[HtrKid]

I havent had a chance to post any pictures or info about my mice or setup so i am going to do it in one post.
Also i have been calling my male and 2 females satin fawns. If you could correct me on what color they are that would be great.

This is my only male Buckwheat (ofcourse i had to put him on the pink towel.)

This is my first female Elizabeth. (she was being a spaz)

This is my second female Bella. (i think she may be pregnent)

Now this is my special girl sophe. I saved her from being eaten by her mother. I went to the pet store and saw a mother mouse eating her babies and i just had to buy the last living one.

Okay now to my setup. I currently have 2 tanks with mice in them and 3 bins for pregnant does.
This setup is under my bed. Its kinda convienent but i have to get on my knees to get to them.

These are my 2 tanks that have mice in them. The 10 gallon is my males cage but he currently has his 2 girlfriends in with him.

This is my rack for my pregnant does.

A big bag of aspen and i keep my food in quaker oats cans. Its kinda convenient.

 

[Autumn2005]

Do you worry about ventilation for your birthing dens? How do you know if you have enough air flowing? Are you worried about them chewing through the plastic?

 

[HtrKid]

There is a bunch of holes in the top and both of the long sides so i don't worry about ventilation. Also i have never had any problems with them chewing out. My mice love where they live so they have no reason to chew out. :mrgreen:

 

[windyhill]

With you being in the USA, they are most likey just Recessvies Yellows and not fawns, since true fawns are hard to find here.
I have a few cages like your ones for the pregnant does. Some mice, no matter how much they seem to love their home will chew out of them, while others wont. I have mine up on shelves just in cases they get out, they cant go any where.

 

[moustress]

I disagree, windyhill; a red-eyed mouse with orange fur is a fawn, regardless of the genotype. It may carry recessive yellow, but most likely it is A^vy, which also produces brindles but can be bred to give only fawn or red. A mouse that carries both kinds of yellow or red will have a very nice deep orange like the one shown.

 

[windyhill]

I have a red eyed doe, she looks fawn, but she is recessive yellow.
They look fawn,but when bred, they breed just like recessive yellows.
Ive never heard of a true fawn being common in the US(all the ones I know of were imported)

 

[WillowDragon]

To me personally, any type of pink eyed red can be fawn if it is the right shade. No matter the genes.

In show standards, its not always about genes... its about what looks right according to colour standard.

W xx

 

[windyhill]

Thats the way I do it as well, but for breeding purposes, I say its recessive yellow and not fawn since true fawns arent comon here and you wouldnt want someone going around and mislabling them if it can helped.
If someone asks for showing purposes, then I say Fawn(or whatever shade it matches to the standards) since shows go based on the coloring and not the genes.

 

[Erica]

I use for cages exactly what you use as birthing dens. I melt holes over the entire box, even the short sides with a soldering iron, making sure I melt a lot of holes in the top. My mice havent chewed out, and I haven't had any problem with lack of ventilation. I also keep my mice elevated, on a wire shelf, the kind you can buy at walmart, so maybe they know if they did try to escape, they wouldn't have anywhere to go, other than a long drop to the sofa.

 

[moustress]

Wire shelves are mostly what I have in my mousery. It provides for better ventilation that solid shelves, and as you point out, meeces can't go far on them. Every now and then one of 'em tries, and it's actually kind of fun to watch. From my point of view, it keeps the wild meeces off of a large proportion of my tanks. I rarely have any breakouts anymore unless I fail to secure a cage top properly.

 

[Cait]

I agree that those birthing cages look a little short on ventilation. Remember the ventilation is not just for air to get in to breathe, it allows ammonia to dissipate and prevents resp infections etc. If you could put a mesh panel or two in each tub that would do the job and is cheap to do.

 

[Autumn2005]

What do you use to cut throught the plastic? Scissors, or steak knife, saw, or what? I had a buck get out of a wire cage once, and I found him on the shelf above his cage. No idea how he got UP, but couldn't get down to the floor. It was lucky for both of us--I was able to find and catch him again, and my dogs didn't eat him. Now I keep all my mice on shelves. And he never got out of that cage again.

 

[Cait]

I have used a Dremel but other people use hot knives and soldering irons - I'm sure someone will be along to offer more advice.

 

[nanette37]

i use a soldering iron. the plastic smell is terrible and it is rather slow but if you have one that can get really hot then it should get the job done

 

[windyhill]

I use a drill for the holes on the sidesand when I cut a hole in the top for wire I use an ultility knife

 

[Matt Haslam]

I heat a knife up on the gas stove and cut through it. Make sure you have lots of ventilation!

 

[Autumn2005]

How strong does the mesh have to be for the mice not to chew out? I know someone mentioned 5mm mesh... is that how big the holes between the wires are? And you want some fairly thick mesh, right? Not something thin and pliable like window screen mesh?

 

[Cait]

The 5mm is the size of the holes, yes, 5mm square. It is not like door screen but I think in the US it's called hardware cloth. It is sold here in DIY shops and garden centres.

 

[Autumn2005]

I found some... I asked for hardware cloth and the guy didn't know what I was talking about, but when I said mesh, he pointed me in the right direction. I have the kind of mesh that is on top of the terraium (spelling always my worst subject!) and I used a hot knife to carve a hole in the top of a couple air tight pet food containers. Don't worry - it's no longer air tight, and I drilled holes in the side as well as a six-inch square of mesh on top. I'm glad I used a junk knife I bought at a thrift store, as it was all gunked up afterwards. Thanks for all the advice!