# Making a mouse Box.1



## Wight Isle Stud

Well, having kept mice for 35 years and having had a break for the last five, its time to get ready for the next 35 years, So I thought I would post some photos of how to make a Mouse box.....................cant be doing with them plastic things!! Walter maxey used to recommend soap boxes, nowadays they are not available, but Wine boxes are, usually about £2.50 each and can be got in anytown.


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## Megzilla

Wow! something for me to do in my shed  Thank you for this thread


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## Matt Haslam

thank you for this thread Gary, its great that some of this knowledge can be passed on


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## shadowmouse

So the mice to not chew through the wood? And they get enough light inside?


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## The secret garden

Theres loads of light, two great big circles at the front and the top is mesh.


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## Wight Isle Stud

I have picked up that some persons are of the opinion that mice like a lot of light, I believe that mice are more nocturnal than anything else, thats why they have excellent eyes for picking up the smallest amount of light, and big ears to hear with when its dark. I dont think light is at all important to them, but some is. The nest boxes in the back of the boxes is completly dark, so the mice have the best of both worlds, their choice. Go in the shed during the day and you will hardly see anything at the wires. Flick the light on at night and they will all be out. 
Yes they will knaw away at the wood,and eventually every box will have to be made good, thats never changed, but thats what mice do !!- I cn make the boxes last ten times longer by providing a nest box divider in a softer wood, I used that soft rubbish they make builders palletts out of for the nest box dividers. 
There are various observations on mice chucking food out of the wire from their cages on to the shed floor- In my opinion they do that to try to block the light out, I formed this opinion when I put a nest box in with a doe which previously did not have one, she immediatelly stopped doing it,confirmation came for me when I provided them all with a nest box and the shed floor was clean no more stressed mices !!


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## shadowmouse

hmmm... very interesting. I love those wine boxes. We put stain and lacquer on those to use for storage in our house.  My husband has one that says EXPLOSIVES on it. That's his favorite.


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## Matt Haslam

what are the dimensions of the wood you used for the lid frame?

I am going to make some wooden boxes, i can't find wine boxes near me, so i am building them from scratch out of exterior plywood, should be fun! but as you know i love a challenge.


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## Wight Isle Stud

Ran out of that stuff but it was 18 mil by 22 ml planed. Am now using 12 mil wbp ply, in 4" wide strips. you really need a good thickness of ply as its easy to get screws in it etc, . Hope these phots help.


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## Matt Haslam

cheers Gary, I was thinking 9mm before, but think i'll buy 12mm


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## Wight Isle Stud

9 mil and you will struggle to get screws which are strong enough to hold the pieces together, best size is a 20 mil screw that calls for 24 mil wood thickness at the joins obviously 12 x 2 is 24 mil ideal. you can get floor varnishes now which are rock hard,I havent used it but if it will withstand humans clomping all over it and furniture etc, I am sure it will withstand chewing, just an idea, however if screws are used to make a box It should be easy when a panel in a box is chewed beyond repair to replace it


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## Matt Haslam

i think i'll have to look for another source of wood, like your wine boxes or a cheaper timber merchants . e.g. because 12mm ply is going to work out quite expensive per box. although i could just build a couple at a time.
http://www.wickes.co.uk/Exterior-Plywood/invt/110401

thats pretty expensive if i want to build 18x12x7 boxes; or have i miscalculated?


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## Wight Isle Stud

crikey jeepers !! says over 20 quid per square meter, is it gold plated! [email protected] is 20 odd quid for a 8 feet by four feet sheet, and thats top quality exterior ply, I only used that because its all they had in 12 mil. Had they had the usual plywood for rough building works (shuttering ) around building sites etc, I would of gone for that at about £15 quid a sheet. (8X4) you should be able to make about six boxes per sheet.


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## Seawatch Stud

Its a pity that lorry I was telling you about dosent go past your houses boys!. When you factor in the time it takes to make em on top of the cost of materials it dosent make economic sense. The old fanciers had no choice as they couldnt buy cheap RUBs or plastic tanks. I built boxes out of a sense of nostalgia as my mousery didnt seem right without them, but they constitute only about 25% of my total capacity. Most of my cages are plastic tanks.


