Sable
Sable bred by Sarah Yeomans
The sable variety pre-dates the formation of the National Mouse Club (1895) and was developed by Walter Maxey during the 1880s. In 1903 in his book How to Breed and Exhibit Fancy Mice & Rats, he stated: "They are a very pretty variety of mouse, and one that I have been a constant admirer and breeder of for a score of years. How they first originated I cannot truthfully say. This is buried in oblivion. It is so many years ago since I first bred them that I have quite forgotten how they were produced, though I have a slight recollection of their coming from a lot of mice that I had running about in a large cage. The mice being principally blacks and reds, I have a slight remembrance of the young reds starting to come of a sooty or cloudy colour. Those I know I used to call sooty fawns (or sooty reds, as they would now be known). The mice in the cage were, of course, breeding anyhow, no care being taken of them, the young ones only being taken away, and now and again the old ones. This all happened long before we ever thought of exhibiting our pets. Such a haphazard way of breeding would not do at all now, unless you were breeding to sell to dealers. Then size and colour are no matter at all, quantity being the principal point aimed at."
"As already stated, the mice in the large cage all running together produced young of a sooty red colour. Later these were done away with, only a few of the best being kept. I believe that from these mice my sables were produced."
Maxey then went on to lament the problems caused in sables by moult: "A sable's colour soon changes. One that looked simply lovely at one show will have quite changed before it can be sent out again. The colour will become patchy, and the mouse will most likely change into a medium coloured specimen before it has finished changing its coat. I really ought to say by the time it has finished changing its colour, for really the colour of the fur seems to change from dark to light, or vice versa. This is very singular. When a sable mouse has its full coat, and is not due to moult again for some time to come, its colour will all at once commence to change. In fact, I have sent a beautiful dark mouse to a show, and by the time it has returned to me again it has been quite patchy in colour, and did not look like the same specimen."
The modern exhibition sable mouse is a product of black tan and red, or a^t and A^y genetically speaking, with umbrous. This produces a dark top, which gradually shades into a rich tan belly. The NMC used to recognise sables in dark, medium and light shades, but the current standard no longer does so.
Unfortunately, sables have the same issues as red mice with obesity and reduced fertility. Any breeder working with them should be aware of this and try to select mice that remain at an acceptable size for as long as possible.
Other colours of sable are possible, but not standardised in the UK. Common faults include poor type and shading not fully encompassing the whisker bed and nose area, with pigment separating (see photo below).
If an outcross is needed, the obvious choices are the black tan and red, depending on the characteristics to be improved upon. Avoid mice that carry chocolate as this will make the sables lighter and make it difficult to achieve the dark back, which the standard states should be "as dark as possible".
Maxey then went on to lament the problems caused in sables by moult: "A sable's colour soon changes. One that looked simply lovely at one show will have quite changed before it can be sent out again. The colour will become patchy, and the mouse will most likely change into a medium coloured specimen before it has finished changing its coat. I really ought to say by the time it has finished changing its colour, for really the colour of the fur seems to change from dark to light, or vice versa. This is very singular. When a sable mouse has its full coat, and is not due to moult again for some time to come, its colour will all at once commence to change. In fact, I have sent a beautiful dark mouse to a show, and by the time it has returned to me again it has been quite patchy in colour, and did not look like the same specimen."
The modern exhibition sable mouse is a product of black tan and red, or a^t and A^y genetically speaking, with umbrous. This produces a dark top, which gradually shades into a rich tan belly. The NMC used to recognise sables in dark, medium and light shades, but the current standard no longer does so.
Unfortunately, sables have the same issues as red mice with obesity and reduced fertility. Any breeder working with them should be aware of this and try to select mice that remain at an acceptable size for as long as possible.
Other colours of sable are possible, but not standardised in the UK. Common faults include poor type and shading not fully encompassing the whisker bed and nose area, with pigment separating (see photo below).
If an outcross is needed, the obvious choices are the black tan and red, depending on the characteristics to be improved upon. Avoid mice that carry chocolate as this will make the sables lighter and make it difficult to achieve the dark back, which the standard states should be "as dark as possible".