# Merle does



## love2read (Aug 30, 2011)

I just wanted to show off my 2 new merle does. They were both a bit small as babies, but I held off culling them in hopes that they would catch up and boy did they! They're such big, healthy girls now! They've still got alot of growing to do, but I'm so proud of them and can't wait to see how they look when they're full grown. :mrgreen:

Doe #1

























































Doe #2


















































They're from different moms(sisters), but the same dad. I'm so happy with their type!


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## Bridgette Rena (Jan 28, 2011)

They're lovely! Are these by chance descended from Melissa's mice?


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

They look very healthy; very nice!


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## Tikmio (Oct 9, 2011)

The mice are wonderful. Have you took a close look under doe 2's tail? Looks more buck to me, but I'm not sure.


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## Bridgette Rena (Jan 28, 2011)

They both look like does as far as I can see.


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## Stina (Sep 24, 2010)

Both look like does to me too. I see absolutely nothing that suggests male.

They are gorgeous girls! Bridgette, I would be willing to bet any amount of money that these are descended from melissa's mice...lol


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## Velvet_Meece (Apr 20, 2009)

Beautiful, so where does the Merle gene come from then? they look like a cross between a splashed and a tri, is it along those lines?


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## Malene (Jun 8, 2010)

Nice does. I really like the dark ears on them


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## Stina (Sep 24, 2010)

Velvet, merle is a completely unrelated gene from splashed (tricolor is just a splashed mouse that is also pied btw...splashed and tri aren't 2 separate stand alone genes). It is a recessive gene that produces patches of solid color and patches of colored and white intermingled hairs (this is called roaning) and it is visible on any color/marking of mice besides white or white patches. Sometimes merle mice don't have the solid patches and are completely roaned....and sometimes you can get a nearly solid colored animal with just a few white hairs intermingled here and there.


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## Velvet_Meece (Apr 20, 2009)

So Roan and Merle are the same thing basically? just Merle tend to have patches as well as the roaning...


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## Stina (Sep 24, 2010)

technically there is a separate roan gene that is dominant...but it may not exist in the pet trade. If you see any mouse that looks roan, is probably a roan-like merle, just lacking solid patches.


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## Bridgette Rena (Jan 28, 2011)

Stina, I figured as much, lol. Seems like Merle is popping up all over the place from her mice! Not that I'm complaining.  :lol:


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## GypsyTails (Jul 14, 2010)

:lol:

I think her mice came from Beth, but Beth's came from me! I may as well give up on self Blue/Black and focus on Merle in those colors. I'll just appreciate the selfs that pop up now and again! I now have 2 Merle bucks and 3-4 Merle does myself, after all this time. One of the does is a Merle X-Brindle too..... :lol: If I don't laugh, I'll cry! :lol:


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## Tikmio (Oct 9, 2011)

I still think I see buck...


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## Stina (Sep 24, 2010)

what makes you think buck???...there is nothing about that mouse that looks buck.


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## Tikmio (Oct 9, 2011)

The 'part' looks further down on her, but I could be wrong. I'm probably just seeing things lol.


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## Stina (Sep 24, 2010)

it isn't further down....it just looks a little wierd b/c of her coloring.


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## Tikmio (Oct 9, 2011)

Oh, hmm.


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## love2read (Aug 30, 2011)

Both parents are from Beth, but I believe they originated from Melissa's lines.

I think I'm going to be hoarding all of the merles I get for a while until I can get a nicely-established line going.

I would really appreciate any pointers you guys can offer as far as their type goes. I only have a small number of nicely-typed mice, so I don't have much to compare them to and it would really help if ya'll could point out areas where they need work so I know what to focus on! In my eyes they're already perfect, lol, but I'm sure they need improvement somewhere. :lol:


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## The Boggit keeper (Mar 5, 2010)

Congrats- such pretty girls


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## Stina (Sep 24, 2010)

For what they are (that being dark and patterned)...they are pretty outstanding for type...the biggest thing I see needing improvement is that their eyes look pretty small. Show mice should have nice big eyes. Beyond that...a little exaggeration of most everything else would improve them a bit...larger ears...slightly lower ear set...slightly thicker tails with longer sets....slightly wider muzzles... Overall I think they are very nice though...the eyes are probably the biggest thing I'd focus on in the immediate future.


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## Bridgette Rena (Jan 28, 2011)

@ Gypsy- Oh noooo! But you has such pretty standard babies. I have almost pretty much given up on standard blue right now because I lost two of my blue does and the blue buck.  So you must continue so I can steal some from you again sometime.

@ loves2read- I am hoarding mine too! Lol. I don't have much critique (I am still learning myself). I do notice so far in my lines that the merles seem significantly smaller than their standard siblings... Has anyone else noticed this?


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## love2read (Aug 30, 2011)

Thank you Stina! I'll definitely put the eyes as #1 on my list.  Since the girls were both "runts" that would probably explain the lack of tail thickness. Hopefully once they're done growing all of those little things will have gotten slightly bigger. I'll have to take pics of their brothers for comparison. They look more like Roan then Merle, but are bigger in all aspects.

I'm going to have fun going through all my mice to find the biggest eyes, lol.

Bridgette- my girls are both smaller, but the boys are normal-sized for their age(in comparison to other equally-typey bubs).


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## GypsyTails (Jul 14, 2010)

Bridgette Rena said:


> @ Gypsy- Oh noooo! But you has such pretty standard babies. I have almost pretty much given up on standard blue right now because I lost two of my blue does and the blue buck.  So you must continue so I can steal some from you again sometime.


Yeah, both of my Blue studs obviously carry Merle, and the beautiful self girls I now have had Merles as siblings, so they probably carry Merle too. I have a Silver Satin doe who has a 50% chance of carrying Merle, so I won't be surprised if Merle pops up in her litter, especially since the buck I was going to pair her with carries Merle. At least I haven't had spots, RY or Chocolate in a very long time! :lol:


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

GypsyTails said:


> Bridgette Rena said:
> 
> 
> > At least I haven't had spots, RY or Chocolate in a very long time! :lol:


Now you did it! You realize what's going to pop up by surprise in your next litter, don't you? That being said, I'd love to see what an RY merle looks like...


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