Reptile & Amphibian Forums

how hard is it to set up a rack system for mice/rats? and what materials would i need?

I think what you have to do first is look through ALL the postings in this forum and then look throught the archived entries in this forum. Then you will have more specific questions.

That's what I'm doing, good luck!

Ben

If your only going to raise a limited number of animals, you might try what I did. I just stack the tubs on each other with wood inbetween them for ventilation. I'll try to post some pics soon.

This way all you need to buy are the tubs, some hardware cloth, 1" X 2"s, waterers, substrate, and feed. I have switched to cement tubs for my rats (4$ each), couple of bucks for hardware cloth, 1" X 2" are 1$ apiece, 4$ for water bottles (automatic water systems are less work but much more expensive if you are on a budget), rabbit pellets for substrate (50# for 10$), a local rodent chow (50# for 16$). I stack them three high. you could go 4 high, I guess. So about 12$ for the tub and another 26$ for consumables. You can save some on the substrate by going with pine shavings. Figure less for mice, use cat litter pans, less hardware cloth, ect.

This system saved money compared to buying at the pet store and buying bulk frozen. It made sense even when I had only 4 snakes. I'm now down to 2, so I've filled the freezer, given the extra breeders away, and just kept a pair (and of course Big Daddy). When the freezer runs out, I'll start breeding again.

DeMak

Scroll down a bit in this forum...everyone (including me) has an oppinion on this. I am really jealous of theanimalman's setup, but I don't have his venting options. I found a cheap alternative, I'll post the picture here (plus I think it's brilliant, and I love to show it off)

i like that not to big and just what i would need!!! where did you buy that??

I bought a system exactly like that at walmart. I forget how much I paid for it though.. Was going to use it to breed mice in, but the mice were too small.. they got out... If it will work for rats, it's a good idea hehe

I bought them at Target, but they have them at Wal-mart and other places too. This one cost about $9.00. Just make sure that there are no corners on the insides of the bins that mice could chew on. There are a couple of similar things I've seen (rubbermaid makes one) that have corners inside where the handle is outside....avoid those. I've got 2 of these "racks" going right now, and have been using them for about 2 or three months. I haven't had any escapes yet. When I noticed one one or two mice getting "interested" in maybe trying to get out, I put a wheel in with them. They seem to have totally forgotten about it now. Just had 2 new litters last night!