I plan on breeding my two girls (mice) with a single male...Color?

Question

They were both born from the same set of saved "feeder" parents, and I plan on breeding them to a fawn/lilac/red (can't think of the exact color) there is in the pet shop I work at. Will the babies all have white coats or will they differ?

Answer 1

you will need alot of cages,and need to plan what you will do with the mice when they are old enought to leave there mom.

Answer 2

they might on not sure because i bred mice male was black and white female was brown and white and 3 of them came out a realy light brown like a cream colour me not sure just c

Answer 3

If the father carries the pink-eyed white/albino gene (c), half of the pups will be pink-eyed whites like the parents.

All you know about the females is that they are cc. If the father is Cc, half the pups will be cc and half will be Cc.

The colors you mention for the father are quite different, so it does make a big difference what he ACTUALLY is. He probably isn't fawn - never seen one of those in a pet shop. He might be champagne or argente if he has pink eyes. Lilac mice don't have pink eyes.

But anyway, the basic idea is, if the females carry the same recessive genes that the father has, the colors will show up. If they don't have ANY recessive genes in common, they pups will all be agouti (wild-type coloration). I think it's more likely that they would all be black, since most of the pet mice in pet stores have the non-agouti gene (aa).

However, since they are feeders, there is no way to know their genotype except for that one albino gene. You're probably not going to get a great variety of colors, but there is always a chance you'll be surprised.

That said - PLEASE don't breed feeder mice. Generally, feeder mice are bred by just keeping males and females in the same cage - there is no thought to health or longevity because they are going to be food, not pets. If you are serious about breeding mice, don't use feeder mice or pet shop mice. Use the healthiest mice you can find THAT CONFORM TO THE STANDARDS. If you can't tell if the male is fawn or lilac or red, he's not conforming to the standard for that color. How are these mice for size and type? Don't just breed to produce more, breed to better the species. Selective breeding is key.

Answer 4

You would get different colours for each baby, look up punnet squares at the link below as it will describe it better.

Answer 5

You really shouldn't buy breeding animals from a pet shop. I work in one too, and you know as well as I do that you don't know the history of the animals- if they have genetic quirks and are prone to getting cancers, or ill in general, so they are not good breeding animals.

So it's your choice, but bare that in mind.

OH. And I know mice aren't a huge deal, but make sure you know what you're doing.

You can't keep two sets of mice litters together as the mums will kill each others babies- you also can't keep the father in with the litters, so you need three different cages, then one cage for each set of males- the females can stay with mum. You also won't make a lot of money from them, just so you're aware. Also, mothers will frequently eat their first litter, so be prepared for disappointment.

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Oh right, that's cool then! Sorry for assuming. I work in a chain myself- it's a good chain, though, but we don't breed our own animals so I would never, even if I was going to breed, buy from the store I work in- not because the animals are sickly, but because I'm not sure of the genes.

Good luck with it, though!