# the latest in my pearl efforts



## SarahC

it's such a pretty animal,I can't stop marvelling at the delicate colour and beautiful eyes and it has the most wonderful docile temperament


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## Matt Haslam

this photo makes me smile 

absolutely gorgeous Sarah


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## Elven

Well done!


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## Jack Garcia

I am impressed!


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## Oakelm

Stunning, such a subtle colour by the looks of it.


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## WillowDragon

Absolutely stunning!!! I hope you are suitably proud Sarah!!!

W xx


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## tom95

Fantastic mouse ! Well done Sarah 

It's very hard to breed this variety, especially if you "starting from scratch"


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## Jacqueline

It looks great! Is this the first generation you got from my male?


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## SarahY

Awesome, Sarah! Such a beautiful mouse :love1

Sarah xxx


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## The Boggit keeper

I've not seen a Pearl before- Gorgeous! :clap :clap


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## moustress

Lovely! Just lovely!


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## SarahC

Jacqueline said:


> It looks great! Is this the first generation you got from my male?


thankyou every one,this mouse is such a pleasure to me.

Jaqueline ,this mouse has come out of my silver greys unexpectedly and isn't related to your buck,alas it is from a litter of does.Your buck despite looking old and fragile now days is an excellent breeder.So far all produced have been silver grey and silver brown and again the litters are very doe heavy.He only has one son and it's a silver brown.His first daughters are now of breeding age and I'm hoping this second generation will have some pearls in.Did you get any litters with pearl in yet?


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## laoshu

beautiful mouse! what makes a pearl?


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## SarahC

they can't be made,thats the problem .You need the gene.Here's Jaquelines,now my buck.Gone past his best but still breeding.I'm hoping he doesn't pop off before I have the second generation from his line in the bag. He isn't a well built mouse but the offspring from crossing him with my silver greys are nice and sturdy with good tail sets.


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## WoodWitch

Fabulous Sarah!
I _do_ hope your many efforts contiue to pay well   
xx


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## laoshu

is there any way you could get some sperm from him and freeze it! that way you have a back up supply


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## SarahC

:shock: you can for dogs and you have to do the job by hand to get the sperm,you'd need an elf to do the stimulation for a mouse and I can't imagine what the equivalent of a turkey baster would be.


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## The Village Mousery

haha get the tweezers out


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## zany_toon

She is a beautiful looking mouse! I wish you the best in breeding them SarahC as I've read about how hard it can be to get the standards in this beautiful colour!


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## miss.understood

Gorgeous xx


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## Lottiz

They are just adorable! I hope you can produce more of them and let me buy some if I ever can visit you and your family.


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## Seawatch Stud

So,so close now Sarah. That is a pearl, not a light silver grey, I love it. I really like the p.e cream too.


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## WNTMousery

Odd, it doesn't look like the pearls I've seen, which also came from England. The coloration is still very pleasing to the eye, though!


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## SarahC

Seawatch Stud said:


> So,so close now Sarah. That is a pearl, not a light silver grey, I love it. I really like the p.e cream too.


It's been nice messing about with the different odds and sods but yesterday I paired everything up for Sowood in Nov so there will only be room for exhibition mice.


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## SarahC

WNTMousery said:


> Odd, it doesn't look like the pearls I've seen, which also came from England. The coloration is still very pleasing to the eye, though!


still a work in progress using silver greys that have the pearl base .No knowing if one that's just right will materialise.The silver greys plus a black buck fathered by the last living U.K pearl buck were given to me by the only breeder of pearls over here.Second generation from Jaquelines buck are now due and I shall breed the doe in the pic and her sisters to one of their relatives and wait and see with fingers crossed.So far I haven't merged the two lines.


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## WNTMousery

Wow! I commend you for trying to save this variety! Why was it allowed to "die out" in the first place?


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## SarahC

WNTMousery said:


> Wow! I commend you for trying to save this variety! Why was it allowed to "die out" in the first place?


lack of sharing of stock.I shall pass them on when I get enough.I have passed on a couple of bucks already other wise if your own line is lost there is no where to go to replenish.I'm very patient so varieties like this suit me.I feel I'm just nearly there but that could always be the case I suppose.


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## WNTMousery

If you'd like the email for the only pearl breeder in the US, just send me a PM and I will give it to you.  She imported directly from England many years ago.


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## Jack Garcia

Are pearls the same genetically on both sides of the pond, then? I wonder because the ones I've seen in California are really light. Pearl is one of those varieties about which I am largely ignorant.


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## SarahC

yes it's all the same gene.How white they are depends on how far up the hair shaft the white under coat is.Ideally the lighter the better with just a dark tip to the hair.I haven't had one of those yet.I started with very black ones that had no ticking but a bright white pearl base.The one in the picture is the all round best so far,I have had one or two lighter but not as robust as this one.Maybe she'll produce the one I've been waiting for.Wnt,I'd love to see some picture of pearls alive and well in the U.S.A.


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## Jack Garcia

There's one picture here: http://www.afrma.org/miceaoc.htm

That one was bred by Karen Robbins, who is one of the best mouse breeders in the US. She's been at it for decades.

Is that picture the "right" shade?


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## Rhasputin

Side-note, I bet a mouse with half and half black tipped fur, with a white undercoat, looks very interesting!


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## SarahC

the last pearl in this country is in the owners freezer.He is having the skin cured and bringing it to the next show for me to get a close look at.I shall get a picture.The white under can be clearly seen on your picture Jack.I've never actually seen a live and kicking U.k pearl


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## SarahC

Rhasputin said:


> Side-note, I bet a mouse with half and half black tipped fur, with a white undercoat, looks very interesting!


in theory but the reality is the white doesn't show,you have to blow the coat apart like you do on argentes to see the under.


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## SarahC

the buck from finland x silver grey has now produced two youngsters ,one in each litter with the pearl under.On the surface they look normal but if you blow the coat you can see.I've wet it because I can't blow the fur and take pictures .
this first one is satin


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## Rhasputin

That's awesome looking!

You should shave stripes in their fur, and sell them as skunk mice. :lol:


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## Jack Garcia

Ooooh, that's really pretty! You're not the only one not to be able to blow fur and take pictures at the same time. I'm stealing your idea of wetting the fur for future use.


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