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TheHermit

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2011
Messages
461
Location
Barrie, ON
Hello everyone. My rodent adventures have begun again, now starting with mice!

Yesterday at the hospital a lady brought in a box. She had been throwing her grass seed on her lawn and accidentally tossed a mother mouse and her litter who had nested in it. One of their pets got to the mother and some of the babies - she was DOA at work, and one of the babies in the box had multiple lacerations. That little one was euthanized humanely.

That leaves four little eepers. No one else wanted to take them. I've never raised young mice before so I was unsure at first but it's almost 24 hours later and all four are still with me!

mice.jpg


mice2.jpg


They're heated by a rice bag which needs to be back in the microwave every three hours or so (sort of a nuisance but it works well) and eating Esbilac.

Tiniest. Poops. Ever.

Also I'll be without internet for a few days so it will be difficult to update. I'm moving on the 2nd and I shouldn't even have internet now.

Just wanted to share :)
 
Adorable babies .... hope they all make it

If you want info on raising orphans there is a thread in the reference section with links to several good sites
Can you find a nursing mama mouse or rat with a litter that might adopt them?

all the best with the move
 
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Thanks for the support guys! I must be honest, I have had internet for a couple of weeks now, but I didn't realize what circle of hell animal hospitals reside in during parasite prevention season. My time off revolves around not going crazy and taking care of my foster-to-adopt dog (I need something that lives longer than 2-3 years!).

Also I am not the best documenter on a good day, so I have only a few pics that I will upload at a later time. Right now I've just been to work to realize I was two hours early and don't have time to get them off my phone and onto here before I go back.

Unfortunately only one mouse made it. One fuzzy passed from unknown natural causes, my foster dog got the other two when they escaped from the nest. The first one he just licked to death, the second he swatted at. I tried every cage I have until I realised Green (remaining mouse) was going to get out of everything, so right now she's in a Tupperware container - the kind you'd transport a load of cupcakes in.

I feel that I was not very prepared for this adventure :undecided:

She is suuuuuper cute and sweet! I'm just conflicted over whether or not to keep her or release her. I've taken to calling her Miss Mouse. She is friendly with me, she'll crawl onto my hand and sit there to clean herself or eat. I'll gently 'scratch' (aka wiggle my finger tip super gently because she is so freaking tiny still) behind her ear and she'll tilt her head until I'm scratching her cheek, like a chinchilla! BUT I catch her frantically trying to escape the container pretty frequently. It's not as much space as she needs, I know, but I've held off getting something bigger until I decide if she's with me to stay. She's used to having food provided to her and the safety of being indoors and contained, so I am concerned for her ability to survive in the wild. I'm sure I am underestimating her instincts. I'll also have to accept that she is a prey species, which is difficult.

I just don't know. What do you guys think? I just want to do the best thing for her.

(Pics after work :) )
 
If you release her, she will die.
She would be unable to survive (even if she figured out how) because mice live in large family groups and she would be alone.
Other wild mice would view her as an intruder and kill her.
(Any suitable area will already be inhibited by wild mice who will view her as an intruder and kill her)

You will need to keep her.
Since she is still a baby, I would suggest that you get 2 or 3 female baby pet mice to bond with her so she has friends (talk to hopefloats about how to do this).
She is likely very lonely and like rats, she needs to live with others.

I would also suggest that you make her a huge bin cage (or use a martins cage) and set it up with a solid wheel, tubes, tunnels etc so she will be able to explore .... this may make her less interested in escaping.

Hopefloats would be a good person to talk to about caring for mice.
She has kept wild mice that were orphaned.
...... We raised 4 white footed mice and we still have them. They are in a cage split up and they do funny things. We lost one for some reason but the others are doing well and growing. We fed them from just a over a week old their eyes were still shut. .....

Here is a picture of her mice bin cages http://www.ratshackforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32293&highlight=mice

Here is a thread by Hopefloats about the 4 wild orphaned baby mice she took in.
She also wondered about releasing them and talks about that.
Videos included, info on cages, setups for mice etc
http://www.ratshackforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30244&highlight=mice&page=2

So the babies are beyond weaning age and have been split up. Sadly one of the boys died it was paired perfectly two boys and two girls. So with splitting them up we had a boy alone.

We opted against releasing them because well they will just die out there and I just couldn't do it.
I have been speaking to a group who rescue white footed mice/deer mice and they generally recommend not releasing them unless they are unhappy. So far that isnt the case.
The two girls are living in a 106qt bin cage so they have plenty of leg room to run around.
I had to figure out how to keep the boy "Bucky" since I wasn't sure if he would be happy alone.
I guess they do not do well living alone like our rats.

We took in 3 pet mice females to make intros/life easier. Since they are different species they cannot breed so that is why girls were picked.

Bucky and his girls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9EN-Qeuvoo&list=UU0OVjeYhGVNAhdliNQIdUXA

and his two sisters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSciPw1cftE&index=4&list=UU0OVjeYhGVNAhdliNQIdUXA

We fixed the martins cage so they can live in it since I will not put rats in here ever again. I hate this cage to say the least. Loved it at first but cleaning it is a chore. Mice are smaller so they wont mess it up as much as rats did. .........

