Anyone else use glass tanks for their rodents?

[cchardwick]

I have a bunch of glass critter cages for my rodents and I really like them! Just wondering if anyone else uses critter cages or aquariums? The part I really like is that I can put a carbon filter pad on top cut to the size of the top screen and it eliminates all of the smell. I have lots of rodents with no smell at all. I use water bottles with Velcro attached to the sides of the cages and small food bowls, I change out the food every day and do a full cleaning of all tanks once a week. Probably takes a little more time than a rack system but I love the fact that there is no smell at all, and I can tell which cages really stink when I open up the tops. The male mice have a stink that stays in the cage, can't get out, but I can always tell instantly that there's a male mouse in the tank when I take off the top. The rats and ASF don't really smell, in fact I don't have carbon pads on some of their cages.

I actually bought fancy mice from Petco, it's interesting to see the genetics of the mice as I produce them. Also, when I have some fighting going on I can tell right away which mice are fighting. And if one is beat up or sick I can also spot it right away, unlike a rack system where it is all closed up. I also like to peek at the babies without having to open up the tubs. I guess I'm not your typical rodent breeder as I consider all of these as my pets, the only price they pay is that I feed off their babies LOL.

I think I enjoy raising them almost as much as raising my snakes. I think I treat them much better than most people who raise feeder rodents, I give them lots of treats, wheels to run on, plenty of room to run around, and I pet the bigger ones to tame them down. These are all critter cages, Petco has them on sale for half price quite often. I have four 40 gallon tanks, three 20 gallon tanks, three 10 gallon tanks and three five gallon tanks. I wish I had room for more! It takes me about 15 minutes a day to give all of them fresh food and top off the empty water bottles and about three hours on the weekend to empty them out, spray them with sanitizer, wash them out with water from my sprayer, and add fresh bedding. I don't mind the work one bit and it keeps a fresh supply of rodents for all of my snakes. I also wash and bleach all of the food bowls and hides. Here are a few photos of my setup: