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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2011 14:14:25 GMT -5
Experience has taught me the same... I once had a mouse come home pregnant, and once the babies were weaned I separated them into boy and girl groups, planning to either rehome the males or find separate housing for them. Before I did, the males turned on each other and killed two of their brothers, without having shown any aggression at all before. They matured even quicker than I expected and changed their minds about each other literally overnight. They weren't crowded and had multiple wheels and dens, so I thought maybe I could get away with not setting up more tanks for a little longer. I felt horrible.  Didn't someone on the old forum have photos of the rubbermaid tub system they set up for their feeder mice? That would be an inexpensive way to house them. Wish I'd known about it then! |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2011 21:51:45 GMT -5
Experience has taught me the same... I once had a mouse come home pregnant, and once the babies were weaned I separated them into boy and girl groups, planning to either rehome the males or find separate housing for them. Before I did, the males turned on each other and killed two of their brothers, without having shown any aggression at all before. They matured even quicker than I expected and changed their minds about each other literally overnight. They weren't crowded and had multiple wheels and dens, so I thought maybe I could get away with not setting up more tanks for a little longer. I felt horrible. Didn't someone on the old forum have photos of the rubbermaid tub system they set up for their feeder mice? That would be an inexpensive way to house them. Wish I'd known about it then! It's a horrible thing, for sure. But Keri, yes! Excellent idea! I am hoping Katt will chime in here with her tub systems and pics! That should be VERY inexpensive. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2011 10:43:21 GMT -5
Thanks guys...I hate when reasonable sounding info turns out to be bad but I'd rather learn here than through them getting injured. Yesterday was a super busy day, I re-vamped the male's barrier system, now 4-way instead of 5 and that took care of the gap issue since there's no 5th space for everything to slide into anymore, and I also drilled a couple holes and made makeshift wheels out of nuts, bolts, and the bottoms of planters...a little rough looking, but they're using them and all the boys were still in their own compartments when I got up this morning  . Still looking for homes, but this should work in the meantime. I also found a couple of girlfriends for Smokey, a black & white I named Pearl and a chubby tan & gray brindle I'm calling Bridget. Smokey already seems way more outgoing and happier having a couple buddies around so life is good. Yesterdays biggest project turned out to be the rats though....I found a FN 142 for $50 on Craigslist and actually managed to get it! It was very dirty, missing a shelf, the top pan, and a few screws but nothing a good scrubbing and a trip to the hardware store can't fix ;D. So we're turning our ferrets' 142 into a 143, but completely lining the top segment with 1/2" hardware cloth (like so www.goosemoose.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,118/forum,rat/topic,4021985.0) for the rats. I'll post picks of everyone/thing after I hit up Lowes and get this cage figured out  . |
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Post by katt on Apr 18, 2011 15:22:56 GMT -5
Pics! I have all of the tubs set up identically except for the top, grower cage. There are holes drilled all along the sides at the top, as well as around the lids. In the summer I want to build an actual rack at which point I will cute out the middle of each lid and replace it with screen to allow for better ventilation. Right now I have some mixed groups. NORMALLY, I have 1-3 females and 1 male per breeder tub. Right now though I have a retired momma and some apparently infertile females. Things are getting seriously rearranged here in a few weeks after school is up. Ignore the state of the tubs. It's time for a cleaning. lol i985.photobucket.com/albums/ae337/HurricaneKatt/mice%202/IMG_5328.jpgEach tub has a water bottle, and food dish of course. I find that deep food dishes work the best for keeping bedding out of the food. It still happens, but less so. Then I have a plastic igloo hut in each tub as well. I go through a lot of tea and such, so I add in tea boxes, pop tart boxes, light bulb boxes, whatever, and TP or paper towel tubes as I happen across them. This provides them with extra hides, and chew toys all in one and can be tossed when they start to get too gross (it's time for box replacements here lol). i985.photobucket.com/albums/ae337/HurricaneKatt/mice%202/IMG_5333.jpgi985.photobucket.com/albums/ae337/HurricaneKatt/mice%202/IMG_5331.jpgi985.photobucket.com/albums/ae337/HurricaneKatt/mice%202/IMG_5330.jpgi985.photobucket.com/albums/ae337/HurricaneKatt/mice%202/IMG_5329.jpgi985.photobucket.com/albums/ae337/HurricaneKatt/mice%202/IMG_5332.jpgi985.photobucket.com/albums/ae337/HurricaneKatt/mice%202/IMG_5334.jpg |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2011 14:51:31 GMT -5
Thanks for the pics! They don't look messy to me, just lived in a little bit...and I think I saw a liver tub food dish in one of them ;D. If I ever decide to get into breeding, I'd want to build a rack system as well...the lady I got these guys from had one that just looked like 2x4's and plastic bins, and it was set up 6 bins tall, 4 deep. She had a lot going on, and a whole separate rack set up for all of her herps. Here are the pics I promised - The boy's modified set-up:  The girl's set-up (I just washed that wheel yesterday :  :  Bridget being cute and chubby:  Bridget's brindle markings are hard to get on camera:  Pearl is also a sweety:  I never want to see a zip tie or wire clippers again:  Turns out Lowes sells a bin that's almost FN sized that's 1/3 the price of ordering a new floor (since the one it came with was kinda gnarly and had a broken corner), and when I have more time I'll sew some rat sized hammocks as well as real shelf and ramp covers:  And the whole shebang. I had to remove the shelf/casters from the bottom of my FN to make it shorter since our bedroom has low ceilings:  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2011 19:30:38 GMT -5
What cute little critters! That set up is way cool too! Do you think the rats will be stressed from the smell of ferret?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2011 20:04:10 GMT -5
So far they don't seem to mind it and have been playing like normal...our ferts are free-range so our whole house has a mild ferrety smell, and it's strongest in the bedroom since they usually sleep under our bed and I'm lazy about moving it and shampooing their oils out of the carpet. We were keeping the rats' little cage on my nightstand for easy night-time supervision/access so we could cuddle and play while watching movies before bedtime, so I'm thinking if they aren't used to the scent by now, there's no hope for me keeping happy rats . The ferrets seem to like it better on the ground and haven't paid any attention to what I did on the top (other than "helping" me by relocating my zip ties). My favorite part so far is not having to be hyper-vigilant about the cats anymore, that other cage was so light I was always afraid of them pushing it off the stand and the top popping off and everyone getting loose/killed. This thing is a fortress! |
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