Setting up your stud

There are many considerations when setting up a stud for show mice. The first thing to consider is do you want to keep your stud indoors or in a shed or garage. Mice are very able to withstand cold and do well enough in a shed over a British winter, provided they have have enough nesting material to snuggle up in. The summer is a different matter however, and if you are keeping your stock outside you need to make sure they are protected from the heat as mice can overheat and die very quickly and easily. You need to make sure that wild rodents and predatory animals can't get in but your shed must be well-ventilated. In a shed your mice have their own safe little world where not much disturbs them, it doesn't matter if it smells, and you don't have embarrassing situations when you invite musophobics round to dinner. On the other hand, you have to go out there every day, whether you feel like it or not, whatever the weather.

I'm not a fan of cold weather at all and I don't find the thought of trudging out to to a shed in howling rain and blistering cold all that appealing, so I keep my mice indoors in my hobby room. I like this as I can pop in to check on the mice whenever I want, whatever the time or weather, and I enjoy listening to them rustling round as I'm painting. The mice themselves are very friendly and curious because they are used to being disturbed 4 or 5 times a day and will come out to the fronts of their boxes to greet me.

Below is a photograph of my stud:

Key features of a stud include:

EASY TO CLEAN CAGES: For housing male mice and does with litters I have 18 lab cages with the lids on upside down. On the top of the bench I have three large rat lab cages for housing young and resting does. Lab cages are expensive new, but they are hardwearing and will last for years. Secondhand lab cages are fine - my lab cages came from a nice chap on eBay; they are perfectly functional and they're probably older than I am! They have also been designed specifically for ease of care, lab technicians may have many hundreds of cages to clean out every day. It takes less than two minutes to remove the inhabitants, empty the soiled bedding, replace the bedding and put the little guys back in.

In the old days people would make their breeding boxes out of plywood with zinc mesh ventilation. A lot of people these days choose to make their own breeding boxes out of plastic tubs and Really Useful Boxes seem to be the most widely used as they are very sturdy even when panels are taken out. You can find out more about converting RUBs into mouse cages here (many thanks to Woodland Mousery for allowing me to link to this page). You can also use plastic aquariums and vivariums, such as the Exo-Terra Faunariums and Marchioro Aquazoos.

Wire cages and glass aquariums are not really good for a stud as wire cages require a lot more cleaning due to the bars and glass aquariums are heavy, delicate and will not stack. There's nothing wrong with these options, it's just by using them you're making more work for yourself.

SEALED FOOD BIN: When running on as many mice as it takes to keep a stud thriving, you'll want a large, sealable container to keep your mouse food in. The bin on the left of the picture above holds enough food for a month for my mice - but I have a relatively small stud. If you keep your stud outside in a shed then it's doubly important the food bin seals tight and that you pick up any food spillages as easily available food will attract unwelcome visitors.

SOILED BEDDING BIN: You'll need somewhere to empty your boxes into.

SPACE TO STORE BEDDING AND NESTING MATERIAL: You'll want to buy in bulk when running a stud, so you'll need somewhere to put it!

STORAGE FOR MISC BITS: The top of my mouse bench is made of a white kitchen worktop, and on here I store my CO2 chamber and tank, my breeding record book, spare bottles and bowls, blank cards for the cages, cage disinfectant, mite and flea spray, the tank I use to put mice when I'm cleaning out or inspecting them, and most importantly the freezer where I keep euthanised mice (and the dogs' raw meat and bones). You'll also need somewhere to keep a fan in hot weather, mine is the tall white thing on the floor next to the food bin.

A SOURCE OF NATURAL DAYLIGHT: The mice themselves aren't bothered about getting daylight as they are dawn and dusk mammals, but you need it to inspect them. A mouse's colour will look completely different in incandscent or fluorescent light, so make sure you have somewhere to view them in natural daylight.

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