Any mice or rat owners?

[EverythingDucks]

I'm going to an animal sanctuary farm sorta place to give their rabbit area a makeover. It's in a building but not connected to any other and it doesn't have AC.
I know lots of about rabbits but I have no experience with mice or rats. I'll attach some pictures of their current setup when I go next week. They're currently in small cages.
How big of cages should they have? And what sort of enrichment can I provide them with? I know they like to be in at least pairs or trios, and if they aren't already how should they be introduced?
Any info would be greatly appreciated


This is the way I would like to setup everything. Rabbit in a large area with a gate, and mice and rats in large cages on shelves on the opposite side

 

[EverythingDucks]

@LittleFalcon

 

[rosemarythyme]

Haven't had a mouse in a long, long time, but for rats ideally you want 2 -2.5 cubic ft of space per rat. They need lots of open ventilation, but can get bumblefoot so any wire floors must be covered. Yes they want to have buddies, so 2-3 per cage would be a good number (I'd want to set it up so that rats would get adopted with their cagemates, if at all possible) OR having 2 giant group cages, 1 for males and 1 for females, can also work.

For enrichment, rats like to explore, and climb on stuff, and CHEW on everything. So anything that goes in needs to be chew friendly and non toxic. I would save up cardboard boxes (like tissue, cereal boxes) and toss them in for the rats to climb into and destroy. Hammocks are pretty much a must, they love sleeping in them and using them as platforms to get around. Small clean branches will let them climb and chew. I also had some commercially made toys (parrot toys, small cat toys) but they didn't get used much... to encourage the rats to play with them I'd stuff treats inside so they'd have to roll or tear at the toy to get to the treats.

I've never actually done integration as I've always gotten littermates, so not sure how to proceed on that.

 

[EverythingDucks]

Haven't had a mouse in a long, long time, but for rats ideally you want 2 -2.5 cubic ft of space per rat. They need lots of open ventilation, but can get bumblefoot so any wire floors must be covered. Yes they want to have buddies, so 2-3 per cage would be a good number (I'd want to set it up so that rats would get adopted with their cagemates, if at all possible) OR having 2 giant group cages, 1 for males and 1 for females, can also work.

For enrichment, rats like to explore, and climb on stuff, and CHEW on everything. So anything that goes in needs to be chew friendly and non toxic. I would save up cardboard boxes (like tissue, cereal boxes) and toss them in for the rats to climb into and destroy. Hammocks are pretty much a must, they love sleeping in them and using them as platforms to get around. Small clean branches will let them climb and chew. I also had some commercially made toys (parrot toys, small cat toys) but they didn't get used much... to encourage the rats to play with them I'd stuff treats inside so they'd have to roll or tear at the toy to get to the treats.

I've never actually done integration as I've always gotten littermates, so not sure how to proceed on that.

Thabks for all the info!
I don't know if you watch Emiolodgy but I'm going to set up cages just like she has. They're probably going to be thre the rest of their lives so I want them to be happy. I'm going to ask them about getting some of them adopted though.
I'm working on a sketch of the setup I'll have for them so I'll attach a picture when I'm finished.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thabks for all the info!
I don't know if you watch Emiolodgy but I'm going to set up cages just like she has. They're probably going to be thre the rest of their lives so I want them to be happy. I'm going to ask them about getting some of them adopted though.
I'm working on a sketch of the setup I'll have for them so I'll attach a picture when I'm finished.

I just glanced at some of her videos, looks like pretty good set ups utilizing a lot of the stuff I also use (hammocks, parrot ropes for climbing on, lava ledges, NO WHEELS, etc). Rats really aren't picky, but they do like to destroy things and try to get themselves in trouble if not prevented from doing so.

 

[LittleFalcon]

I have a cage that I use for rats was originally built for rabbits. It is 6 by 4 by 2 feet and is divided in four. I divide my rats depending on age and sex. A breeding cage is separate and it is about 4 by 2 by 2 feet. I have two small breeding groups in the rabbit setup and one cage is females and the other cage was males but it is currently holding pigeons. My mice are in bins, separated by color, age and sex. Do not believe what people tell you about bucks fighting, rabbits will, but the mice and rat bucks are easy to keep together, I have had the most bullying issues in the purely doe cages. If you do happen to have an aggressive male, which does happen, either cull him or put him in a breeding group. Do not keep rabbits in the same room as rats as they will get very sick. Rabbits are best kept outside, they are very tolerant of weather but not of fumes. If you get hamsters, be warned, they bite by mistake sometimes, and they will never die . Seriously, hamsters are super hardy and are really hard to kill.

 

[EverythingDucks]

I have a cage that I use for rats was originally built for rabbits. It is 6 by 4 by 2 feet and is divided in four. I divide my rats depending on age and sex. A breeding cage is separate and it is about 4 by 2 by 2 feet. I have two small breeding groups in the rabbit setup and one cage is females and the other cage was males but it is currently holding pigeons. My mice are in bins, separated by color, age and sex. Do not believe what people tell you about bucks fighting, rabbits will, but the mice and rat bucks are easy to keep together, I have had the most bullying issues in the purely doe cages. If you do happen to have an aggressive male, which does happen, either cull him or put him in a breeding group. Do not keep rabbits in the same room as rats as they will get very sick. Rabbits are best kept outside, they are very tolerant of weather but not of fumes. If you get hamsters, be warned, they bite by mistake sometimes, and they will never die . Seriously, hamsters are super hardy and are really hard to kill.

Okay, thanks!
I'm actually going to keep the rabbits in a extra large playpen with lots of toys and tunnels since they were pets before. It gets really hot outside here too.
The rats were surrendered from people and arr now being kept in little cages so I'd like to expand d their space y'know

 

[LittleFalcon]

That is great and I hope they do well in your care. Also, careful what you feed them as it will determine how long they live most of the time. I feed mine high end dog food, high end mini hog feed, and wild bird seed and they do really well on it. The mice get the same. Rabbits love bird seed and it can be a treat for them. Only feed them hay and rabbit pellets though, if they look sickly, you can give them a very small amount of ferrofoods and they should perk back up. Careful with the rabbits as they will hop the fence if it is not tall enough and they can jump pretty high. Also, they love to dig so they will burrow out of the playpen! Citrus Bioflavonoids will help with respiratory infections. Cod liver oil will help the coat and for some reason helps the older rats tremendously, it makes them act younger and look younger!

 

[EverythingDucks]

That is great and I hope they do well in your care. Also, careful what you feed them as it will determine how long they live most of the time. I feed mine high end dog food, high end mini hog feed, and wild bird seed and they do really well on it. The mice get the same. Rabbits love bird seed and it can be a treat for them. Only feed them hay and rabbit pellets though, if they look sickly, you can give them a very small amount of ferrofoods and they should perk back up. Careful with the rabbits as they will hop the fence if it is not tall enough and they can jump pretty high. Also, they love to dig so they will burrow out of the playpen! Citrus Bioflavonoids will help with respiratory infections. Cod liver oil will help the coat and for some reason helps the older rats tremendously, it makes them act younger and look younger!

Tysm!
I've done tons of research on rabbits already for years since I was just interested in them and I'd like to foster one but I currently have no experience with rats and mice. This is really helping though!

 

[LittleFalcon]

Glad to be of service. I have been breeding the rats and mice for a while now. I don't breed the rabbits anymore but I used to.