Is small housing at the breeder bad?

by Lluna Sat 07 Nov 2020, 1:07 pm

So I am looking for a group of mice. My own cage is 120x60x60cm, but the breeder I have found near me has their mice in small plastic tubs of 45x28x20cm. Personally I think this is quite small, but I wanted some mire opinions. I have yet to hear back from another breeder. Is the housing a big issue when it comes to choosing a breeder? Other than the housing I do not see any issues, as they put health first abd make sure the females are healthy enough to have litters.

by Mir’s Many Mice Sat 07 Nov 2020, 5:55 pm

From what I understand breeders usually keep their mice in smaller tubs because they have many mice that need to be kept separate. (Such as males & preganant females.) Of course this varies from breeder to breeder (each will probably have their own reasons for how they house their mice,) but the cost of getting bedding for so many large cages, & keeping them all clean regularly to keep the cages healthy is a difficult thing.
It’s much easier to have racks/easily emptied tubs.

It’s something you really have to decide for yourself depending on what you see and what you know.

Im personally a big stickler for proper cage sizes (I have 2 mice in a 2ft by 4ft.) but I personally understand that breeders can’t realistically have proper sized cages for all their mice. And it may also depend on how temporary the tubs are. (Do they keep their other mice in a different place, is this were they keep the ones that will only be there temporarily (going off to be pets, etc)?

Personally I draw a hard line at bug sized containers & small tubs stuffed full of mice (that are no longer weening). It’s a tricky topic though with many factors.

((I’ve written, read, and re-written this so many time I hope it helps a little.))

by chiroptera Wed 11 Nov 2020, 1:57 am

@Lluna If my math is correct, that would be about 5g for their tubs, which isn't so small that I'd be super concerned. Breeders, unless they have a serious excess of money and space, will likely have to keep their animals in slightly smaller enclosures, and I think that if their animals are healthy otherwise, it's not a huge issue overall, in my opinion.

That said, to keep them in smaller enclosures means they definitely need to be cleaned, so if the cages seem excessively dirty, or are crammed full of so many animals they can't move, etc., that's when I would start to get concerned.

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Is small housing at the breeder bad?

Is small housing at the breeder bad?

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