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carcer
Fri Oct 28, 2005 10:37 pm
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dragynflye
Fri Oct 28, 2005 10:45 pm
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 RE: Good Mouse Cages |
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i have the first one, the "gunea pig" cage. i use it for quarentine and transportation. it's painted, not powder coated, a bit bent out of shape, rusting in places, and waaaaaaaaaaaaay over priced! it's a good thing this one was given to me, 'cause i never would have paid the price they are asking for it! for just a bit more you could get a martin's r-660, which is bigger, better built, and has a ramp and shelve. that's what i would do if i had those choices in front of me. but then i don't have mice (yet) so i can't tell you from experience which would be better for them, i'm just going off the whole "bigger is better" idea.
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i miss you dove, oz, briar and fern. liam, my love, i 'll never forget you. |
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serendipityrodentry
Fri Oct 28, 2005 11:18 pm
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Actually, the only one of those cages that might be okay would be the first one. The Critter Trails can be good cages, but they are a real pain to put together and hard to clean.
Save yourself some money and buy a 10gal tank with a lid. They are extremely easy to clean, fairly escape proof with the right lid, and very inexpensive. You can get a 10gal tank for $10 and the lid for $6 at Wal-Mart. You can also find them at pet stores, but they tend to cost a little more.
All of my mice are kept in tanks of different sizes, and I have never had any problems with them. No escapes whatsoever, and since the walls are solid they keep all the bedding in, as opposed to wire cages where the bedding gets pushed out constantly - giving you more to clean up.
_________________
Shanna
~ Serendipity Rodentry ~ |
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rattie_dreams
Sat Oct 29, 2005 2:52 am
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I would only use the first one for mice. Those critter trails may look good to us, but that's all! As serendipity said, they are a pain to put together and clean. And honestly, mice don't really like them. I have a habitrail which is similar, and only use it in emergencies, or while cleaning the normal cage. I took the tubing off as it gets too smelly too quick.
I agree- get a tank with a lid. Or, even cheaper, one of those storage containers and convert it to a cage by cutting a hole in the lid/sides and attaching mesh. They are lighter than a glass tank, and you can get a bigger one alot cheaper. And the litter won't be kicked all over the floor.
_________________
*~*~*~*~*~Hayley & her vermin friends~*~*~*~*~* |
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wade
Sat Oct 29, 2005 5:05 am
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Yep, I too had a crittertrail and it was a pain - fell completely apart every time I clean it.
I now have a 15 gallon aquarium attached to a Habitrail Mini (with a shelf added) and a HM Maze with quite a few tubes. The Habitrail parts are relatively easy to clean (rounded corners, locking tube connectors and the tubes split in half for cleaning which the critter trails won't do) but the more tubes you have, the longer it takes, no matter how easy it is. Fortunately my girls rarely pee in the tubes, so I only have to scrub those about once every three weeks. Fortunately, my mice pee almost exclusivey in the "Outpost" latrine, which is really simple to take off so I can clean that every two or three days and extend major cage cleaning. Overall, the mice do really prefer the smaller habitrail and maze parts over the larger aquarium section and spend 75% of their waking hours running back and forth between the smaller cage sections.
So for me, it'd be a real toss up if I had to choose one. The aquariums are a lot simpler, but the mice prefer the cozier locations and ability to climb.
This might also be somthing to look into. http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441807844&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302039682&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023695&bmUID=1130547041322 I saw it at our Petsmart and it has some of the "cosier" features the Habitrail has like a lower ceiling, and you can also add onto it. Price seemed decent, too. However, I didn't take it off the shelf and check it out in detail, so you may want to look at in in person to make sure bar spacing, etc is mouse appropriate. Just another thought.
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rat_hammie_lover05
RP Supporter
Sat Oct 29, 2005 5:17 am
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I have two of the cages that wade was talking about. I used them for hamsters though. I think the would be good for mice, and of course you can add other things to it.
_________________
33 rats
5 mice
4 hammies
4 Dogs
3 guinea pigs
3 rabbits
1 cat
R.I.P. Sebastian, Brently, & Bethoveen |
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wade
Sat Nov 05, 2005 7:40 pm
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As an update, I was in Petsmart again and looked closer at that cage I mentioned. It does have awfully large wire spacing at the edge of the top grid. Pretty sure it would need to have a layer of smaller mesh attached so mice didn't escape.
