Last night, my mom and I set up a bio-active vivarium for mice.
Vivariums are usually for reptiles and sometimes amphibians, not furry mice. One of the main problems while I was researching this, was finding a way to get rid of mouse poop without human involvement. Mainly because with a vivarium, it's supposed to mimic their natural habitat which means you would have to dig through the ground to get their poop out. Not to mention pee. The reason getting rid of the mouse poop was a problem was because mice poop way more than snakes do. Humans poop a few times a day. Snakes poop almost once or twice a week. Mice can poop at least three times in about five minutes.
The mouse on the left with the gray spots is named Chadex. He was named that because those are the short versions of charisma and dexterity in pathfinder. Charisma is charm an dcompelling attractiveness that can inspire others. He was the first one to give me nose nuzzles and he trusts me a lot. The dexterity part is because he is very fast and likes to climb. The mouse on the right with the orange spots is named Gyfu. His name means hospitality and gift in the language of Futhark. Also known as ancient Norse.
Another question was finding out what plants we could put inside without them harming the mice if the mice decided to have a little snack. We found out that there were a lot of plants and herbs not safe for mice, including; mint, amaryllis, sweet pea, lavender, daffodils, wood hyacinth (or squill), grape hyacinth, alliums, catnip, camphor plant, elderberry, euphorbias, or wormwood. We also found that oak and bay leaves are also known to repel rodents. After all the research we finally made the entire setup.
Then, this morning we found that one of the mice (whose name is Chadex, pronounced cay-dex) had dug up a little hole in the soil and moss and other things, and had slept there. My mom and I found this very interesting. Unfortunately, we had to block the entrance before the mice could get stuck in there. And we did not get any photographic evidence of this. Then, a few minutes before I left, I found my other mouse (whose name is Gyfu, pronounced gi-foo) eating a plant named pot green fittonia (can be found at TheBioDude's website) and seemed to be fine. Then, I left and did not see anything else happen. When I got home though, my mom found out that my other mouse (Gyfu) was actually the burrower!
Vivariums are usually for reptiles and sometimes amphibians, not furry mice. One of the main problems while I was researching this, was finding a way to get rid of mouse poop without human involvement. Mainly because with a vivarium, it's supposed to mimic their natural habitat which means you would have to dig through the ground to get their poop out. Not to mention pee. The reason getting rid of the mouse poop was a problem was because mice poop way more than snakes do. Humans poop a few times a day. Snakes poop almost once or twice a week. Mice can poop at least three times in about five minutes.
Another question was finding out what plants we could put inside without them harming the mice if the mice decided to have a little snack. We found out that there were a lot of plants and herbs not safe for mice, including; mint, amaryllis, sweet pea, lavender, daffodils, wood hyacinth (or squill), grape hyacinth, alliums, catnip, camphor plant, elderberry, euphorbias, or wormwood. We also found that oak and bay leaves are also known to repel rodents. After all the research we finally made the entire setup.
Then, this morning we found that one of the mice (whose name is Chadex, pronounced cay-dex) had dug up a little hole in the soil and moss and other things, and had slept there. My mom and I found this very interesting. Unfortunately, we had to block the entrance before the mice could get stuck in there. And we did not get any photographic evidence of this. Then, a few minutes before I left, I found my other mouse (whose name is Gyfu, pronounced gi-foo) eating a plant named pot green fittonia (can be found at TheBioDude's website) and seemed to be fine. Then, I left and did not see anything else happen. When I got home though, my mom found out that my other mouse (Gyfu) was actually the burrower!
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