Wire spacing in cage

Question
Hello. I am getting three female pink eyed whites (so called by my niece who is getting them for me) for pets and want to know about a cage I got. It has 3/8"-1/2" spaces between the wires. Is this spacing okay? Also, the cage has 3 levels and the levels have wire flooring with little squares--should this be covered with duct tape or something to keep their feet from becoming stuck?

Answer
Dear Denise,

Pink-eyed whites are called albinos.  They are the first mice that were used as pets and have been worshipped in times past in ancient communities, for instance in Egypt.  Egyptians hoped that if they worshipped and prayed to the white mice, the field mice would not eat their stores of grain.  They had little temples for the mice.  The Japanese cultivated albino mice over 2000 years ago for pets as well, along with other species that they bred.

1/2" spacing is fine for adult mice.  Very little baby mice might be able to escape.  I like to start my babies in a plastic or glass aquarium type cage.  Mice have very flexible ribcages, so that they can fit through any opening that their heads can fit through.  

You are right that the mice won't very much like the wire floor, but they will certainly not get their feet stuck.  Mice are incredibly agile.  You don't want to give them access to duct tape to chew because it's certainly toxic to some extent.  I have a very similar setup.  I make sure that the floor of the house is smooth and that they have other surfaces, such as thick cloth or clean rug scraps, covering many parts of the wiring but not all of it.  It's good to have many surfaces.  My mice actually climb vertically up the inside of the cage and that's great for their balance and exercise.  Not all mice will do this. (I don't know why they don't make these cages with horizontal wiring for ease of climbing).  By the way I put the second floor higher than they expect so I can access the mice downstairs more easily, and the proximity of the two upper floors, though you must have a ladder, can be fun for them to span directly!  

Give them lots of toys on each level, making sure (by placement of ladders, for instance) that nothing can fall off of an upper floor.  Mice are great landscapers and can move anything in the cage.  if you put the food on top (a possible problem if they throw it out of the dish like mine do) it will be very easy to access the mice if they are shy.

Hold your little mice as much as possible, keeping them in a sleeve if they are shy (use an old shirt because they don't understand toilet training).  Let them be on your body-- inside your sleeve or on your shoulder-- as you do other things, say, read or type.  They will soon connect your smell with fun and want to come out of the cage, though they may still be shy about doing so.

Good luck and have fun!

squeaks n giggles,

Natasha