# Mock Chocolate?



## doganddisc (May 21, 2012)

Genetically speaking, what do you need to make a mock chocolate? I love the color. I have two chocolate does right now, one splash and one self. A litter of chocolate carriers that were just born. What is my best bet here?


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## Seafolly (Mar 13, 2012)

(ignore this, I'm new)
Champagne seems like a decent way to "ruin" a chocolate.  Silver? Lilac? I love mock chocolate too. I have an older one and would love to breed one.


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

Most of the ones I've personally encountered have been cch/c on a black background. You could probably also get mock chocolates which are cch/ce (some websites list this). If you tried really hard I'm sure you could get ce/ce (i.e. beige) dark enough to look like a light (poor) chocolate, because it varies so much.

All three genotypes actually vary a lot, from dull and grayish to ruddy and more brown. Sometimes you'll see a/a cch/c in particular called "light sepia" or "C-diluted black," but "sepia" is usually reserved for a/a cch/cch.

But the B-locus always has to be B/B (i.e. full color, not chocolate) in order for it to be a "mock" chocolate. If the mouse is already "real" chocolate (b/b), it can't be a "mock" chocolate.


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## doganddisc (May 21, 2012)

How do you get cch/c? Isn't that chinchilla?

So my chocolate carriers are of no use for mock chocolate? Makes sense...if I managed to get a hold of a mock chocolate, what would my best bet be for breeding to it to produce more mock chocolates?


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

That's correct.

A mouse who is a/a cch/c is a black mouse who has one copy of the allele for chinchilla (and thus is lightened to a dark gray or brownish gray), and carries albino.

What you would breed a mock chocolate to depends entirely upon what type of mock chocolate it was. Since the variety is not standardized and so many combinations can be called "mock chocolate," it really depends. On a black background, cch/c X cch/c will produce "sepia" (cch/cch), "light sepia" (cch/c, AKA mock chocolate), and albino (c/c).

I bred these mice, which were molting funny when this picture was taken:










They were obviously more toward the grayer end of the scale (they were byproducts of chinchilla). Their genotypes were a/a B/B cch/c.


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## doganddisc (May 21, 2012)

Thank you Jack! That is great info!


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

You are very welcome!


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## littlelovesmousery (May 19, 2012)

If they were to standardize the mock chocolate would they require it to be one specific combination(i.e. the sepia or light sepia) or would they allow multiple kinds?


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

littlelovesmousery said:


> If they were to standardize the mock chocolate would they require it to be one specific combination(i.e. the sepia or light sepia) or would they allow multiple kinds?


The ECMA would allow multiple kinds, the same way that if you show a silver it can be a/a d/d p/p or a/a C/c p/p. I'm not sure about other clubs.


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