housing

Question
Hi! I was wondering if you had any sugestions on a good place to get a glass mouse cage. I was thinking about getting a mouse, but I don't have a cage yet and I really need help. Can you tell me what an all around light brown mouse is? If not that is okay. Thank you much for taking time out of your day to read this and answer me. Thanks much!

Answer
Dear Missy,
thank you for your question.
Mice are better kept in wire cages or homemade wooden cages. The reason for that is that the ammoniac in their pee tends to gather in the air in the lower part of any glass cage, which is not good at all for the mice. They can be kept in tanks, but it must be wider than high. Terrariums are too badly ventilated, even when they are supposed to be made for rodents.
Here's a guide to building your own mousecage from an Ikea cupboard (old furniture is great for making rodent homes)
http://www.das-maeuseasyl.de/doku.php/haltung/eigenbau1
Sorry, it's a German pages, but it has a few picture that show the most important steps.

A brown mouse can be an agouti or a chocolate mouse, but there are several other brown colour morphs. This website has a good guide to mouse colours:
http://www.thefunmouse.com/varieties/index.cfm
For more general info, I recommend this website:
http://www.allaboutmice.co.uk/

Mice are very social and should never be kept alone. Since bucks will fight sooner or later and not many vets neuter them, I would recommend getting 2-4 females. Look for a rescue or a good breeder, don't buy at a pet shop - the animals there are often sick and even more often sold pregnant.

I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer