# Need Manx pics!



## love2read (Aug 30, 2011)

Does anyone have pics of Manx butts? :mrgreen:

A breeder friend of mine nearby got some mice from me a while back and she's got a litter of babies that are a couple weeks old and they look to be Manx! :shock: 2 are completely tail-less with nothing but a little nub and the third baby has a half-length tail with a kink in it. I can't tell if they were chewed as babies or true Manx though so I was hoping someone with actual Manx might be able to post some booty pics showing the tail numbs so I can have something to compare to.

If they're Manx I'm going to be flipping excited!!! I'm probably going to get one of the nubby boys back to breed and see if anything comes of it.


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## MojoMouse (Apr 20, 2012)

This is a female manx with no tail stump. She has a perfect little tailless butt, and she's more than happy to show it off for the camera!


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## 4mb3rNich0l3 (Dec 22, 2011)

MojoMouse said:


> This is a female manx with no tail stump. She has a perfect little tailless butt, and she's more than happy to show it off for the camera!


Cute!  haha


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## Stina (Sep 24, 2010)

Do any of them have little kinks/bends at the very tips of their nubs? Does she recall if they ever had scabs at the tips of the nubs? That description of mixed tail lengths is similar to the dominant manx jenny and I have...but if neither parent is manx, that completely rules it out. I would bet mom was an overzealous cleaner.


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## Serena (Dec 29, 2011)

the manx-mouse Mojo postet kinda looks like a hamster ^^
Have you ever found them to have problems balancing without their tails?
I notice mine use theirs all the time as a conterweight while climbing or standing up.


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## MojoMouse (Apr 20, 2012)

The two nubs and the half length, kinked tail do sound like manx to me. Dominant manx is actually a gene with modifyers that, when combined, control tail length by vertebrae, so you get no tails, short tails, and kinks. The other recessive manx which we have in Aus is more an on/off gene - you get no tail or at most a tiny stump. A tailed mouse that carries a single copy of the gene can often have tail kinks. That's an indicator that it's a carrier.

It's the tail kink that makes me think of the possibility of the mice being manx, not nibbled by mum.

Serena, manx mice have no difficulties at all with balance or agility. They cope perfectly well without a tail as a counterbalance, maybe because there's not a lot of weight in the tail. The tapering also would reduce this use. They certainly use their tails, but they don't _need_ them for balance.

However, my main concern with manx mice is with heat stress. The tail is the mechanism for regulating body temperature. In hot conditions, the main blood vessel in the tail dilates, assisting with heat dispersal. In cold weather it contracts, and conserves heat. So manx do fine in cooler conditions, but they are vulnerable in the heat.

Another rare problem can be a spine that is too short, resulting in mobility problems with the hind legs. I've only seen this in one litter, and I've had a lot of manx mice. I don't specifically breed for them, but as a recessive gene, they pop up regularly. I've made no effort to breed them out. I don't mind them - and they never get wheel tail!


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## love2read (Aug 30, 2011)

Thank you for the pic Mojo! She's too cute! <3

Do you happen to have any pics that show tail tips? I'm not sure what to look for to tell if they're chewed or natural. I thought that the kinked one looked like it may have been nibbled because the end was round and I thought the ends were supposed to be pointy, like a normal tail, but the kink threw me off because I remember reading that kinked tails often show up in Manx litters. :/ I didn't have my camera or I would have taken pics.

She didn't notice their lack of tails until they were already a couple weeks old(travel and work) and I just found out about them yesterday when she came over. I went to see them, but have no hands-on experience with Manx so I had nothing to go on but what I've read.

When they're weaned I'll probably get one of the boys back and will be able to post pics.


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## Stina (Sep 24, 2010)

If they are at related to any of the "show" type lines on the eastern half of the US, kinks are fairly common to start with...so it could very easily be unrelated.

The tip of the tail on a dominant manx, will very often have a small skin tag (a bit of flesh with no bone in it) at the tip and/or a small kink (I imagine b/c the last few vertebrae can be misshappen). The bone will not taper like a normal tail...the number of vertebrae are reduced...not the size, so the tail ends abruptly.


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## MojoMouse (Apr 20, 2012)

That makes sense. I'm not familiar with dominant manx.


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## tinyhartmouseries (Dec 30, 2010)

I have some nibbled tails in a litter now, all healed, but they seem extremely "shiny" on the tips, I presume from scar tissue. Not sure if that helps you at all!


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