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JessicaReed
Wed Dec 07, 2005 6:24 am
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I definately wouldn't get a CritterTrail. They're difficult to clean, and mice have a strong odor in my opinion, and the plastic tunnels need wiped out constantly because they're horribly ventilated and the plastic holds odor unless you use dilluted bleach or something. HabiTrails are a better pick, but still a pain in the fanny. If I were you I'd get either a plastic storage container, Handi-Maid, preferably, and drill holes in the sides and top about a centimeter from top to bottom of the holes. you can get double sided super thick & sticky tape (people use those to put plastic hooks on the backs of doors and such) for the water bottle if the container is too tall for it to hang down at a reasonable level. Buuut, if you want an attractive cage, get a ten gallon tank for two mice. I would never get an odd number of pets, though, because they're social creatures, and they all need to be in pairs, in a group or not (if that made sense...what I mean is they buddy up in pairs and the one without a buddy would be picked on). A twenty gallon for four to six, and so on. Umm... I think you can take it from there. Oh wait, one last thing. You can go to Hot Topic, for example, and get catchy phrases on stickers and put them on the tank, and it'll look a lot cuter. I have a tank with one of the stickers saying, "Of course we all come from monkeys... just look at your mom!" You could also get them from little machines at K*Mart and what not. Just have fun with it. Your mice will appreciate it, too! ...Maybe.
Lots of Luck
~Jess* 
_________________
♥Cat~ Kiikii
♥Dog~ Miissii
♥Gerbiils~ Alexandriia && Sugar Daddii
♥Biirds~ Captaiin Morgan && (No_Name_Yet)
♥Rest In Peace Jamaica!i! I Love You Dearly and I Will Always Miss You!i!♥ |
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tambra141
Thu Dec 08, 2005 4:08 am
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I suggest a 10 or 12 gallon tank with a tank topper. Or just a 12 gallon tank, a 10 gall is alittle small on its own. The bigger the cage the better, mice need a big cage becuase they are'nt as free range as rat. Like they can't run around your room or something and will probab;y spend more time in their cage they rats will.
_________________
2 rats ~Pheona~Clover~
4 Bunnies~Twinkletoes~Honeybee~Honeybunny~Marlo
2 Mice~Bovine~Roo~
2 Ducks~Hara~Bazil~
www.freewebs.com/ratsitter |
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RougeTheRat
Mon Dec 19, 2005 7:13 pm
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Well I have a few crittertrails. They arent THAT hard to put together 
Anyhow, if you use them make sure you only put REALLY fat mice in them. I've had a few escape. Lukily I found them. But still..if you want to avoid a scar...~_~
My crittertrails never seem that dirty. My mice dont pee in the tubes suprisingly, but they like to poo and pee all over the levels in crittertrail 2.
I like the wire bars though . Mice sometimes will act like little monkies on them.
I have a favorite cage that has wires and my mice cant get out of it. Can't find it online though. I will have to take apicture. 
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<3 to my Fats and my Meeces |
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Celynny
RP Supporter
Tue Dec 20, 2005 1:33 am
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Mine live in an aquarium with a lid. They have their sheel, some paper tubes, a food bowl, water bottle and hidey house...
And I've yet to have any escape artisting.
Oh yes, and I have 3 girl mice. Odd number, and they all get along beautifully. I dont think adding a fourth would change their quirky little relationship
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RougeTheRat
Tue Dec 20, 2005 4:10 am
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Unfortunately one of my boys is a master at escaping everything. I don't know why he wants to get out.
He was lost in the house for about a week once and came back with half a tail. Poor thing. Also he was completely wild after I caught him. It took him weeks to re-adjust and become pet like again.
Anyhow,It was difficult to catch him PLUS I had to move all the rats up on the pool table so he wouldn't crawl in there.
I should mention that I have had a problem with S.A.M houses.
I had a mouse chew through the plastic. I'm not even sure how she did this but she did it while I was sleeping and she escaped into the rats cage. 
On the other hand, I have a male mouse who never chews on it but I am pretty sure he is capable of biting through the plastic if he wanted to.
Lukily he is paranoid and never wants to come out of his hideing area.
These cages also promote poor socialization because most of the cage is one big hideing area. Shy mice will never surface to meet you and willprobably just runand hide everytime they see you.
Wire cages are good because you can feed your mice treats through the bars and if they are not tame this is a good way that they get to know you.
I moved 2 shy girls into a wire cage and they were out of their shell in no time.
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<3 to my Fats and my Meeces |
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Spadez
Fri Dec 23, 2005 1:06 am
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I have one male mouse - Mogly.
He's in a Habbittrail safari.
Loves it!
I just clean by removing insides (easy) and odusing in hot soapy water. Easy again.
I like how its half tank like half wire. powder coated.
Mogly however doesant smell at all. He smells sort of like maple surup - as in good.
hope i helped!
He's my first mosue and im VERY pleased with that cage/him/the smell. ahha best smellingm ouse (better thne my rats by far) ive ever met.
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