Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This a bad thing?

I keep hearing little squeeks, kinda annoying, they aren't fighting or anything

>>This a bad thing?
>>
>>I keep hearing little squeeks, kinda annoying, they aren't fighting or anything

Is it 'talking'(some mice are more likely than others. Like some rats are touchy 'screamers') or is it more or less continuous snorting, 'mumbling' sort of noises as they wander around? Mice with various viruses make noise. Watch to see that they aren't dropping weight or that their babies are gaining okay. If not you could have a nagging PITA virus and it is likely best to start over.
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Sonya

Failure is not an option. It comes bundled with the software.

they could just be settling in to their new home. If I remember correctly you just recently bought a group of mice. Also, it could be typical mating sounds. Some females, for lack of a better word, cluck when being mated. Or the male could be ready but she isn't so she runs away and squeaks when he tries to crab her.

So, as long as there isnt any signs of blood, stress, sneezing or constant wheezing noses when breething, i wouldn't worry at all.

Thanks

Yea I just got them yesterday and they aren't making noise anymore, I don't know their age, is there anyway you can tell by their appearance if they are old enough to mate? Never owned them before so I don't have any reference.

>>Thanks
>>
>>Yea I just got them yesterday and they aren't making noise anymore, I don't know their age, is there anyway you can tell by their appearance if they are old enough to mate? Never owned them before so I don't have any reference.

Well, my weaned 4 week old babies run from 15-25 grams. If they are the top of that they are probably pregnant.
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Sonya

Failure is not an option. It comes bundled with the software.

Thanks a bunch...

Also I put in a half log on top of thick bedding and put a paper towel tube and they made a little nest and seem much more content. I think ill pick up some wheels, do mice use them much?

A wheel is like crack for mice. They love to run. They will all try to run together on the wheel.

Hmm I wonder if they would eat crack... @_@

How intelligent are mice anyways?

Some people want to feed dog food because it is a little cheaper than rodent blox, and you want to use crack?-LOL. Dog food would be a "LOT" cheaper to feed than crack. I use about 75 lbs. of lab blocks a week. How much would that much crack cost? A lot more than I am worth!

Now, mice on crack, running in wheel is something I'd like to see. Problem is, your mice would probably be thinner looking than your snakes, after burning off all that fat running in the wheel.

Rodney

Jeeze how many mice do you have? I will probably use about 1 pound a week with my 7 mice.

Pics would be nice

yep, they loooove wheels, though if there are a bunch of mice with one wheel, they won't burn too much weight because they'll all be trying to go opposite directions at once and getting spun around and silly things like that. It's cute. But.....if you thought their quiet squeaking was 'noisy and annoying' just wait til the WHEELS start squeaking. it's enough to drive anyone nuts! keep them oiled with veggie oil or chap stick for your own benefit!
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Sue Barnett
1.0 Florida King
0.1 Western hognose
0.1 Egyptian spiny mouse
4.2 mini rex rabbits
0.1 Plott hound
1.0 half Arab

your mice probably have lice.--LOL

I know, it was just a typo, but it sounded pretty funny to me when I read it.

Rodney

Thought I would just post it here instead of a new thread...

Can I house a pair in a large critter keeper? Or can they chew on something in those I'm not seeing? Just trying to make use of all these cages I have around here

>>Thought I would just post it here instead of a new thread...
>>
>>Can I house a pair in a large critter keeper? Or can they chew on something in those I'm not seeing? Just trying to make use of all these cages I have around here

Depending on the size of the critter keeper. I don't know how you are gonna manage a water bottle. Depending on the keeper. I do have one that I drilled a hole in the end of to put a bottle through. Can't for the life of me remember what rodent then lived in it or for how long.
Trouble will also be if they can get to the ceiling and hang and chew.
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Sonya

Failure is not an option. It comes bundled with the software.

How high can they jump?

Well, Im not sure about breeder mice, since they are generally fat and get relatively little exercise as compared with wild mice, but wild mice can freakin jump.

We caught one at my apt because it fell into a 20" deep garbage can that was completely empty, and he couldnt get out. But he did try, and he jumped over 3 quaters of the way up the side, strait up. Craziest thing I have seen for a while. And this was not a full grown adult. I had no idea that they can do that. I guess you can do almost anything when survival is on the line.

I dont think you would have to worry about them getting to the top, unless there is a way for them to get pretty close to it, or could grab ahold of the sides. I highly doubt a mouse can jump strait up, pull a 180 and hit the ceiling feet first.

I have always used only "Kritter Keepers" for mice.... they happened to work out best for me. I've kept groups of 1.2 or 1.3 in the "large" size (although if I was growing out a large number of the pinks I would often remove the male or split the group.... on a side note, I've not had the problems with separating and recombining groups as many mention here. Your mileage may vary of course), 1 or 2 nursing mothers in the "medium" size and single males in the "small" size (although not for long term, most often only while they waited for a new harem.) The large size also made good "grow out" cages for weanlings.

Only once or twice did I ever have a mouse chew the tops of the keepers, and that was only in the "small" sized keepers and also the one time I ended up using the "reptile ranch" style, which is pretty short.

As for water bottles, several methods worked well for me. For the "medium" and "small" sizes I would take a screw driver, scissors, or similar tool and widen the small hole that is in one corner of every lid, then insert the sipper tube of a water bottle (the longer the better on these.)

For the "large" size you can hang a water bottle from the inside (I forget the brand name, "lixit" maybe? but they are completely rounded - no chewing! - and have a red or purple screw cap on the bottom with a short nozzle, and they come with a wire to hang them from the top of a cage. These will actually work in a "medium" sized keeper, but the bedding has to be very very shallow so as not to clog the sipper tube.)

It also works well to put a piece of duct tape on the side of a "kritter keeper" type cage and then drill a hole through the tape (keeps the plastic from shattering.) You can use a flat-back or really any other kind of water bottle on the outside then, with a piece of wire around the top of the bottle, hooked into the slots on the cage lid.

Although many people make use of cat litter pans, sterlite tubs, etc., I found these cages to work best for me as a) I bred very small scale, b) didn't have to worry about hoppers hopping out of shallow containers, and c) skipped the hassle of heavy glass tanks with their expensive screen tops!

Hope this helped some,

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Rebecca
TSBabe66@hotmail.com
Honored to moderate at Snakefeeders, a great place to buy/sell/trade feeder animals. Come check us out! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/snakefeeders/

Yea I have been using those hanging ones too, great stuff, too bad only one store near me carries them

I used to use the LARGE critter keepers for my mice, could keep 1.4 in them (clean them twice a week). I took a water bottle, Duct-taped a piece of aquarium tubing to the water bottle, and dropped it through the pre-cut hole. I then got the medium critter keepers, and was keeping 1.2 mice in those just fine, but did have some chewing of the lid. I would just glue some hardware cloth over the chewed parts of the lid, and they wouldn't chew it again. It worked great, but not as great as my racks. When I up production this summer, I'll probably resurrect those old critter keepers, but eventually plan on building a new mouse/rat rack to maximize space and minimize time spent cleaning mouse cages.
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~Sasheena

You can keep 4 in a large keeper? I keep 4 in my 10 gallon @_@

::adds more::

I keep 1.7 or 1.8 in ten gallon aquariums all the time. Quite the brood when there are 50 to 70 babies in there at the same time. Of course I keep less during the summer months, as the mice overheat, and if they don't have their own "mouse free" zone, they don't do well.
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~Sasheena

I moved all my females to one tank, as it appears my second male isn't breeding age yet from his weight, look like my other guy. The sounds are fighting/attempted mating I witnessed it myself.