Wild Mice Babies

[Raisin]

I just adopted 5 wild mice babies and need help! I think they might be 2 wks old and their eyes are open. Their mom was poisoned. Not sure if they can hear yet as I sneezed next to them and they didnt even move lol! I am feeding them (human) toddler milk (only thing I could find with some nutrients) and seems to be working okay.They have little teeth aswell but I dont think they can eat solids yet. I have introduced it to them but no interest at all. I bought some (human) baby porridge aswell and was wondering if it would be safe to feed it to them. Today they seem hungry all the time (got them on Saturday afternoon - 2 days ago) so I thought they might need something more substantial. Does anyone here have any experience with baby wild mice or just baby tame mice and can give me some advice? I am planning to let them go back to nature if it's possible but since they are so small I am not sure they will adapt once back in nature. I can't keep all of them because before I know it I will have not 5 but 500 mice!!!

 

[Starlight Rabbitry]

Do you have KMR (Kitten Milk Replacer) there? GIve them that. That is what I used. If not, goat's milk might be o.k.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Not sure what your area is like but here we are very cautious about mice. Be very careful since they can carry a lot of diseases.

 

[EileenH]

Bo B Bunny is right. If you are going to raise them, make sure you wash your hands thoroughly, and be careful with their bedding too. Wear a mask when changing their litter.

If their eyes are open, they probably will eat on their own. Actually, Esbilac is better than KMR, so if you can get that, put a babyfood capful, thicken with some infant rice cereal.
If you have Cheerios, soak them in the Esbilac. Mice LOVE Cheerios.

Again, we are talking from what we have in America. Not sure what equivalent you might have in South Africa. But even so, if their eyes are open, I betcha they eat on their own. Put some seeds in there too (shelled).

You really don't want to keep them as pets. There are health factors involved with that, plus wild mice are wild - they really don't become tame. Let them go when they are ready, which you can gauge by their eating on their own. Once you know they can eat solid food on their own, let 'em go.

 

[undergunfire]

I just saw the title of this thread and rushed to help, but seeing as Eileen is our wild life lady...she gave you an awesome answer .

Good luck with the little guys...I am betting they are so adorable!

 

[Bo B Bunny]

I love baby mice when they first get their fur and then start sort of hopping around! it's like they have spaztic legs!

 

[Raisin]

Thanks for all the advice. Unfortunately all 5 babies died over the last 2 days. Last night the last 2 died and it was very sad as they are so cute and adorable and I really enjoyed taking care of them and watching them play. Luckily they dont have deseases as in other parts of the world but I was very cautious and did wash my hands after handling them. I think they might have gotten some poison in from drinking of their mom before she died. Dont know if your familiar with Rattex, but it's a poison that works very slowly and basically dries the mouse/rat out that ate it to prevent odours once the mouse/rat is dead. So it is possible that they died from that rather than from being to small. They just got weaker and weaker by the hour and at the end I almost had to force feed them just to get something in their tummies.

I think these wild mice could have easily become good pets as they where already climbing on my hand as I put it in the cage and loved sleeping in my hands after they were fed.

RIP little ones, take care of my flower garden (I buried them there).

Thanks again!

 

[Starlight Rabbitry]

Sorry to hear they didn't make it.

Believe it or not, they will act "pet like" for a little while but once they start eating food on their own, their wild tendencies take over and all they would want to do is run away.

I successfully raised a litter and was sure I could keep the girl but unfortunately I had to release her too. She was too wild.

Sharon

 

[Becca]

Oh No RIP little things.
ray: