# Orphaned at 11 days old-Update!



## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Here are the little orphans I've been hand raising for the last five days or so. Their mom was found dead with no sign of illness or injury; I guess I'll never know what happened... these little ones looked so dehydrated when I found them, I was sure I'd lose at least a couple of them over that first night. The next morning, they looked much better, and by that night they looked like normal 12 day old mousies. they are eating some of everything I put in their tank: grain, seeds, bread w/milk, dried bread, kibble. I demonstrated repeatedly to them how the water bottle works by tweaking it with a finger tip. The first day they were too small to work it, but today they obviously drank a fair amount.

They are getting over their extreme fleaishness. the first couple of days it was like sticking my hand into a popcorn popper. the little fawn baby is still very leery of me I had tried to feed him by hand the first night. He ended up getting some of the cream of wheat I had on the end of my finger in his mouth when he lunged at it trying to bite me. Yes, they demonstrated very effectively that they are quite capable of eating solid food at 11 days old!

I think I've become used to having them on my nightstand, and will miss having them there when they get old enough (four weeks or so) not to need contact and feeding several times a day. I may have become addicted to watching them; I get ready to turn out the lights, and then stop and watch them for another 15 or 20 min.


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## SarahC (Oct 3, 2008)

looks like you have done a good job.They are surprisingly perky in appearance.


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## maisymouse (Feb 10, 2011)

Thats lovely keep up the good work :love1


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Thanks, guys.


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## jadeguppy (Jun 4, 2011)

Wow, they are doing great. Are your ry agouti based?


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

jg: yes, these are agouti based. Some of the others are not. I like the deep orange I get with the agouti base.


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## WillowDragon (Jan 7, 2009)

Well done you!! They look beautifully healthy.


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Thanks!


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## Victoria (Aug 27, 2011)

moustress you have done a wonderful job there, they are all looking very healthy and perky. It must of been hard and tiring work but very rewarding - lovely  Vicki


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

It hasn't been all that hard. They had their eyes open, so they wouldn't allow me to feed them by hand, so it's just been feeding them three or four times a day with pablum and milksop. They are still getting the milksop, but they are also eating everything else I put in there. Just for fun I put in a freshly popped kernel of popcorn and got treated to the sight if one carrying it and running with the others chasing, and on and on, as another snatches it and runs away.


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Last night I divided the orphans into his and hers tanks.

The boys:




The girls


The little pied fawn doe


The little fawn doe


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

Oh! What is the color on that dutch-faced pale buck? I have a doe that's in the range of that color, not quite stone or coffee, but in there somewhere. They all look like you took smashingly good care of them.


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

The little buck with Dutch face is probably pied BEW silver. Thanks for the kudos


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## Zowie (May 30, 2011)

Ooooo! The buck on the left is GORGEOUS


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Lagaie: I never answered your question about the color of the Dutch-oid boy. I'd call him silver, BES, a diluted blue.

And, Zowie, thanks! I am very happy at how these little mousies have grown so far.

And I'm especially pleased with my little pied fawn girl. It took a LOT of litters to recover the line and get suitable individual mousies to continue the line. I could have done it one generation sooner by breeding back to the sires of the first litter, but as my mousies come, in a large part, from pet store stock, I didn't want to taqke a chance at getting unhealthy babies. And, in the fawns that werte born in this last round of breeding, I have enough diversity not to have to look outside my mousery for outcrosses.


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