What type of wire do you use for bin cages?

by CuriousWhiskers Tue 01 Dec 2020, 11:04 am

What spacing and what gauge? Also, how many sides of the bin do you put it on? What do you use to attach it to the plastic?

by SarahAdams Tue 01 Dec 2020, 1:14 pm

I think some people use 1/2"x1/2" wire if they have bigger mice. Mine are very small, so I didn't want to chance any little heads getting stuck so went with 1/4"x1/4".

You can use as much as you like - top, front or front and back and top. I attached them with small-sized zip ties. The small ones are easier to manipulate for me.

Here's the kind of mesh I got:
1/4" wire mesh

by chiroptera Tue 01 Dec 2020, 7:42 pm

CuriousWhiskers wrote:What spacing and what gauge? Also, how many sides of the bin do you put it on? What do you use to attach it to the plastic?

I would NOT suggest 1/2" in wire for mice. I've witnessed a mouse squeeze through a half inch wire mesh hole and get trapped in there, he had to be cut out. I always use 1/4" in wire mesh.

As for how many sides of the bin, I usually do one big window on the front (so most of the longer side of the bin), and most of the lid. You could do small windows on the back and sides if you want, but I find just drilling some air holes in the other sides provides enough ventilation.

To attach it, you could try gluing mesh, but the safest bet is to use zipties. To do that, you'll drill holes in the bin around the hole you cut out to put the mesh in, and then loop the zip tie through the hole and then the wire. I think the video should show how to do that. You can also use duct tape and it will probably be fine (I use duct tape for my insect bins) but for mice I would probably recommend not relying only on duct tape, I'd stick to zip ties and then if you want to reinforce it by duct taping it down you can.

by SarahAdams Wed 02 Dec 2020, 10:28 am

I would NOT suggest 1/2" in wire for mice.

Yes, I was alarmed to see 1/2" used in one or two videos I watched. I have some big Martin's rat cages but never considered using them for my mice because of the 1/2'' spacing. When you have no collar bones, not many spaces are too small to squeeze through.

by CuriousWhiskers Wed 02 Dec 2020, 11:56 am

SarahAdams, the link doesn't work for me, for some reason. Can you copy the exact name of the wire from the Home Depot website so I can go and search for it there?

by SarahAdams Wed 02 Dec 2020, 12:25 pm

CuriousWhiskers wrote:SarahAdams, the link doesn't work for me, for some reason. Can you copy the exact name of the wire from the Home Depot website so I can go and search for it there?

Are you in the US? If so, this should work:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-4-in-x-2-ft-x-5-ft-23-Gauge-Galvanized-Steel-Hardware-Cloth-308231EB/205960850

by CuriousWhiskers Wed 02 Dec 2020, 5:08 pm

Yes, I am, and this time it worked. I don't know why the other link didn't.

by CuriousWhiskers Thu 03 Dec 2020, 8:23 am

Oh, and when you drill holes in the bin for the zip ties, does it crack the plastic, or are there certain brands of plastic bin that don't crack?

by SarahAdams Thu 03 Dec 2020, 11:24 am

CuriousWhiskers wrote:Oh, and when you drill holes in the bin for the zip ties, does it crack the plastic, or are there certain brands of plastic bin that don't crack?

I started off drilling holes in the plastic, and it never cracked. When I got the soldering iron I no longer drilled. Just one touch with the tip of the iron and the hole was made.

by chiroptera Thu 03 Dec 2020, 1:46 pm

As Sarah said, I've never had an issue with the plastic cracking when I'm drilling, either for my mouse bins or my insect bins.

It can crack if you use a regular knife to cut it without a heat element, more often than not I would have small (but manageable) cracks in the plastic before I started using my hotknife.

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