Fancy Mouse

From Pet Encyclopedia

[edit] Introduction

Fancy mice are great pets for anyone who want an interesting, lively and easy pet. Fancy mice have been domesticated by breeding for pet like attributes, they come from the same species known as the house mouse edible door-mouse .

[edit] Origin and History

[edit] Appearance

Fancy mice is a term to describe mice that have been selectively bred for pet or for show. pet mice are normally around 6-7 inches (15-17.5cm) from the end of nose to tip of tail, show mice are usually around 12 inches (30cm).

Colors: Human-directed artificial selection in fancy mice has created a variety of colors and patterns. These include black, chocolate, blue, white, cream, lilac, red, fawn, champagne, cinnamon, golden agouti, silver agouti, silver and dove. All mouse standards fall into one of five categories: Selfs (one solid color all over), Tans (mice of one solid color on the top with a tan belly), Marked either in Even or Broken patterns (spotting of a standard color on a base of white) and a miscellaneous category.

[edit] Behaviour

Fancy mice are very active, with female mice (does) generally enjoying climbing more than male mice (bucks). For males, the floorspace or 'footprint' is more important than height, whereas does prefer a taller cage.

Mice are very intelligent and need plenty of space, company, and toys. Wooden toys, ramps, sisal rope, and a solid-based medium size wheel are good for this.

Mice have poor eyesight and rely heavily on a sense of smell. They can be tamed quite easily providing they have come from an ethical rescue or breeder and are relatively easy for children or adults to handle.

Mice are very social, and should ideally never be kept alone. Does can be introduced to each other quite easily once you know the process, however bucks are harder to keep together without fighting and so often end up alone. One option to avoid this can be to neuter via a trustworthy vet, 6 weeks after the operation they are then safe to go in with girls without the risk of pregnancy.

[edit] Health and Care

Like most rodent fancy mice should not be kept on sawdust, or anything pine or cedar based due to the risk of developing serious respiratory infections. They can be prone to cancerous lumps.

Fancy mice do best in a barred cage, with bar spacing of 1cm or less to prevent escapees. Barred cages allow better ventilation as well as providing good opportunities for enrichment such as hammocks, ledges and rope toys.

Tanks can be used for mice but care must be taken to provide a suitable mesh lid to allow better airflow. They can suffer from a build of harmful ammonia due to poor ventilation and make taming mice more difficult due to having to approach from above much like a predator would do.Modular systems such as rotastak or habitrail are not suitable for mice due to their tiny size, ventilation and enrichment issues.

[edit] External Links

Crittery's Guide to fancy mice introductions

The Fun Mouse guide to varieties

All About Mice information on choosing your mice

[edit] References