# help with sable- please



## x.kathy.x (Jun 7, 2009)

leigh bought me a really lovely trio of sables for my birthday as she knows i have allways loved this colourway, but i really don't know anything about them at all.
would anyone know what other colours would be best to put them with, say to improve on size and type, with a view to perhaps getting some that would show, they arn't too bad at all colourwise and coat and i dont want to wreck the good points that they allready have, BUT just using them "as is" would be a little too predictable, i'd like a bit more of a challange, so some advice would be most appreciated PLEASE


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## WillowDragon (Jan 7, 2009)

And if they are anything like thier brother and sister, they have great ears too! hehee

Hmmm... I'm pretty sure genetically Sables are red tan, Ay ta, and tan is dominant as far as i know.
If you are wanting to produce sable offspring, maybe using a red based mouse to breed them to, a red or a fawn?

Other people could probably give you better advice hehe

Willow xx


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## SarahY (Nov 6, 2008)

If you want to show them, don't mix anything in until you need to! Varieties are so easily ruined with the wrong outcross colour choice. I have no experience whatsoever with sable breeding but Tony Cooke says in "Exhibition and Pet Mice" to use Black Tan every three or four generations to bring darkness back to the back of the mouse and fiery red to the belly, but apart from that breed sable to sable. Adding too many black tans will result in the shadings becoming a demarcation line. Mixing stuff won't bring success on the show bench and you won't have much luck trying to make sables typey, the Ay gene makes them dumpy and fat whatever you do. There's information on sables here: http://hiiret.fi/eng/breeding/varieties/IV.html

On the other hand, if you're breeding them for fun rather than to exhibit, you could mix blue in there and get blue sables, use black fox and get marten sables or cross to any self and you'll get reds and black tans.

Hope this helps!

Sarah xxx


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## WillowDragon (Jan 7, 2009)

Ooo... blue sables =o)


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## x.kathy.x (Jun 7, 2009)

:roll: Thanks so much, at least i have some idea now on what to do, and what could be done. I would like to see some on the show table, so for now sablexsable it is and now we will hopefully be attending more shows, i can keep an eye out for some more stock from elsewhere if needed to improve mine..... onwards, as they say...and thanks again for giving me some direction.


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