Not that I am an expert by any stretch of the imagination but have just been through a similar experience though on a much less scale. Got 2 mice that were pregnant from a pet store. If you are stuck for cages/tanks you could always go along to Wilkinsons/Poundstretcher or the like and get a plastic tub for around £5. You dont really need to go to a lot of trouble with mesh and soldering irons etc etc initially. All I did at the start was get a pair of scissors and hold them in the flame on the gas cooker until they got hot and then melt holes in the plastic tub for ventilation....keep going until you have enough holes and voila you have another mouse home. It's not ideal but it certainly worked for me temporarily. Now all my babies are grown up and been sexed and split but I have kept them all. I then did feel the need to invest in a soldering iron and mesh to make more 'better' mouse houses.
Sexing wasn't all that hard for me as the boys grew these enormous testicles around the 3-4 weeks mark and the girls had easy to see nipples but of course I was checking on a daily basis.
So now I have 6 boxes with various mice in and although they aren't living in a luxury dwelling like my other mice they are certainly happy as they have lots of space and lots of toys. Interestingly I bought little cheap plastic houses from Wilkinsons and then decided to use the boxes that they came in as well as houses so they would have more and the little buggers ignore the real houses and use the boxes......in all tanks. They prefer the boxes. Bit like kids at Christmas.
Mine too ate an enormous amount of food which I was shocked (but happy) at. I also gave mine lots of other foods to 'boost' their intake .... like puppy kibble, mealworm, sunflower hearts and of course their total favourite..... cheerios !
Good luck.....
Sexing wasn't all that hard for me as the boys grew these enormous testicles around the 3-4 weeks mark and the girls had easy to see nipples but of course I was checking on a daily basis.
So now I have 6 boxes with various mice in and although they aren't living in a luxury dwelling like my other mice they are certainly happy as they have lots of space and lots of toys. Interestingly I bought little cheap plastic houses from Wilkinsons and then decided to use the boxes that they came in as well as houses so they would have more and the little buggers ignore the real houses and use the boxes......in all tanks. They prefer the boxes. Bit like kids at Christmas.
Mine too ate an enormous amount of food which I was shocked (but happy) at. I also gave mine lots of other foods to 'boost' their intake .... like puppy kibble, mealworm, sunflower hearts and of course their total favourite..... cheerios !
Good luck.....