School Project

Question
i have a project i'm running in school involving albino mice.concerning the cages,a friend adviced me to get a wide bucket 4 its construction.nw, i ave a problem of feeding, i got pellets, quite alright but i ave a prob with supplyin water.what oda method can i use in place of a water dispenser? cos dnt ave 1, n d method i'm usin is messing d whole place. ds mice r so active, gush! Also, d aim of my work, is to compare 3 different methods of DNA extraction 4m ds mice, do u think there's sthg i nid to know 2 make ds possible, probably sthg i cld be ignoring. thank you very much

Answer
Hi Damee,

Water bottles are very inexpensive at the pet shop or possibly even your general store.  If you don't have enough vertical space in the bucket, drill a hole in the side and attach the bottle from the outside so that the sipper goes in at an appropriate height.  Bowls will make a mess and would need to be changed multiple times a day, and will increase humidity.  There is no other way I know of, so a trip to the store might be in order.  Also, keep in mind that the bigger the bucket, the more ventilation you *must* provide, otherwise you risk a buildup of ammonia and humidity - both of which can be seriously harmful to their respiratory systems.  If you can stick your hand in it after mice have been living in it a couple of days and it feels warmer, wetter, or if you can't stick your head in it and sniff, it doesn't have enough ventilation.

Whatever methods you devise need to be safe and non-harmful to the animals, and you need to be sure that you have the appropriate forms and instructor participation to ensure their safety, comfort, and responsible care.  This pretty much rules out blood drawing.  Consider the non-invasive collection methods, including nasal or mouth swabs (you will almost certainly need supervision and reasonable equipment to achieve this), hair removed by brushing (don't use scissors near a mouse that is not professionally sedated), waste collection, and possibly a skin scrape (IF a professional is doing it, once again, no sharp objects near a non-sedated mouse).  One other method is using tissue collected from performing an ear punch, but this is absolutely not an option unless an experienced professional does it.  I don't know what level of schooling this is for, but if I were you I'd stick with the least invasive options and keep a very careful log of everything you do with the mice to avoid any potential issues.

Good luck with your project,
Tam