we have just found a tiny baby mouse. Found near its dead mother. how do we care for it? what food do we give?

Question

hi. any help on above question would be appreciated .cheers.

Answer 1

Ity would be best to find a nursing mother with babies about the same age. If you can't find one follow these instuctions:

DO NOT give it cows milk. Go to the pet store or vet and get kitten milk replacer and feed it that. Keep it warm in a cloth and try to keep it next to your body so that it gets that natural heat source. You'll have to feed it and then wipe it with a warm wet cotton ball to stimulate a bowel movement and then clean it up. Any questions e-mail me or IM me.

Answer 2

The odds of the little mouse living are slim, but you can get pet formula (even at WalMart) to give the mouse every two or three hours, around the clock. Use a dropper to drop the milk in its mouth. It will take a few feedings before it relates the dropper to food. Keep it warm (heating pad works) and keep the cage covered with a towel. Also, watch out for the cat. Its instinct is to kill mice. My daughter rescued a baby mouse from our cats and it did not make it, so don't be too upset if it does not live. Good luck.

Answer 3

First you should put the baby mouse into an aquarium (or cage). I recommend Carefresh bedding because it's good for your pet and the enviorment. The food... well, you can pick any type of mouse food the pet store sells, although I think Kaytee Forti-Diet is the best. You can also give your mouse some treats, just not too much.
The mouse should have a wheel to exercise on, as well as some chewing toys.
If you think something is wrong, then contact the vet as soon as you can.

I hope this helps!

Answer 4

f you found an orphaned baby mouse (called a pup), DO NOT request help from any forum or message board until you read this.

A pup will need to receive proper care within about 8 hours to survive. This is very important if the pup's eyes aren't yet open. If you request help on a forum, you may not get an answer within 8 hours. If you do receive an answer, it will very likely direct you to one of the following sites. These sites have very good information on raising orphaned mice.

Save some time and maybe a baby's life. See these sites before requesting additional help. The first link is for orphaned baby rats, but I think it has some of the best information. The process is much the same as for mice.

http://www.ratfanclub.org/orphans.html

http://www.rmca.org/Articles/orphans.htm

A lot of the information on these sites is simular, but each aurthor has their own ideas as to what works best. Read them all and see what works best for you.

Ann Vole's Comments:

I have never raised orphan deer mice or white footed mice except where I had another nursing rodent on hand (rat, gerbil, house mouse), They all became healthy adults (except the rat-mothered deer mouse was aggressive to other mouse-sized rodents and had to be kept with hamsters). My advice for orphans is to ask around at pet stores, vet offices, etc. and see if you can find a nursing mother with young babies (so she still has mothering instincts). Get the orphan's smell all over your hands, then all over the mother, keep the mother away from the babies for an hour and during that hour mix the orphans with the mom's litter. It is good to ware gloves during the handling so you don't mix your smell with theirs. Just before putting the mom with the babies, DO get your smell on HER but not on the babies.


****My comments by Joyful 97****

Good luck with it and God bless you for your efforts!

I hope the mouse survives but if not, you did the best you could and it's mother will be eternally thankful to you!

Answer 5

Depending how old it is, warmed goats milk off a 1ml syringe, will be a good start, a vet will probally let u have a syringe for this purpoise or a small fee. Dont give it cows milk as its too strong for it, when you think the baby will be at weaning stage try giving small soft offerings such as nut kernals corn etc, mice will eat absolutly anything,hamster food is a good food for them, try not to handle it very much if you are going to release it to the wild as he will imprint on you thinking u r his mother. If its really young it may need a heat pad too set on a low heat. word of warning tho, try not to buy the bedding that looks like cotton wool as this has shreds which will entwine arount their little limbs, and even dangerous if eaten, a nice natural substance newspaper is ideal.good luck. I forgot to add that if you do choose to hand rear the little one, it will need help with toiletting, use warm cotton wool and gently rub around this will stimulate it in going to the toilet!

Answer 6

What type of mouse, a 'house mouse'? Like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_mouse If so, they're the same species as pet mice, so you can care for it the same way. However, it's not an easy task to raise a very young pup, many don't make it. If it's eyes are open, the chances are much better. They start nibbling on solid food around then...which is around two weeks of age. Please don't give it milk, you must use kitten milk replacer.


Determine age:
http://www.thefunmouse.com/info/daybydaybabies.cfm

Caring for Orphaned mice:
http://www.thefunmouse.com/info/orphanedmice.cfm

Answer 7

I have found little baby mice around my house. We live in the woods, and get a lot of field mice. What we did, when their mother had died, was to get baby formula (human baby) and put it in an eye dropper. Put a little drop on his mouth, he should except it. It may take a few times, he will be very frightened, and will take a little while for him to trust you. That is a natural instinct. You are a very good person, to worry about God's little guys. He may survive, but sometimes they really need their mother, but at least you have tried, that is the real purpose. If he does survive, about a couple of weeks, set him free. He should be able to go on with his life. If you want to hold on to him, the pet store carries mice pellets. I really admire the fact, that you care. God Bless you, sweetie.

Answer 8

Does it have fur? Or is it nude and blind?
You have a hard job on your hands if you are serious about this task!
Keep it warm and snug.
Feed it goat's milk from a dropper or from a clean paintbrush. If you don't mind, your finger might be good too, because it is warm, like a nipple.
If it responds, feel for teeth.
Once little teeth begin to form, you can give it warmed up human baby food.
Be aware of predators such as snakes and cats and dogs.
Keep it safe and make it get used to you.
How sweet of you to attempt this!
Millions wouldn't. So good luck to you.

Answer 9

I cant give you any advice on how to care for it but 10 out of 10 for you giving the wee thing a chance. Why not ask the local pet shop. They should be able to help. Hopefully the wee mite is not too young as previously mentioned by other members.

Good luck,

Answer 10

I assume you're trying to teach your children compassion, but this is a danerous way to do it. You don't know what killed the mother. What ever you do, don't touch it without thick rubber gloves. Even a baby can bite, and you don't know what he might carry. Be sure it is enclosed securely so it can't get loose in the house!
Mix water and milk, maybe some baby cereal if it can eat from a saucer.