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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2011 11:09:53 GMT -5
Congratulations on the additions
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2011 18:19:37 GMT -5
Thanks! Here are a couple more pics of the mouseys...here's all five together, I'm starting to be able to tell them apart. Vash is easy with his red eyes, Smokey's the grayer one to the middle-left, Bandit's the one standing up with the smokey patch on his rump, and the other two are still waiting for names, although one is definitely a bit more blond and whiter on the underside than the other. And here's another of Vash after I ruffled him up to show off his fur better (or worse? He immediately had to groom it smooth again ). I think their hair is just so fine and shiny that it lays very flat and looks pretty normal most of the time, especially when they're being long and lean, but they all look like this if I mess with their 'do or when they're grooming and fluff it up themselves. I have a lead on a 30-ish gallon tank for them, it's 36"x15"x14" so I think that will be adequate, but I've also got my eyes on a couple of 20 longs. Since they're all about the same price I'd rather go larger if the people get back to me soon enough, fingers crossed for no craigslist flakes .
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2011 18:32:26 GMT -5
Oh what pretty little critters! They look so soft and smooth
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2011 18:55:04 GMT -5
And don't bother with the brightly-colored plastic "crittertrails," either. Most of those things are cute nightmares! I had my best mouse housing success with aquariums and Eco-Earth or other type of coconut bedding. Candice, by terrarium do you mean something like the Exo-Terra glass terrariums with the swing-open doors in the front? No, I don't mean Exo-Terra's with the swing open doors. Any reptile terrarium with floor space and a secure (latching, snaps in place) lid on top will do. Make sure you don't get an aquarium, I haven't seen many real terrariums on Craigslist! Aquariums do little good with the tiny amount of floor space, where terrariums being built for reptiles have much more. They are also climb-proof for little mice! You are very, very lucky! You have ended up with all angoras, it looks like. (Can't tell with one of them.) I know they are angora because my Mirabel is a self with the exact same coloring. Yours are much fluffier. How exciting!!! (I can't find angoras here.)
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2011 22:52:51 GMT -5
My husband wanted to get a critter-trail but I remember having to clean out my sister's hamster cages and they were so awful to get apart and sanitize and the cheap plastic pieces would break or the pee would etch stains into them...I told him no way! The people got back to me on the tank I want and still have it so hopefully I'll be picking that up first thing in the morning ;D.
Candice, I feel lucky, they are so soft and sweet and gorgeous....are you looking for more angoras? The lady I got them from was moving to AZ the next day but I still have her number in my phone and I bet if I asked she'd tell me where she got her breeding stock from.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 4, 2011 22:55:49 GMT -5
Awwww! They are such very sweet looking little things
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2011 0:07:28 GMT -5
My husband wanted to get a critter-trail but I remember having to clean out my sister's hamster cages and they were so awful to get apart and sanitize and the cheap plastic pieces would break or the pee would etch stains into them...I told him no way! The people got back to me on the tank I want and still have it so hopefully I'll be picking that up first thing in the morning ;D. Candice, I feel lucky, they are so soft and sweet and gorgeous....are you looking for more angoras? The lady I got them from was moving to AZ the next day but I still have her number in my phone and I bet if I asked she'd tell me where she got her breeding stock from. Yay! Critter-Trails SUCK. SO glad you set him straight on that one - they are unbearable to put together/take apart, are cheaply made and break easily, and the ventilation is 50 times WORSE than a tank! GAH. I had one for one week when I had to separate an aggressive girl from my Mir and afterwards could not return it, or even sell it despite its barely-there usage. I ended up having to get rid of it on freecycle. I would LOVE it if you could find out where she sourced her angoras. I'm always looking for different options for the future.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2011 8:16:57 GMT -5
The only commercial terrariums I've found are the ones with the swing-open fronts... Exo-Terra or Zoo Med. I've ended up with several of those, and they're just too nice to give away or sell (I may be a hoarder when it comes to pet supplies). All the other terrariums from PetCo or PetSmart have the same dimensions as aquariums, just with different lids. Either way, a locking closure is important... I've temporarily had books or a brick set on top of a tank so the inhabitants can't get out and the cats can't get in, and it's not a good solution I love Vash's red eyes! I had a very similar-colored little boy, and he was also very sweet.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2011 12:13:42 GMT -5
