Mice are expensive to buy so I find it better to raise my own. There are many strains of mice. Some are docile and some are nervous and wild. The all white mice are the most docile. You can lift them by their tails and they don't try to climb up themselves and bite you. I used to make cages out of sheet aluminum but now use Sterilite brand 16 quart plastic boxes. Mice don't chew through these. Make a frame from 1.5 inch X 0.75 inch thick pine boards. Make the frame so it fits over the top of the cage. Staple .025 inch hardware cloth to the top of the frame using small staples hammered in. Get metal grommets with 3/8 holes and place one near the edge of the frame. These are two piece grommets that are hammered using the tool that comes with the grommets together through the wire mesh. Get plastic water bottles with stainless steel tubes. I use pine shavings that are cheap for the bedding. Mice eat their babies unless you take precautions. Put one male and three females in each cage. Old females eat babies so get rid of them. Old is over one year old. More than two males in a cage will cause vicious fighting and the babies get eaten. Make sure there is always plenty of food in the cage or the babies will get eaten. I feed pelleted pig food, whole grains, and old fruit cheaply bought. Mice eat far more than you might imagine so be sure the food is there. I keep ball pythons to eat the surplus males and old females. Often when you put unacquainted mice together they don't have babies for some time. Sounds dumb but it is true.

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