How to Make a Mice Habitat

Social and entertaining, domesticated mice are easy to care for making them an excellent choice as small pets. Mice are best kept in pairs or small groups of females, as males will fight if placed together in the same cage. As mice are prolific breeders, with a gestation period of around 18 days, plan to keep males and females separated when making a habitat for your mice. Otherwise you will quickly end up with many baby mice.

Things You'll Need

  • Cage
  • Chlorine bleach
  • Spray bottle
  • Paper towels
  • Cedar shaving
  • Cardboard tubes
  • Water bottle
  • Food
  • Tissue paper
  • Exercise wheel
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Instructions

    • 1

      Select a cage designed specifically for mice, if using an enclosure with metal bars. Cages designed for larger animals, like hamsters, gerbils and guinea pigs have bars that are too wide to contain mice. Other choices are glass or plastic aquariums or small animal enclosures designed for rodents.

    • 2

      Strip the cage of all accessories, such as an exercise wheel, food dish and water bottle; if the cage did not come with these accessories purchase them separately.

    • 3

      Make a disinfectant solution by adding 1-tsp. bleach to 1-quart water. Fill the spray bottle with the solution and coat all surfaces of the cage and accessories. Rinse off the solution with plain water. Dry the cage and accessories thoroughly with paper towels.

    • 4

      Add cedar shavings to a depth of 2 inches to the cage floor. Position the exercise wheel in the cage where the wheel will not be prone to bumping against the sides of the cage. Fill the food dish with food formulated for mice.

    • 5

      Fill the water bottle with fresh water and hang the bottle on the cage. Tap the nozzle of the bottle with your finger to ensure the bottle is dispensing one or two drops of water each time you touch the end of the spout. This will ensure the mice are able to get water from the bottle when they lick the spout.

    • 6

      Add a few cardboard paper towel or toilet paper tubes to the cage. This will give the mice both a place to play and something to chew on.

    • 7

      Place several squares of unscented toilet tissue in the cage. The mice will tear up the paper and use the soft paper to make nests.

    • 8

      Clean the cage regularly. Contrary to myth, mice are remarkably clean animals and will select one corner of the cage to use as a toilet. If you clean their "bathroom" every few days you will only need to change out the entire shavings once every two to three weeks.

    • 9

      Check the other corners of the cage where the mice will store food. Remove any food that appears spoiled.