Tailess Mice

So, I've had something interesting crop up in my feeder tubs. I typically do not out-cross for several generations, so I can sometimes have neat things crop up. I've currently got a nice line of brindle that does not appear to be prone to obesity or the health problems often associated with them. I had a line of long haired mice, but they did not seem to be as hardy as my short haired line, so they were culled. Both mutations randomly popped up in my stock. Now it appears that I have a third.
The first oddness was noticed in a litter from about 2 months ago. It was a pairing between my main male and a distantly related female. The litter had one mouse with a normally developed tail, the rest consisted of offspring with tails of varying lengths. I thought that perhaps the female had been stressed at some point and had chewed on the tails. However, no scaring or partially healed patches were noticed on examination. The parents themselves do not exhibit any traits of a shortened tail. I feel that it is a possibility of the mutation being a recessive trait.

This is the only offspring left from that litter. A male. He had one litter mate that had a shorter tail, but otherwise his was the shortest of the litter.
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps0zv00nic.jpg

The next odd litter resulted in only two offspring. The same male with a half sibling. One with a normal tail, the second with a mere nub. I believe a female, but the lack of a tail makes her a bit difficult to sex/handle at this stage.

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...psghxfaqnk.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps6zopzxun.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps51r37cmh.jpg


I haven't been able to find much about them. It seems they are often plagued with back, hip and reproductive problems. The health of my stock is paramount, but I would really like to keep these two to see if this really is a genetic trait. My hang up is, of course, I don't want to breed anything with health problems. At this point she appears to be formed normally, other than the missing tail, and moves normally. The male with the slightly shortened tail has no movement or spinal issues. Anyone have any input, thoughts or ideas?

That's really interesting I'm loving the mouse with that nub! Soooo cute!


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Congratulations, you are re-creating hamsters?

You can try it and see. If it causes neurological problems, you can just feed off those mice and stop that bloodline.

Lol, she is just adorable at this point. Recreating hamsters! I might she how she grows. I will definitely watch closely before attempting any breeding.

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With tailless rats, the pelvis is usually malformed and thus, females are not bred because they end up needing c-sections to give birth.

Oddly enough, I just had a tailless rat pop up in my feeder colony. I've spent 3 years trying to find a tailless rat for a pet, so I'm quite excited to have one randomly pop up.

I use the tail to move the mouse from the tanks to the feeding tubs, not sure how you would move them without the handle LOL. Interesting though... I breed fancy mice and like to keep back all of my prettiest mice to breed, it's always surprising to see what comes out of each litter, that is if they make it past the pinky stage without being fed off LOL.

Wow! I have to say the 'Manx Mouse' is really cute! I would experiment to see if she can be bred and if the resulting Manx are healthy. Fun little project!

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

With tailless rats, the pelvis is usually malformed and thus, females are not bred because they end up needing c-sections to give birth.

Oddly enough, I just had a tailless rat pop up in my feeder colony. I've spent 3 years trying to find a tailless rat for a pet, so I'm quite excited to have one randomly pop up.

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Eek that is a definite concern then.

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Originally Posted by cchardwick

I use the tail to move the mouse from the tanks to the feeding tubs, not sure how you would move them without the handle LOL. Interesting though... I breed fancy mice and like to keep back all of my prettiest mice to breed, it's always surprising to see what comes out of each litter, that is if they make it past the pinky stage without being fed off LOL.

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I use it to keep a handle on them as well. She has been a bit of a difficult one to keep hands on.

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Originally Posted by piedlover79

Wow! I have to say the 'Manx Mouse' is really cute! I would experiment to see if she can be bred and if the resulting Manx are healthy. Fun little project!

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Thank you. She is a cutie!

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Small update. As the male grew he developed a very pronounced hip deformity. He walked with his pelvis curved inward, but his legs splayed outward. It produced an odd gait and, from the stiffness of movement, appeared painful. It got worse the larger he got. He also grew much more slowly than littermates. The female had not yet begun to exhibit any of those issues, but I felt like in all probability that she would as she grew larger. She was also smaller than her littermates.
They were culled from the colony as well as the male and the two females that produced them. I'll be bringing in some fresh bloodlines and watching for any more of these guys to pop up. Unfortunate ending, they were the cutest.

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That is very unfortunate because they were cute, but hip deformities are not something you can encourage so you did the right thing. Thanks for the update!

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Originally Posted by piedlover79

That is very unfortunate because they were cute, but hip deformities are not something you can encourage so you did the right thing. Thanks for the update!

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No, they aren't. It would not have been responsible breeding practices, nor would it have been good for the future of my colony.
Your welcome!

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I love manx rats, haha. That's the first time I've seen a manx mouse, though. I have a manx girl who has had a few litters without any issues, she's just a decently put together manx, I guess. It's too bad your mice had issues, it seems as though the manx deformity produces itself a little differently in mice? From my understanding, it's not often they pop up in rat litters, even with either visual or 'carriers' as the parents. You had a lot of weird tail stuff going on with your mice, though.. hm

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Originally Posted by Fraido

I love manx rats, haha. That's the first time I've seen a manx mouse, though. I have a manx girl who has had a few litters without any issues, she's just a decently put together manx, I guess. It's too bad your mice had issues, it seems as though the manx deformity produces itself a little differently in mice? From my understanding, it's not often they pop up in rat litters, even with either visual or 'carriers' as the parents. You had a lot of weird tail stuff going on with your mice, though.. hm

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I really couldn't find much on the issue. It does seem that they are prone to deformity, but I have not compared the issues between the two.

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Manx in US mice is dominant. Just don't breed any that are Manx and you won't have more. Some specific breeders have shipped in recessive manx (like in rats) but not many.

I have one female mouse whose tail was injured. The tail got all hard and, well... dead. I knew it would cause problems in her movement, so I took some scissors and snipped her tail off. She did not act like cutting it off caused her pain.
That was about 3 months ago, she has been doing just fine ever since. She has been normal, had babies, and has had no issues being without a tail.