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.

If you're going to do minimal handling, at the very least you need to get the poor lonely mouse a tiny teddy bear to cuddle.

@nocoolnamesleft

If you're going to do minimal handling, at the very least you need to get the poor lonely mouse a tiny teddy bear to cuddle.

And a little pillow

😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

Please keep her if you can. She will probably be very trusting now and won't last 5 minutes in the wild. She's beautiful

Awwww @nocoolnamesleft we will! DD has already got a little mouse toy (actually designed for a cat to play with 😣) and we'll bunk it in with Whiskers until she's ready for release.

DD also got her a selection of the softest feathers from our chicken coop for her cardboard nest for now. She's getting all her feeds in DH's hand for the moment till she opens her eyes and starts managing to eat on her own because the little pet does need warm bodied TLC.

Aw what a nice thread. I know nothing about mice but wouldn’t fancy her chances in the wild having been hand reader and would want to keep her unless there was a real reason not to. Well done to all.

We'll see how she goes @ncdtoday123.

If she seems to be very comfortable and fearless around us once her eyes open and she gets a look at us we'll reconsider.

My main worry in keeping her is that she'll need company from her own kind but might not cope with a potentially bigger pet-shop mouse or might just be stressed out by our noisy house (which is being hushed at the current time). I don't know if mouse bred to be pets differ from wild mice in that way?

But we'll keep an open mind for sure.

might just be stressed out by our noisy house

Considering the number of mice which decide to set up in houses I doubt that will be a problem. It does sound though as if you have a perfect environment for her outside.

You're so kind op, please keep us updated

this post (and the lovely thing you and your family are doing)has brought a smile to my morning. It’s been a bit shit so far, so thank you.

Thanks for all the lovely comments!

I went to the pet store today to get a cage and that for her when she's a bit more independent and I spoke to a lovely pet store lady who I mined for info on the keep vs release debate which is, literally and metaphorically, keeping me up at night😩

She felt that given Whiskers is being hand raised by us and won't have any real interaction with, or teaching from, a mummy mouse/siblings on how to be a wild mouse, that she will look to us as her food source and protectors and that may mean she'll struggle to adapt in the big bad world.

She also felt company may not be essential for her as long as she's happy interacting with us but that it's hard to predict and if we did want to introduce a female companion we should do that gradually, and she gave me advice on how to go about that.

Given that we now have a fully furnished mouse house with all mod cons it would seem a shame to let that go to waste ....

So in summary we're going to see how she gets on when she opens those eyes and gets a look at us and, yeah, I feel we are inexorably sliding towards Whiskers becoming our third child🐭

Anyone with experience of mice as pets I would welcome your advice/input. Or anyone with information about how actually it's essential that she be released please do chip in too! We're still weighing up all pros and cons.

aw I think you definitely should keep her! I don't know about the company thing but be careful as my dad tells me about the time when a boy he bought 'two boy mice' and they both turned out to be pregnant females and he ended up with 22 mice. I believe they are very difficult to sex.

I would also prepare your children for the sad inevitability that regardless of what you do she may not live that long. Friends' mice have not lasted longer than a few months though perhaps they were unlucky.

Yes - they don't tend to last longer than a year or two at most so may be best for them to be prepared!

I used to keep mice as a kid. They can squeeze through the most tiniest of gaps so a tank type cage is best - we tried a bar style cage at first but they could get through.

Mice usually start to be weaned at around 3 weeks of age - if you soak some wet mash for her (either mouse food or ready-brek) from around 17 days to encourage her to eat as well as drink, it will help - either soak with warm water or her milk. Make sure uneaten food is discarded after 12 hours if soaked.
If you want to introduce her to a friend, separate the cage with a grid for a day or 2 first, so they can smell each other but not worry each other, and try to get a same sex friend of a similar age, or a mature female to 'nanny' her. Mice are generally very adaptable, and females will rarely fight, they tend to settle with others quite easily.
Her eyes should open at 10 days of age, so that will give you a good indication of age.
Make sure the cage bars are not too widely spaced, as they can get through very small gaps
Sunflower seeds are great to encourage them to eat if they're reluctant, but make sure they are also getting plenty of mouse food too, so they have the correct vitamin and mineral balance.
Good luck with her

Very cute and you are lovely. And I say that as someone who is hard-hearted towards mice in general, as they're fairly common where I live, and the bloody cat keeps bringing them in!

I kept a woodmouse that I caught in my house as a baby. It took ages to tame her, but eventually she did start taking food from my hand. They can live much longer than you expect. Mine needed to be put to sleep (due to a medical problem) at about 5 years.

Mine loved eating blackberries one tiny berry at a time!

So gorgeous :) I have rescued several mice from my cats over the years. Usually I look after them for a few days and release them. One was a similar age to your little Whiskers and we still have him - he is two now!

Thanks for the advice all you lovely people! I can't respond individually as DC are in the bath and I'm in and out refereeing numerous off the ball incidents.

We'll definitely have a chat with the kids about mice not living very long lives. They have goldfish so are prepped that small things often have shorter lives than humans.

The cage I got has a plastic base that goes about halfway up the sides and then small bar cage over the top but I might line the outsides of the cage bit with cardboard initially just in case!

Thanks too for the weaning info. We've loads of blackberries down the garden so I'll try her on one of those when she's old enough and I'll get some ready brek for weaning time.

Eyes are still closed but she's getting quite active so hopefully she'll crack them open soon!

Don't forget that mice can happily walk hanging upside down from roof bars.

Best uplifting thread I've seen for ages, thank you op, please keep us updated with news and photos of your mousling...we are all in love!

What?! No picture of mousy? That’s very cruel OP!!

Before the Rona hit us I went shopping in the markets once week. Made friends with this bloke who lived on the streets.Used to buy him a sandwich and give him a couple of quid. He had a friend -a mouse that lived in his pocket. It would go for a sniff around and then when my friend whistled he'd scurry back and jump in his pocket BRILLIANT!

Oh, posted too soon. Anyway, you've got a friend for (his/her) life, if that's what you want.

For certain the loveliest thread this year

@Katinski that is so cute😍

Whiskers is doing brilliantly. She opened her eyes today! She's also started roaming a bit in her cardboard box so we've moved her to her grown up digs but still with her makeshift hot water bottle till she's a bit sturdier.

I spent the evening sitting in my rocking chair with her asleep in my hand. I'm totally in love with her now. Also she loves being held and gently stroked on the head so much that I just couldn't put her back in the big bad world now. So, for as long as she's in this world she's going to be our little pet.

We're going to start weaning her over the next week so will update with her progress.

For now, here's another little pic ❤️