• A food dish or hanging pellet basket and a water bottle are necessary.  Please note that if you have purchased a solid sided cage you will need a separate water bottle hanger.

• Hides are necessary to ensure the mice feel secure.  There should be multiple hides spread throughout the enclosure.

• Wooden chew sticks or other, similar chewing toys are necessary to keep the mouse's teeth worn down.

• A large, solid wheel of 8" or more is required for exercise purposes.

• Cover in the form of hides, tubes, cardboard boxes or eggs cartons, or other structures should also be provided to prevent large bare spots in larger enclosures.  

Toys, cute houses, bridges, custom decorations, the sky is the limit!  A few ideas are mentioned below, but please remember some guidelines when adding items to your mouse cages:

• • Mice will chew on anything you add to their cages, so decorations must be non-toxic (including any paint or coatings).

  • Fancy mice are larger than lab style mice, so please ensure openings on hides and decorations are wide enough so they do not become stuck,

  • Mice will pee on everything you add, so ensure that it is easy to clean.  Wooden items will eventually need to be replaced when they become soiled.

Here are some of our favorite things to add to our mouse cages as enrichment:

• Paper towel rolls and toilet paper tubes are plentiful and make great tunnels, especially if you partially bury a few under their bedding

• Hay is a great nesting material and mice will line their hides with it

• Different substrates and digging boxes 

• Small cardboard boxes or packing materials

• Paper based eggs cartons (drop a small pinch of treats into the different cups for a foraging game)

• Dangling small animal toys from the pet store

• Climbing toys like small ladders

• Craft (Popsicle) stick constructions like wooden hides, bridges, and other climbing structures.  You must use non-toxic hot glue or another non-toxic glue when making these, as they will be chewed on.