Mice and Racks

[pretends2bnormal]

One more question on here. Can mice be kept in concrete mixing tubs like the ones used in rat racks? I dont see why not, but I haven't been able to find any information on it.

They can be done, though you will want to use 1/4" mesh on the top and not the 1/2" used for rats. Mice are smaller and can be climbing around at small enough sizes to squeeze through 1/2" mesh. You also may need to add a block of wood or rock below the food in the tub to make sure hoppers can reach it if the tubs are pretty deep if you feed on top of the mesh.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[TopazEye]

They can be done, though you will want to use 1/4" mesh on the top and not the 1/2" used for rats. Mice are smaller and can be climbing around at small enough sizes to squeeze through 1/2" mesh. You also may need to add a block of wood or rock below the food in the tub to make sure hoppers can reach it if the tubs are pretty deep if you feed on top of the mesh.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Thanks! I figured I'd need 1/4", as mice as so small. Would 1/4" work for rats as well?

[pretends2bnormal]

Thanks! I figured I'd need 1/4", as mice as so small. Would 1/4" work for rats as well?

Generally no, their mouths are much bigger and they would have a very hard time (if not impossible, I'm not certain which) getting to the food through the smaller spaces. Definitely don't want smaller than 1/2"×1/2" spaces for rats to have to try and eat through.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[TopazEye]

Generally no, their mouths are much bigger and they would have a very hard time (if not impossible, I'm not certain which) getting to the food through the smaller spaces. Definitely don't want smaller than 1/2"×1/2" spaces for rats to have to try and eat through.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Okay, that makes sense. When I get hoppers I would probably just add a food bowl in the tub to make sure they are eating enough.

[pretends2bnormal]

Okay, that makes sense. When I get hoppers I would probably just add a food bowl in the tub to make sure they are eating enough.

I use the rat size lab cage for my mouse colony (I only need the 1, so didn't bother with a rack for tbem) so I don't need to do that due to the lid style where the food is.

I will just toss a couple pellets in each day for rat pups in my racks when they're starting to eat but may not quite reach the food above in case the moms don't drop many small pieces to the floor. I don't bother with a bowl or and avoid tossing in enough that it will be wasted.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[TopazEye]

Could I keep 2:2 in a tub?

[TopazEye]

Could I keep 2:2 in a tub?

I forgot to specify that the 2:2 would be rats. Also, how many mice could comfortably fit into a concrete mixing tub? Would 10 be reasonable or is that way too much?

[pretends2bnormal]

I would absolutely advise against ever having multiple males together with females. I've had males fight and cause injuries after simply being moved together into a tub that I had used as a holding tub for a few minutes for a female. There may exist some superb lines or rats that aren't as bothered, but that's not common and has a high probability of resulting in one male killing or severely injuring the other.

Not sure on # of mice in the tubs, but I've heard some people use the footprint equivalent of a 28qt tub (the ~12" tall one, I forget its volume measurement) and keeping 1.8 mice in a colony.

I'd guess 10 total, 1.9, would be fine as far as not too crowded in the concrete tubs, but it depends on your line of mice. Some do poorly in colonies, some do poorly in larger groups (max 1.2 or 1.3, tub size not relevant; just too many other mice squabbling resulting in dead babies or moms stealing babies back and forth nonstop resulting in injuries or deaths in the babies), and any number of other seemingly mystery issues with baby eating, killing, or fighting.

If you use Facebook, I'd advise you join the Feeder Breeder Enthusiasts group, there's much more experience there and a lot of existing threads that would probably answer a lot of your questions. It is one of the few FB groups I've found without excessive drama and most of the info you're asking for can be found via searching the group.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Stewart_Reptiles]

One more question on here. Can mice be kept in concrete mixing tubs like the ones used in rat racks? I don't see why not, but I haven't been able to find any information on it.

I would not do it too much space for them and too much hight they do better with 3 inches as far as height especially the babies learning to eat and drink.

In tubs that big you could have 20, 30 mice the problem is you can only have 1 male (if you put 2 males in with females regardless of mice or rats they will kill each others) and one male cannot breed that many females, additionally with mice when there are too many of them is causes stress which in turn causes cannibalism.

An ideal mouse colony is 1.3 to 1.4 for optimal production same for rats.

So because 1. and 1.4 are optimal for mice I don't see why anyone would waste space and keep them in concrete tubs.

Could I keep 2:2 in a tub?

No same as above a mature male in his breeding prime that is house with a female or two or more will kill or seriously injure any male that will be put in the same enclosure.

[TopazEye]

What do people use as mouse tubs? I saw someone using 6qt tubs but those have ridges and seem pretty small. I was looking at these https://www.amazon.com/Medium-Cat-Pa...s=pet-supplies
But I'm not sure if they are flat, as almost all of their tubs are ridged on the inside.