dark mice vs white mice

RodentPro sells 9 sizes of mice. For most of the sizes the dark mice are more expensive. Why? Any ideas? Supply & demand? Dark mice less prolific?

They are the same exact species, identical nutrient value; only difference is the color of the fur. So why the price difference?

Also, does anybody have or has anybody had Corns that preferred dark vs white? I could certainly understand WC Corns, who have never ever seen a white mouse, preferring dark. But nowadays most Corns are CBB or at least CB and started on pinkies, which are, well, pink in color.

I think (I could be wrong) that white mice are generally from lab bred lines that are bred to produce more, and so there is a larger supply of them.

I've never had any Corns that have been picky about rodent coloring, but I have had some Carpet Pythons that were.

I have a few colonies of fancy mice, so I get all kinds of colors, so my Corns are accustomed to that.

Just about all the mice for sale at the big suppliers either are directly from labs or are from the genetic strains originated for lab use.
Since the first lab mouse strain was white, Onocomouse?, there are more lines derived from that genetic lineage in use. Each genetic line is created to test a different issue. They have names like C57 (black mice that are commonly used in obesity/diabetes studies) or BALB (used in cardiac and arthritis studies). The more studies using a given strain the more available and cheaper the off cast mice will be. Simple supply and demand at work. Just about all the strains are developed with high rates of reproduction in mind. I've never seen anything with regard to fertility rates being a problem with black mice so I doubt that plays a big role.

As for snakes being fussy about the color of their food, I always thought that was BS when I heard people say it but now that I have experienced it for myself I have to admit it's true, to an extent. We are assuming it's a visual thing but it might be a smell that the animals are giving off that is different. Given that some strains of black mice are used for the study of diabetes maybe they have a sweet smell much like the breath of people with the illness. I don't know the answer and it's easy enough to just give the fussy eater a white mouse instead.

Terri

Thank you that was informative. I never realized that feeder mice were a byproduct of lab mice; makes sense.