# An unfortunate event...



## jujubee18 (May 21, 2010)

I've been gone for awhile; and this is why: The mouse I have gone on about, that gave birth to my little cow mice died yesterday from complications of yet another unexpected birth. Before you go on about how one birth after another is bad, I know and it wasn't me who got her pregnant. It was my cousin who didn't take the male out in time after her first birth. Now the real unfortunate thing is that even though she was dying; she was still trying to feed her babies. So i had a few decisions. Do i put them all out of their misery? or do I try my best to save what i can? You can probably guess; as this is in the current litters section. I went to the store while Mojo was trying to nurse her young one last time. [I didn't put her out because i needed a heating pad to keep the babies warm, and needed something to keep them warm] I have no other lactating mice, because I thought I was through with breeding for a little while. Taking a "break". NOPE 

This is what I got:
1. Heating pad
2. Very small paint brush
3. Goats Milk Esbilac [find it at almost any pet store]

Yeah...I'm had feeding all 11 of them. Born on 6/21/10, they are only 3 or 4 days old. I have heard the chance of them surviving is about 20%, but I am trying my best. Next feeding is at 10 pm. It takes me an hour to hydrate the powdered milk, get some warm water, and feed them all. Then I have two hours before the process starts all over. Thankfully I have help. My mother is also talking "shifts". I get to take a nap before dinner, because I have a long night ahead of me. Then around 5 or 6 am she takes over again, and lets me sleep in and get my hours.

It is a long process. I take a pinkie, rub its tummy with warm water and a Q-tip to wake up their system a little. then I dip the brush in warm milk, and stick it in their mouth. It was difficult in the beginning getting them to take it nicely, but they are finally eating and sucking it down. then i have to clean them again and make sure their genital area is especially clean....then grab another >.< I'm tired, and worn out, but id rather be extremely sleep deprived then just pop them in the freezer. My heart is just too soft. Thats all. [side note that the milk needs to be refrigerated, after it is all mixed.]

I didn't want to write about what I am doing,because I almost feel stupid caring so much about things that seem so insignificant, but my mother told me I should write about it just in case someone else wanted, or needed to do it. This is a first time for me, and two have already passed away, but considering the other 11 are perfectly fine. I hope this helps someone else out there. I will keep you posted, and give pictures along the way. You all know how fond of pictures I am...

Here is my set up:








I took a large tub, and put the heating pad in it so it wouldn't start a fire. The heating pad is on a low setting. Then I put a smaller cage with litter and some torn up tissue in the bottom. My mom mad the little crocheted nest. It is pretty much just a cup holder shape. Keeps them nice and warm, and together. I have a bowl ready for warm water, Two brushes, and a syringe made for small animals, that they may be using when they get older. and a large supply of Q-tips. I took off the lid of the cage, but it is usually on, and I place the top of the tub lightly on top, just for extra protection from my cat.

What you can't see is that I have a ton of snacks for myself for when I am up at 4 in the morning, and a pillow is usually there for the comfort of my butt :] My mom also has a nice comfy chair for when she joins me to help with the feeding occasionally. Thank you mom!









This is the formula that I have. Made specially for small animals. [Special thanks to that guy that checked me out at the pet store, who wished me good luck and gave me three free candy bars] Nom Nom Nom. For a Person who is sleep deprived I am happy.

Good news: I'm back HI!!


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

Wow, good luck! I had to do this once for a mom that abandoned her litter, there were only two and they were older, fuzzies. One died, but thankfully after one day apart, the mom took the baby back. So sorry for your loss. Was Mojo older?


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## jujubee18 (May 21, 2010)

No...Mojo was a fairly young mouse. She was kind of nasty sometimes, but I have to say out of all the does I have had, she was the best mother. I kind of feel like i owe it to her to try and raise them, because she tried so hard to let them live...gah its just really sad.


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

I used KMR, kitten milk replacement, to feed my baby. Hope things turn out better for you!


