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I'm having more fun creating these little "mousegym's" than TYKE actually has using them! Jeeze, I should start working on that super-large mousecage soon, cause his current tank is WAY too small to fit all this crapola into!
First-off, these are all the interchangable pieces spaced together in the same photo. The TP rolls happen to be just slightly larger than the outside-diameter of the thicker 'connected-pieces' cardboard tuping I used, so they can be fit together in an infinite variety of arrays.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/170999/bab03.jpg
The silver spraypaint soaks in very well on the cardboard, and enough coats will make it (eventually) waterproofed, so don't need to precoat the tubes in smelly solvents anymore. Besides, the mouse has a thin bedding of kitty-litter covering the bottom of the tank, so tends not to piss inside his hidey-holes anymore.
Here's one configuration of the "improved" mousegym...
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/170999/bab09.jpg
And another,...
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/170999/bab07.jpg
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And another...
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/170999/bab08.jpg
And another...
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/170999/bab05.jpg
Most configurations are WAY too large to fit within the tank, but it's so much damn fun making the things even MORE complex....with a length of cardboard-tubing, a hacksaw, Dremel, and a few cans of spraypaint... It's turning into a habit, soon it'll become an addiction, eventually I'll have to admit myself to a rehab clinic to kick this 'mousegym' monkey on my back!
I already realize I'm addicted, and that's the first step.
Here's my sobbing *confession* :
"Hello, ny name's Ed, and I'm an addict...."
YOU PEOPLE: "HI ED!"
"I really like making little cubby-hole hideouts for my fieldmouse. But I'll need a larger tank for everything to fit together..."
Audience: "AWWWWWW, we feel for you."
"And then, there's no telling if two new wild mice put together with even more space wouldn't cannibalize each other again! ...sob... but these little tube tunnel things are really fun to construct..... *bawls like a baby*"
Audience: "for SHAME!... naughty boy!"
"*sobbing* Look, Tykes cage doesn't have enough room for the pieces I've already made, but still, I can't stop!! You gotta help me!"
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/170999/bab12.jpg
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[counselor mode]
Hello ed. It's good that you came and shared your feelings with us all. We all have our problems, but by talking about it, and sharing we learn to see our own problems so we can learn to solve them.
[/counselor mode]
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Ah, fuckit. At least I'm not smoking crack & killing old ladies for enough change for my next hit.
Putting these things together is pretty darned fun. Next payday, will have to get some CLEAR plastic tubing from Home Depot (so I can still SEE the lil shit when he tries hiding).
Hell with that, I'll get supplies for the big tabletop mousetank, large enough to put all these tubes & shit within...
1- buncha 2x4's, for legs & supports.
2- large 1/2" plywood board, for bottom/tabletop.
3- clear plexiglass sheets, for the sides of tank (at least 24" tall & 60" wide).
4- 90 degree joints, to connect the plexiglass walls together.
5- clear bathroom/fishtank caulking, to seal plexiglass to tabletop & edges.
Gonna need large screening too, to make a sliding door top to the thing (mice can jump pretty good).
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LMMFAO!!! this thread is too funny!!!
those gym pieces look friggin AWESOME!!!
but what really caught my eye....
you use kitty litter???
i personally have never tried this on any rodent.
does it work well? what type?
i've always thought the odor/chemicals/dust would
make 'em a bit watery eyed or something more
dangerous.
since we both share cats n' mice.... please tell
if this is a less expensive alternative to
friggin pine mulch.
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Cat litter works fine. It's not like Tyke is really able to kick it around & create a duststorm... I use that clumping litter, maybe a half inch on the bottom of the tank, then the shredded paper towels mixed in with a couple of the 'mousegym' thangs. Litter really cuts down on the mouseurine stink & keeps pee from pooling anywhere & going ammonia.
I'm sure pine mulch or cedar bedding would smell prettier, but litter makes it easier to see (visually) when the cage needs a cleaning. It's too difficult to tell when wood chips have too much shit & piss on them, easier to see how much there is with light gray cat litter.
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i'm going to try that.... fo sho.... [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]
i bet the kitty litter is much easier on their
little feet too... as opposed to the chunky
wood scraps
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Well, remember this pic, taken just a couple days ago? >
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/170999/bab12.jpg
All those cardboard pieces (except three, it was getting stupid-giant, so called it quits) have become a single big-ass mousegym. Dremeled-in a few extra "escape-holes" at least so I could get an idea where he is within the mass at any given time, and letting the spraypaint coating (not pictured) set before letting Tyke sneak-around inside the thing. (following are three different pics of the same thing, from different angles):
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/170999/mg03a.jpg
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/170999/mg03b.jpg
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/170999/mg03c.jpg
Once it doesn't stink anymore, and give him the gym, think he'll be a happy little mouse.
