Orphaned mouse- advice please!

[RedLimoncello]

DH was clearing earth on the garden and accidentally disturbed a mouse nest. Only one baby mouse survived😥

It's currently in a box beside me, squeaking having spend the first 20 mins in DH hand.

It's got fur and ears but eyes still closed so we think less than 2 weeks old??

We've got a mini-hot water bottle in its box, a towel and some torn up kitchen paper that he has snuggled into.

DH fed him with some warmed milk in a teeny bottle belonging to some rubbishy toy or other of the DC! I see online puppy milk replacement is best but we've nothing like that and all shops closed of course.

Has anyone any advice? I'm seeing online info that they need feeding 1.5-2 hourly but don't know how long that needs to happen for, or when to give him other foods, if he even survives😔

We're willing to do our best for him. If he survives the night I'll go to local pet store for advice.

Any pearls of wisdom would be much appreciated. He's awfully small and adorable.

Fair point @DianasLasso

My DBro is giving me advice on keeping her and I can see that if we handle her a lot she might not do well out in the big bad world.

I'll ask the small mammal lady for advice on this

Awwwww Whiskers is soooo cute!
Shamelessly posting so that I can see the updates
Love threads like this
🐭🐭🐭🐭

My cockles have been well and truly warmed by this thread! What a cutie. Have you named her op? Once she has a name she will officially be a pet

Oh it's Whiskers! I missed that bit

Awww whiskers is the cutest

♥️

Ahh my sister found a mouse nest in her flat and looked after the babies like you are, I’ll see if I can find a pic. They took turns to do the night feeds etc until they found a refuge place to take them. They were so sad when they left! At least hers had lots of brothers and sisters tho

I can’t stop staring at her and crying with cuteness.

Yeah I'm sorry. You can't release a mouse with a name into the wild. She will get picked on by the other tough outdoors mice. She's with you for life.

Oh, it's CUTE! We have a hamster and even though my kids are outgrowing having hammies, I'm going to get one always because I loves them so much.

Awww

Let us know how you get on. Could you keep her like a pet if you have too?

@Scruffyoak

Awww

Let us know how you get on. Could you keep her like a pet if you have too?

How couldn't you.

I can be a right hard headed bugger, but Whiskers would be getting the mouse equivalent of a mansion to live in!!

I think I'd have to keep her 😍

@Kenji

Afaik goats milk is suitable if you can get some.

It's not, what you need for small mammals is critical care milk for about £40 from a vet or online. We use it for foster animals like hamsters, mice and guinea pigs.

@greta.the.couch.mouse on Instagram has done this - worth checking out

Oh godddd she’s so cute 😭😭 her little hand on the bottle! 😍

We recently blocked up a hole in the kitchen wall due to a mousey visitor, which I caught in a humane trap. It was soooo cute, so tiny with big eyes. Though ours was a boy - I got quite an eyeful of his massive balls

Aw yes we can keep her if that's the best call. My 4 year old gave me less of a guilt trip than you lot!

We were planning on getting guinea pigs at some stage so all my research was on them. I didn't study for this test!!

But hey, we'll figure it out. I'm going to shake small mammal lady down for all the info on long term planning tomorrow.

How is Whiskers.

Still adorable!

Lovely mouse lady (her new title) gave me lots of info on care and weaning and did advise releasing her back in to the wild (our garden).

We have a field out the back and there are lots of mice knocking about in there along with pygmy shrews and bunnies and things so I know it'll be the best place for her and let her life her little mousey life and have tiny cute mousey babies just like her when she was a lass and this place was all fields (but I will most likely bawl my eyes out once the DC are out of earshot).

The DC can thenceforth leave food out for "our" mouse.

But first we have to get her weaned and work on minimal handling once her eyes have opened and she's able to regulate her own heat etc. We'll get her a little cage to snuggle down in till the phased release.

Also there's plenty of time for more photos!

❤️ we need more threads like this, you are lovely op.

She’s ssooo cute OP 🐭
Well done 👍

This thread has made my day ❤️

Slightly in love with your wee moose! Has she a name yet?

Whiskers!

I wanted to go with Luchí because it would be pronounced "Lucky" and because Luch is Irish for mouse but I lost the kids half way through that explanation and they voted for Whiskers🤗

She’s beautiful! It will be sad when you release her, but she deserves the love of a boy mouse, and a family of her own... 🐭