with a lot of difficulty. When I offered him a wheel he only spun the saucer wheel with his two front paws, then made a tunnel under it. (Ps saucer wheels are not appropriate for rodents, I only offered him one to see if maybe he was given one by the breeder beforehand).

The pictures really don't do it justice just how tiny he is, he shouldn't be a baby anymore but he is maybe 2/3 the size of a normal male mouse, I know he should be an adult.

I've offered him water dishes and bottles, both he won't use regularly. I offer him cucumber slices and watery foods as much as possible as a substitute. I don't know if he'll stay with me permanently for now.

Final disclaimer, I do understand that a lot of behaviors can come from a poor cage setup, such as darting and being shy, however his behavior genuinely worries me, and I want to know if what's happening with him is normal for fancy bred mice :(

https://www.redbubble.com/i/sticker/EVOLVE-Neocaridina-aquatic-design-by-MBlank-Art/181668781/7sgk

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I want to thank this community for inspiring me to finally put my designs on sale, I was really nervous doing this, but I wanted to give back to the community that always makes me laugh no matter what kind of day I've had.

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I've set the price as low as I can, I hope you guys enjoy my silly little sticker <3

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(Ps, four more aquatic designs including a Neocaridina shrimp are available on my redbubble store)

My opinion may change by the hour, but this is how I feel atm, this is not ragebait.

Loved painting this one :))

Have finished some more paintings but not all my clients wanted them posted here, so I'm hoping to end June with a small pride collection of bettas...

She's a giant too, like 4-5cm long, Americans can do the math. I have no clue why she's so big and fat but I love her for it.

If there's some interest it may have a limited print run :))

I genuinely have zero thrifting luck, and this still befuddles me. Got her for around 4 and a half dollars off a mom, missing some accessories but I don't GAF!

Who knows if i end up finishing it shrug

Hi friends! I want to thank you all for your generous support towards my Betta fish artwork, I'm working through my commissions and free requests any free minute I get, and I couldn't be happier when people enjoy my artwork.

I've gotten lots of requests for paintings tips or even for a process guide on how I make my fish paintings, as such I'd love to do a little "paint with me" series on Betta fish. Of course as this isn't an art subreddit I can focus on what makes painting Bettas different from any other fish, as well as give tips regarding Betta anatomy and generally have a good time.

If this is something you're interested in, let me know! I could open a few free requests each month for filming purposes, and this would be 100% no strings attached, no Patreon or social media or anything, I just want to share my love of painting fish with all of you!

Thank you 💜

Hi guys! Thank you so much for being so interested in my series of watercolour paintings I've been doing. I still have a good 20-30 to get through from the original post, and those will be finished soon.

However, I'm not sure I will be doing this again, even though I said I would.

I really do love the support, and it's not the volume or the sheer amount of people replying, I knew from the start I couldn't paint \*every\* fish. Unfortunately it's more how people are treating me as an artist. Each of these paintings take me around 20 minutes to do, all of them. (The tiny fish took 5 minutes each!). Unfortunately because these aren't commissioned pieces and just for practice, they aren't all perfect. I thought I could just make some people happy with free doodles of their critters.

I've gotten nasty replies to my posts, as well as DMS threatening me for not choosing their fish. I've been criticized for how I add my signature to my drawings, how long I take, etc etc. This has all been very discouraging, and it honestly sucks because 95% of people are very lovely, but the 5% ruin the fun of it for me.

I'm sorry for not being able to meet everyone's expectations, I'll still finish the paintings I promised, but I'm not sure I'm gonna do another free wave like this.

Thank you so much for everyone's interest in my free fish painting series! I've unfortunately had to close submissions for now and I will be working on everything I've got for a few days now. If you want a painting right now you can dm me for commission info. If I haven't got to your fish yet, keep your eyes open! You can also peep a wip critter.

Thank you for your support!