Feeder Mice Setups

[ejh805]

Hello again everyone

Happy Tuesday!

I just set up my first ever "breeding racks" for feeder mice.
Was wondering if any of you had experience and could give me advice/ constructive criticism based on my current setup.
I read up quite a bit and did what I could with the funds I had. Previously all the girls and their two boys were in a spare 29 gallon aquarium (what a pain in the butt!!)

This is how I have them set up now (btw, this is very thick plastic. Not the clear/flexible stuff the cheaper "storage racks" are made out of. Also, it's too deep for them to climb or jump out)-





The two bottom racks are occupied each by one male and three females.


And the top one is full of food and supplies

There's pretty decent airflow b/c of the holes for handles, plus the tops of the bottom two racks are not obstructed or sealed up by anything.

Please let me know what you think, and if anything absolutely NEEDS to be changed either to prevent escape or injury to the mice.

[demon amphibians]

keep in mind if you put to many together they WILL cannibalize. Especially if they are stressed. I learned the hard way and it was pretty disgusting. They will also eat news papers and cardboard items you might want to avoid those, they wont harm the mice so much but the animals you are feeding them to might not be so good for.

[ejh805]

I read that shredded newspaper could be used as bedding for feeders. Guess I will have to shell out for something different. And yep I've kept cannibalism in mind. I won't let them get overcrowded. Got an extra 29gal sitting around if I need to use it again, plus plenty of people willing to take free mice for their herps.
So far as stress, they're in a room that only I go in and maybe once a day at most.

[demon amphibians]

well sounds like you are well prepared. good luck and if things work out well enough for you i might consider doing the same. Of course i would need some helpful advice.

[ejh805]

Well if things work out for me I'd be happy to give you any advice I can offer

[fish4all]

Corn cob bedding works great for rodents. Is very clean, absorbs odors and is easy to deal with, in my experience anyway.

[ejh805]

Corn cob bedding works great for rodents. Is very clean, absorbs odors and is easy to deal with, in my experience anyway.

I used to keep my pet dumbo rats on corn cob bedding until the texture of it caused sores to develop on their feet and tails.
When I took them to the vet, he asked what their bedding was and how often I cleaned. Bc of cleaning frequency I was told the problem was with the texture of the corn cob bedding.

Although since mice are significantly lighter, it may not cause that problem with them.
I'd be willing to give it a trial run.

[fish4all]

That's interesting, I have never had problems with it raising rats, mice, gerbils and hamsters in the past. Might be they just have soft feet but is good information.

[ejh805]

So I found some chew marks and shredded plastic this morning.
Looks like the mice in the bottom drawer used the water bottle to climb up. Fortunately there are none missing.


You can kinda see the chew marks and plastic dust from being chewed.

So I created something to put around the water bottle to make it so if one did climb up it wouldnt be able to get all the way up.
Please let me know if this looks like it'd detour escapees. I'm not very good at this kind of thing.


Please let me know if it still looks escapable, and what I could do to fix it cheaply.

*I also rubbed Thai dragon pepper juice from my pepper plant on the handle. Thought the taste/smell might keep them off if my contraption doesn't work.

[reptilia5]

I used that same setup when my Dumeril's boa was still on mice. It works out good for breeding mice but be cautioned: if you keep large constrictors it is very easy for them to get inside! My Dum got out one night when I was at work and slipped inside the middle drawer,then proceeded to eat a mamma mouse and all 8 pinkies! A frantic search of my apt. turned up a fat and happy Dum inside the the drawer! It was quite an interesting shock. Otherwise it is a convenient set up for breeding mice. I had great success using it for mouse breeding,but then my Dum moved on to rats so now I breed rats. Best of luck with your new setup.