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Post by Chelsea on Apr 2, 2010 20:49:44 GMT -5
Is it possible to keep and breed mice outside?
My dad probably wont let me start breeding mice again inside, because last time I tried it smelled horrible and they all ended up dying.... but if I could find a way to keep them outside then he would let me.
Is it possible? What kind of material should the cage be made out of? To put wire mesh on it the spacing would have to be reeeally small.... but I cant not have it becuase it needs ventilation... plus it would get way to hot without "windows".
We dont have a shed, if I did I would breed them in there in regular cages. Would keeping them in regular tanks outside work? I would have to make something to keep predators out and somehow keep them cool enough in the summer heat.... any ideas?
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Post by fuzzymom on Apr 5, 2010 16:40:43 GMT -5
I find that any temperature over 80 halts production or severely slows it so if you plan on housing them outside, you might want to take that into consideration. I was told a temperature between 65 and 78 is a good temp to breed rodents. Also take weather into account. If you are housing them in tanks, the glass would hold the heat and your rodents could die. If it rains, the mesh lids would let the water in and your rodents could drown. Without some kind of shed, breeding rodents outside just won't work in my opinion. If you could build or purchase a small shed and insulate it and ventilate it well, you might be able to get a colony going outside the home.
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Post by Chelsea on Apr 5, 2010 17:52:32 GMT -5
I find that any temperature over 80 halts production or severely slows it so if you plan on housing them outside, you might want to take that into consideration. I was told a temperature between 65 and 78 is a good temp to breed rodents. Also take weather into account. If you are housing them in tanks, the glass would hold the heat and your rodents could die. If it rains, the mesh lids would let the water in and your rodents could drown. Without some kind of shed, breeding rodents outside just won't work in my opinion. If you could build or purchase a small shed and insulate it and ventilate it well, you might be able to get a colony going outside the home. Yea, thats what I thought. I was just kind of hoping there was some way it would be possible. Oh well. Question... kind of off topic. How much does breeding a small colony of mice smell? I mean, I remember when I had hamsters a long time ago they smelled really bad. But now that I had 3 of them all in the same tank, they dont smell at all. Literaly, I can only smell them if I stick my nose right above the lid and sniff lol The room doesnt smell bad or anything. The litter I use is the same stuff I use in the ferrets litter pan (Cell-sorb) which is amazing. Ive had them since friday, and I only scooped out a tiny wet spot in the corner where they went potty in, but still there is hardly any odor. I remember hearing male mice can smell bad... but with really good odor control litter would a small colony smell bad?
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Post by fuzzymom on Apr 6, 2010 10:30:44 GMT -5
I can honestly say that using the right kind of litter solves most if not all your smell issues when breeding mice. What you have should work well for mice but this combination I use lets the mice go up to a week without any kind of smell issues. Wood pellet bedding (the kind they use for horse stalls). It is incredibly cheap at $7 for a 40lb bag. Extremely absorbent and soaks up a lot of the smell from mice. I then add a layer of pine shavings or aspen bedding on top for comfort.
Mice only smell bad when you let their bedding go for too long. I've had people tell me "Oh mice smell horrible" and when they post pictures of their set up, they either do not clean on a weekly basis (I clean sooner if the bedding is getting dirtier before a week is up) or they use those soft bedding brands you find at Petsmart. (Carefresh and such) Those do not help with smell at all.
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Post by Chelsea on Apr 7, 2010 11:05:03 GMT -5
I can honestly say that using the right kind of litter solves most if not all your smell issues when breeding mice. What you have should work well for mice but this combination I use lets the mice go up to a week without any kind of smell issues. Wood pellet bedding (the kind they use for horse stalls). It is incredibly cheap at $7 for a 40lb bag. Extremely absorbent and soaks up a lot of the smell from mice. I then add a layer of pine shavings or aspen bedding on top for comfort. Mice only smell bad when you let their bedding go for too long. I've had people tell me "Oh mice smell horrible" and when they post pictures of their set up, they either do not clean on a weekly basis (I clean sooner if the bedding is getting dirtier before a week is up) or they use those soft bedding brands you find at Petsmart. (Carefresh and such) Those do not help with smell at all. Really? YAY! Thats great news for me then, cause now hopfully I can convince my dad to let me try breeding mice again since I can promise it wont smell horrible like it did when I tried the first time (I used regular old pine shavings...) I just looked online at tractor supply & I found the horse bedding stuff, I cant believe its only $7 for a 40lb bag! Is that stuff similar to Cell-sorb? Cell-sorb is what Im using now and it works great, there is no smell at all... but it is deffinitely more expencive than the horse pellets so if they work good too then that would be great. Where do you get your mice from? If Im going to start breeding again I dont want to waste money on mice just to have them die like they did last time. I got them all from the same pet store, Im not sure if I did something wrong or if they were already sick/old at the pet store. The guy said none of them ever bred there so he didnt know if it would work but I tried anyways cause I just figured they didnt breed there because there were so many mice on a tiny cage and they were all stressed out. Maybe they were just old? The pet store is under new management now, which is great becuase they take much better care of the animals. They still sell puppies and ferrets (which I hate & am comepltly againsnt...) but they got new cages that are much much bigger and they are cleaner and not overcrowded. So should I try getting the mice from this pet store? Or should I get them somewhere else?
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Post by fuzzymom on Apr 12, 2010 9:19:03 GMT -5
As long as they are not terribly expensive, you could try using mice from that store again. I have never used cell-sorb so I'm not sure if they are similar.
Another key part of keeping the smell down is ventilation. (I completely forgot to mention this!) If you can, avoid glass tanks like the plague. I use something that is cheaper, easier to clean, and provides much more ventilation than a glass tank. It is a plastic tub made into a mouse enclosure. I'm actually making one today so I can take pictures of exactly how I put it together and set it up. This one will be for rats, but it can work for both. Glass tanks do not provide the right kind of air flow so the smell just sits in the tank. If you have ventilation from the side, the cage airs out constantly, so it hardly smells at all. Combined with the right kind of bedding and you shouldn't smell a thing unless you don't clean it.
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