Set-up for mouse breeding.

Hi, I have some questions and am looking for general suggestions. I plan to set up a cage for breeding mice. I plan on having probably five mice, because according to a couple sites I read, that is what my 20 long will accommodate, but is that accurate? Seems like it may be a bit crowded?

What I have to work with before taking your suggestions:
-Rusty exercise wheel, will the rust be unsafe for them?
-Plastic water bottle, not sure of the size, but it's 6" in circumference, is that too big?
-food bowls of course
-for a hidebox i am looking for suggestions, i have a popsicle stick log cabin i made a long while ago that i could use, then i have a hamster nest but its translucent, i also looked at some outlet boxes that my father has the metal part that is inside a wall i wondered if it'd be safe to use those? Also how many hides or how bigger hides would you suggest?
-Is an empty paper towel roll safe to put for them to run through?
-would ropes be good for them to have to climb and such? if so, what types are safe?
-I read that cedar and pine are bad for the health, so I should go with aspen?
-Is there anyway to sanitize a stick/limb to add to their environment? I assume it would definitely need to be well sanitized? I was wondering if soaking it in boiling water would work? If so, how long?

I am open to any and all suggestions, hints, advise, etc.

THANKS!

a 20 gallon tank would be plenty for 5 mice, but I wouldn't have more than 1 male, since they would probably fight.

I'd lose the exercise wheel. They don't need it and it's just one more thing to clean.

You might want to consider switching to a glass water bottle. Mice can and will chew on the top of a plastic one, which will render it useless.

For hides / houses, either think disposable or indestructable. Mice will ruin a popsicle stick house within minutes. I use either cardboard boxes and tubes or 8" chunks of 4" PVC pipe. The outlet boxes you mentioned might have sharp edges, and rodent urine will corrode most metals quickly.

For the food bowls you might want to use something ceramic, since they'll eventually chew up a plastic one.

I wouldn't bother putting ropes in there, especially if you're not sure what they're made out of. The mice will just chew them up and pee on them anyway. Same with the branches. For the bedding I use pine or aspen.

You could soak a branch in boiling water, but it would probably be easier to put it in the oven at 300* for 15 minutes. You would need to keep it in there longer if it's thicker than 1-2 inches.

Hope that helps.
Good luck

Thanks Paul! Anyone else?

I am not breeding in mass, just to let you all know. I am looking to breed a few mice to feed my snakes, but also care for my breeders as pets.

-Rusty exercise wheel, will the rust be unsafe for them?
-What size water bottle is too big for mice?
-Anymore hide suggestions? Are paper towel rolls safe? (wondering because of the slight amount of glue used to hold the paper towels on)
-Would some types of ropes be harmful if chewed/injested?
-What are some of preferred mouse feeds?

I believe rust is unsafe for anything so if you want an exercise wheel I'd get a new one.

Paper towel and toilet paper rolls are perfect for mice. Leave a little bit of towel & TP on them too. They love to chew them.

I wouldn't give them any rope at all. Give them chunks of untreated pine 2x4s, 2x2s etc. to chew on.

There are a lot of brands of rodent block. Mazauri (sp?) makes one brand. You can also use hamster food. I give mine all the leftover bird food (I breed birds) and I breed a ton of mice and a few rats. I keep my mice in the shoeboxed sized mouse breeders and I keep 1.4 mice in each one.

Thank you Karen. I am feeding mine rabbit food, with a slight bit of alfalfa and keeping an alfalfa cube for their teeth. I also have a mineral block in their with them. I occassionally give them some fruit/vegi. Does that diet sound approvable? I threw away the wheel and plan to get a new one, also I I put a paper towel roll, I also plan to get me a limb and put it in the oven then into the cage. I am also drilling holes through an untreated wood block for them to crawl through and chew on. I am not replacing the water bottle at the moment, but I will when they chew it up. I also plan to build a small hide box out of untreated plywood. Any more suggestions? Thanks for the help guys. Also, I'd like some feedback on how that cage sounds. Oh, I have aspen shavings.

I use the bottles from Country Bob's All Purpose Steak Sauce for water bottles after they chew up the store bought ones. The lids w/the sippers fit the Country Bob's sauce bottles. They also fit the glass A-1 steak sauce bottles. I have a few of those too.

I don't know if rabbit food is good for mice or not. I have fed some dog & cat food too. I do know that too much fresh food (fruit/veggies) will give them diarrhea so I'd limit those.

Well, I have my mice. I got 1.1 a brown male and black female. Then the next day I added a brown female, they had a bit of a skirmish at first, but after 15-30 minutes were nestled together. I added a female albino today and the skirmishes haven't stopped and it's been over an hour. What can I do? I don't want them hurting each other, please respond someone.

Mice do kill each other from time to time. If I have a problem like that, I take out the aggressor and feed it off. It's best to start with young mice which are just weaned. They usually get along pretty well. If you have adult mice, it is harder but not impossible to put them together. Two males will fight immediately. Are you positive the albino isn't a male?