Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was just wondering if the smell would be less if you used a sterlite tube instead of a 10 gallon to breed mice? I am currently using a 10 gallon with a screen top to breed 1.2 mice. my way of thinking is if I used a sterlite tub and put air holes in it, it wouldn't stink as much? Not saying my mice stink, but there is a odor one notices. So does anyone think this would work? I also put vanilla extract in the water to help with the smell, and I clean the cage weekly, just trying to come up with a better way to contain the smell a little bit more. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks
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-Robert-

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"All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: Freedom,Justice,Honor,Duty,Mercy,Hope"
- W. Churchhill

1.2 Lampropeltus getulus
0.1 ALbino Argentina Horned Frog

Cleaning them more often is the only real way to cut down the smell. That said, DO NOT scrub down and soap out a tank every cleaning....it prompts them to re-mark their cage and stink it worse than if you just scoop it out and lay clean bedding. Some of my mice I clean once a week, some every 4 days or so....really depends on the number of babies helping to stink the place up. I have found that a schedule does not work here.
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Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

cool, I was just wondering. I thought perhaps a tub would contain the smell a little more so then a 10 gallon tank. I also had another question. What about providing a running wheel? any pro's and cons to that?
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-Robert-

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"All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: Freedom,Justice,Honor,Duty,Mercy,Hope"
- W. Churchhill

1.2 Lampropeltus getulus
0.1 ALbino Argentina Horned Frog

I provide a wheel, keeps some from fighting or getting away from others when there is a disagreement. The smell, they walk in their own waste and then paw the glass, i burn inscence cones in the room and that helps along with frequent changes, i also have a fan rotating in the room, all these factors help me, and i have mine in a 10 gallon as well with screen tops.
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1.4 various boas(Flicka,Felony,Nova,Alias,Alibi)
0.1 BRB Abalone; ABBI
1.0 Rott X (OSO)
2.0 cats (Simba, Morris)
fish & feeders
~:~~~~~~~ ~:~~~~~~~~

"keeping the smell in" will only amplify it and make it worse much faster.

I keep my mice in lab cages, a plastic tub with a wire top which holds the food and water bottle. They're very convenient. Cleaned weekly with pelleted bedding and they don't smell too bad unless I get really close to them.

I've found the best thing for the smell is a good pelleted bedding. Woody pet, Yesterdays News recycled newspaper pellets, Aspen Supreme, even alfalfa pellets all work quite well to keep down the mouse smell.

I never noticed any change with the vanilla thing, I think it's a myth.

No matter what you do, mice will always have that pungent odor. The only way to get rid of it really is to not breed mice. African soft furred rats have very little odor, and I got rid of the mice for almost a year to breed only ASF rats for my snakes.
This summer however I got 2 new hatchlings and ASF rat pinks are a little bit too big for my new hatchlings so I've started small scale mouse breeding again just long enough to get them past the pinky stage.