# Show or pet standard



## Sizzlea89 (Jan 19, 2013)

So I got a new baby today from a breeder. Biscuit! Just curious to see if she is any where near show standard. Sorry for the blurry pictures


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## PPVallhunds (Jul 26, 2010)

First what colour is she ment to be? sorry cant tell from the pic.

How old?

Does the breeder show there mice? if not thats your answer.


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## Kitei (Feb 4, 2013)

She looks pet standard to me, though I'm not an expert by any means. She also looks young, so she might mature into a bit better type.

I disagree that whether they show their mice or not makes them show standard - show/exhibition stock, yes, but standard is dependent on the physical factors.


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## PPVallhunds (Jul 26, 2010)

yes but how will you know if your mice meet those standards if you never show? look at how many pet bred pedigree dogs look nothing like the breed standard but there owners think they do. As mice breed so fast you can lose there quality in a few breedings, yes they would still be typer than the tiny pet type mice but they may not meet the required standard needed to win in a show. so kind of like half and half, closer to the standerd then one type but not as close as another type.

Thas what i ment by does the breeder show, as if they never have they may no longer be breeding mice that meet the standered even if there orignal mice came from some one who does show as they have not had any one judge there mice against the standard to see if they meet it. 
When i first started breeding my foxes i got them from a breeder who was showing them and doing well, i bred them and thought my babies were realy good and started showing them and they didnt do well and the show critics came back as poor unders but i thought they were good as they were white. Now if i had never shown them i wouldnt have know where i was going wrong.


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## Sizzlea89 (Jan 19, 2013)

The breeder said that she showed mice but never really showed me any of her others apart from the parents and grand parents of this little one, she is only 5 weeks old and agreed to let me have her 3 weeks earlier than she would usually because I kept bugging her about coming to see the litter.
She's a dark cinnamon. But I would say she's more of a light agouti. Again I am really sorry for the bad quality pictures but my camera is broken and I only have my iPod at the moment and the camera on it is terrible.


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## TwitchingWhiskers (Feb 2, 2013)

Her ears look decent from the photos. I would say pet type, but lets see how she grows up. Just my pet breeder opinion, I'll leave the rest to the exhibition breeders.


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## SarahC (Oct 3, 2008)

she's a pet type mouse and will produce more pet type mice when bred from.


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## pro-petz (Nov 14, 2012)

Sizzlea89 said:


> The breeder said that she showed mice but never really showed me any of her others apart from the parents and grand parents of this little one, she is only 5 weeks old and agreed to let me have her 3 weeks earlier than she would usually because I kept bugging her about coming to see the litter.
> She's a dark cinnamon. But I would say she's more of a light agouti. Again I am really sorry for the bad quality pictures but my camera is broken and I only have my iPod at the moment and the camera on it is terrible.


Letting a mouse go to a new home 3 weeks under their normal practice because you wanted to see the litter more frequently makes me think that a: is only really a pet mouse and the breeder has never shown, maybe originating stock came from an exhibition breeder but that is as far as I would say it goes, as PP said quality can be ruined so quickly.

I do not know how mouse exhibitors stand on viewings of litters before ready to leave their establishment but I for one would encourage regular visits for the prospective owner, allows them to see their new animal plus the opportunity to ask many questions.

I would also be questioning if the person really has other stock and if you are not able to see them the reasons for this.


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## Cait (Oct 3, 2008)

As Sarah said, pet type. Nowhere near exhibition quality, sorry... Not that that was your reason for buying anyway though.


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## SarahC (Oct 3, 2008)

An exhibition cinnamon,breeding stock for comparison .Picture courtesy of SarahY.


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## Seafolly (Mar 13, 2012)

The experts have spoken answering the actual question (take a look around the site for more photos and there will be no doubt in your mind that yours is pet type). But I wanted to agree with pro-petz that it's a little odd that she let the baby go because you were bugging her. I have an eager adopter waiting now but can't imagine letting the mice go early, even if it risks losing their interest in favour of a baby available sooner. Weird things about that situation (many people who put a male and a female together that produce babies call themselves breeders) but since you're not showing, don't worry about it.


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## Sizzlea89 (Jan 19, 2013)

I was just curious haha! Thanks everyone for your help  I'm more into dog shows than anything and to be honest my mice are just pets, I breed them for my own interest and well I can have as many as I want and the land lord doesn't notice haha! But I still like to see some of the babies that I watch grow up go off to new homes. My partner had been to see the litter twice already before I got to go up. Her husband was offering to show us the 'show' mice but the woman avoided it. Not really sure why. Maybe she thought I would ask to buy one or something? But I'm not too bothered. Got a lovely little friendly mouse with an amazing personality!


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## TwitchingWhiskers (Feb 2, 2013)

Well I'm glad your happy with her, she's a real cutie!


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## Sizzlea89 (Jan 19, 2013)

thanks. She's great. Won't be breeding from her will just be keeping her for the kids to play with  they love the mice. I gave my nephew a mouse a few weeks ago from one of the litters and apparently he hasn't had peter the mouse off his shoulder haha! He's even trying to train him!


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## TwitchingWhiskers (Feb 2, 2013)

Aw that's sweet. Mice are a real joy.


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## Seafolly (Mar 13, 2012)

Sizzlea89 said:


> Her husband was offering to show us the 'show' mice but the woman avoided it. Not really sure why. Maybe she thought I would ask to buy one or something?


I'm so curious about what that sort of person is thinking. One local rat breeder here wouldn't show me the parents of the babies she was advertising. So I told her I was no longer interested. Then she quickly said people try to buy them from her when she shows them photos. My thinking is, "So...just tell them they're not for sale." Simple. It's better than looking like they have something to hide. (I never bought one of her babies - too many weird things like that were going on) I recently found a thread on a rat forum that ranted about her poor breeding ethics so I wasn't far off in that case!


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## Cait (Oct 3, 2008)

I don't think there are any active exhibitors in Scotland at the moment so she may have been afraid that her 'customer' would realise that they weren't quite what she said. But then again it might just be that she hadn't swept up and it was nearly cleaning time so she didn't want to show off the 'mess' :lol:


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## Sizzlea89 (Jan 19, 2013)

Haha anything is a possibility in this case! Oh well I'm just happy to have a new little girl


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## Seafolly (Mar 13, 2012)

MouseBreeder said:


> I don't think there are any active exhibitors in Scotland at the moment so she may have been afraid that her 'customer' would realise that they weren't quite what she said. But then again it might just be that she hadn't swept up and it was nearly cleaning time so she didn't want to show off the 'mess' :lol:


Haha! This is true!

In my case, it was through text/email and she refused to send photos of the rats! As it turns out, she does have some bizarre varieties I've never known to exist in North America and some that I didn't know could happen at all and wouldn't have believed it if another friend didn't deliver her a rat and took sneaky photos. But her breeding methods are not ones I respect. When it comes to rats, I just want good pets.


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