mouse house 2.0

[Minkness]

So, I decided to get my own feeders and ended up with hairless mice, which I have really gotten attached to lol. Now that I know they will be a permanent addition to my life, I have upgraded their living space. I originally kept them in traditional wore cages...omg, total suckage! I ended up loosing one because of the AC draft ;-;.

The lady I got them from was super awesome about it though and gave me another one (it was my only boy). I then tried to put them in a tup with some air holes and a special lid, much like a snake tub...they chewed through a hole and if left in there, they would get out. Soooo, they got stuffed in a 10 gallon fish tank till I figured out what to do.

After weeks of ups and downs I finally had the time and energy (and knew I was keeping them) to figure that out. So...I got another tub! A bigger one this time to allow a bit more space to work with and help keep the draft out. There are no air holes in the side, but the lid is plenty airy enough and one well placed hole in the side allows for a water bottle!

They now have a good deal of space for themselves and future litters while in a safe place! No drafts and a locking lid so my pesky cat can't get in! He now also has fun kitty TV that doesn't get him yelled at every 5 seconds that he's in my room lol.

The green wire is an extra shelf I wired in to provide a bit more floor space and something to keep their food up and away from their litter. I'll be adding more stuff as time goes on and plan on grabbing them a small exercise wheel later (possibly tomorrow).

Here's some pics!

(Please note, I am not breeding my own feeders to save on money. I wanted small pets first and feeders second. Also plan on selling the babies locally as pets and live, fresh killed, or frozen feeders)

[lady_bug87]

That's a neat idea.

[Minkness]

Thatnks! ^_^

I'm super happy with it.

[toddnbecka]

I just keep them in the opaque $5 totes from Wal-Mart. Water bottle hangs inside, exercise wheel in each tote, and a bowl of food that gets checked/filled every few days. No lids, they can't climb or jump high enough anyway. (No cats either though...) I use cedar bedding to keep the smell down and shredded newspaper for nesting/cover. Since I buy 2 rotisserie chickens every week to make sandwiches for my lunch there's a steady supply of free hide boxes for rodents and reptiles. Biggest expense is the food, about $20/week to feed the current colony. I use 12-15 hoppers through weaned young adults, 4-8 fuzzies and 4-8 pinkies every week. With the new baby Japanese rat snakes coming Tuesday that will account for even more pinkies, which helps control the population.

[Minkness]

I thought ceder Nd pine were bad for them? I use the absorbant paper stuff. The biggest cost for me will probably be the bedding sonce I may be switching to the bakong soda infused stuff to help with smell. The food is pretty easy/cheap since I only have 1 trio for now. I have heard that it's actually better to get a tupe of bird seed then supliment with cat food for protine to help prevent canabalism of the pinkies.

[Albert Clark]

Ingenious! Nice set up. Good luck.

[prairiepanda]

Water bottle hangs inside,
^^ This. I kept my gerbils in a similar setup and I hung the water bottles inside with metal chew guards. Mink, the way you have your water bottle poking through the side creates a point where they might be able to start chewing through the bin. Other than that I love the setup!

No lids, they can't climb or jump high enough anyway. (No cats either though...)
I like adding shelves like Mink has to increase functional walking area for the animals, which makes escapes possible if no lid is used. Although I did have one big doe who destroyed any lid I used and had to be moved to a bin with no shelves...

I use cedar bedding to keep the smell down and shredded newspaper for nesting/cover.
I wouldn't use cedar around any animal at all. I put cedar in closets and such where I don't want little critters hanging around! Aspen and paper are always safe bets, though.

[Minkness]

I'll keep an eye on the hole, but it's actually very snug around the watter bottle. Also, the shelf is too far down from the lid for escapes. Made sure of that. =)