Mouse colony bedding

Yeah, a rack would definitely take up alot less space. I know Sarah's mouse rack only takes up about a 3x2ft space in a corner. Looks really nice and is very practical for having alot of mice around.

The individual tubs are ok, especially if you have a utility rack you can sit them on just to keep them out of the way.

I need to get to building a rack. When I bring home 200 mice, about 60 come home with me to feed everyone, and the rest are divided up between 3 tubs. They do well this way, I just need to start breeding more of them than I currently am. I guess $100 a month really isn't that much to feed 40 snakes, right?

What is your het Pied named after? Zaphod? Wasn't he in Traveler's Guide to the Galaxy or something like that(I have no memory whatsoever)?

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Bedding:
What kind of bedding is best to keep down smell and to keep the mice healthy and happy? I was thinking of using newspaper since I can get it for free but if that is not good for them, I can switch to something else. Bedding that is easily aquired are Carefresh and Aspen.

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I would not recommend newspaper alone you will soon find out that it does not absorb very well and it will stink very quickly

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Food:
What kind of lab blocks are best? I will be looking over the Rodent mix in the sticky above. Should both the mix and the lab blocks be offered? What else should be offered to promote a good healthy colony? I will be buying from Petsmart so the only lab block I can find is Kaytee Forti-Diet. Is this ok for them? And how long will 5lbs last 11 mice?

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Kaytee diet is junk if you ask me, I would recommend an healthy diet Mazuri mix with quality dog food, I also mix some cheerios and pasta in. Healthy diet is very important!

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Caging:
I will probably be using tubs, but I've heard that mice like to chew through the plastic. Any way of preventing this? I know to cut out a section of the lid and attach hardware cloth to the underside via hotglue. Then there is the water bottle. I've heard to solder (sp) a hole for the sipper piece and attach a piece of hardware cloth around that so the mice don't chew that hole. Any thing else? What about providing things for them to chew on like chew sticks and such?

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Well it depends on the tubs, if you use tubs that have ridge that will be ground for chewing, I use small kitty litter pans (no ridge) and have no problem (0 chewing). this is what I use http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...r/MiceRack.jpg (DIY available on this forum comes down to about 30$ to make)

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Water:
I plan on using tap water. Should I de-chlorinate it? I have also heard that adding vanilla helps with the smell. If so, how much vanilla per gallon as I will probably have a gallon jug sitting by just for the mice?

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I use regular tap water and add 2-3 drops of vanilla extract in their bottle

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Additional Costs:
Should toys, nesting boxes, tubes, feeding dishes, additional snacks be provided? If so, what? Anything else I am forgetting?

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I don't use toys, newspaper is used for nesting, no feeding dish they eat through the hardware cloth which eliminate the waste, snacks are given on cleaning day. (Dog Milk Bone)

I will definatly look into that DIY rack.

And Xefaud is named after Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. My fiance liked that movie and we both liked the name so it just stuck. Sadis is named after a fictional character I had for a text-based roleplay a while back. A sadistic wolf. When Sadis came home she was very nippy and when we fed her one night, she actually struck the live feeder, and didn't bother squeezing it. She just started eating. Sadis is short for sadistic.

For mice, the best to control odor is a pelleted bedding. Recycled newspaper pellets, aspen pellets, alfalfa pellets, "Woody Pet" pellets, or even wood stove pellets.

I am currently using wood stove pellets from Menards, 40 lbs for $4. This is FAR cheaper than any other type of pelleted bedding and works very well.

Forget PetSmart for rodent food. You will pay FAR too much there. The only decent rodent food they sell is Mazuri in 2 lb bags for $6. This is $3 per lb, almost 10 times what you should be paying.

Check feed stores or local reptile shows or feeder breeders. Mazuri 6F is good, 50 lbs for about $18-$22. The best quality available is Harlan 2018, used by most of the local feeder breeders, I get it at the local show for $13 for 33 lbs.

Yup, currently picked up a bag of Cellsorb, and the wood pellets for the furnace. The major difference is first of the smell. Cell sorb does not do nearly as good of a job as wood pellets. BUT they are exceptionally dustless. I use it for my boy with sensitive allergies and he's doing SOOOOOO much better on it. We bought the 40 lb bag for 17.99 from Soldan's. (MI only sry, havent seen any at petsmart around here, and anyways I think they want 17.99 for a 12 lb bag.)

We are also trying the regular wood burning pellets for the stove as they are pretty much the same as Equine fresh and others. So far, they've been great! They do have a "woodier" smell than the Equine fresh. I don't know what kind of wood this is made from, but I believe it isn't pine. I don't see pine as being very efficient for long burning. We bought the 40 lb bag from TSC for Approx 4$. (Lord Jackel, I was reading the pallet price of 215$, not the bag... The numbers are so tiny for the bag while the pallet price is huge. :/)
It doesn't break down and get as fluffy, but we had a leak in one of the tubs the other day, they smushed a hide right into the sipper valve, (I dont know for how long) and the pellets did great absorbing all the liquid. It was all broken down into sawdust, but no actual liquid anywhere. Great test of absorbency.