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## Matt Haslam

yeah i'm seeing the financial thing doesn't make sense to have just wooden. I am planning to make a few for nostagia reasons too, help me feel like a 'proper' mouse fancier!

oh btw just bought some wood! but it'll probably take me a few weeks t get round to making them!


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## Wight Isle Stud

nooooooooooooo !!!! drag yourselves back from this horrible modern trait !!! you will be showing plastic mice next !!- dont gang up on me !


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## laoshu

thank you doing this thred! I love a "build" post.
I might just attempt these one day!


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## SarahC

I'm gradually replacing my plastic cages.I started with wooden,changed to plastic and now I'm going back to wooden.B&q depot will cut your wood to size Matt.It costs me £5 per cage including wire .I'm also going back to water pots instead of bottles :!:


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## Wight Isle Stud

yes !!!!! well done sara. The old timers would turn in their graves with all this yukky plastic! I hate water bottles with a passion, if you place the water dish in front of the wire you can actually pour water in it through the wire, if you get the right nozzle on a small indoor plant watering can- good for nights when time is limited. 
I do have to be unbiased though, nothing wrong with plastic............... grumble grumble


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## Matt Haslam

any chance you can send me the full details of the wood you bought and the cuts that were made please Sarah, i'm pretty rubbish at working that stuff out


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## SarahC

Shiprat said:


> any chance you can send me the full details of the wood you bought and the cuts that were made please Sarah, i'm pretty rubbish at working that stuff out


shall have to consult the maker,I just pay,works out for the best I think :lol:


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## Matt Haslam

SarahC said:


> Shiprat said:
> 
> 
> 
> any chance you can send me the full details of the wood you bought and the cuts that were made please Sarah, i'm pretty rubbish at working that stuff out
> 
> 
> 
> shall have to consult the maker,I just pay,works out for the best I think :lol:
Click to expand...

yeah, that works!

well seen as tho i don't have a circular saw, getting the pieces cut would be the best! i am currently building a couple of boxes completely by hand! I shall post pics of the results.


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## tom95

SarahC said:


> I'm gradually replacing my plastic cages.I started with wooden,changed to plastic and now I'm going back to wooden.B&q depot will cut your wood to size Matt.It costs me £5 per cage including wire .I'm also going back to water pots instead of bottles :!:


Why ?

Isn't it easier to clean plastic boxes ? Water in the bottles is always pure, isn't it cleaner and better for you to don't wash pots every day ?
Please correct me, because maybe I think wrong about the water system you use for mice and I don't know how it is looking like  I can only imagine


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## Wight Isle Stud

Tom, it is easier to clean Plastic Cages. We are Talking about personal taste here, there is no right or wrong, you do what you want.
For me, I choose wood because it looks better. 
I am gonna get shot at for this, but water in bottles are no cleaner than in a pot. The air bubble that results from a mouse drinking takes bits and pieces from the mouses mouth bck up into the bottle,in a reasonably warm mousery over a couple of days I wonder what would be growing in the bottle? The answer is to clean them of course. Its a lot easier to clean a pot than a water bottle. That is the theory. However the truth Is I have used water botles for many years with no problem at ll, and so have thousands of other mousekeepers. So again, Personal taste. I have to be ready for my stock coming soon and as a tempoary measure I have bought Pots for them as No one has enough Water botts in stock. 0.29p each and the crab paste is a bugger to get out.


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## Seawatch Stud

Agreed just cant like plastic tanks. We are old school Im afraid. Call us sentimental but the rule of if it aint broke dont fix it applies. I like my shed to look like the old timers sheds, not like a laboratory.


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## SarahC

I like to try all options.I'm not keen on the storage box type of cages as most of them are to tall which wastes space I haven't got.The only plastic cages I have liked were 50cm ferplast fauna boxes which are now discontinued and the exo terra faunariums that have replaced them are inferior and not to my liking.Wooden cages keep in warmth when its cold and block out light when the sun shines through and can be made to a decent size with out the wasted height.I don't wash cages,wood or plastic.I spray regularly for parasites and occasionally spray on a sterilising solution ,nothing more what ever the cage is.I'm fed up of water bottles blocking and mice being unable to access the liquid. I think the water is less than fresh at times especially when there are only a few occupants in a cage.more importantly as far as the cages go I think the mice prefer the wooden cages,cosy,dim light and they can have a gnaw with out the whole cage being ruined.


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