# Unorthodox shed? (half cellar.?)



## lifelongcannibal (Dec 23, 2012)

Well, living in Florida, it gets very hot here in the summer. I do not keep my mice inside, as my mom will not have it. So, I have a shed out back which is usable during the winter. But in the summer, Breeding slows way down if not stops. Being 15 years old, I don't have funds to build an insulated shed or keep it air conditioned, at the moment at least. So I was wondering, If I dug a hole say 10x15 ft, maybe 3-4 ft deep in the shade, would this keep it cooler? I'm guessing none of you have done this exactly, but maybe you have cellars? Now i'm not worried about flooding, I would have a roof structure and piled dirt from the hole. This is pre- preliminary by the way


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## onionpencil (Jan 6, 2013)

sounds kind of iffy to me, but maybe i'm not visualizing it well...


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## ThatCertainGlow (Jun 23, 2012)

If you have a slope, or something like that to dig into, that would work better. What concerns me, though, is the humidity in a dugout there. I lived in FL. Unless you are in a coastal town, the humidity and air flow are going to be really bad. If you do attempt a hole in the ground, be aware that flash flooding (those afternoon showers) will erode a tiny hole VERY fast through your excavated dirt. Then fill the hole with water, if there is any tilt towards the hole, from any direction. I'm also trying to picture how air flow and stacking would work to keep them cool enough, so that the hole makes any difference.

Actually, the hole idea terrifies me. If you have a bunch of leaves (from the live oaks) or moss (bake these for at least an hour at 250F to kill chiggers, etc.), you can do makeshift insulation inside the shed you have. It can be braced up against the walls with fallen branches (yet again, 250F for at least an hour) and some sort of cording/lashing. Anything that can safely be added to the roof would help the most. I'm not sure what that would be. Maybe ask at construction sites around for scrap insulation?

At 15 you can also get a permit signed by your parents for working. That's what I did. A regular job is much less difficult than odd jobs. Doing odd jobs for neighbors only gets you just so much money when you have many mice, plus it's so random. Until age 15 & a half I did cleaning, repair, pet sitting/walking, car/boat washing/waxing, raking, elderly tending, yard work, and weeding. (I avoided mowing when possible, as my hands don't like it.) I offered the first job for free, then did amazing work, so they tended to hire me after that, or at least a great referral.  Working somewhere that you can walk/bike to in 45 mins might help persuade your parents to sign the permit. Places you can walk to from school worked for me, better than from home. Then check carefully for sales on fans, and insulation. Just don't fall behind on school work/chores. That part gets tricky, unless you can somehow only work summers and holidays.

Good luck,
Zanne


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## lifelongcannibal (Dec 23, 2012)

ThatCertainGlow said:


> If you have a slope, or something like that to dig into, that would work better. What concerns me, though, is the humidity in a dugout there. I lived in FL. Unless you are in a coastal town, the humidity and air flow are going to be really bad. If you do attempt a hole in the ground, be aware that flash flooding (those afternoon showers) will erode a tiny hole VERY fast through your excavated dirt. Then fill the hole with water, if there is any tilt towards the hole, from any direction. I'm also trying to picture how air flow and stacking would work to keep them cool enough, so that the hole makes any difference.
> 
> Actually, the hole idea terrifies me. If you have a bunch of leaves (from the live oaks) or moss (bake these for at least an hour at 250F to kill chiggers, etc.), you can do makeshift insulation inside the shed you have. It can be braced up against the walls with fallen branches (yet again, 250F for at least an hour) and some sort of cording/lashing. Anything that can safely be added to the roof would help the most. I'm not sure what that would be. Maybe ask at construction sites around for scrap insulation?
> 
> ...


Thank you for your extensive reply! again, I thought of this 5 minutes before i posted the topic. The problem with my existing "shed" is that it is hardly that, as we took out 2 walls, which were just sheet aluminum anyways. And building the shed would not be TOO much of a problem, the air conditioning is the problem, because I don't have an income *at the moment*. Maybe when I start selling mice I can expand. And actually, I had been doing odd jobs until about 6 months ago when I got sick of working for people. Then I got a snake, got sick of going to the pet store once a week to buy a mouse, so I got some stock and started breeding my own. Then after talking to my local petshops, They almost all said they always go through their mice faster than their guy can supply them. So I saw it as a business oppurtunity! 
I really do enjoy it, I just had a litter of babies born today, expecting 2 more any day now. around 6 pregnant moms, And 3 litters of almost weanlings. It is satisfying to produce (well, i'm not giving birth, but you know) mice that produce more mice! Plan is to call around and see who can give me the most $ per mouse, and sell a bunch!  while re-reading this I sound like all I care about is the money, but I assure you my mice have very happy lives, and I would not sell to any pet shops that keep ANY of their animals in bad conditions.
Sorry to ramble on so much, but I post here what my family gets tired of hearing


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