# Tan Triumph or Tan Tragedy???



## tinyhartmouseries (Dec 30, 2010)

I bred my best black tan doe to her brother, who had dubious type but was quite large... I was hoping that mom would impart at least a bit of type to a new litter of black tans....
After she'd been in with her mate for several month with a weight gain of only 3 grams, I found one PE male baby in with them one day. It was the only "litter" that ever took me by surprise! She was a decent mother, but has since never produced again, and is now nearing a year.
This baby is now around 2.5 months old. He is 57g, has small ears, no taper to his tail set, and has a less than appealing structure overall. However...his tan is the most clear, darkest, 100% American tan I've ever seen in *my* mousery on a PE mouse. He doesn't even have much of a chin spot. Now, if only he was a gorgeously typed black tan. I don't know whether to *headdesk* or jump for joy. I suppose I could do both at once.  

Here he is!








































This pic is a little washed out but shows you that his tan is pretty even too.









How can I best use him with out taking too many steps backwards???


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

If you need to breed him in order to preserve the tan gene by all means so it. I wouldn't kick him out of my breeding program. You may lose a little as far as type is concerned, but then again, you may not.


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## pro-petz (Nov 14, 2012)

I would have thought pair him back to his mom would hopefully bring the type back into the line quicker. I know from breeding other animals best to best has not always produced best looking offspring but 2nd or third best pairing have produced offspring that have excelled the best to best pairings, don`t know if this is the same in mice as all I`ve read and heard is pair best to best.


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## tinyhartmouseries (Dec 30, 2010)

He was back with his mom for about a month...i may try again but I think she might be very close to sterile...that would sure be the best solution though. Thank you for the replies guys!


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## HemlockStud (Apr 26, 2009)

tinyhartmouseries said:


> He was back with his mom for about a month...i may try again but I think she might be very close to sterile...that would sure be the best solution though. Thank you for the replies guys!


Some rat breeders do it, so it may work for mice: if you watch the doe constantly and figure out when she comes in heat, then you put her in with the buck for a couple hours.


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

I;d put them in tanks right next to one another, away from the other meeces. It'll mean he smells only her, wants only her...he'll be mad to get to her...then when she looks all puffy and pink, put her in with him. In my experience does do not go sterile unless they have been injured or had a severe stress of some sort.


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## tinyhartmouseries (Dec 30, 2010)

Good ideas all. She just seems very skinny, moves slowly, she's always been this way. All three of her siblings are fabulously fertile and become pregnant or impregnante nearly on the first day. I don't know what's up with her, unless it's a random genetic thing. She's back in with him, and we will see.


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## Awaiting_Abyss (Nov 19, 2012)

Are mice not supposed to be anything other than black and tan?  I'm not sure why its a tragedy.

I have a champagne and tan mouse with a white band. I actually just noticed she's got a tan belly. I got them from a pet store several weeks ago and she wasn't tame, but suddenly she's taken a liking to me so I noticed her tan belly.


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## tinyhartmouseries (Dec 30, 2010)

I just don't particularly like most PE varieties. Plus, in a litter between two black tan parents, trying for black tans, I got one kinda badly typed PE. Meh. Kinda a let down, but I will make the best of it.


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## Cordane (May 22, 2012)

Well to me, he is a definite triumph!
But think of it this way. I have yet to come across a tan anything with a solid tan belly. You get tans here with tan belly edges with a white belly and you can get ones that look almost urine stained - thats as good as it gets around here!


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