Looking for ways out?
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Looking for ways out?
by jcmaedl Sat 13 May 2017, 1:52 am
My posts always seem to read like books and I'm sorry for that but I'm a long winded kind of guy. 
We've had Whiskers for just over 2 months now. Sometimes, I will walk in the room and he seems rather focused on poking around at the places where the tank (10 gallon) meets the top, and sticking his nose through the top mesh, or climbing upside down on it. I'm wondering if this is normal "limit exploring" or if he feels cramped or restless or something, and is trying to get out.
Per the suggestions I've received here I've corrected his wheel size to a 7 1/4" saucer and added many more cage activities. He has several tubes of different sizes, 2+ inches of bedding for burrowing, nesting house, climbing bridge, 3 lane suspended rope highway, wooden "cheese block," and a bunch of chew sticks and branch slices, and a woven willow ball. He has a main dish but I also hide food in various locations for him.
It took me all of 15 minutes to tame him when we first got him. I spend about 1/2 hour each day with him out of the tank, sometimes with my wife and 3 year old. I would like to dedicate more but right now I can't. He definitely knows who I am and will peek out when I talk near his cage to check on him. He comes to me nearly instantly when I open his cage. For the most part he will stay on my person while I have him out, unless he is "free roaming" on the bed.
He likes moving stuff around and chewing up the tubes, and burrowing and shifting around the bedding I stuff in things. One of the little games we play is that I put the willow ball in an inconvenient spot for him. He responds nearly every night by taking it and putting it into the center of the wheel, it's there for me to see in the morning. He has made a main nest in the largest tube and uses the box like a guest house of sorts. I always check on his main nest every night, but when I look there is no pee smell at all and very few poops, so I mostly leave it alone. In addition to running all over exploring he sometimes flits around the cage, which from searching on here looks just like "sparking."
So, by most accounts he seems happy, but it makes me sad to think that he might just want to run away. I'm concerned that he doesn't use the wheel enough or that he might not have enough space to get out some energy. Any thoughts are appreciated.
We've had Whiskers for just over 2 months now. Sometimes, I will walk in the room and he seems rather focused on poking around at the places where the tank (10 gallon) meets the top, and sticking his nose through the top mesh, or climbing upside down on it. I'm wondering if this is normal "limit exploring" or if he feels cramped or restless or something, and is trying to get out.Per the suggestions I've received here I've corrected his wheel size to a 7 1/4" saucer and added many more cage activities. He has several tubes of different sizes, 2+ inches of bedding for burrowing, nesting house, climbing bridge, 3 lane suspended rope highway, wooden "cheese block," and a bunch of chew sticks and branch slices, and a woven willow ball. He has a main dish but I also hide food in various locations for him.
It took me all of 15 minutes to tame him when we first got him. I spend about 1/2 hour each day with him out of the tank, sometimes with my wife and 3 year old. I would like to dedicate more but right now I can't. He definitely knows who I am and will peek out when I talk near his cage to check on him. He comes to me nearly instantly when I open his cage. For the most part he will stay on my person while I have him out, unless he is "free roaming" on the bed.
He likes moving stuff around and chewing up the tubes, and burrowing and shifting around the bedding I stuff in things. One of the little games we play is that I put the willow ball in an inconvenient spot for him. He responds nearly every night by taking it and putting it into the center of the wheel, it's there for me to see in the morning. He has made a main nest in the largest tube and uses the box like a guest house of sorts. I always check on his main nest every night, but when I look there is no pee smell at all and very few poops, so I mostly leave it alone. In addition to running all over exploring he sometimes flits around the cage, which from searching on here looks just like "sparking."
So, by most accounts he seems happy, but it makes me sad to think that he might just want to run away. I'm concerned that he doesn't use the wheel enough or that he might not have enough space to get out some energy. Any thoughts are appreciated.
jcmaedl- New Member
- Join date : 2017-03-04
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Re: Looking for ways out?
by scaredymouse Sat 13 May 2017, 3:19 am
A lot of mice 'spidermouse' around upside down on the lid, it's normal. It sounds like he's got plenty of stuff to do and he sounds happy! You are giving him everything he needs. It's impossible to say for certain why mice spidermouse but I imagine its fun! And he might want more attention. But that doesn't mean that he isn't getting enough or that he wants to run away. It just means he likes you and wants more. You can't blame a mouse for asking! Mice are just like any other pet, sometimes they want all of your attention. He's fine 
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Re: Looking for ways out?
by CallaLily Sat 13 May 2017, 10:44 am
I agree that he sounds happy but I'm also probably one of the few here that would say that if you can/want to give him a little more space, go ahead! Chances are he'd enjoy it. When I had my boy Daryl he loved and used every bit of the 29 gallon tank I had him in. I made sure to make use of the height with hammocks, platforms, hanging bridges, foraging walls, etc and of course kept the lower levels packed with things to do and places to hide too. Not that you have to give him more, like I said he does sound happy where he's at. I just wanted to point out it is something you can do if you want to.
