Hello! New membwr trying to find new knowledge
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Hello! New membwr trying to find new knowledge
by Seb Tue 29 Aug 2023, 7:28 pm
Hello!
My name is Seb, short for Sebastian. Male, almost 39 (Oct).
I apologize in advance for the really long read ahead. I also apologize as i am not normally a forum user so this format is... Odd to figure out for me so i apologize for any mistakes. I'd wanna attach photos to better show what im describing but idk how to on this forum or if u even can.
I have two wild field mice that i have rescued from deceased parents. One mouse i have had for almost two years and this new mouse i rescued recently was born approximately 1-2 weeks ago.
I live in an RV on private property inside city limits but in an unincorporated area which happens to have a lot of acreage and the RV sits stationary. We use two electric heaters during winter that take up a large portion of our power supply which just so happens to be two extension cords running to a plug outside a garage next to a Breaker box. The wild mice in the area have decided to try to nest inside. They seem to only come and try to breed here once or twice a year so for the pest control portion of it is manageable, but the reason i have two wild field mice is cause the first one just appeared one day outside the RV door when my gf n i were BBQing on the grill. It had no other relative nearby and it was barely walking with both eyes still closed and squeaking a lot. I can not in good conscious let a helpless baby pass away without giving it a chance. So we rescued that one. It hasnt ever gotten sick, and it has survived since September 2021 in a cage we got for it. We nursed it until it could do it on its own. We even recorded some of its progress like when the eyes opened. We're still not entirely sure of its sex (M/F) but its definitely a trooper. Survived a really harsh winter from 2021-2022 and a mildly harsh winter 2022-2023 with just it's fluff, a hidey hole and a small heating pad that no longer works. It was some cheap 1-2 watt small thing we kept inside the plastic cage (Kaytee CritterTrail single layer habitat) at the very bottom under some fluff and a log we put inside to hide in.
The second mouse we rescued trying to get rid of the 13-ish wild mice that popped up in three different areas of the RV over the last month or so. It was a late baby/early post-baby stage of development and trapped in a corner with no other loose wild mice alive or around for it to bond or survive with. So we put it in the cage with our first mouse to give it a buddy. The first mouse has been alone until about 2 weeks ago. Its been about two weeks since the introduction and the older mouse doesnt mess with the little mouse in any aggressive manner or anything. It has sniffed and inspected and even moved from one side to somewhere else 'safe' and the little mouse has been Making a comeback and is still a little skittish but adapting. They seem to get along. We do not know the sex of the little mouse. The big mouses name is Nibblins. We haven't named the second little one yet.
I have two cages from Kaytee CritterTrail. One is a single small habitat that used to be the older mouses main home for almost 2 years now. It has a log, a bowl for food, water bottle, spinny wheel, fluff, and the top hiding/petting area.
The second cage is a two layer Kaytee CritterTrail cage that has a lot of food stashed around, a large log, a little hamster hidey hut that i secured the bottom with a solid surface to prevent floor digging and buried a little so they have an underground hiding spot, the second 'floor' is actually two separate clip-on platforms with the attached-for-easy-access curved tube and I have them split level (one a couple pegs higher than the other but on opposite sides of the cage). One platform has some snacks, food, food bowl, forageables, a long stick with a bunch of mixed seeds attached to some kind of gooey paste thats edible for them. The other platform has a spinny wheel set slightly above it so the wheel doesnt catch when spinning.
I also have a large plastic container i want to modify into a more natural setting for them. I was wondering...
Is it okay to fill the bottom 4-5 inches of the container with some kind of natural dirt/soil/potting mixture safe for small animals that i can hide a hamster hideaway with a tube curving upwards to go above the dirt to act as a underground entrance buried in the 4-5 inches of dirt and have a heating pad inside the dirt about 0.5-1.0 inches from the bottom. Is it safe/unsafe to bury a small wattage heating pad in a large plastic container inside dirt to give the surrounding dirt a warmth so the heat will hopefully spread to the buried huts and the mice would have a safe warm area to go to for winter time?
Im planning on using dirt/soil and on top of the dirt place a two floored wood house that has a side hole where a wood log connects to a single floored hut and on another side of the plastic container a single 2-floored building. I want to place fluff from the top of the dirt to the bottom of the first floor of each building so that the second floor is the only exposed floor. This way the mice have layers of fluff and dirt to play with and build tunnels through if they wanted. Also the underground huts would be under the dirt snd fluff giving it extra protection from the harsh winters and bitter cold we experience.
I want to eventually connect the two cages (already connected) to the large plastic container so the two mice have a small cage, a larger cage, and a larger container area to run between and not feel so cooped up in one cage.
Am i being too much with all this? I didn't decide to start adding another cage or adding a third area to play in until we got this second mouse.
In the almost two years i have had the older mouse, it hasnt ever shown any signs of sickness or illness or anything. Its fur is super soft and healthy looking.
The second mouse, so far, hasn't shown any signs of any bite marks from the other mouse, doesnt seem to have anything parasitic, and hasn't shown any signs of illness or sickness either. In fact, the little mouse is zooming around the first cage and slowly exploring the second.
