Best Bedding for Fancy Mice – Which to Choose?
Setting up a good fancy mouse cage includes filling it with some comfortable bedding. Since they live on that bedding all day long, it would be nice to choose a high-quality material. It can make your life easier too by making it more straightforward to clean up and absorbing odors.
It can also make life easier for your pet as it can function as a bed, as a bathroom and as a playfield. If the material is good, your mice can start creating tunnels and holes where they can hide. Moreover, it will help your mouse to stay warm by allowing him to create a nest.
Buying some high-quality bedding can have many advantages, but how to choose the right one? In this article, we are going to talk about the best beddings available for mice and some important things to keep in mind.
Best Bedding for Pet Mouse
Choosing some high-quality bedding for your pet mouse is not easy since there are so many different brands offering them in the market. When looking at all the different options, you are looking for something that your mouse will truly enjoy.
There are plenty of high-quality beddings available and some pretty bad ones as well. The differences are not always obvious and it can be hard to find the right one. In order to make things easier for you, we have listed the 3 best beddings in our opinion below.
– Kaytee Clean and Cozy Colored Bedding with Odor Control
We have found out that this paper bedding actually works quite well for pet mice. It is made of top-quality, completely dust-free material that your pet will love to dig into.
This is not only a healthy option for your mouse but also a rather soft one, making the cage much cozier for him.
Mice absolutely love this bedding because they can easily burrow into it. What makes it so easy is the absorbing capacity of the material.
This colored bedding can absorb as much as twice the amount of liquids that most wood shavings can.
If you are looking for a healthy option that prevents respiratory problems and offers outstanding odor control, then you should try this one.
– Kayteen Natural Aspen Bedding
Looking for some high-quality aspen shavings? Then you can’t go wrong with this one manufactured by Kayteen.
It is a nice bag of natural aspen shavings that will make the cage comfortable for your little pet. Wood waste and dust commonly gets mixed with shavings, but not with this one.
There is not only no dust in it but it is also free of artificial scents and oils. In one word, it is natural.
These aspen shavings are a bit on the harder side, allowing your pet to create tunnels and holes that retain their shape.
This pack of aspen shavings will also make the clean-up process much easier since it is easier to manage that paper strips or pellets.
– Kaytee Kay-Kob Litter and Bedding Package
Yet another odor- and dust-free bedding by Kaytee that will make the life of your pet mouse easier and more comfortable.
This one works just fine for birds and rodents as well. You don’t need to worry about those typical mouse smells that much with this high-quality bedding.
The package includes some plain and all-natural corn cob. Thanks to this ultra-absorbent material, you won’t need to do clean-ups that frequently.
Even when it gets dirty, you can rest assured that it won’t stick to the cage. You can remove it just as easily as you poured it in the cage.
Choosing Bedding for Your Pet Mouse
In a mouse cage, some water will be spilt and waste will be generated as well. Therefore, it is important to choose the type of bedding that can absorb all that stuff. The more of it can absorb, the better because it can also delay the next cage cleanup.
The second thing is that your mouse should feel at home living on it. If he feels encouraged to burrow and create nesting chambers, then the bedding is probably convenient for him. Moreover, it should contain a minimal amount of dust because that can cause respiratory problems.
Homemade Mouse Bedding for Mice
If you want to make some bedding at home, the material we recommend for it is wood chips. Of course, the wood should not contain any aromatic oils or artificial scents. You need to use tiny pieces of it while making sure there are no pieces with sharp edges that could hurt your mouse.
Wood chips that are too rough won’t be comfortable for your fancy mouse either. Remember, your pet will sleep on it and burrow in it from time to time so it has to be comfy. Rough wood chips would cause your mouse to be sleep deprived and it is definitely not healthy.
How Often to Change Bedding for Fancy Mouse?
No matter how high-quality the bedding is, it is best to change it once a week. The waste, fluids and odors surely get absorbed by it but it will be smelly and dirty at some point. It is always better for your mouse to live in a fresh, clean environment so you better not delay this.
This way, you also do yourself a favor because it won’t be smelly around the mouse cage. Also, the dirtier the cage, the more likely that your mouse is going to have a health problem. Meanwhile, cleaning can be done gradually if you spot some wet or dirty bedding.
You can just remove and replace it with some fresh bedding.
How Many Inches of Bedding do Mice Need?
You need to take into consideration that mice are diggers and they need thick bedding in order to feel at home. Placing about 3 inches of bedding is usually good for mice. It allows them to create tunnels if they want to and some space to go to the bathroom.
This will allow them to push the bedding around without quickly getting to the bottom of the tank. It will also give them good isolation and the warmth they need for sleeping and their everyday activities. Placing more bedding is usually good but don’t lay down too much of it.
It is usually unnecessary to lay down 4-5 inches so it is best to keep it at 3 inches tops. Not to mention that bedding that is too deep can even prevent your mouse from burrowing, which is one of their favorite activities.
Either way, you are going to figure this out by experience. After a few weeks, you will know exactly how much bedding you need to lay down.
Do Mice Like to Burrow in the Bedding?
Creating tunnels, nesting chambers and burrowing in the bedding are all activities that pet mice enjoy doing. Therefore, keeping them in a cage that allows burrowing is definitely a plus for them. Of course, you need to pick the type of bedding that is ideal for this and also deep enough so that they can dig in it.
Mice even like to create holes for different activities such as sleeping, going to the bathroom and eating. Creating tunnels that connect with each other is also part of the fun. It is also fun to watch them while they are busy creating these holes.
However, it can be sometimes hard to pick them up because these holes and tunnels also function as hiding places. When you need to pick them up, you might also need to ruin one of their tunnels in order to get them out of the cage.
Can You Use Newspapers for Bedding?
Newspapers can be definitely used for mouse bedding. In fact, many of the packaged beddings you can buy in pet stores are made of recycled newspapers and other thrown-away paper. But the thing is that it has to be recycled the proper way.
It has to be healthy and newspaper ink is not healthy for mice at all. Therefore, just cutting up some newspaper at home is not going to work. It has to be some clean paper that poses no health risk to your pet.
Wrapping Up
There is a wide range of different beddings available in the market and they all come with their own advantages and disadvantages. It is important to know which material works best in order to guarantee a clean and comfortable cage for your mouse.
First off, the bedding should not contain any chemicals such as artificial scents or newspaper ink. Secondly, your mice should be able to burrow in it and create tunnels or nests if they want to. Fancy mice should be kept in a clean environment where the risk of health issues is minimized.
The beddings we mentioned above are all top-quality and great at absorbing odors and liquids. Pick the one that seems the most appropriate for you and you won’t be disappointed. Picking a quality bedding package will also make it easier for you to clean the cage in the long run.
