Couple questions about my first colony.

[andrew68]

It's really iffy. Mice and rats do best at temps around where we are comfy, so 65-70 is ideal. I don't have personal experience with this, but I've heard it several times that above 75 breeding is comprised (smaller, less frequent litters), at 80 breeding stops, and anything much higher is risking death.

Is there anywhere else possible to house them where the family won't be near often, basement or closet perhaps?

Also, I didn't noticed this at first in the pictures, but it looks as through you used 1/2 inch hardware cloth. If that's the size you used, you'll need to change it to 1/4 inch. Young mice can easily fit through 1/2 inch. You might to also add several more places where it attaches to the tub, as they can be stronger than they look and might squeeze through a spot that isn't attached well, even on the top. They can jump quite high!

It looks like I will definitely have to keep them inside then. I'll keep them in the closet in the spare bedroom. Should contain the smell decently I hope.

Also do you have any experience with using vanilla extract in the water to keep the odor down? If so, is it effective and is the small amount of alcohol and sugars safe for the mice?

And yes I am using 1/2 inch hardware cloth, I did think it was a little big when putting the cages together but it was all I had around the house lol. I will get it replaced with 1/4 inch asap.

Thanks for the help, I appreciate it.

@Malaika, thanks for the input. I think maybe I will experiment with a small colony and see how they fare and only bring them in on the hottest days (when it can be slightly over 100)