Suitable trees

• Birch (offer only few with leaves which contain tannic acid)
• Beech (without leaves which contain oxalic acid)
• Rowan
• Alder
• Aspen (no fresh branches, leaves and bark contain salicylic acid compounds)
• Hazel (all breedings are fine)
• all pome trees (appel tree, pear tree, etc.)
• Linden
• Poplar (all species and breedings)
• Pane
• Drupes trees (Cherry, peach, etc.; in moderation, without leaves)
• Elm
• Willow (fresh twigs and branches not too often, bark contains tannic acid and salicin)

Unsuitable trees

• all confers (contain essential oils wich may be unhealthy for rodents)
• Chestnut and oak (contain pharmaceutical substances)
• Walnut and arbor vitae (toxic!)

Trees growing near bigger roads or in a city centre are highly exposed to pollutants. They are unsuitable for your enclosure.
When you cut branches from a tree these branches shouldn't be near bird nests or under a height of 1,50 m. Keeping this in mind you have a much lower risk to have parasites or germs on it. To take care of that is especially important when you want to offer the branch without desinfection.

Never use dead wood! Even though there might be nothing visible, mould may already grow in it that may cause health problems if the mice gnaw at it or inhale spores.

Some tree species tend to resinate heavily (e.g. cherry trees). Take care to remove every piece of resin soundly!

When you choose a tree have a look at its bark. It should fit for the purpose you want the branch for. For pygmy dormice the structure of the bark doesn't matter. But for some other species you should think about it before choosing a particular branch.
Branches with a rough-textured bark (e.g. apple tree) fit perfectly for fancy mice, spiny mice or other smart climbers when you want to put them into the enclosure vertical or transversely. Do you want to use the branch for a horizontal seating-accomodation or even for decoration only you can also choose trees with an even bark (e.g. plane).

You can take from a tree twigs, branches or - if the enclosure is huge enough - whole treetops. It refers to the species and the purpose what you choose.

You can also cut disks from a bole and offer them as nice-looking seating-accomodation.

Very big branches or even bole parts must dry for a longer time before you can use them as a furniture. Otherwise they might mould quickly.
Average branches should rest for 7 to 14 days in a room with dry air. Extraordinary thick braches have to rest for several weeks, bole parts should rest for at least 6 months bigger ones for a year.

There are several ways to clean twigs and branches.
At first you can offer fresh twigs right from the tree to the rodents. For the mice it is great having fresh, green leaves and buds. But you can give the twigs a cold shower before as well.
If you want to offer twigs and branches this way, you will have to keep close to the selection criteria mentioned above!

If you want to clean the branch more soundly to reduce the risk of parasites and germs, you can give it an intense hot shower, bigger branches can be cleaned with a brush as well. Cleaning it this way it will get cleaner, but leaves and buds get damaged and will become uninteresting to your pets. Also interesting lichens and mosses get lost by scrubbing. Above that the main part of interesting strange smells get lost.

You want to desinfect branches? Then you have to use desinfectant cleaner and a lot of hot water. This treatment works best for bigger branches without any leaves and buds. Never forget to remove the cleaner soundly with a lot of clear water. Otherwise leftovers may be toxic to your rodents.

Another way to get branches really clean is to use a steam cleaner. So you don't have to use any chemicals to clean the branch. Fresh, green leaves, linchens and mosses get also damaged treating a branch this way.

In winter you can stock branches for some days on the balcony, if there are sub-zero temperatures outside. Most parasites won't survive the cold.
Smaller branches can be put into the freezer. But it won't work for small, green twigs. Everything interessting for your pets (leaves, buds, green bark) will get destroyed by the cold.

Typical two-coloured Mopani root

Mopani is a very nice, two-coloured, tropical wood. You can make it out easily because of its light and dark brown parts and its fairly even surface. Unlike mangrove roots it is quite heavy.
Mopani, also called iron wood or savannah roots, is not a name of a special tree but a trade name. Under this name roots of different trees from different regions are sold.
These roots contain humic and tannic substances to a different extent. But tropical roots are not the only ones containing the so-called tannin. Also roots from native trees do. Oaks are especially high in tannin.
Tannic acids act astringent, protect mucosas and lower secretion. Above that the substance is used in medical treatments for stanching blood and to lower the absoption of toxins in the body. Inspite of their medical helpfulness tannic acids are said to be carcinogen if applied in an overdose.
The content of tannic acids can be lowered by boiling out the root or giving it into an aquarium for some months or a year. Tannic acids will be lushed out by the time.
Mopani is undangerous only when rodents don't gnaw at it persistently. So watch you mice and remove the root if they do so.

Vine root

There are two ways to find a suitable root. You can buy it in a shop or in the internet. In aquaristic and terraristic sections of a pet shop you will nearly always find roots. But these roots are usually tropical ones like mopani or mangrove roots.
The other possibility to get roots for your enclosure is to stob one and finish it. This is cheaper but a lot of work. Always choose roots from inobjectionable trees you could also use the branches from.
Such trees you will find in your garden, on a meadow, in a park oder in the wood. Don't take roots from trees growing next to a road, where many dogs are walked or near fields with pesticides.

Finished birch root

It takes time to finish a root for your enclosure. Depending on the root it may also be a little laborious to free the root from dirt and germs. This is how to do it:

• Free the root superficially from soil.
• Dry it for at least 4 weeks.
• Remove dried soil with a hard brush, consolidated leftovers with a screwdriver.
• Remove further leftovers of soil with a lot of hot water.
• boil it afterwards or (if too big for a pot) pour boiling water over it from all sides.
• Then let the root dry for at least 12 weeks. Then you can use it, if you don't want to desinfect it.

Desinfection:

• Scrub the root soundly with a brush and a desinfectant cleaner or use a steam cleaner.
• Rinse the cleaner from the root soundly with a lot of hot water.
• Dry the root for 8 to 12 weeks. Afterwards you can put it into the enclosure.

You don't need to clean a root that extensively. It's also possible to take roots right from the soil and put them into the enclosure. But then you have a much higher risk to introduce germs, parasitic worms and other unwelcome „visitors“.

Translation
Angelus Noctis
Proofreading
Jedediah