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## Jemma (Mar 11, 2010)

Wow, good luck! Don't feel silly about caring 

I'm not sure if I interpreted wrongly but does it take an hour to mix up the milk replacement?! Can you buy Lactol or anything similar? It's sold in tins here and, as far as I know, it doesn't take nearly as long to make up.


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## jujubee18 (May 21, 2010)

No, i meant it takes about an hour for me to mix it up, clean up the mice, and feed them. All I have heard of working is kitten formula, and this stuff, but it really only takes about a minute to make.


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## WoodWitch (Oct 18, 2009)

Best of luck jujubee


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

This definitely involves a lot of effort and I commend you for that and wish you well. I personally wouldn't even bother. I've tried raising baby birds (a very similar "feed-me-every-thirty-minutes" thing) and it was crazily difficult!


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## Onyx (May 2, 2010)

Wow! I take my hat off to you too. I couldn't do it with work commitments and the like but I understand why you have and I wish you all the luck in the world. Keep us updated! x


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## Rhasputin (Feb 21, 2010)

I know with baby birds, you have to feed them every two hours, dunno what the timing is for baby mice, but it's probably more like every hour. @[email protected]

Also, I LOVE the crochet nest. I think I'm about to go make a bunch, it looks super cozy.


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

Some birds are every few minutes. It depends on the species because some (like hummingbirds) have much faster metabolisms than others.


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## Rhasputin (Feb 21, 2010)

Well of course. But the majority of birds, are once every two hours. Anything from the size of a sparrow up. 
Mice might even have their own 'built in timers' y'know? Feed 'em, look for milk bellies, then watch them digest it. 
Definitely also need to 'stimulate' their bums, and keep them clean in that region.


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## WillowDragon (Jan 7, 2009)

I know a woman who runs a hummingbird rescue, she has always got babies that she is feeding. She pretty much takes them with her EVERYWHERE, because they have to feed so often!

W xx


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## jujubee18 (May 21, 2010)

I used to rescue birds, though i know it is illegal and i should have taken them to the wild life "rescue" centre, but the few times i did and called them back to see how the birds were doing they told me they passed away that night. I just figured out if I took care of them they had a better chance of living. I've saved about 5 birds, and when they started to fledge i took them into the rescue centre. Mice seem much more difficult cause they don't open their mouth wide like this : O its more like you have to shove it in when they sort of open their mouth >.< and they don't make noises other than a little tapping sound when they are hungry. When I woke up this morning my mom told me 2 more have died. I don't expect many of them to live, but I am just hoping some will make it. If one makes it I will probably name it Mojo the second or something along those lines. XD


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## jujubee18 (May 21, 2010)

today has been very unlucky. 3 babies are left. I'm a little mad about it, because they always seem to die when my mother takes care of them, but when i see her take care of them she is doing a fine job. I didn't expect this to be a fairy tale, but i always just hoped. I'm feeling a little discouraged >.<


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

So sorry that it's going so poorly. It's very frustrating to work so hard, and still lose the babies.


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## Rhasputin (Feb 21, 2010)

Sidenote: I just saw a documentary on TV, and apparently baby hummingbirds (even of the larger varieties) have to eat every fifteen minutes. YIKES!


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## jujubee18 (May 21, 2010)

Two mice are still alive and are eating practically every hour. Their tummies are so full of milk that they look like marbles O.O I hope these two survive.


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

I hope they survive for you, too! Even if they don't, though, you are doing extraordinarily better than anybody else I could think of! Baby mice are VERY difficult to hand-raise. That some aren't making it is really no fault of your own. I know that's little comfort when you see all your hard work not working. 

