Fancy mouse

[citation needed] Artificial selection in fancy mice has created numerous available fur colours.

[2] In addition to colouration, fancy mice exhibit multiple different coat types, referred to as varieties.

Most fancy mice fall under the Standard variety, meaning that their coat is short, straight, smooth, and close to the body.

The first written reference to mice kept as pets occurs in the Erya, the oldest extant Chinese dictionary, from a mention in an 1100 B.C.

[3] In Europe the breeding of fancy mice became popular through the introduction of Japanese stock in the early 17th century.

By 1895, Walter Maxey founded the National Mouse Club in Victorian England, with its first official show held in Lincoln that year.

Shows are held so competitive breeders can display their mice, where they are judged on colour, body shape and behaviour.

Bucks will often fight with and kill each other when housed together, despite being raised together, due to their very strong and unchangeable territorial instincts.

[7] However, if a buck and a doe of breeding age are put in the same cage, it is possible for them to reproduce at a maximum frequency of once every three weeks.

[citation needed] A healthy fancy mouse will live on average 18 to 30 months, depending on genetic predisposition.

[8] The most common mites in fancy mice are: Myobia musculi, Myocoptes musculinus, and Rhadfordia affinis.

A mouse set loose for exercise should be carefully observed, as they tend to scurry into a hiding spot and can be difficult to retrieve.

Overgrown teeth can cause occlusion (blockage) of the mouth, which in extreme cases can lead to starvation.

Hard foodstuffs, small pieces of wood or specially prepared blocks can suit this purpose, although some mice can grind their teeth together ("bruxing") to keep them short.

In rare cases, a mouse may not be able to gnaw effectively, either from malformed incisors or jaws, and so its teeth must be trimmed by a veterinarian.

The pups in larger litters are often weaker, smaller animals that can weaken the doe, increasing recovery time.

The ears large and tulip shaped, free from creases, carried erect with plenty of width between them.

The body should be long and slim, a trifle arched over the loin and racy in appearance; the tail, which must be free from kinks should come well out of the back and be thick at the root or set-on, gradually tapering like a whip lash to a fine end, the length being about equal to that of the mouse's body.

Unless the variety standard states otherwise, the coat should be short perfectly smooth, glossy and sleek to the hand.

A mouse with absence of whiskers, blind in one or both eyes, carrying external parasites, having a tumor, sore or legs with fur missing, suffering from any obvious disease or deformity or kinked tail shall be disqualified.

This can also help prevent predatory pets, such as cats, dogs, arthropods, snakes, and other carnivores, from killing and eating the mice.

[18] Recent research suggests that paper-pulp bedding may allow very high concentrations of ammonia to build up in cages, especially those with little ventilation.

Carrot, spinach, lettuce and other vegetables are often enjoyed by mice but should be given sparingly as such foods can result in diarrhoea and life-threatening dehydration.

[23] In order to keep variety in their diets, mice can also eat oats, oily seeds, clean eggshell, breakfast cereal, and stale bread.

House mice primarily feed on plant matter, but they will also accept meat and dairy products.

They will eat their feces to acquire nutrients produced by bacteria in their intestines, a behavior they share with rabbits and guinea pigs called coprophagy.