[Autumn2005]

The doe's mother, the grey that I still have, she's very fat, and she doesn't use the wheel in her cage. I thought it was just her, but you're saying that it's a predisposition? So will she be good to breed again, or will her first litter be her last? I was hopping for another fawn brindle from her.

 

[Autumn2005]

I thought of something else, too. The doe has a white belly. Is that typical of brindles, or is that a sign of a different gene? Like a fox or white belly agouti? But agouti is dominant over brindle, right? So she can't be an agouti if she produced 4 brindles? The doe that died, her belly wasn't white but it was much lighter than her back. Also, she doesn't look like a fox. The grey fades gradually to white, not an abrupt line like the other foxes I've seen.

 

[windyhill]

Some breeders put their brindles on a diet,etc, but usually they all get fat, no matter what is done.
She may or may not be able to breed again. It seems all tey get bigger they become less fertile and harder to breed, but sometimes you can get lucky.
Most of my brindles have white bellies, but they arent fox. Its common for them to have white bellies, either solid or with some stripes on them.

Brindle is dominant over agouti.
She can be agouti and still be a brindle (either marked or unmarked)

Agouti brindle: Avy/A B/* C/* D/* P/*

 

[Autumn2005]

Thanks for the help with brindles. I put her on a diet for a while, but I can only do it when she's by herself in a cage. I did get her weight down, but then she started getting scabs between her shoulders, and when I put her back in the big cage with other does and didn't worry about her weight, the scabs went away. This may sound funy, but is there a way for force her to exercise? She doesn't use the wheel, and won't use the ball. I think she'd be healthier if she ran around more, but she doesn't :? .

 

[windyhill]

Your welcome.
if you ever have any other questions about brindles, feel free to ask.
I've never tried to force a mouse to exercise, and Im not sure if you can or not.

 

[moustress]

Diet probably won't make any difference. Chances are that here in the US, she's A^vy not lethal A^y. the white on the belly doesn't mean anything other than she's a marked brindle. If she's not too fat to physicallyj achieve the necessary act, she'll do fine having another litter. At least, she's no more likely to have problems than any other healthy doe. My brindles have not had a tendency to get tumors, as a matter of fact I can't think of even one whose had them, but then, I use a corn free diet, which minimizes the chances to near zero.

The corn free diet really does work; I haven't had a tumor except for a couple during a period I was feeding my mousies whole oats that was later found to contain broken pieces of corn. I was so pissed at the feed mill; now I hand sort all the grain in order to remove the corn plus any other stuff I wouldn't feed my mousies.

 

[windyhill]

I havent had a tumor in my lines, but I know that theres some other breeders who do.
Alot of breeders swear by having their brindles on a diet they dont get as big, but who knows.
and as for breeding, Ive found that as my bucks got bigger and older then 6 months, they were less fertile.
Never tested it with a doe, I just breed my brindle does once and thats usually it, but Ive heard other breeders say that they can usually only get 1 litter from a brindle doe.

 

[moustress]

I had a broken brindle doe I got from a pet store who developed a tumor. I bred her and it disappeared. When the babies were weaned, it showed up again, so I bred her again, and it went away again, so I bred her again...then I let her go after weaning the last litter until the tumor got bad enough that it was causing discomfort. Snirkle was her name, a very nice slim brindle she was too, so that obesity wasn't a factor as far as the tumor went.

 

[Autumn2005]

If that's true, too bad. I usually leave my does with the buck for one week, and they start to show by 2 weeks, but maybe I'll try leaving her with the buck until I'm sure she's pregnant. If I don't get another brindle... . She was a really lucky find, and her daughter was beautiful.

 

[moustress]

I've been criticized for leaving the buck in through the birth and letting the doe have a second litter right away, if that happens. half the time it does happen, and I think it is actually healthy for the whole 'family' as the young boys get to see their dad helping to take care of the new babies and make better mousie daddies themselves. I've bred for nonviolent males, some of whom live peaceably with their sons long after all the girls have gone to other tanks. I see it as modeled behavior, in the sociological sense of the phrase.