# Can non-marked mice have partially unpigmented tails?



## meromar (Aug 27, 2016)

Hello! I'm back with another genetics question 

As the title says, can a mouse without the ss gene have a partially unpigmented tail? I bred a marked recessive yellow buck to an agouti doe, and one of the agouti pups in the litter of 8 has a half white tail. I'm not sure if the doe carries the marked gene or not; her parents were agouti and PEW, so it's definitely possible and it seems to me now that she does, but I'm not 100% sure.

Thanks for helping me learn!


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## meromar (Aug 27, 2016)

Since posting this I've noticed very small amounts of white fur on the pup in question + one other in the litter, so I know now that I definitely have marked mice!


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## Amtma Mousery (Jan 29, 2015)

Glad this was figured out. Also mice can have tail-tips, which are independent from the piebald gene. I also have had mice in the past with different tail pigmentation and did not carry piebald. So generally speaking, tail pigmentation and piebald genes are independent of each other.


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## meromar (Aug 27, 2016)

Lake Mousery said:


> Glad this was figured out. Also mice can have tail-tips, which are independent from the piebald gene. I also have had mice in the past with different tail pigmentation and did not carry piebald. So generally speaking, tail pigmentation and piebald genes are independent of each other.


Thank you so much! I'll keep this in mind going forward


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