Hopefloats' video of Bucky and his girls
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9EN-Qeuvoo&list=UU0OVjeYhGVNAhdliNQIdUXA"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9EN-Qeuvoo&list=UU0OVjeYhGVNAhdliNQIdUXA[/ame]
 
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This is what Hopefloats wrote about a problem with wild mice in bin cages:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOjlXpOdIjI

This is the girls jumping. She is such a jumper it is insane to watch how gracefully they jump. I had to catch her one day not fun!

I am considering putting a piece of wire on the floor of the martins and putting these two in the top. I can make it secure enough but they jump straight up so they can get out of the bin cage easily. I can make it secure enough to keep them away from the boy down in the bottom. I have plenty of wire :)

and the video by Hopefloats
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOjlXpOdIjI"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOjlXpOdIjI[/ame]
 
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Thank you so much SQ! I looked into ordering a martins and the wire spacing and contacted them asking if smaller spacing is available (rat cages are 1/2" by 1", she will definitely get out of that). If not a carefully constructed bin cage will have to do.

A friend unexpectedly made a road trip to see me after work so you'll have to wait for your pictures :p but they are coming!

Also, and I am going to message hopefloats about this as well, but does anyone know where I might find young female mice to intro her with?
 
According to kijiji, 105 mice were surrendered to the shelter yesterday
..... they would likely have some baby girls old enough to leave their mama ..... but you might need someone to quarantine them first to make sure they are healthy and don't have a virus

Suggest you get 2 or 3 baby girls because if anyone becomes ill and passes away you will not have a lone girl,
I think it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to intro mice after they grow up
- but I may be wrong as I don't know much about mice
Something else to ask Hopefloats about, I guess

Here is the link .... they are asking for cage donations because they don't have enough cages
http://www.kijiji.ca/v-pet-accessor...es/1074739511?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true
 
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You need to determine what type of mouse she is first. Personally with these mice, they are generally smaller I would not do a martins cage. Make a bin cage, you can make a large longer one or a smaller one. they are pretty easy to do. Deer mice and white footed mice cannot bred with our pet mice so you can get them a male mouse as a cage mate, but only one because males fight way to much. If you can post a picture we can probably help you with what she is. There is also a page on fb called deer mice domisticated and a page deer mouse ranch that you may find helpful. YOu can email Bucky there, he is amazing.
 
I've got time to get the supplies for a bin cage tomorrow and I left a message with the human society about the mice. Someone actually juuust got back to me and I can pick up some friends for Miss Mouse on Wednesday! Just need to find a ride to Alliston from Barrie hehe shouldn't be too hard.

I'm not doing too well personally today and will do more research later on. I can barely focus and had to leave work early.

And as promised, some pics of Miss Mouse:
20150525_162529.jpg

20150525_162029.jpg


Annnd a video :)
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncbnzzEmH8E"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncbnzzEmH8E[/ame]
 
She's so much tinier then my Momma's. Or at least she looks smaller. Maybe just her ears are bigger :)
I got lucky I have connections with my local wildlife rescue and i got some nursing tanks that they use for pregnant small animals they vent side and top. Maybe contact a local wildlife rescue see if they have anything like that? I'll get you a pic asap of it. Its like a tank but one wall is metal with tiny vent holes you can attach a computer fan to that sucks out the stanky air.
It can also be sectioned off for multiple animals. Which was perfect for my guys. And I got lucky that my male mouse doesn't seem to want to go anywhere and I can keep him in a wire cage. The girls & babies are on a whole different floor and he doesn't seem to care. He thinks he's a rat anyway.
 
Well I could never have a career in journalism, I'd be that paper publishing the same story a month after everyone else has xD

The Wednesday pick up didn't pan out, so I acquired four friends for Miss on Saturday. My inner procrastinator also helped in making a bin cage the same day. I literally finished in time to throw it in the car and drive to the Alliston Humane Society.

Pics of the new ladies to come. Again, I suck, I know, don't hate me!

Everyone's on pregnancy watch as I am unclear on how long Alliston has had them but I do know everyone was mixed gender for a while there. So far no one seems to be pregnant other than Winnie, who has a nice slight pear-shape going, but isn't gaining much weight.

It's nuts how affectionate Miss is with me, being a wild species, but the domestic girls don't want anything to do with me! I'm sure they'll warm up with time but the contrast is kinda funny :).
 
Pictures!
This is Winnie, the one most likely to have carry-ons ;) also the most confident and willing to approach me.
20150531_163936.jpg


And this is Piglet. I've got a Winnie the Pooh theme going, apparently. It'll likely change as I get to know them better.
20150531_163753.jpg


No Name #1:
20150531_163810.jpg


No Name #2:
20150531_164431.jpg


Annnd my sloppy bin cage:
20150531_163944.jpg

It's not much but it works for now hehe thankfully I had a bunch of mouse-sized stuff in the basement from the hamster I shared with my sister (RIP One Eyed Willie) so it's not as bare right now as it is in the picture!

The four ladies have the bin cage and Miss is still in her Tupperware. I've changed it from a blanket with tubes in it to a more classic cage-like setting. I actually found this adorable swing-thing she really likes. And guess what? I don't have pictures of that right now. Because I'll have to take them today and upload them in three days then post them five days after that - y'know, standard procedure for me ;)
 
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