Fancy Mouse

Coat and looks how to spot one

Standard short coat; also satin, long hair, frizzie/rex (curly), and hairless

A slim, long-bodied little mouse with a racy outline, large bold eyes, big ears and a long tapering tail. Head and body are around 6-8 cm, and show mice measure about 20-23 cm from nose to tail tip. Coats range from the sleek standard to shiny satin, flowing long hair and curly frizzie types.531

Personality what they are like

Fancy mice are busy, outgoing little animals that enjoy the company of other mice. They are naturally a bit cautious as a prey species, but with gentle, patient handling they settle well with people and very seldom nip. They move fast, so they are best enjoyed by watching and by calm, low handling rather than lots of cuddling.164

Daily activity how busy a day looks

Very active, mainly at night and around dawn and dusk. Give a solid-surface running wheel, ropes, branches, tubes and tunnels to climb and run through, and scatter food so they can forage.478

Grooming and care the hands-on bits

Mice keep themselves clean, so they need no brushing. Spot-clean daily and fully clean the cage every one to two weeks, check the water bottle daily, and handle carefully and close to the ground because they move quickly.784

Home where they are happiest

A roomy, escape-proof cage (wire bar gaps under 5 mm) with at least 2 cm of dust-free bedding such as non-aspen wood chips, cellulose chips or shredded paper, plus hay or paper strips for nesting. Include hides with more than one exit, a solid wheel and climbing items. Keep it well ventilated, out of drafts and away from heat and humidity.71

Food basics what goes in the bowl

Complete commercial mouse nuggets as the main food, with small portions of fruit and vegetables counted within the daily amount. Scatter part of the ration for foraging. Clean water from a bottle with a metal spout, checked every day.8

Company who they like around

Sociable animals that need mouse company, kept in stable, compatible single-sex groups. Females usually live together more easily; males can be territorial with unfamiliar mice, so they are best kept with brothers they grew up with and away from the scent of females. Avoid adding or removing members of a settled group.61

The story where it all began

People have kept and admired mice for a very long time. The oldest known written mention appears in a version of the Erya, an ancient Chinese dictionary, dating to around 1100 BC. Japanese breeders developed coloured and fancy mice, and this stock reached Europe in the early 1600s, where it became popular. In Victorian England, Walter Maxey founded the National Mouse Club in 1895 and held its first show in Lincoln that same year. Around 1900, American fancier Abbie Lathrop bred fancy mice on her farm in Granby, Massachusetts, and her animals went on to found many of the best-known laboratory mouse strains. Today mouse clubs operate worldwide, among them the American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association, founded in 1983.12910

Recognised by the official bits

National Mouse Club (UK)

Founded in 1895 by Walter Maxey, with its first official show held in Lincoln that year; mouse clubs now exist around the world.1

American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association (AFRMA)

Recognises eight mouse varieties (Standard, Satin, Long Hair, Long Hair Satin, Frizzie, Frizzie Satin, Hairless, Frizzled) shown in five sections: Self, Tan and Fox, Marked, AOC and AOCP.5