I try to sprinkle in one of the cages a few mixed seeds every 1-3 days depending. I refresh the water every 2-3 days as well.
I haven't ever done this before. Try to raise mice. This is my first time and honestly I'm super surprised the first one has even made it this far. Super trooper and resilient. I admit to not knowing what im doing other than from Google searches and reading the results. Any advice, suggestions, or knowledge/information that can be shared would he greatly appreciated!
Thank you for your time.
My name is Seb, short for Sebastian. Male, almost 39 (Oct).
I apologize in advance for the really long read ahead. I also apologize as i am not normally a forum user so this format is... Odd to figure out for me so i apologize for any mistakes. I'd wanna attach photos to better show what im describing but idk how to on this forum or if u even can.
I have two wild field mice that i have rescued from deceased parents. One mouse i have had for almost two years and this new mouse i rescued recently was born approximately 1-2 weeks ago.
I live in an RV on private property inside city limits but in an unincorporated area which happens to have a lot of acreage and the RV sits stationary. We use two electric heaters during winter that take up a large portion of our power supply which just so happens to be two extension cords running to a plug outside a garage next to a Breaker box. The wild mice in the area have decided to try to nest inside. They seem to only come and try to breed here once or twice a year so for the pest control portion of it is manageable, but the reason i have two wild field mice is cause the first one just appeared one day outside the RV door when my gf n i were BBQing on the grill. It had no other relative nearby and it was barely walking with both eyes still closed and squeaking a lot. I can not in good conscious let a helpless baby pass away without giving it a chance. So we rescued that one. It hasnt ever gotten sick, and it has survived since September 2021 in a cage we got for it. We nursed it until it could do it on its own. We even recorded some of its progress like when the eyes opened. We're still not entirely sure of its sex (M/F) but its definitely a trooper. Survived a really harsh winter from 2021-2022 and a mildly harsh winter 2022-2023 with just it's fluff, a hidey hole and a small heating pad that no longer works. It was some cheap 1-2 watt small thing we kept inside the plastic cage (Kaytee CritterTrail single layer habitat) at the very bottom under some fluff and a log we put inside to hide in.
The second mouse we rescued trying to get rid of the 13-ish wild mice that popped up in three different areas of the RV over the last month or so. It was a late baby/early post-baby stage of development and trapped in a corner with no other loose wild mice alive or around for it to bond or survive with. So we put it in the cage with our first mouse to give it a buddy. The first mouse has been alone until about 2 weeks ago. Its been about two weeks since the introduction and the older mouse doesnt mess with the little mouse in any aggressive manner or anything. It has sniffed and inspected and even moved from one side to somewhere else 'safe' and the little mouse has been Making a comeback and is still a little skittish but adapting. They seem to get along. We do not know the sex of the little mouse. The big mouses name is Nibblins. We haven't named the second little one yet.
I have two cages from Kaytee CritterTrail. One is a single small habitat that used to be the older mouses main home for almost 2 years now. It has a log, a bowl for food, water bottle, spinny wheel, fluff, and the top hiding/petting area.
The second cage is a two layer Kaytee CritterTrail cage that has a lot of food stashed around, a large log, a little hamster hidey hut that i secured the bottom with a solid surface to prevent floor digging and buried a little so they have an underground hiding spot, the second 'floor' is actually two separate clip-on platforms with the attached-for-easy-access curved tube and I have them split level (one a couple pegs higher than the other but on opposite sides of the cage). One platform has some snacks, food, food bowl, forageables, a long stick with a bunch of mixed seeds attached to some kind of gooey paste thats edible for them. The other platform has a spinny wheel set slightly above it so the wheel doesnt catch when spinning.
I also have a large plastic container i want to modify into a more natural setting for them. I was wondering...
Is it okay to fill the bottom 4-5 inches of the container with some kind of natural dirt/soil/potting mixture safe for small animals that i can hide a hamster hideaway with a tube curving upwards to go above the dirt to act as a underground entrance buried in the 4-5 inches of dirt and have a heating pad inside the dirt about 0.5-1.0 inches from the bottom. Is it safe/unsafe to bury a small wattage heating pad in a large plastic container inside dirt to give the surrounding dirt a warmth so the heat will hopefully spread to the buried huts and the mice would have a safe warm area to go to for winter time?
Im planning on using dirt/soil and on top of the dirt place a two floored wood house that has a side hole where a wood log connects to a single floored hut and on another side of the plastic container a single 2-floored building. I want to place fluff from the top of the dirt to the bottom of the first floor of each building so that the second floor is the only exposed floor. This way the mice have layers of fluff and dirt to play with and build tunnels through if they wanted. Also the underground huts would be under the dirt snd fluff giving it extra protection from the harsh winters and bitter cold we experience.
I want to eventually connect the two cages (already connected) to the large plastic container so the two mice have a small cage, a larger cage, and a larger container area to run between and not feel so cooped up in one cage.
Am i being too much with all this? I didn't decide to start adding another cage or adding a third area to play in until we got this second mouse.
