Creek Valley Critters

by AnonONIagent Fri 01 Jul 2016, 11:45 am

I was curious, how many of you guys watch Creek Valley Critters on YouTube? I know she has a decent audience considering she has over 30,000 subs on YouTube, but I'm not sure how well known she is in the pet mouse owner community. She posts really good quality videos of all the mice she's owned over the years, as well as of some of the other animals she's had.

Here's a few examples of her videos:

by Peachy Fri 01 Jul 2016, 12:28 pm

I've heard of them, but usually from people cautioning others that some of their practices are dangerous. I haven't watched any except the ones you shared, and those are super cute! Is there anyone anywhere who doesn't love sleeping mice? And the white, adult mouse in the second video is the cutest thing I've ever seen!! Lovey

by CallaLily Fri 01 Jul 2016, 12:54 pm

I have watched a few of their videos before but I don't follow them.

by Artistwolf Fri 01 Jul 2016, 1:27 pm

Be careful of listening to all their advice... But it's fine to watch just for the cuteness!

by Blackcandyapple Fri 01 Jul 2016, 2:06 pm

she got me into mice, love her videos, she seems very sweet & caring.

by scaredymouse Fri 01 Jul 2016, 2:16 pm

I don't doubt that she loves her mice but there are some safety concerns, that's all. For one, she hand raises babies... which is fine if they have been abandoned by their mother. But we get a lot of people through here who end up with a baby mouse who they think they can raise and it dies. She also routinely neuters her males which is a risky surgery but has no doubt inspired other people to neuter their males expecting results like hers, which isn't always the case.

some of them are cute videos though.

by AnonONIagent Fri 01 Jul 2016, 2:58 pm

scaredymouse wrote:I don't doubt that she loves her mice but there are some safety concerns, that's all. For one, she hand raises babies... which is fine if they have been abandoned by their mother. But we get a lot of people through here who end up with a baby mouse who they think they can raise and it dies. She also routinely neuters her males which is a risky surgery but has no doubt inspired other people to neuter their males expecting results like hers, which isn't always the case.

some of them are cute videos though.

That's all true, but with the exception of a few videos (how to tame pet mice, how to raise a baby mouse, etc), her main objective isn't so much to give people advice so much as it is to share the enjoyment of her animals and turn other people on to the idea of mice being good pets. When she does give advice, it's exactly that, advice, and she's not saying that this will most certainly work for you, but instead saying this is what has worked for me, give it a try if you think it sounds neat. And on her videos about raising baby mice have disclaimers in the description about the high mortality rates when raising baby mice and actively tries to discourage inexperienced people from trying it without good reason in the comments sections of her videos. She also as far as I'm aware only raises baby mice meant to be sold as snakefood prior to reaching adulthood, so in that case their survival chances would still be zero just like an orphaned baby were she or someone else not willing to hand raise them.

by CinnamonPearl Fri 01 Jul 2016, 4:48 pm

I'm unfamiliar with her videos, but I have heard that she takes baby mice away from their mothers to hand raise them. Not sure on the truth of that, but if it were true, it wouldn't be surprising if she only shares the success stories on youtube. Of course, since I've never watched her videos and have no idea whether it's true or not, I won't pass judgment. I've just heard that she gives bad advice.

by River Fri 01 Jul 2016, 7:18 pm

I watched them for a while - I can discredit the 'she takes baby mice away from mothers', thing. She only hand raises orphan feeders that were being sold as pinky food.
The neutering, while being risky, isn't really 'advice' they've given, so I don't mind it too much. I personally like the idea of neutering males so they can have a friend, but I'd only do it if I know a very experienced + wise vet - which I'm sure they do.

My biggest concern with them is that they keep their pets on those shelf-cages, and spreads the advice that no mice will jump off. This isn't entirely true, as some mice will jump, and popcorny, sparky mice and flea stage babies sure will jump, so I think that's very dangerous advice to use with caution.

However, I wouldn't be too concerned about them spreading any other misinformation. They seem to care for their pets a ton, and I've not seen much that arises concern.

by MouseLover Fri 01 Jul 2016, 8:57 pm

Neutering males seems to be getting more common over here. I certainly wouldn't risk it... It's a pretty simple operation, but mice can and do die from the anesthetic alone. Still, I can see the appeal of allowing a male to live with a group of female mice - I bet they have a great time.

I think that shelf-cage thing is madness. I agree that mice don't usually jump, but that doesn't mean they don't ever, and it certainly doesn't mean that they can't have an accident. I think there's only one video where they were kept on a shelf though? In the other videos it seems like they're in much better enclosures/cages. As for the hand-raising babies, as long as they're orphans I don't see too much of a problem.

I know that sounds like a lot of criticism, but actually I quite like the videos. Sure they make some mistakes, but on the whole I think they offer a lot of enrichment for their mice and the mice look like they're having a good time. Because of this I think that they do more positive than negative - they challenge the idea that most people have of mouse care (tiny cage with not much in it) and encourage people to offer more for their mice. Plus, I think that mice are a MASSIVELY overlooked pet. Most people don't consider a mouse and go straight for a hamster if they want a small rodent - we need more people showing off how cool mice can be. Then mice can become more popular pets and I won't find it so damn hard to find some Laughing

by River Fri 01 Jul 2016, 9:43 pm

There's two shelf videos, haha. I quite like the videos myself as well! The mice are very well-cared for and have tons of fun toys. And they rescue quite a lot!!

by CinnamonPearl Fri 01 Jul 2016, 10:07 pm

Shelves have gotta be the absolute worst potential housing for mice. Who would dare their pets to leap and hurt themselves?

by MouseLover Sat 02 Jul 2016, 7:57 am

I know, such a stupid idea Thumbs Down

by Sponsored content

Creek Valley Critters

Creek Valley Critters

Re: Creek Valley Critters

Re: Creek Valley Critters

Re: Creek Valley Critters

Re: Creek Valley Critters

Re: Creek Valley Critters

Re: Creek Valley Critters

Re: Creek Valley Critters

Re: Creek Valley Critters

Re: Creek Valley Critters

Re: Creek Valley Critters

Re: Creek Valley Critters

Re: Creek Valley Critters

Re: Creek Valley Critters