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  1. #1
    BPnet Senior Member cchardwick's Avatar
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    Anyone else use glass tanks for their rodents?

    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:





    Last edited by cchardwick; 05-25-2016 at 11:32 PM.

  2. The Following User Says Thank You to cchardwick For This Useful Post:

    distaff (05-26-2016)

  3. #2
    Registered User Creepy Alien's Avatar
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    Re: Anyone else use glass tanks for their rodents?

    Great setup! I use a mix of regular cages, home made (big) tub creations, and tanks with wire tops (all the ASFs are in tanks though ).

    I think I have close to the same views as you with how they are kept. I really love my rats, but I do have to have lines drawn on who are mostly pets (but all are interacted with). The ASFs are a bit different, but I still like watching them (they like to be left alone and I try and oblige ).

    I just bought what looks like identical shelves from Costco. Because of the mixed caging that I have, these work out GREAT .

  4. #3
    BPnet Senior Member cchardwick's Avatar
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    I'm finding that the hard part about having three kinds of rodents, ASFs, rats, and mice, is that I have several cages with breeders and not enough for babies. If I just had all mice or all ASFs I think it would be easier logistically. Can't decide which I like the best, and I have a bunch of different snakes too, quite a few smaller king snakes that take pinky mice, but a big Woma python and lots of balls, so really need them all. I think I just need another rack system and more tanks LOL. I love those racks too, I think you can put several hundred pounds on each shelf, really tough and for under a hundred bucks.

  5. #4
    Registered User Creepy Alien's Avatar
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    Re: Anyone else use glass tanks for their rodents?

    I don't have the mice, but I can understand that (Who needs easy though? Haha ). I keep my big ASF colonies in 40 gallon breeder tanks, and they seem to thrive. Many times I don't even realize there are babies until I catch them running around.

    I'm waiting for those shelves to go on sale again. The regular price is $130 (I'm in Canada), but they go on sale for $99 quite often. Well worth it for being completely adjustable. They can hold several hundred pounds, but still move perfectly with the wheels.

  6. #5
    BPnet Veteran stickyalvinroll's Avatar
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    Great set up, but IMO those are way too much trouble to clean

  7. #6
    BPnet Senior Member cchardwick's Avatar
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    Re: Anyone else use glass tanks for their rodents?

    Quote Originally Posted by stickyalvinroll View Post
    Great set up, but IMO those are way too much trouble to clean
    I agree, way too much trouble to clean LOL. I actually started with my snakes in those tanks, then moved them to an ARS rack, the rack is ten times easier to clean and maintain. At some point I want to get an ARS rack for my rodents, just can't decide what size to get, mouse breeder, mouse grow out, rat breeder, or rat grow out... I'm wondering if I could get a rat breeder system and put some ASF and mice in it? Maybe I can just pack the tubs with bedding so they can reach the water? Are there different water nozzles for rats vs mice? At some point I'll probably upgrade to the ARS rat breeder system below and try to do all three rats / ASF / mice. For now I'm spending all my money on as many baby snakes as I can so in a few years I'll be in business, the rat rack will have to wait. I actually found a used one online for about half of cost but can't figure out how to get it home since they won't ship and it's too far to drive. Plus if I did mice in those tubs the stench would be overwhelming since I can't quite figure out how to put carbon pads on them to close them in. Would probably have to do rats and ASF in the tubs and keep the mice in critter cages. Plus I would miss watching all the rodents running on their wheels in the evenings LOL.

    Last edited by cchardwick; 05-26-2016 at 01:21 AM.

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    Cleaning is easier if you can just put the tanks on the ground to hose out, or if you have a utility room with a floor drain. I just hose mine down outside, and leave in the sun to dry. My current mouse bins are simply very large plastic bins that are set low to the floor. They are deep enough to dispense with a cover, so the mice are visible, and the smell dissipates.

  9. #8
    BPnet Senior Member cchardwick's Avatar
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    Re: Anyone else use glass tanks for their rodents?

    For my glass aquariums I actually put them up on one end on a small chest freezer, then I have one trash can that I use to dump the waste bedding into. Then I vacuum the rest out real quick with a shop vac, then spray with detergent in a spray bottle. Then I wipe down with paper towels, then use a pump sprayer with water to rinse it out while draining into another plastic trash can. Then I wipe them down with old towels and fill them with new bedding. Once you get everything lined up its pretty easy to go from tank to tank, especially when it's at waist level dumping and draining into trash cans. I also use three buckets of water, one with dish soap, one with bleach water, and one with just water, all with pretty hot water. I put all the hides and toys in the detergent, scrub them down, move to bleach and then to clean water, then dry with a towel. Sounds like a lot but once you get the system down it's not bad at all. Kind of like an assembly line cleaning the rodent room. I actually enjoy it because it's really the only day that I get to check on my babies and wow they grow so fast!

  10. #9
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    Re: Anyone else use glass tanks for their rodents?

    Quote Originally Posted by distaff View Post
    Cleaning is easier if you can just put the tanks on the ground to hose out, or if you have a utility room with a floor drain. I just hose mine down outside, and leave in the sun to dry. My current mouse bins are simply very large plastic bins that are set low to the floor. They are deep enough to dispense with a cover, so the mice are visible, and the smell dissipates.
    I was going to go with racks but the gf says normal rats will chew through the mixing bins in no time and won't allow it, so I'm doing tanks too. If I had to lift big tanks it would be a huge pain but I'm only really using 10 gallons right now. I figure I'll have one female in a 10 gallon and I have a 1.1 pair of asf in a 10 gallon (will hold back a female later to grow out). It's not as convenient space wise but still easy to lift them and clean them out. I just want to figure out a lid for the tanks now where they can't get out but it's easy for me to take the lid on and off and hopefully have a food hopper and water bottle holder so I don't even have to open the tank.

  11. #10
    BPnet Senior Member cchardwick's Avatar
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    I've been using 40 gallon breeder critter cages, basically glass aquariums with sliding and locking screen tops. They work great, even had a rat sit on a water bottle and try to get through the screen top, so far he hasn't made any progress! And if I put the big water bottles to the top with Velcro they can't sit on top and try to figure it out. I do have a pair of ASFs in a 10 gallon with a bunch of babies, so much easier to clean out. And all my mice are in 5 / 10 / 20 gallon critter cages. Yes, the 40 gallon tanks are a big pain in the butt, really heavy and bulky. But the rats love the extra room. They still try to figure out how to get out, I can see them thinking about it all day long, it gives them something to do LOL.

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