The only commercial terrariums I've found are the ones with the swing-open fronts... Exo-Terra or Zoo Med. I've ended up with several of those, and they're just too nice to give away or sell (I may be a hoarder when it comes to pet supplies). All the other terrariums from PetCo or PetSmart have the same dimensions as aquariums, just with different lids. Either way, a locking closure is important... I've temporarily had books or a brick set on top of a tank so the inhabitants can't get out and the cats can't get in, and it's not a good solution I love Vash's red eyes! I had a very similar-colored little boy, and he was also very sweet. A regional product difference? The PetSmart's and PetCo's here have terrariums with top-sliding/snapping lids that DO have more floor space/larger dimensions than the aquariums they sell of the same size. Same height, bigger flooring. I'll have to hunt up the brand name sometime. I prefer shopping at PetSmart because in both WA and OR they are cleaner, lower-priced, friendlier, and they don't sell ferrets like PetCo does...
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Post by katt on Apr 5, 2011 15:32:07 GMT -5
Candice, those are not truly considered "terrariums." They are still just "Tanks." I know exactly what you are talking about. They are just aquariums for reptiles and are usually the Long or Wide or Breeder version of the regular sizes. For example, my snake is in a 40 Breeder. It is a 40 gallon aquarium/tank but is only slightly taller than a regular 10 gallon, but with much more floor space. But it is still essentially a 40 gallon tank. Same thing with 20 Long - a 20 gallon tank which is as tall as a 10 gallon, but just longer aka more floor space. Some of them come designed for reptiles but it is all the same thing - glass siliconed together with a plastic rim. Aquarium, tank, terrarium, whatever you want to call it it is the same. True terrariums are the ones that are being discussed with the swinging doors by Zoo Med and such. The design is entirely different from a tank. You can buy screen tops to fit any size tank, and very cheap very effective screen clips that can be used to lock the screen on quite securely. The sliding lids are worthless IMO. They break easily and are a pain to deal with. Not to mention the screen itself is much less sturdy. I have used both. I actually sawed off the lock notch for my sliding lid and got a normal screen top with cage clips. SOOO much nicer and MUCH MUCH easier to deal with. If you get a 40 breeder (lots of space for 5 mice! ) they make really cool screen lids that are hinged in the middle so you can fold one half of the top up rather than removing the entire screen. Very convenient when you have a cage that size. haha
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2011 22:43:20 GMT -5
Candice, those are not truly considered "terrariums." They are still just "Tanks." I know exactly what you are talking about. They are just aquariums for reptiles and are usually the Long or Wide or Breeder version of the regular sizes. For example, my snake is in a 40 Breeder. It is a 40 gallon aquarium/tank but is only slightly taller than a regular 10 gallon, but with much more floor space. But it is still essentially a 40 gallon tank. Same thing with 20 Long - a 20 gallon tank which is as tall as a 10 gallon, but just longer aka more floor space. Some of them come designed for reptiles but it is all the same thing - glass siliconed together with a plastic rim. Aquarium, tank, terrarium, whatever you want to call it it is the same. True terrariums are the ones that are being discussed with the swinging doors by Zoo Med and such. The design is entirely different from a tank. You can buy screen tops to fit any size tank, and very cheap very effective screen clips that can be used to lock the screen on quite securely. The sliding lids are worthless IMO. They break easily and are a pain to deal with. Not to mention the screen itself is much less sturdy. I have used both. I actually sawed off the lock notch for my sliding lid and got a normal screen top with cage clips. SOOO much nicer and MUCH MUCH easier to deal with. If you get a 40 breeder (lots of space for 5 mice! ) they make really cool screen lids that are hinged in the middle so you can fold one half of the top up rather than removing the entire screen. Very convenient when you have a cage that size. haha These aren't what you're talking about. Can't find the brand name, they might not sell them anymore.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2011 10:14:21 GMT -5
Candice, I'm pretty sure I know the ones you're talking about but can't remember the brand name either... The main difference is in the glass thickness, the aquariums are built to withstand the pressure of the water with thicker glass and more silicone (a 40 gallon tank would contain appx 320 lbs of water!) while the terrariums are built specifically for dry applications as the stress on it would be much much less and the top rims are modified for either a clip on or slide in lid. I would substitute a same-sized aquarium for a terrarium but never the other way around.
I did get the tank last night! I'll have to post pics later today, I'm still in the process of modding the lid...the tank is built for a slide on lid, but they didn't have it and had bought another screen lid that was the right length but about 3 inches too wide...no bueno since my cats would get under the lip and flip it off in no time. The lid still had a dusty $24.95 price tag on it which cracks me up since I got the lid and tank together for $25. Practically everything I buy on craigslist has to be modded, but since it's so cheap and has taught me to be crafty I've learned to have a lot of fun with it.
The tank is 36" l x 15" w x 17" t, which doesn't match any of the standard tank sizes...it's 3 inches too narrow to be a 40 breeder but otherwise matches and my aquarium calc says it would contain 39.8 gallons. So these mice will be spoiled. That hinged lid sounds awesome, but since this isn't a standard size and I'm not THAT crafty, I'll make do with a modded standard lid. Since I basically have to re-frame three sides, I plan on making it extra sturdy and it is one of the nice lids with the galvanized mesh so I'm sure it will be fine. Time for cereal and a Home Depot trip, I'll have pics later ;D.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2011 10:22:53 GMT -5
Cent wait to see it! And what a great deal! Go CL
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2011 17:48:35 GMT -5
That sounds great, Hannah! The ones I have do have lots more floor space than the aquariums that are the same gallon size, I measured them... I can't wait to see pics of your set-up! The mesh-style snap on lids are pretty junky and fall apart when the cats jump on them ( ) so I've modified them too. Fun, huh? That's a fantastic price you got.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2011 1:58:24 GMT -5
It's been so nice the past couple days I finally got caught up on the majority of my yard work/end of winter clean up. Mowed the lawn, planted bulbs, pulled a bunch of dandylions, got the place looking pretty sharp. Now all that's left to do is finish turning over my garden and get some veggies going . So that's why I haven't gotten around to the pics yet, but here they are. The glass enclosure is for the mice, and we're using the other one simply to grow up the rats a bit more before moving them into something larger (when I find another good deal). Both the mice and rats could squeeze through the bars so I sewed a makeshift cover out of fiberglass screen, they seem to get a kick out of escaping, climbing all over the inside of the screen like flies, then squeezing back in. They're getting a mix of whole grains, little bit of raw nuts, lab block, and veggies in the mornings. I also stuffed a handful of grass clippings in (no chems in my lawn since before we moved in over 2 years ago) for them to roll around in, the mice's went in their holey box. I do have a dilemma, 4 out of the 5 mice are male. Smokey's the only girl and while they're young enough I had a hard time sexing them and they still all get along, I need to figure something out quick. We've got this nice new enclosure and I spent hours fixing the hood, and everything I'm reading says I need solo enclosures for the boys both for their safety and the girl's health. I don't want to be maintaining 5 separate mice enclosures and even if I did want to, we really have to watch our money right now with the government shut-down since my husbands in the military. Very frustrating since they're so sweet and it'd be nice to find a way to keep them all, but I'm not seeing how unless any of you veteran mouse keepers have any ideas and at this point I'm attached enough I'd rather not use them as feeders. On a positive note, I'm 90% sure all of the rats are female so that helps.
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