Fancy mice come in an assortment of wonderful colors and markings. Solid colors include: black, blue, chocolate, dove, silver, champagne, lilac, red, white and cream. These solid colors can be combined with two belly colors to create interesting coat patterns. The two belly colors are tan and white.

Other coat patterns and colors include agouti, argente, pearl, bone, beige, coffee, Siamese, Himalayan and sable. The coats may have a flat sheen or a satin sheen, which gives a silky shine to the coat. Fancy mice can have short hair, long hair, curly hair, frizzy hair or no hair. They can have pink or black eyes.

When you decide to purchase a fancy mouse, look around and ask about the breeding, origin and personalities of the mice. In California, the only legal pet mouse is the fancy mouse (Mus musculus[ital]). Other states allow many kinds of mouselike rodents as pets: jumping mice, pocket mice, grasshopper mice, white-footed or deer mice, harvest mice, spiny mice and assorted dwarf mice, to name a few. A note of caution: Mice that come to the public market from laboratories or as feeders often have not been bred for temperament or health. To have healthy fancy mice, start with healthy fancy mice. If you buy from a breeder, you have a better chance of obtaining a healthy pet.

Both sexes of fancy mice are inquisitive and make excellent pets. Fancy mice are social and do well in pairs of two females or one male and one female. If you do not want your pets to breed, make sure you have two females. Though mice also do well in groups with one male and several females, rarely will two males live together without seriously injuring or killing each other. If kept singly, fancy mice usually become nervous and do not thrive.

Author(s): Tina Bolton

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