What Kinds of Pet Mice Are There?

The most common image of a mouse is one with plain white fur and beady red eyes, but there are actually a range of different coat types and colors that pet mice come in. Fancy pet mice are available through pet stores and private breeders in a variety of different types, so there are some options to choose from when purchasing a pet mouse.

  1. Self Mice

    • Self mice are mice that are one color. The color is even across the entire body, including the ears, tail, nails and belly of the mouse. The most common colors for mice in this group are blue, black, champagne, chocolate, dove, cream, fawn, lilac, white and silver. Dark colored mice such as black, blue or chocolate typically have black eyes, and lighter colored mice such as cream and champagne can have black or pink eyes.

    Tan Mice

    • Tan mice are mice that have one solid color for most of their bodies, but their bellies are solid tan. Most tan mice have a clear demarcation line between the tan and the top color that runs along the chest and jaws and the flanks of the mouse. Aside from the tan belly, these mice are otherwise similar to self mice in coat, feed, nail and eye colors.

    Marked Mice

    • Marked mice varieties have standard or long coats and come in several different marking styles. These mice have a base coat color and a marking color. Some marked mice may have several marking colors, such as with tri-color marked mice. Types of marked mice include broken marked, Dutch, even marked, Himalayan, banded, Hereford, rump white and variegated. The color of the eyes typically corresponds to the base coat color as with self mice.

    Satin Mice

    • Satin mice have a different type of coat in comparison to self, tan and marked varieties. The coat on these mice is high sheen with a satiny or metallic gloss to it. Satin mice varieties can be found in all standard colors. Some satin varieties have specific names such as dove satin, Argente satin, ivory satin and Fawn satin. The coat on a satin mouse is shinier than the matte coats on standard mice varieties.

    AOV Mice

    • AOV stands for Any Other Variety, and this category of mice is comprised of any remaining standardized varieties of mice. Mice in this category include agouti, silver agouti, cinnamon, sable, marten sable, silver, argente, astrex, silver fox, blue point Siamese, seal point, brindle and long haired. Agouti mice have a base coat with brown or silver ticking, and cinnamon mice have brown ticking over golden tan base. Sable mice have gradual shading from dark to light, top to bottom, and marten sable mice are sepia-toned with white bellies. Varieties such as pearl, argente, silver and seal point refer to a mix of colors that blend together in mice with fancier coats such as satins.