Raising Mice? Smelly?!?

I've tried to raise my own mice a few times now... I've got a few Rubbermade buckets with holes punched in the top. I've got mice wheels in them, water containers, etc... but every time I've put mice in them after a few days it starts to smell HORRIBLE. I've tried a few times but every time the stench starts to build and I end up giving up and feeding the "breeders" to the snakes.

I'm cleaning out the tanks about every 4 or 5 days... but the guys at the pet store said I should only have to do it every week...

I had one pair of mice for about 4 weeks that never bred... and they were about 3 weeks old when I got them.

Any suggestions on how to do it?

Without more information, I would recommend the use of pine pellet bedding (helps control odor), and putting vanilla extract into their water bottles (cuts down on the urine smell).

Also, make sure they're adequately ventilated... When we use stand-alone tubs, 2/3 of the top has been replaced with hardware cloth, and our rack tubs only have hardware cloth on top of them.

I would recommend using Equine Fresh for bedding it will help as well as vanilla extract.

Do not over-crowd your enclosure.

Try feeding the males of first.

First of all, go to the "feeders" section of this forum and you'll find tons of wonderful advice.
http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/f...splay.php?f=60

Most of the smell is caused by the build-up of ammonia from their urine. Absorbent bedding and plenty of air circulation will help to minimize this. Some people also recommend things like a tiny bit of vanilla in their water, or baking soda added to the bedding.

If all you are doing is poking a few holes in a Rubbermaid, they aren't getting enough air circulation. Sure, it will keep them alive, but it will smell horrible in very short time. It is bad for their lungs too.

People have cut large holes in the sides and/or tops of bins and covered them with hardware cloth to allow more air circulation in a Rubbermaid-type enclosure.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Deborah

Try feeding the males of first.

---

Amen sister...boys are stinky. Mice are too...

:P ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cassandra

Amen sister...boys are stinky. Mice are too...

:P ;)

---

Hey thanks!

Once a week cleaning??? More like every 2-3 days to keep things pleasant. The vanilla extract is also a good idea, as is making sure they have ventilation on the top AND sides.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/files/5/9/4/2/tub1.jpg

That's one of my breeder trio tubs, just to show the whole ventilation thing. :)

If you keep the enclosure, especially plastic ones, clean regularly and use the vanilla, there should be little to no smell.