# How to get better tan?



## lindberg4220 (Oct 30, 2008)

I just love the really nice tans i have seen on this site, so I was wondering if anyone could tell me how to improve tan?

TIA


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

The most surefire way is to secure a mouse who already has a deep red tan and breed from it.

You could also breed a tan to a deep red (Ay/*) and cross the babies together. The same phaeomelanins (red pigment modifiers) are present in red mice and in tans.

Both these methods will introduce darker tans within a generation or two.

Otherwise, you're looking at hundreds of generations of breeding tan x tan x tan x tan and keeping only the very darkest-bellied babies.

It's important not to have any hidden recessives in tans. All the darkest-bellied tans who win awards are true-breeding or nearly so.


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Ooh1 Me too!

I had tried breeding my best fawn to my tan and found out that that was the way to get a better orange belly on the fawn. silly me! At least it accomplished something useful even if it was backwards. I bet part of it'll be having a^t/a^t; after that I would guess breeding the best tan to the best tan to improve the color. Sometimes these things take finesse, sometimes they take time. I would also guess that not having any C locus dilution would be important. I'd also hazard that some top colors would be easier than others to get the fiery color with. I always wondered if the pink eye dilution made it harder, but then I heard that that actually makes it easier; I'm confused on that. :?:

Maybe the next one in line to answer will have something solid to say on the subject.


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## lindberg4220 (Oct 30, 2008)

Looks like i will have to go the looong way - we don't have any really good tans or reds in Denmark


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

PE dilution does not dilute red pigment very much. This is why a red (Ay/*) can be nearly the same shade as fawn (Ay/* p/p). And that's why on a good dove tan (for example), the top color (black) turns grey but the belly color (red) remains the same.


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## Velvet_Meece (Apr 20, 2009)

So could you improve tans with good type fawns? or does it have to be red?


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Any version of red or fawn should work somewhat. A heterozygous (B/b) chocolate carrier) would probably be a good cross for tanning as well.


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

Good luck finding good typed fawns and reds, though...


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## Velvet_Meece (Apr 20, 2009)

I have a fawn buck, hes of lovely colour but hes not quite show standard, his father was a satin fawn and used in an argente breeding program with his former breeder, only had one litter with me though and litter was 90% satin agouti's.... i was after fawns :roll: always the way!


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