| Mice: Housing | |
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There are several methods of housing mice and they will be discussed in this section.
1. Glass aquariums: A big advantage of an aquarium is that with a good screen lid that locks well, it is almost impossible for a mouse to escape from an aquarium. Also, it has a good, clear view through which you can see your mice play. Some disadvantages of glass aquariums are that they are heavy to carry and they don't provide much air circulation. 2. Wire cages: An advantage that this type of cage has is that they provide a lot of air circulation, preventing the accumulation of ammonia and other toxins that can pose a threat to your pet's health. A big disadvantage that this type of cage has with mice is that young and small mice can easily escape from them. I've seen a young mouse pass through a piece of 1cm x 1cm wire mesh! If you decide to get a wire cage, make sure that it's designed for rodents and not for birds. A wire cage designed for rodents will have a plastic cover around the bottom to allow placing bedding. Also make sure that the wire spacing is small enough so that the mice can't get out. It's a good idea to buy some screen mesh and cover the cage with it. 3. Plastic commercial cages (Habbitrail, Crittertrail, ect.): These type of cages are very pretty, but, in my opinion, not suitable to house mice. First, mice can get out easily by squishing themselves through the bars (in the ones that have bars) or chewing their way out through the plastic. Second, they seem to be easy to open by your critter, allowing it to escape. Also, the tubes and parts are hard to clean thoroughly, which makes them be smelly all the time. I highly suggest that you don't use this type of housing for mice. An alternative housing I use is plastic sterilite/rubbermaid bins, adapted as cages. This is a cheap way of giving your pets lots of space. An aquarium or cage the same size of a sterilite bin will cost very expensive, so if you, like in my case, have a high number of animals, this is a very good option for you. Another plus of a bin is that it's very light to carry and easy to clean.
Click here to
see the construction of a sterilite bin cage or
click here
to see some of my rodent setups and some toys ideas.
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