Cages

    There are many different kinds of cages around. Of these, most suitable for mice are hamster and bird cages. There are many different sizes of hamster cages and the best for mice is one with many levels. Do not buy one of those pitifully small "mouse cages" or tiny hamster cages that are suitable only for a stuffed toy animal.  A mouse cage should have very small space between the bars, as a mouse can squeeze through unbelievably small spaces! Small pet mouse may be able to escape from almost every cage available.

Wire Cages

    Wire cages sold specifically as mouse cages usually have closely-spaced bars or mesh, so that the inhabitants cannot escape. However, most 'mouse' cages are tiny, and would not provide a suitable permanent home. Many cages sold for hamsters or birds can make good mouse homes, and they can often be bought cheaply secondhand. Alternatively, you could wire together two or more small 'mouse' cages, to make a larger home which still had the advantage of narrow-spaced bars

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Good Points Bad Points
  • Mice love to climb, and wire-sided cages provide good opportunities for this. Climbing is a very good exercise; as well as keeping them physically fit, it helps to stop them getting bored.
  • Great ventilation - mice are prone to respiratory problems which are aggravated by ammonia build-up in poorly ventilated cages. Interesting smells are constantly drifting through the mouse cage, giving them something to think about.
  • Large hamster cages (multi-storey are the only ones worth considering) are fairly cheap & easy to find.
  • Multiple-storey cages allow the mice plenty of floorspace whilst taking up little of yours.
  • You can feed and interact with your mice through the bars. It's great to see a group of little noses appear at the wire every time you pass the cage. You will get a lot more fun out of your mice - and they will become more friendly - if you encourage them to take food from you regularly like this.
  • Easy to fix lots of pieces of cage furniture up to the bars - eg ladders, nestboxes, bird toys etc..
  • If an adult human can get a finger through the wire, a young mouse can get out. Single mice are more prone to try to escape than mice which live in groups. Sometimes a mouse may try to squeeze through the bars, get stuck halfway and hurt itself. You can cover wire cages with 1/2" x 1/2"(1cm x 1cm) wire mesh to stop any escapes, or keep the cage in an empty bathtub or on a shelf out of reach of danger for the first month or so until the mice are too big to escape. Often when a mouse escapes from the cage it becomes lonely and wants to get back in; I find that most escapees only try to escape once or twice, before deciding that life is much better if they stay in the cage!
  • Predatory pets like rats, dogs and cats may attack mice through the bars; make sure that the cage is out of their reach. You cannot rely on mice having the sense to stay away from the bars when other animals are about.
  • If any levels in the cage have wire floors or ladders, they will be corroded by mouse urine and your shiny new cage will be dingy and hard to get clean within a year. Scrubbing the floors with wire wool helps. Alternatively, you can cover wire floors with linoleum ,cardboard, or similar, and simply remove the floor covering to clean or throw away.
  • Bird and hamster cages usually have only one or two small doors. This can make it hard to catch mice - if you have to chase them around the cage to catch them, they will panic. You need to be able to reach all areas of the cage easily.

Wooden Cages

   Some mouse books will recommend that you keep your mice in wooden boxes with a wire ventilation grille. These boxes are normally used by fanciers for breeding mice, and they provide a very secure environment for a mouse to give birth and rear her litter in. However, wooden boxes do not make good permanent homes for pet mice. They absorb urine and become smelly very quickly. They provide a very limited environment for the mice - they cannot climb, there is little room to add a wheel or other toys, and sometimes they cannot even see out. You cannot even see into them to check your mice without removing the lid. Leave these boxes for breeding use only.