# Mouse size



## Erica08

Just wondering how large show mice usually are both weight and length. In pictures compared to pet mice they are huge looking.


----------



## Cait

It depends on the variety and the strain (line). For example...









The cream doe was approx 6 inches (body) plus at least the same again for the tail. The pet doe was only 15g.


----------



## Oakelm

Going to tag on to your thread with another question

Why is there such a big difference in size between a pet mouse and a show mouse?


----------



## WillowDragon

Over 100 years of selective breeding =o)


----------



## Jack Garcia

Here is another:









The brindle is a young adult whereas the PEW is an adult, but that still shows basic differences. Both are American.

As Willow said, exhibition/show mice have been bred selectively for a very long time with the specific goals of improving type to fit the standards as best as possible. Pet store or hobby mice may or may not have been bred as long (depending on individual lines), but without the same goals in mind.


----------



## Erica08

I might have to put in the effort for show line mice mine are great little guys but I just really really like the look of a big mouse


----------



## Jack Garcia

Yeah, some of the sweetest, most laid-back mice I've ever met have been petstore mice, but there's just something about the large, racy body and the prominent, well-designed head/face of a showier mouse that really appeals to me, too. Plus, I like owning animals that I know have had years or decades of hard work put into them (whether that work is my own or others'). In a weird way, it's like owning a piece of living history.


----------



## fuzzymom

Wow, that is a big mouse! Wish I could get my hands on something like that. Pet store mice are always small. I feed reptiles and when I go to the store and buy "the largest adult mice you can find" from the freezer, I come home and weigh them and they are sometimes as small as 12g. :shock: That to me is tiny for an adult! I usually consider a pet store mouse a fully grown adult when they reach 25-30g.


----------



## Oakelm

Had a weigh of a couple of mine and they are all around the 40 - 50g marker, one male that is trim in figure is 56g I must have big pet mice by the looks of it. I wonder if he has some big show mouse in his history somewhere. :think

I cant even imagine that mouse in the pic, must be as big as my hand easily.


----------



## fuzzymom

Well all the pet store mice around here top out around 35g. I had one female who I was trying to breed (agouti). I had her for months and she never gave me any babies (turned out it was the male's fault). During that time she was around 30g. When she finally got pregnant after introducing her to a 2nd male, she weighed in at 35g during the pregnancy.


----------



## Cait

When I had pet mice (I'm in the UK) they were between about 22g (blue broken satin longhair doe, if anyone is interested) and 35g (black satin banded doe). I only weighed the first couple of mice I had though so I may well have had some bigger. The mouse in the photo was 15g and she was mine (bought from a pet shop injured, rehabilitated and then rehomed to a friend who had 2 does from my first ever litter). The cream doe in the photo was weighed for comparison and was 100g. I think this is exceptional though, I'm sure that my current creams don't weigh that much!


----------



## Cathie

Wow - I had no idea show mice were so large! We only have the smaller "pet" varieties in Australia. Many are quite stunning, but the selective breeding in the fancy only goes back a couple of decades.


----------



## contraria

in DK we don't have show mouse, but we get 41g on the biggest of the pet mice frome breeders. the pet-store mice werries in sizes, my biggest is on 31g and the smålest 24 g.

wee need to inport show mice to get the size op


----------

