About different forms of cages

This cage is an cupboard which was converted especially for the needs of small rodents. It may have one or more levels and usually one level for digging. You can convert any piece of furniture of suitable size like wardrobes, cupboards, dressers and so on.

Advantages:

• a lot of space for your pets
• it is fun to arrange the furniture
• allows high bedding if made for it
• can be made to fit perfectly for nearly every species you want to keep
• good ventilation because of big, vertical mesh
• you can touch your pets from the front
• waterbottles are easy to attach
• the mice can use the mesh to climb on it
• protects from drafts if there is mesh only on one site
• mice rarely start gnawing on the mesh

Disadvantages:

• the bigger your furniture is the more difficult it gets to keep an eye on your mice and their health
• some bedding will always fall to the ground no matter how well your construction is made

Suitability:

• suited best for good climbers as for example fancy mice, spiny mice and bushy-tailed jirds
• may be suited for pale gerbils, Mongolian jirds, grass mice and so on (fit it to their needs!)
• unsuitable for clumsy climbers as for example for fat-tailed gerbils

Aviaries consist of at least 3 sides frames with mesh. They are usually higher than wide. In the pet shop you can buy aviaries with parallel cage bars. For homemade ones you usually use mesh.

Advantages:

• provide a lot of space
• levels, branches, etc. are easy to fix
• homemade aviaries can be adjusted well to the species you want to keep
• very good ventilation
• you can touch your rodents from the front
• animals can use the mesh to climb

Disadvantages:

• aviaries you can buy, have only a low bottom tray, so bedding will fall out
• you can't offer a high bedding to your pets
• bothering noises by gnawing and climbing on the mesh or the bars
• doesn't protect from unwelcome drafts

Suitability:

• suited best for very good climbers (e.g. pygmy dormice, spiny mice, deer mice, acacia rats)
• may be suited for average to good climbers (e.g. natal rats, fancy mice)
• not suited for clumsy climbers (e.g. voles, fat-tailed gerbils)

Advantages, disadvantages and suitability are hard to appreciate because they depend on the chosen form and construction. It is a definite advantage of homemade cages that you can adjust it perfectly to the needs of your future pets.
On the picture you can see a cage made for pygmy mice.

The cages you can buy in shops usually consist of an upper part made of bars and a bottom tray of plastic. The sizes offered for mice range from 30 x 21 x 17 cm up to 100 x 50 x 45 cm. Huge cages fitting to mice are usually sold as squirrel cages.

Advantages:

• many of them allow you to touch the mice from the front side
• furniture and waterbottle are easy to attach
• the mice can climb on the bars
• good ventilation
• handy

Disadvantages:

• often too small
• bottom tray too low so bedding falls out all the time
• doesn't allow high bedding
• noisy because the mice often gnaw at the bars
• risk of mice breaking out or getting stuck in the bars
• development of abnormal behavior because of lack of room
• doesn't protect from unwelcome drafts
• some types force you to touch the mice from above
• compared with homemade cages often expensive

Suitability:

• a proper size assumed, suitable for small groups of fancy mice
• perfect for introducing new mice
• not suited for for nearly every rodent (except squirrel cages)

Tanks are very popular for keeping rodents in it. For keeping mammals they mustn't be higher then wide.

Advantages:

• bedding can't fall out
• you can offer high bedding
• no bars blocking you sight
• no gnawing on bars or mesh (except on the top)
• protects from unwelcome drafts

Disadvantages:

• furniture and waterbottle are difficult to attach
• proper sizes are heavy and unhandy
• compared with cages, aviaries etc. bad ventilation
• often cleaned too infrequently, because smell is recognized too late
• you have to touch your mice from above

Suitability:

• well suited for clumsy climbers (e.g. several voles, many of jirds and gerbils)
• may be suited for moderate climbers (e.g. cotton rats)
• not suited for good climbers and species which excrete much urine due to the development of ammoniac(e.g. fancy mice, spiny, mice, grass mice)

To enlarge a standard aquarium you can put a homemade, aviary-like top on it, that has a height of 50 cm or more.

Advantages:

• bedding cannot fall out of the tank
• you can offer high bedding
• protects to some extent from drafts
• mesh can be used for climbing
• is high enough
• the mice can escape from the sometimes bad air on the ground
• very good ventilation in the aviary-like part
• levels, furniture and waterbottles can be attached easily in the aviary-like part
• mice can be touched from the front

Disadvantages:

• tank is heavy and unhandy in proper sizes
• bad ventilation on the ground
• lesser protection from unwelcome drafts
• noises from gnawing and climbing at the mesh
• bedding can fall out of the aviary-like part

Suitability:

• in proper sizes suited for all good climbers (e.g. fancy mice, spiny mice, bushy-tailed jirds)
• may be suited for average climbers (e.g. striped grass mice)
• not suited for clumsy climbers (e.g. fat-tailed gerbils)

Terrariums are enclosures made of glass which have sliding panes in the front and vertical or horizontal ventilation grills.

Advantages:

• no bars blocking your sight
• no gnawing on bars
• mice can be touched from the front
• can be higher than tanks
• good airing, proper size of ventilation grilles assumed
• protects from unwelcome drafts

Disadvantages:

• waterbottles, levels and furniture are difficult to attach
• bad ventilation when horizontal ventilation grills are used
• often cleaned too late because smell is noticed late
• no high bedding possible
• bedding falls out through the ventilation grills
• expensive
• unhandy and heavy in proper sizes

Suitability:

• suited for average climbers which don't dig
• not suited for good climbers and intensive diggers
• not suited for species which excrete much urine due to the development of ammoniac (e.g. striped grass mice)

The mouse table is a normal table. Its surface is varnished and the edges are secured with a small fence of about 10 to 20 cm. On it you can arrange the furniture.

Advantages:

• very good ventilation
• you can touch the mice from the front
• no bars blocking your sight
• cheap
• easy to clean
• you needn't be gifted in handicraft to make it

Disadvantages:

• no protection from unwelcome drafts
• mice can jump or fall off it
• bedding can fall to the ground

Suitability:

• for fancy mice only (other species would escape soon)

The so-called Duna is a cage made of a coloured plastic bottom tray and a transparent plastic top. You can buy sizes from 50 to 100 cm for mice.

Advantages:

• bedding cannot fall out
• good overview over your mice
• lightweight
• easy to clean
• doesn't get destroyed by sharp disinfection

Disadvantages:

• bad ventilation (accumulation of ammoniac, mould and bacteria)
• too flat
• too small for nearly every species
• mice like to gnaw at the hole for the waterbottle and the bars on the top
• you have to touch the animals from above

Suitability:

• good for quarantine
• good for longer transports
• unsuitable for longtime housing of any mammal

There are plenty of various cages in bright colours and sometimes funny designs (e.g. habitrail, spacie, kritter trail) usually of a very small size. Avoid buying them, because such cages don't fit to any purpose. They only cost your money for carrying them to the trash bin afterwards!

Translation
Angelus Noctis
Proofreading
Jedediah