Raising a Baby Mouse 1/10 The First Day
Like 5 Dislike 0 Published on 13 Dec 2010
Update: really young baby mice, under three or four days old, i.e. has not developed any pigmentation yet, should be fed more often than every two hours, at least every hour. Kitten/puppy formula seems to have the most success. For fussy babies over a week old, i.e. they have fur, you can try the 'lapping' method of feeding. Place a little formula on the skin of your hand in front of the baby mouse and let it lap it up. Many older babies prefer this method of feeding and it will be much easier for you. With very fussy babies you can add a tiny bit of honey or syrup to the formula to encourage feeding, but once they have learned how to feed, no longer add it, too much sugar is bad for baby mice. Be very gentle with rear end washing and massaged, too much or too rough and it can lead to inflamed rear ends. If the orphaned baby mouse you found shows signs of dehydration, if you can, take it to a vet for a subcutaneous injection of saline solution, this can be a life saver.
Do not mix Pedialyte with formula, it will block nutrient absorption and cause malnutrition. Instead feed straight pedialyte for one or two feedings and then water diluted formula, increasing it to full strength formula over a few feeding sessions.
Warning: for inexperienced animal people the failure rate for trying to handraise a baby mouse is around 75%. It is very painful loosing a baby mouse because you get to love them so much. Think carefully about it before you try.
Warning: Domesticated mice are safe, but wild mice can carry disease. A lot of people keep wild mice as pets and are fine, but it is always a bit of a risk, something you need to be aware of and make a decision over. If you do keep a wild mouse, keep the cage extra clean and wash your hands after handling. With deer mice you may want to wear a surgical mask during cage cleaning.
(If your baby mouse is a deermouse ): deermice in North America can carry a deadly disease, Hantavirus, that they can pass on to humans. Not all deermice have it and the % of those that carry it varies from region to region. Lots of people keep deermice as pets and are fine, but it is always a risk, especially if you have young children, elderly and people with compromised immune systems living in the house.
The First Day
The first day you have your little mouse is very important, especially if it is an orphan. Orphans have often been abandoned for quite a few hours before you find them and so will be cold and dehydrated. You need to get them warmed up (electric heater pad set on low works best) and rehydrated (electrolyte solution for babies is best, or water if you that is all you have).
Matilda was not an orphan, but if I had not come along she would have become frozen snake food. I got her when she was only four days old. I had been hoping for a little older, around 7 days old, but the breeder has none. Fuzzies, little mice who already have hair but do not have their eyes open, are much easier to handraise and you are more likely to succeed. But I am experienced at handraising mice, so I got Mattie as a pinky. I like to handraise my mice because that way they grow up thinking they are human and become the most magical pet, so tiny and yet so trusting and loving.
Warning (If your baby mouse is a deermouse ): deermice in North America can carry a deadly disease, Hantavirus, that they can pass on to humans. Not all deermice have it and the % of those that carry it varies from region to region. Lots of people keep deermice as pets and are fine, but it is always a risk, especially if you have young children, elderly and people with compromised immune systems living in the house.
Music by Michael Joseph Murphy (Emerald Tide)