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What is the lowest temps a mouse colony can be kept at? Mine are outside on the patio and I'm having great success even in the summer heat. Ideally I want to keep them outside as long as is humanely (not humanly ) possible. Also, will a heat pad help when it gets colder? Thanks.
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-audri
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any lower.. and they stop..

any higher and they stop..

at least if your mice arent used to the temps.. if i have 1 hot day here in seattle.. i loose mice like crazy!

best of luck

dan

>>What is the lowest temps a mouse colony can be kept at?

Mice withstand cool temps quite well. A lot depends on what kind of nest they have. If they've got a large nest area, filled with plenty of heat-retaining bedding, they can stay out even when there's a slight frost. The governing factor is whether or not they can drink the water, so you need to keep it just above freezing. When they aren't out and about to dine and drink, they'll all cuddle together in cozy groups within their nests, and be quite well. They do tend to be less prolific under such conditions.

>>Mine are outside on the patio and I'm having great success even in the summer heat. Ideally I want to keep them outside as long as is humanely possible.

Unlike rats, which would very quickly succumb to the "sniffles" if kept for any length of time at low temps, mice can go into a hibernation mode if they're too cool. I've seen mice so cold that they appeared to be almost dead, yet come out of it quite healthy once they were warmed up. This is why you don't find rats living wild in the far northern part of the world, but wild mice survive and thrive even at the edges of the treeline and near the Arctic Circle.

>>Also, will a heat pad help when it gets colder?

What works better, is to erect a small shed or tent around their space, and to keep a small radiant heater within that enclosure. It doesn't need to be elaborate, simply putting up a frame and draping a thick blanket over it will suffice. You just need to be careful that the heater isn't so close to the cages that it "cooks" the critters. I've used a large shipping crate (six or seven-ft tall x about four-ft square), with a tarp around the outside, a plywood door and blanket drape at the front, and a tarpaulin "shed" in front of that for a service area, to take mine through entire winters even when the temp outdoors was as low as minus 40. The reason I no longer do it, is that it was too cold for me taking care of them.

Using the above described set-up, they continued to breed quite well, even in mid-winter. I live in Yellowknife, NWT, Canada.

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tricia