On the subject of birds, unless a bird is endangered or protected (such as a state bird), many rehab places euthanize any that are brought in. If it is a non-native species (such as a European Starling or English sparrow), they are required by law to euthanize it. They're not required by law to tell you this, though. I know a woman who worked in a rehab center in Lexington and she told me that people bring in starlings and sparrows every summer and they euthanize them. The reason they don't generally tell people is that people might also find a bluebird or other native bird with dwindling population and not realize what they have, yet try to hand-raise it because they think the rehab center will euthanize it. I've tried fostering birds before (both domestic and wild) and I failed every single time. The only time I half-way succeeded is when I took part in rearing a baby society finch along with the parents (I took her out of the nest and fed her every couple hours, while they also fed her every other second, it seemed).


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

As a little girl, I lived in the sticks north of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and I saw a lot of wildlife. My father was a volunteer docent for the Carlos Avery Wildlife Preserve, and we saw a number of critters my dad fostered and cared for. the neatest was a full grown magpie that had a broken wind and a badly scraped up head from a motor vehicle of some sort clipping it on the road. My brother and I caught minnows for it to eat at a local lake inlet. It was incredibly smart, and never tried to peck anyone. We like to show it a handful of shiny things to see which one it would pick for it's stash in the back of it's nest. It was kept in a fairly large screen enclosure, and had it's sings clipped to ensure it wouldn't try to get away. We had it for about 7 or 8 weeks. When we brought it back to the wildlife preserve it was kept for a week in a very large enclosure where it could exercise it wings before being released. We visited it twice more during that week, and at it's release. It landed inside the cage where we were standing as if it was expecting a minnow or two from us.


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## jujubee18 (May 21, 2010)

I have pictures of the little marble tummies :] They eat so much sometimes I worry they will burst, but I think it is just them trying to catch up. You cant see it in the pics but they are starting to get some very faint hair, and their whiskers of course are already here. 5 days old. I can't wait for the fur to come in. One looks like it is black broken like its mother, but the other just looks like none of the other siblings Mojo had. I'm up for a mystery. May still be some sort of broken, not exactly sure.








the next one fell asleep in my hand after i filled it up. ZZZZZZZ 









I don't want to jinx it, but if they both live I'm going to name one Moe, and the other Joe. Get it ?
:]


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

Wow, such giant milk bellies! I really hope those two make it!


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

Moe and Joe! :lol:

I _really_ hope they do well! You're doing a spectacular job!


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## horse656 (Jun 23, 2010)

those are some big bellies 
i hope they get through, you're doing a great job.


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## Rhasputin (Feb 21, 2010)

For five days old, they look a little behind in development, but it's to be expected I suppose.
With bellies like that, they're DEFINITELY not starving. :lol:


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## jujubee18 (May 21, 2010)

They are a bit behind in development, but they are starting to get hair. kind of the velvet stage :] It is hard for them to develop as quickly without a mouse mommy. I'm getting really attached to these guys. I only slept 4 hours last night. YAY!!


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

Keep going! You've done really well so far, and you know these are the strongest of the strong in the litter.


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## jujubee18 (May 21, 2010)

Unfortunately a few hours ago the last of them passed away...I was really sad considering i spent most of my time with them the last week, but I was so tired it didn't phase me much...They definitely went to mousie heaven...if there is such a place XD

Bad ending to what i was hoping would be an inspirational post. Sorry to disappoint.


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## WillowDragon (Jan 7, 2009)

Sweetie, the fact that you tried, and tried damn hard is inspirational enough!

Mom and babies are together again in Mousey heaven.

W xx


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

So sorry... It is VERY hard to keep baby animals alive like this, especially so young. But you are a different person than you were before, with more experiance and knowledge. If you ever have to do this again, you know you can do it, and you know that you might try something different. Now go get some sleep.


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## jujubee18 (May 21, 2010)

Thanks guys :] Means a lot to me that you were all here. I definitely got some sleep last night.


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## unicorn (Feb 14, 2010)

That was a fantastic effort you made for those babies, I have hand reared a lot of baby rabbits for various reasons and know just how hard it is not only to get them through but to mentally prepare yourself as you do get very attached.


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