# Breeding changes?



## fancyfeet (Dec 21, 2015)

I am asking 1000 questions I know. But _I want to get this righ_t. 
My mice seem to be smaller than the "show type."
Why is that, how do I change that? As well as get larger ears.


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## fancyfeet (Dec 21, 2015)

Also, quick genetics question... If i have a satin cinnamon buck is it possible to get non satin in the litter?


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## Lilly (Nov 21, 2015)

fancyfeet said:


> Also, quick genetics question... If i have a satin cinnamon buck is it possible to get non satin in the litter?


satin is recessive so unless the doe is satin or carries it then the litter will not be satin (but can be bred back to the buck or eachother to get satin back)


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## fancyfeet (Dec 21, 2015)

Lilly you're on point! ha.

Ok awesome. I think they are gorgeous satin but they are hard to get show quality from what I've read.


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## PPVallhunds (Jul 26, 2010)

The reason pet mice are not normaly of the same type as show mice is all down to selective breeding. The show mice will have been bred for many many years under the show clubs to get and keep the type. The selection for the show bench is tougher than in non show mice as mice not good enough to show won't be bred on from. The breeding tools such as inbreeding and line breeding are used to solidify the type in lines so litters are more predictable and produce the same type where as many pet breeders mix alot of diffrent lines and types together giving more random results if you get what I mean. Another diffrence can be the amount of breeding, if someone is onky having say 3-4 litters a year from their mice their line will progress much slower than someone who will breed many many more.

Pet lines can be bred towards the show type with alot of work. Been breeding my Siamese for 6 years now and they still seen not good enough to win with.


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## NexivRed (Nov 8, 2015)

Also, to get larger mice you need to raise smaller litters. Enough babies so milk production is no issue, but not so many as to overwhelm mum; they really need to be able to thrive. 4 seems a common number to reduce down to, 6 tops. And bucks are milk hoggers I believe.


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

I agree with all of the above! Also, diet is huge. Tons of feeder breeders will give straight dog kibble, or nothing but cheerios, or other really obviously bad-idea diets. You can see big jumps of improvement in the first couple generations by improving diet (and it doesn't have to be perfect, just better!) and reducing litter size. After that, the going is much slower, because all that's left is selective breeding.


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