# My tip of the day



## Velvet_Meece (Apr 20, 2009)

Rat exercise balls make excellent nesting areas 

I was given 6 large balls when i took on a friends rats a couple years ago, i've been trying to shift them for ages. Then i realised how blind i'd been and so took them all apart and my meeces xmas came early 










They even have a lid you can take off to peek at any babies


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## kellyt (Nov 23, 2011)

Ooooh I like that idea!


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## Rhasputin (Feb 21, 2010)

I have a ton of those! What a great idea!


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

That's a good idea; I have saved parts of all kinds of mousewares to use as housing. Old wheels that no longer stay on the stand, empty plastic tubs and jars, small boxes and egg cartons (these can disappear and become one with the bedding or last an amazingly long time), little balsa gift boxes from the thrift store...and the list goes on...


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## morning-star (Apr 9, 2011)

like the idea! got some plastic balls lying about!

ready meal tubs, Ice cream tubs etc make good cheep hides!

my mice LOVE egg boxes to chew on! :lol:


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## Velvet_Meece (Apr 20, 2009)

Notice how the mouse coming out of the hide changes colour :lol:

But no, i like these rat ones, they are lovely and big for groups of mice unlike hamster balls which are ok for pairs and trios. The balls have been in the loft for the past 18 months, was trying to flog all 6 for a fiver :shock: 
I've always used cardboard boxes and similar but they never last, just get chewed up and then the mice complain because they have no hide :roll: But i think these will do for a very long time!


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

I was gifted a tiny one (supposed to be for mice) and after I smiled and nodded, I popped off the lid and have used it as a house for one of my bucks. He needed a smaller house, since he doesn't actually nest. We still have a huge one from a friend's Chinchilla. I shall have to see if its halves fit in my 20G, as it looks a bit big to go in a 10G.


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## Frizzle (Oct 6, 2011)

Wow, I'm surprised no-one markets hides like that!


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

And results! I had to unscrew the giant ball, and it just barely fits inside the 20G. Success! Feeder group got a new house.


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## Gill (Sep 16, 2011)

I'm with Moustress on this one (perhaps it's our age) - anything that can be recycled, is. Plastic tubs are the most used as they are easiest to clean.


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

About the changing mousies; aren't meeces so sweetly predictable? Pix of peeking and poking through holes are fun for us AND them.


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## MoonfallTheFox (Nov 12, 2011)

I recycle like crazy, too. There's a whole corner of cardboard and plastic stuff for my mice and rats in the dining room.


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## Velvet_Meece (Apr 20, 2009)

I've not been too bad with mice, maybe because i don't have any room to hoard stuff, i just keep a bag full of loo roll tubes hung on the wall for chewing and playing in. The rabbits love to throw them around too.

I used to be terrible with my spiders, every tub i saw or found would be like "I wonder what i can put in there" :roll: supermarkets are terrible places for that!

I think Boot sales are worse for rodents and rabbits, so many people selling odd little things and lots of tanks and cages! :shock: I've stopped going to them because i end up with so much rubbish!


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