Mouse housing
Mice need a safe, secure, hazard-free home cage that's comfortable, dry, draught-free and clean, in a quiet place where they can rest undisturbed.
They'll need:
- Plenty of space - wild mice can have very large territories, so pet mice need enough space to behave as they would in the wild and have some control and choice over their surroundings. Make sure their cage is escape-proof, as mice can squeeze through very small spaces!
- Nesting material - mice are big nest builders and use nesting material to help them stay at a comfortable temperature.
- Bedding material – mice need this to be able to dig, but it also helps to absorb moisture from urine and faeces.
- Hiding places - mice are a prey species and prefer to stay near cover, so give them plenty of places to hide.
- Things to occupy them - such as suspended ropes, fruit tree branches, cardboard tubes and tunnels. You can give your mice running wheels, but these shouldn't be the only form of enrichment in their cage. Wheels should be a solid structure and axel-free.
- Objects they can use as toilet areas or easily mark - mice scent-mark with odour patterns to identify territory and communicate with other mice. They use patterns of urine and secretions from other body glands to identify individuals, groups and social status. Placing objects they can use as toilet areas or scent-mark easily allows them to do this, as well as being easy for you to clean as part of your regular cage-cleaning routine.
Fresh water – check their cages morning and evening to make sure their water bottle nozzle hasn't got blocked or wedged open and the cage flooded. Mice can build nests against the cage sides and push bedding into the water bottle's nozzle.
Keeping your mice's home comfortable
Make sure your mice's home (and anywhere else they're left) is always comfortable for them by remembering to make sure it's:
- Out of direct sunlight - they'll need natural daylight, but not direct sunlight. Don't put your mice's cage under direct or bright lights or use them when you're handling or playing with your mice.
- Quiet - keep their cage away from high-pitched sounds, ultrasound and sudden bursts of noise, which they're sensitive to because they can hear a broad frequency range. House them away from alarms, phones, door-bells, lawnmowers, vacuum cleaners, stereos or speakers, high-pressure hoses, electrical equipment (such as computer screens and TVs) and anywhere water might run into metal containers (such as the kitchen sink).
- The right temperature and humidity - mice are very sensitive to the effects of heat. Place the cage out of direct sunlight, away from extremes of temperatures (i.e. not kept in a conservatory, garage or shed) and humidity (i.e. not kept in bathrooms or in air conditioned rooms). If summer temperatures are high, move the cage to a cooler part of your home if necessary.
- Well-ventilated without being draughty - poor ventilation and high humidity can cause health problems.
- Clean and dry - mice need a clean cage with dry bedding and nesting material, so try to balance keeping their cage clean with minimising disturbance and stress when cleaning.
Bedding material
Always provide suitable bedding material in your mice’s cage, at least 2cm deep to allow your mice to dig. Suitable bedding materials are wood chips (non-aspen), cellulose-based chips or shredded filter paper. Don’t use fine sawdust, wood shavings or aspen bedding – they can cause health problems – or any fragrant and coloured material.
Nesting material
All rodents need nesting material to regulate their body temperature and many are highly motivated to build nests even when kept in warm conditions. Provide a variety of different nesting materials to give your mice a choice over what they use and so they can build good nests.
Suitable materials are hay, shredded paper, paper strips and paper tissues. Don’t use cotton wool or similar ‘fluffy’ bedding products that separate into thin strands, as they could cause harm if eaten. Furthermore, the thin strands that form can be difficult to break, potentially leading to an animal becoming tangled up and/or loss of circulation in tangled limbs. This could result in amputation or, unfortunately, euthanasia.
Highly absorbent materials shouldn’t be used for nesting material for new-born or young animals.
Shelters
Shelters, with multiple exits, will allow your mice to hide when they wish, and avoid any confrontation with other cage-mates. Provide shelters that are large enough so they can turn around easily and not become stuck. Cardboard tubes are particularly good as they allow the mice to climb, chew and manipulate them as well as use them as a hiding place.
As with any addition to the cage, always monitor your mice when shelters are provided to check that cage-mates don’t become aggressive.
Cage cleaning
Make sure the cage is clean with dry bedding and nesting material. It’s important to maintain a balance between good health and avoiding excessive disturbance and stress. Mice are nocturnal so it's best to carry out cage cleaning in early evenings to minimise the disturbance when they rest.
On average, the cage will need a full clean every one to two weeks. However, you'll need to spot clean (clean droppings and remove urine-soaked bedding) every day. How often you will need to clean out the cage will depend on the size of their accommodation and how many mice you have. Monitor your mice and their cage to make sure that the cleaning regime you choose is suitable.
For most mouse groups, thoroughly clean and dry the cage (including washing the cage base and shelters), replace all bedding material with new, clean material, and transfer any clean, dry, unsoiled nesting material from old cage to new (adding fresh nesting material if necessary).
However, if aggression is high within the social group, everything in the cage including nesting material and enrichments should be changed and the cage completely cleaned and washed to remove any scent marks. Avoid transferring odours or objects between different cages of mice.
Follow the links below to find out more about caring for your mice.
