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I notice that you don't have any replies yet, so thought I would offer what I can in terms of general advice and if you have specific questions you can always ask further. In my opinion, while the 5.5 gal may be big enough for a 1.3 colony while they are pregnant and nursing pinkies, it will be pretty crowded by the time the babies are ready to wean, especially if you are not killing most at the pinky or fuzzy stage. As long as you are taking most babies out before they are hoppers, you are likely fine. Main concern is the amount of urine that accumulates and the need to clean the cage every couple days because with 3 litters, each from 12-20 babies, that is a lot of babies in that size tank. When you get to the stage where you are weaning most of the youngsters to raise to adults, you will need several more tanks to hold them. Takes at least a couple weeks after weaning until you have a decent sized adult for feeding. I find aquariums are heavy and hard to clean and use plastic tubs for all our colonies and weaned mice. The shavings are easy to dump out, don't stick to the glass and sealant in the corners. Mice don't chew the plastic very much, but I wouldn't keep gerbils or rats in plastic.
On nutrition, a complete commercial lab block ration is definately best, but may be quite expensive if you aren't buying in bulk, and with a small number of rodents, you can stretch your $$ by using wild bird seed. The mice love it, the sunflower seeds are high fat and energy for nursing moms and it is cheap. I don't use dog food, though some people do - I find it produces greasy fur and my mice don't do well on it. I do give Milk bones for snacks though, the mice really like them. I give fresh or frozen veggies once a week, the night before cages are cleaned so that it doesn't go bad though there are never any leftover.
It is very nice of you to provide a wheel for the mice, I think they really enjoy that and though they are a pain to wash every time the cage needs cleaning, they are great for exercise. I use chapstick on the joints in the metal wheels as a safe way to prevent squeaking.
Aspen bedding is definately one of the best, but mice do fine on pine shavings which may be cheaper and we have had no problems using it for feeder colonies. Discarded paper boxes from cereal, tissues, etc make good houses that can be thrown out when the cage is cleaned. While you don't need to provide a house for them, they seem to do better with some security.
Thats all I can think of for now, but will try and help with any other questions.
Mary v.
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Mary VanderKop
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Need advice
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