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Re: Looking for ways out?
by jcmaedl Tue 16 May 2017, 12:16 am
I'm glad to hear you guys think he is happy! Today I was able to spend about 45 minutes with him, he seemed to enjoy that.
I would love to try a larger tank because there are so many cool things I want to put in there for him but they are just too big. But, right now one of my "cat-proofing" strategies is that I have his 10 gallon inside a 20 gallon (both with mesh tops). This makes for a great safety net should any of them decide to want to be near him. I don't think that system would scale up. At first I was concerned about letting them in the same room as him, but after gadual testing, he really couldn't care less and actually climbs to the top of the cage and looks at them if they get on the top of the 20. He never runs or hides. Today I saw him spidermouse with one of them up there! So I guess he really isn't trying to get out.
I would love to try a larger tank because there are so many cool things I want to put in there for him but they are just too big. But, right now one of my "cat-proofing" strategies is that I have his 10 gallon inside a 20 gallon (both with mesh tops). This makes for a great safety net should any of them decide to want to be near him. I don't think that system would scale up. At first I was concerned about letting them in the same room as him, but after gadual testing, he really couldn't care less and actually climbs to the top of the cage and looks at them if they get on the top of the 20. He never runs or hides. Today I saw him spidermouse with one of them up there! So I guess he really isn't trying to get out.
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Re: Looking for ways out?
by Rodents rock! Tue 16 May 2017, 8:41 am
jcmaedl wrote:I'm glad to hear you guys think he is happy! Today I was able to spend about 45 minutes with him, he seemed to enjoy that.
I would love to try a larger tank because there are so many cool things I want to put in there for him but they are just too big. But, right now one of my "cat-proofing" strategies is that I have his 10 gallon inside a 20 gallon (both with mesh tops). This makes for a great safety net should any of them decide to want to be near him. I don't think that system would scale up. At first I was concerned about letting them in the same room as him, but after gadual testing, he really couldn't care less and actually climbs to the top of the cage and looks at them if they get on the top of the 20. He never runs or hides. Today I saw him spidermouse with one of them up there! So I guess he really isn't trying to get out.
Hi, there are metal mesh clips to keep rodents in and cats out. They sell them at PetSmart and Petco. They are normally right by where the tank metal mesh lids are. Then you could use your 20 gallon tank.
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Re: Looking for ways out?
by jcmaedl Tue 16 May 2017, 9:20 am
Hello! I do have clips but I have rope highways and other things that bring him close to the top, even if I lowered them, he is an accomplished jumper. If he is sticks his nose through the mesh or spidermouses on it, the cats will hook him for sure.
The 20 gallon gains me vertical space, but only about 5 inches horizontally. So it would be cool to add more levels, but he could still get swiped
I would love to use 20 long but I would have to make some kind of thing to keep them off the actual mesh.
The 20 gallon gains me vertical space, but only about 5 inches horizontally. So it would be cool to add more levels, but he could still get swiped
I would love to use 20 long but I would have to make some kind of thing to keep them off the actual mesh.
jcmaedl- New Member
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Re: Looking for ways out?
by Rodents rock! Thu 18 May 2017, 8:55 am
jcmaedl wrote:Hello! I do have clips but I have rope highways and other things that bring him close to the top, even if I lowered them, he is an accomplished jumper. If he is sticks his nose through the mesh or spidermouses on it, the cats will hook him for sure.
The 20 gallon gains me vertical space, but only about 5 inches horizontally. So it would be cool to add more levels, but he could still get swiped
I was thinking about this. If you use the 20Gallon tank with the metal mesh lid clipped on, then get a second metal mesh screen to put on top that would put a space between the screens. Just a thought.
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Re: Looking for ways out?
by jcmaedl Thu 18 May 2017, 10:48 am
What a great idea! I can just put a spacer in between them and problem solved. I can't believe I didn't think of that. Thanks so much!!!
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Re: Looking for ways out?
by Rodents rock! Fri 19 May 2017, 9:58 am
jcmaedl wrote:What a great idea! I can just put a spacer in between them and problem solved. I can't believe I didn't think of that. Thanks so much!!!
Happy to help
Let me know how it works out.
Hope you can share some pictures!
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