Cage Advice
I have never had mice before, but recently fell in love with a mouse we were using for experiments and my teacher allowed me to take him home and save him from going back to the pet store as a feeder. My teacher also allowed me to take him home with some extra things we had in our (Animal Science) classroom like his cage, wheel, and some hides, until I could purchase my own things for him. I have now returned almost everything she lent me just need to buy some platforms and a new (bigger) wheel.
He is very friendly and loves to come out of his cage to be handled but hates going back in. I'm looking for advise to make being in the cage more fun. I, however, am working with a low budget. Although I am currently finishing the last of the paperwork I need to officially be employed at one job and working on being hired at a second, I have some big expenses coming up and won't be able to use a lot of that money for him. I also have two geckos that could use some upgrades to their enclosures as well.
A lot of the things I have in his cage currently are either recycled, handmade, purchased at the dollar store, or a mixture of those. Since he loves climbing I'm going to me making him some fleece ropes, more ladders, and some crocheted hammocks. Also I've been searching high and low at dollar stores, thrift stores, pet stores, and everywhere else to find blueberry or blackberry theme things for him so if anyone has any ideas as to where I might be able to find some please let me know. He is in a 552 square inch cage with 4-6 inches of bedding, though I will be adding more next time I do a half dump. He isn't big on chewing which is disappointing because I have so many cute things for him to chew hidden in there. As the experiment I used him for was surrounding enrichment and contrafreeloading behavior, I am very big on feeding enrichment for him and scatter feed a lot of the time. He is super active and feels very confident in his current set-up so I know that what I have is at least enough to make him feel secure.
How can I make this cage more enriching for my little guy? How can I encourage him to use his chews? Where can I find cheaper things for him such as a bigger wheel? What else should I add to my list of things to make for him?