This article is from the WSSF 2011 AFRMA Rat & Mouse Tales news-magazine.

By Karen Robbins, photos by Karen Robbins

This article will go into how to make lab block feeder baskets for mice. These are mouse-sized versions of the various rat feeder baskets. Your mice will have plenty of clean lab blocks available, you will know how much food is in the feeders, and they make it easy in replenishing the food. Using baskets for your lab blocks will save money on your feed bill as there is no waste from contaminated stashed food in the bedding. It also makes it possible if you needed to be gone for a day or two to not have to worry about the animals having enough food. Feeder baskets are a form of enrichment by giving them something to do by working to get their food instead of having it sitting in a bowl in the cage. Their treats such as oats and other seeds and grains can be tossed on the floor of the cage for foraging enrichment.

A wire basket that you would make to drop in a cut-out portion of the lid of a home-made tote cage (use ½ x ½ inch wire for mouse feeder baskets; this one made from stainless steel). Make sure you keep the feeder full of food so no small mice, like babies, can squeeze through the openings and get out. This particular feeder was a template made for rats but this would be what one for mice would look like, only smaller.

Drop-in feeder baskets will sit in a cutout of the lid of homemade cages made out of the plastic totes. This idea is from the rat Lab Cage drop-in feeder basket.

• ½ x ½ inch hardware cloth—this could be bent easily without a bender—just use a hard edge like the edge of a table and something solid to hold the wire down when bending; you could also use ½ x ½ inch 18 gauge galvanized or stainless wire but would need a bending brake to bend the wire
• Wire Cutters
• Sheet metal bending brake to bend the wire (optional)
• Grinder to grind the cut edges smooth so you nor the mice get cut on the edges

• make to the size that works best for the size of home-made plastic tote cages you use; leave 2–3 inches under the feeder to the floor of the cage

1. Cut out the wire
2. Grind cut edges smooth
3. Bend the wire to make the feeder basket
4. Fold the wire prongs around to hold the back and bottom in place
5. Place in cut-out area of lid for drop-in basket and fill with food

The single metal/wire feeder basket that has a lid and metal straps to hang from the top side of the cage. A lid is used even though the feeder should be placed at the very top of the cage under the lid to keep the mice out of the food. Some people will make this type of feeder out of all wire using the ½ x ½ inch hardware cloth.

The single wire rat feeder idea that you hang inside the cage with hanging straps has been adopted by some of the mouse breeders using ½ x ½ inch hardware cloth and making the feeder smaller. The single feeders I had my dad make are a modified version of the single feeder but made with metal and wire and with a solid lid so minimal food is exposed to the mice being able to pee on it and to prevent them from being able to climb all over the feeder basket.

The cut out wire for the wire drop-in or hanging baskets that uses the top rung for the “hanging part.” Mouse feeders would be made from ½ x ½ inch wire. The top of the “T” is one side, the front, and the other side of the feeder, where the bottom of the “T” makes up the bottom and back of the feeder. The cut prongs are folded around to join each edge together (when hanging, always put the joined edges of the feeder to the back so there are no places for a mouse’s toe to get caught. If you are making drop-in baskets that use part of the top edges to hang the basket from the lid, then you will take the top rung of wire to fold over to make the hanging tabs. Just remember if you are using the feeder as a drop-in feeder, to allow for the extra rung when you are cutting out the wire or your baskets will be too short.

The single metal/wire feeder basket with food. This one uses ½ x 1 inch 18 gauge galvanized wire.

Backside of the feeder basket made out of all wire so you would easily see how much food is in the feeder.

This single metal/wire feeder basket with lid has long straps to hang in a tall cage and uses ½ x ½ inch hardware cloth wire.

Original rough plans for the small single metal/wire mouse feeder to use in a carrier or homemade bin/tote cage. The straps for the hangers would be made to the length to fit your cage. I had one feeder made with short straps to hang in a short cage, and one with long straps to hang in a tall carrier.

Larger version of rough plans for the small metal/wire mouse feeder with lid to use in a carrier or bin/tote homemade cage. Plans by Harley Hauser.

This feeder is an adaptation of the double wire rat feeder but made to be used in tall large- and jumbo-size plastic carriers that many people use for their single males.

For the jumbo carriers, I came up with an idea to make a feeder/water bottle basket but with only part of it wire so the mice couldn’t climb up the basket and pee all over the food.

The front of the double mouse feeder showing just the water bottle tube and feeder area that mice have access to. This one was made with a wire lid but a solid lid (like on the small metal/wire feeders) is recommended if there is any chance of the mice being able to shimmy up between the feeder and carrier to get on top of the feeders.

The back of the double mouse feeder. By being made out of wire you can easily see how much food is in the feeder and check the amount of water in the bottle. The divider is made out of sheet metal as it is easier to attach on the inside to the other solid metal parts. This feeder is being used in a display cage.

• 26 gauge galvanized or stainless steel sheet metal (stainless steel is great as it is easier to clean, but the galvanized is fine)
• Tin snips
• ½ x ½ inch hardware cloth—this could be bent easily without a bender—just use a hard edge like the edge of a table and something solid to hold the wire down when bending or ½ x ½ inch or ½ x 1 inch 18 gauge galvanized wire but would need a bending brake to bend the wire
• Wire Cutters
• Sheet metal bending brake to bend the metal and wire
• Grinder to grind the cut edges smooth so you nor the mice get cut on the edges
• Metal tab clips made to attach the wire to the metal with rivets if tab clips are not cut out as part of the feeder
• Rivets to attach the tab clips to the metal

• Single Metal/Wire Mouse Feeder 3″W x 2″D x 4″H with a 3″W x 2″H wire front and bottom where the mice can eat the blocks (back is all wire). You can use either ½ x 1 inch or ½ x ½ inch hardware cloth wire.
• Double Metal/Wire Mouse Feeder 9″W x 3″D x 8″H with feeder section of 5″W and the water bottle section 4″W. You can either make a wire or solid metal lid. Hang the feeder at the very top of the carrier/cage.

1. Make a template out of sturdy cardboard
2. Trace outline, mark bend lines on the sheet metal
3. Cut out the feeder (and solid lid if using this kind); cut out holder tab clips that will be used to attach the wire to the sheet metal if they aren’t cut out as part of the feeder
4. Grind cut edges smooth
5. Bend the metal to make the feeder and divider (and solid lid)
6. Cut out the wire (and lid if using this kind)
7. Grind cut edges smooth
8. Bend the wire
9. Attach the wire by bending the tab clips on the metal around the wire and rivet to the feeder, or bend the separate tab clips around the wire then rivet the tab clips to the feeder (and the divider to the inside on the double feeder) if you do not cut them out as part of the feeder
10. Cut out the 2 hanging straps, grind cut edges, attach to feeder: 3/8″ x your length
11. Attach the lid to the feeder.
12. Hang the feeder in the cage. Put it at a comfortable height for the mice to eat from the floor of the cage.

Note: the lab blocks in the photos are the Harlan Teklad brand 8604 formula.

Go to Making Rat Lab Block Wire Feeders. Making Rat Lab Block Metal Feeders

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