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Help with wild-caught baby mouse

insomniac101

insomniac101

Occupant
Hi Everyone,

So, a couple of the guys at work found a baby mouse, and had a heated debate on what to do with it - ranging from medieval torture, to giving it to me. I have a baby mouse now.

I'm hoping to get some advice as to what to do with her. I was going to let her go in a more rural area, but ended up taking her home for the night. Got her all set up with bedding, food, and water, and she seems to be doing well.

I guess my biggest concern is pathogens they can carry and spread. The guys handled her directly, but I haven't touched her without gloves. I didn't spray Provent-A-Mite on the shavings, because she was chewing on them, and obviously, I don't want to poison her.

I know I shouldn't be trying to manipulate nature, but I'd hate to see her die the usual not-so-pleasant death at the bottom of the food chain. And she is ridiculously cute! (And I've already spent over $20 on food, treats, and other stuff!) I'll get some photos when I get home from work.

Any suggestions from other mice-keepers?

Thanks!

Kathy
 
Do you have a wildlife rehab that would take her? (Our Rehabber literally will take in pinky mice lol). But if you're going to keep her... I think it would be fine if you maybe gave her a tiny bit of ivermectin (but how to measure for someone so small?) and dust for lice? I really don't know. You should post pics though :)
 
I think you should contact Tara Simmons. She has a lot of mice. What if you just keep her?
 
It really depends on how old the mouse is.

If she's old enough to eat solid food you shouldn't have any trouble raising her up. Wild mice do not make good pets unfortunately because as she ages she will become extremely fast and skiddish. If she is not yet eating solid food but is eating on her own you can soak some of her food in puppy milk or soymilk until it forms a paste and she should be able to lick that up :)

I wouldn't try to treat her with any medications for mites or lice. But if you feel you must Ivermectin and/or Revolution (the puppy kitten formulas) are considered safe to use with rats so I'm sure they would work with a mouse as well.

With pictures I can probably give you an estimation of how old she is and what types of care she will require.
 
So sorry for the delay in getting photos - being nocturnal, she's only awake at night, and doesn't care for the camera flash. I managed to get a couple last night, as well as some grainy video.

We went to a local reptile expo on Saturday, and figuring she might be lonely, I got a domestic female mouse for a companion for her. They didn't fight, but the wild one was afraid to come out of her hide to eat. I separated them, and now I have two pet mice! (And two cages to clean, two water bottles to fill . . .)





Thanks for the advice, everyone! She's eating and drinking, and acting like a normal mouse, so I'll probably just keep her.

Kathy
 
Last edited:
NH93 said:
Super cute!!

On that note, I am a bit confused. What's the need for keeping it?
Click to expand...

No need to keep her. She was very dehydrated and weak when we found her, and I wasn't certain she would survive. I just wanted to get her hydrated and fed, and was going to let her go when she got a little bigger and stronger.

I'm just worried that my feeding her will make her "forget" how to find her own food if I let her go.

Kathy
 
How to post YouTube video?

Okay, I opened a YouTube account, and uploaded my video. But I can't seem to get it to embed in this thread. Does anyone with more tech-savvy than me, know how to do this?

Thanks,

Kathy
 
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