Fancy mice type examples: show type vs. pet type

Are you a mouse breeder, or just very interested in the world of mice? If so, knowing about type is exceptionally important in understanding what a mouse is, where it's from, and what it's for.

in this video, I provide examples and surface-level explanations of both show and pet type mice, and explain coat varieties.

here is a brief written synopsis of the important info!
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Mice-unlike dogs, cats, ducks, sheep, and other domesticated animals- are not sorted in to categories by "breed". Instead, we separate mice by characteristics called "type", "variety", "color" and "marked varieties". it may sound confusing, but because of the speed with which mice breed, (and how quick it is to change and integrate new blood into mouse lines) very few breeders actually aim for and keep blood lines pure enough to create any defined or unqiue "breed".
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●Type: The body plan of the mice, including ear set, tail set, body shape, size, jaw and facial structure. Type is achieved by breeders depending on their goals for the mice, and the names of "types" reflect this. We have "show type", "pet type", "feeder type", and "lab strains". Many breeders just simplify it to two types, with show mice being any well-bred show mice, and pet type reffering to any other mice. This is a bit vague in my opinion, as there are many good breeders who breed for mice that are better than breeder mills or feeder bins, but aren't quite show type. This is why I prefer to also include feeder type, to refer to mice that aren't bred for health or temperament.

●Show type mice: Large, smooth, and elegant, with long tails, large, saucer-like ears, wide, elegant faces and a sleek coat.
● Pet type mice: huge variety of body types as there is bi soecific goal or stsbdar beyond health and temperament. They are generally smaller than show type mice, with stick-on short tails, small ears that vary in shape, pointed noses and more athletic, lightweight or chunky, chill builds. they often have winky eyes.

Neither type is necessarily better or worse; they're just meant for different purposes.

If you're a show breeder or want to aim for show mice, then other show mice are your best option for breeding stock. If you want to breed cute pets, then any mice will do as long as they're friendly and healthy. If you want feeders, you probably want to avoid show mice, as they are slow-breeding and slow-growing(the opposite of what a feeder breeder wants). Other feeder mice will do just fine for a feeder colony, and may even be better as many feeder breeders purposefully select for larger litters and good milk production. Finding friendly and healthy stock will still be valuable though, as friendly, healthy mice are easier to work with and handle. And of course, if you're breeding mice for science, you will likely need very specific strains, and will know exactly what stock you need(I hope😅).
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●Variety refers to the coat type of a mouse. There are many coat varieties, and a mouse of any type can come in any variety.

some varieties include standard(short, sleek coat), angora(long coat), satin(hollow shiny coat), hairless(little to no fur), rex(curly, short), texel(curly, long), frizzle(short crimped curls), etc.

marked refers to whether or not a mouse has markings. for this, we have "self"(one color all over, no markings), "agouti"(wild type, each hair is a mix of two colors), "brindle"(orange base with agouti stripes), "umbrous"(yellow with a gradient up to dark black/brown on the spine), "splash"( referring to splashes of color caused by the splash gene on a c-dilute, looks like a spilled paint bucket over the mouse.), "pied"(spotted mice, can be low-expression or high-expression), and the list goes on.


●So, if you have a mouse in front of you, you wouldn't call it any one "breed". Instead you'd combine its type, color, marking, and variety together and call it that. For example in the video, I show these mice:

-show type siamese satin
-show type siamese self
-pet type satin angora recessive yellow
-pet type satin tricolor
pet type siamese dominant hairless

There are a few default colors, varieties and types. Typically if a mouse isn't show type, or if they're an in-between, you just leave the type off. If a mouse is black-based, you also don't have to refer to the color. if a mouse is standard-coated, you can also usually leave that off.

For example, one of the show type siamese in the video above is black-based, marked/diluted by siamese, and has a standard coat. I'd just refer to her as a Show type siamese.

if she were blue, I'd call her a show type blue point siamese

Hopefully that helps you name and classify mice you come across!

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