In the almost two years i have had the older mouse, it hasnt ever shown any signs of sickness or illness or anything. Its fur is super soft and healthy looking.
The second mouse, so far, hasn't shown any signs of any bite marks from the other mouse, doesnt seem to have anything parasitic, and hasn't shown any signs of illness or sickness either. In fact, the little mouse is zooming around the first cage and slowly exploring the second.
I try to sprinkle in one of the cages a few mixed seeds every 1-3 days depending. I refresh the water every 2-3 days as well.
I haven't ever done this before. Try to raise mice. This is my first time and honestly I'm super surprised the first one has even made it this far. Super trooper and resilient. I admit to not knowing what im doing other than from Google searches and reading the results. Any advice, suggestions, or knowledge/information that can be shared would he greatly appreciated!
Thank you for your time.
Seb- New Member
- Join date : 2023-08-19
Posts : 4
animalgirl555 likes this post
Re: Hello! New membwr trying to find new knowledge
by animalgirl555 Thu 31 Aug 2023, 4:39 pm
I know you said you have a bin that you want to modify, how big is it? I think it would be a nice enclosure if it's large enough, and your mice would enjoy the other, smaller Kaytee critter trails to run into as extras. You should definitely try to add lots of tunnels, climbing toys, and hideouts; make sure the cage is a bit cluttered so that your mice feel safe. You should also add an 8 or 10-inch wheel for your mice to get rid of that extra energy. If you want your enclosure to look natural, you can research mouse-safe trees and take some branches for your mice to chew and climb on.
You CAN fill the enclosure with rodent-safe soil like cocoa soil. If you do, make sure it doesn't have "plant food"/fertilizer, as a curious mouse could decide to take a nibble, and that wouldn't end very well. If you are going to put a heating pad, just make sure to keep it on the side of the enclosure so that your mice can move away and cool down. you can feed the younger mouse a bit or hard-boiled eggs for extra protein.
If you are going to add in fluff for your mice, be careful, as the cotton fluff from pet stores or cotton can get wrapped around your mice's limbs and entangle them. If you want, you can give them toilet paper to shred, or any paper shreds that they can add to their nest. I sometimes give my mice feathers to add to their nest, but they aren't their favorites.
Good luck with your mice!
You CAN fill the enclosure with rodent-safe soil like cocoa soil. If you do, make sure it doesn't have "plant food"/fertilizer, as a curious mouse could decide to take a nibble, and that wouldn't end very well. If you are going to put a heating pad, just make sure to keep it on the side of the enclosure so that your mice can move away and cool down. you can feed the younger mouse a bit or hard-boiled eggs for extra protein.
If you are going to add in fluff for your mice, be careful, as the cotton fluff from pet stores or cotton can get wrapped around your mice's limbs and entangle them. If you want, you can give them toilet paper to shred, or any paper shreds that they can add to their nest. I sometimes give my mice feathers to add to their nest, but they aren't their favorites.
Good luck with your mice!
animalgirl555- Full Member
- Join date : 2022-10-11
Posts : 63
Re: Hello! New membwr trying to find new knowledge
by MiceMe Thu 05 Oct 2023, 11:18 pm
What with photos of situations?
MiceMe- Jr Member
- Join date : 2023-10-05
Posts : 20
Re: Hello! New membwr trying to find new knowledge
by Seb Mon 09 Oct 2023, 9:45 am
MiceMe wrote:What with photos of situations?
I am unsure how to attach photos or videos
in a forum like this. I only just figured out now how to reply, apologies. I am not used to this type of format.
Seb- New Member
- Join date : 2023-08-19
Posts : 4
Re: Hello! New membwr trying to find new knowledge
by Seb Mon 09 Oct 2023, 9:55 am
Thanks. I completed the habitat about a week ago. The tubing system is 4-5 levels of connections high with 4 tubes sticking out of each corner with a little bit extra tubing to run around in and an attached cage up top on the bins lid with an enclosed spinning wheel for exercise that they can access internally. The bin is a 137 gallon bin. I dont know the dimensions anymore but its like 33x24x27 or something like that. Its big enough to fit like 8-10 medium sized Christmas wreaths in. If i knew how to attach pictures or videos, i would show you. The inside has a layer of reptile safe (and frozen for 72 hours) dirt mixture, a layer of Timothy Hay (not as much as i wanted as i ran out when filling it), and a HUGE layer (like 10-14" deep) of white mice safe fluff. It has 3 total water bottles, and two feeding areas, and 4 underground enclosures, and it's pretty compact.
Seb- New Member
- Join date : 2023-08-19
Posts : 4
Re: Hello! New membwr trying to find new knowledge
by Seb Mon 09 Oct 2023, 10:18 am
Thus us a google drive link to a album I upload of the pictures and videos i have taken so far if anyone is interested
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cVTATcK3coVOCAmjK5iyDTeE1iAba_Gz
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cVTATcK3coVOCAmjK5iyDTeE1iAba_Gz
Seb- New Member
- Join date : 2023-08-19
Posts : 4
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