# First boy for breeding



## Doric1 (Mar 31, 2013)

Can't remember if I've put pics up or not....

Although I've had mice for a while this is my first venture into breeding them. As my other mice are pets only I needed to see if I could get hold of one with more 'type' and from healthy lines. During a trip to Houten my friend picked this guy up from a breeder there. He's a lovely colour but is horrid to photograph and I'm going to have to dust him off for future pics I think as the camera picks up all the little bits of bedding. He has no white hairs at all and I understand he is extreme black. I think he's satin as he's very very shiny to the camera flash but I'm not sure as we weren't given a pedigree for him.


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

Good looking boy! Satin is pretty hard to see on self blacks, since glossy healthy fur and satin seem pretty similar in that color. What had you down in Houston?


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## NikiP (May 7, 2013)

Wow, didn't think mice got quite that black. Stunner


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## windyhill (Jan 19, 2010)

He is handsome!


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## TwitchingWhiskers (Feb 2, 2013)

He is gorgeous. I love blacks. :love1


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## ThatCertainGlow (Jun 23, 2012)

Lovely boy.  Black mice have always been one of my top favorites. Extreme blacks, at least in the US, are mice whose faults hairs, or inner ear fault are white/clear, not tan. The standard calls for full pigment coverage. There is a line of thought that extreme blacks can achieve a deeper pigment effect than just blacks. I don't know. The blacks bred in the UK seem to contradict that idea.
Blacks are very shiny, satin or otherwise. The belly fur can give you an idea, because satin has a metallic sheen. For confirmation, if it's important, you can scruff him, and check his teeth. 
White/clear = Satin 
Yellow = not Satin

Please don't ask me the earliest age you can check the teeth though. LOL I keep thinking I should look early, so I can answer that question, but I hate scruffing them without a really good cause... I do know you can see the teeth color at weaning age. My guess would be you can check teeth when they start eating solid foods.


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## Cait (Oct 3, 2008)

Laigaie said:


> What had you down in Houston?


Houten, not Houston  It's a Dutch animal expo type thing held a couple of times a year.


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

Yeah. I picked up from other posts that this wasn't a poor spelling from someone in the US, but a thing with which I am unfamiliar from someone in the UK. Took me a few very confused posts, though.


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