# Inbreeding?



## FeralWolf (Dec 28, 2010)

Is it dangerous to breed a daughter mouse back to her sire? (maybe not proper terminology; I'm sorry) I'm considering buying a couple does, and the breeder says that they intend to do this. I am just dead set on getting as healthy mice as possible, so I felt the need to ask. Thank you.


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## DaisyTailsMousery (Nov 8, 2012)

It is normal practise in the mouse breeding community and sometimes it's the only way to get a recessive trait. The mouse should still be perfectly healthy


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## onionpencil (Jan 6, 2013)

it has pros and cons- there is a higher chance of seeing defective traits if they exist, but also a much higher chance of getting the traits you want. some people prefer to do it that way, any bad traits are more likely to be known soon, and then you can try to work around them. not everyone likes to do it, but it may be the fastest way to get the traits you want. otherwise you'd have to breed to another male and then breed the offspring to each other or back to the mother anyway to get the traits you want.


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## Seafolly (Mar 13, 2012)

Like onionpencil said, there's good and bad. The mice could be perfectly fine. Knock on wood, I've been doing it for a year (three litters so the foundation buck is a great-grandfather), and zero health problems have cropped up. I'd rather know now if I have bad recessive traits.


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## TwitchingWhiskers (Feb 2, 2013)

It is very commonly practiced in mouse breeding and if done correctly, it is generally safe. There are possible risks as mentioned above, I'm not stating against that. It shouldn't be a reason not to buy from a breeder, though, it's nothing out of the ordinary. I admire that you are really trying to source healthy mice, by the way.


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## FeralWolf (Dec 28, 2010)

TwitchingWhiskers said:


> It is very commonly practiced in mouse breeding and if done correctly, it is generally safe. There are possible risks as mentioned above, I'm not stating against that. It shouldn't be a reason not to buy from a breeder, though, it's nothing out of the ordinary. I admire that you are really trying to source healthy mice, by the way.


Thank you, TwitchingWhiskers! And thanks to all of you that left information here; it was very helpful to me!


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