Overview

I've always been passionate about animals. I don't know that I can tell you why except that it feels internal. Not that it can't be acquired, I don't think that, but it's always been natural for me. I can truly say that animals make life better!

Details

WHAT IS A FANCY MOUSE? Fancy mice are bred with the aim of attaining standards specified by fanciers organizations such as the National Mouse Club in England. They hold shows just like rat or dog shows where mice are judged according to those standards. There are many different color varieties, as well as coat types. Included in these are Satin (the coat has a high gloss, almost metallic iridescent finish best seen on lighter varieties), Longhaired and Astrex (wavy coat with curly whiskers, ideally with the coat in rosettes like the Astrex cavy). Fancy mice are members of the species Mus Musculus, being descended from the House Mouse (also Mus Musculus) along with the laboratory mouse and ordinary pet mouse. However, selective breeding has produced fancy mice that look quite different from their pet and laboratory counterparts. Besides the range of colors and coat types (some of which were first found in laboratory mice, such as the Satin coat mutation), fancy mice are larger than other mice (other things being equal, size is considered a virtue in competitions) and have longer tails and larger ears. The overall effect is to make the fancy mouse far prettier than any of its close relatives. They can have other advantages over ordinary mice, too. Show mice need to be in peak condition as well as being in good health, so, normally, fanciers would only breed from robust, healthy mice; there is no room in the stud for weak or sickly animals. There is a large hereditary element to the functioning of the immune system, so fancy mice should be healthier than ordinary mice on the basis of generations of selective breeding. Because fancy mice need to accept being handled by strangers at shows, they may also be more docile and easily tamed than ordinary pet mice. A fancy mouse that is particularly nervous or hard to handle would not normally be bred from in case these characteristics were passed on to its offspring. This is in contrast to the ordinary pet mouse, which may have been bred for snake food so the breeder has no reason to select for health or temperament.