# Orphaned wild days-old mouse...advice needed



## ajava (Jul 24, 2012)

My name is Andrea and I live in CT. I am currently hand-raising a few-days old field/deer mouse. I realize your expertise is with fancy mice, but I was wondering if you all wouldn't mind letting me pick your brains. I've done tons of research and found some really great online resources - but I like to have as much info as possible, in order to manage my expectations about my little pink friend.

I'm fairly certain that a little mouse family was nesting in my husband's garaged car. He just drove it on Friday, for the first time in a long time. When he was arriving back home (an hour or so after leaving), he noticed a tiny pink thing in the driveway. He looked closer and realized it was a newborn mouse (my guess is less than 24 hours old). After more investigation, he tragically found this little guy's siblings in the road - they weren't so lucky.

Anyway, once my husband showed me the little mouse, I couldn't just walk away. We are a family of HUGE animal lovers (we own cats, dogs, gerbils, hamsters, a bearded dragon and a fish!), so doing nothing was not an option for me. But I suspected my chances for success were going to be minimal, if not non-existent. When I learned that it WAS possible to hand-raise them from such a young age, I knew I had to at least try. So, that's what I've been doing.

That was on Friday. As of today, the little baby is seemingly doing great. I keep him/her in a Rubbermaid shoebox (with a lid with holes), on a nice pile of super-soft bedding, on top of an insulated heating pad (set on low). I've been feeding him/her around the clock, every two hours. I'm feeding a mix of KMR and electrolyte replacement. I'm feeding with a tiny paint brush for him/her to suckle on. So far, it's working great. I've also been massaging his/her little belly and he/she has been eliminating regularly. So far, this little baby has proven to be super-tough and vibrant - he/she squirms and kicks and crawls around like a maniac.

So, here's what I'm wondering, after all of my research. I've read that the success rate with what I'm doing is only about 25% or so. I've read that, even though the babies might appear to be doing well for the first few days, things can suddenly go sideways because of things like bloat and dehydration. I guess I just want to know, very specifically, what I should be looking for, in terms of danger signs. And if I DO run into danger, what is the absolute most I can do to try and turn things around?

Also, even after 2 hours have passed between feeding, I can still quite clearly see the white band around his/her belly (the milk belly). Is it normal to be able to see that pretty much all of the time? I would think it would start to subside, as the milk digested. But again, he/she has been eliminating quite regularly, as I massage its belly.

It's so hard to not get your hopes up, after devoting so much effort and care...but I'm trying to be practical, too. Does it mean anything that he/she is so full of life and vibrant, right from the start? In your experience, is that any kind of indicator as to how newborn orphans will ultimately do?

I know there aren't any guarantees. I just feel this overwhelming need to talk to "mouse experts", to assure me that I'm doing everything I possibly can. Anyway, any advice or words of encouragement you can offer will be HUGELY appreciated...thanks!


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## Forest Fire (Jul 11, 2012)

Trust me, you're doing all the right things to ensure it's survival, just keep it up and only time will tell! One thing worth a mention is make sure you don't use hamster bedding for him as it can get wrapped around their limbs and cut off the circulation.
I hand reared one a while back who was already into the 'hopper' stage when my cat brought him in early one morning, seemingly half dead. Weeks later after lot's of TLC (and hardly any decent nights sleep!) he's happy, healthy, very tame and living with two of my fancy mice does  They get along brilliantly and he's by far the healthiest looking wildie I've ever seen now he's got food on tap and hasn't got to worry about the cats going after him :lol:

As far as signs of ill-health to look out for I wouldn't really know what to say- the usual things you would use as indicators such as clear eyes, good coat etc. can't really be used on one so young! All I can suggest would be to weigh it daily (if possible) and monitor progress.

Good luck with him and I'm so glad you rescued him  I'm exactly the same when it come to animals- if they're in need of help I just can't help myself but take them in :roll:


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## MissPorter13 (Jun 20, 2012)

Just spent about half an hour writing out almost exactly what my daughter's said above :lol: So scratch that, basically I would agree almost exactly with what she just said ^ We've had two out of the two we've rescued survive into adulthood and lead long lives so good luck to you and your little recue!


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## sys15 (Nov 26, 2011)

there was a poster on here not long ago that had also raised an unweaned Peromyscus mouse by hand. you could try to search for her thread and pm her.

it sounds like an enormous amount of work, i don't envy you.


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## Frizzle (Oct 6, 2011)

Here's the link to that thread that has her user name: http://www.fancymicebreeders.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=11440
I could pm you her email if you don't get a hold of her here.


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## ajava (Jul 24, 2012)

Thank you all for your assistance. Unfortunately, the little baby didn't make it. He stopped eating and was looking extremely dehydrated. The white band around his belly (that I thought was "milk belly" but now I don't know, since it was there LONG after eating) was vividly visible, and that white band seemed to bulge out a bit. Is that bloat? But he was eliminating every time I stimulated him, so I guess I don't understand how bloat works, if that's what it was.

My attachment to this little guy, after only four short days, is pretty ridiculous. I tried to retain a realistic outlook but, man, this has hit me hard.


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## MissPorter13 (Jun 20, 2012)

I'm so sorry to hear about the baby  It should be some consolation though to know that you did your absolute best and at least gave him a shot at life as without you he wouldn't of had a chance. Our cat lost a seemingly healthy kitten at five days old just because of 'failure to thrive' and I hear this isn't uncommon in mice either. I know how unbelievably attached you become to something once it's dependant on you too, just make sure you don't blame yourself as you did all you could!


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## Frizzle (Oct 6, 2011)

I'm sorry it didn't make it. : (


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