Found baby mouse

by Miss Lily Sun 17 Sep 2017, 12:25 pm

Hello all,
We are seeking your help and please no judgement. We just need some help and answers to our questions.

Yesterday we had a baby mouse curled up by our house shivering in the cold, wind, and rain. We left her there for about an hour and then my mother instincts kicked in. I got a plastic tub and some of our hamster shredded paper fluff and scooped her inside. We brought the tub into the house and put it on a heating pad. Daughter and I ran out and purchased some KMR (we added water to it). We then began the daunting task of feeding her by paintbrush every 2-3 hours and rubbing her belly with a q-tip. She is completely gray on top with white on bottom, she is covered in fur, but her eyes are closed. Daughter named her Lily. As soon as she warmed up, she quit shivering. I was up throughout the night feeding her and belly rubbing. We noticed today that she now has her eyes open. She is very active when she isn't sleeping. She hops around, walks around, and squeaks once in awhile. She loves nesting under the fluff on the heating pad (heating pad has a towel over it, so not directly touching tub) She has gotten pretty good at eating from the paintbrush.

So, our questions and wonderings:

Husband is concerned about hantavirus and wants her out of the house now. Any info I can say to him to let him know we are ok? He wants us to release her today. I am concerned she won't make it if we release her today.

Any ideas what type of mouse she is? Is she safe for my to hold while feeding. I do wash my hands after each encounter with her. We had daughter (7 years old) wearing gloves when she touches her. I am ok if I have been going without gloves holding her?

Ideas on her age? If she just opened her eyes today.

Do we need to feed her anything else? How often?

Do we release her? If so, when? We have a field behind our house, but I am worried with it turning cold here. It is in the mid 60s during the day and down to the 40s at night. Can we even release her now, or is it too late since we are touching her?

Please no judgement, we just did what we thought was best to help her survive. Smile

We have a very spoiled hamster, so our rodent loving instincts kicked in and we did what we thought was best. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much,
Amy and Miss Lily

by CallaLily Sun 17 Sep 2017, 1:09 pm

I don't have answers to all of your questions but wanted to let you know you will receive no negative replies here. It's so awesome of you to save that baby! Great job! Clap

We do have a section on wild mouse care here: https://www.petmousefanciers.com/f22-wild-mouse-care. You should find most of your answers on care and release there in the stickied thread.

I believe babies open their eyes around 2 weeks. There's a thread about different species here: https://www.petmousefanciers.com/t9-house-mouse-facts-other-species-of-mice#12.

I would think washing your hands before and after handling her or her things would be enough to protect you. You can use gloves as an added precaution too. It's spread through an infected rodent's droppings, urine, or saliva.

Good luck with the baby and again, thank you for helping her! Cool

by Rodents rock! Sun 17 Sep 2017, 1:32 pm

Thank you for your kindness in saving this little mouse! Might be a deer mouse, but not sure.

by Peachy Sun 17 Sep 2017, 2:36 pm

Do you have a picture? That would help us identify it better. My understanding is that the house mouse species aren't carriers of hantavirus. Mice also aren't born with hantavirus, so the chances that a baby would get you sick are smaller than if you had an adult mouse (and the chances of that aren't great, either). Keep the area clean and wash your hands regularly. Wear gloves if you like, or if you have any wounds on your hands.

Eyes open around 12-14 days. They're not considered grown until 28 days, and when you raise orphaned mice with KMR, we typically recommend keeping them until they're 5-6 weeks old just to ensure they get the best start.

If this baby is only 2 weeks old, you're right that she won't survive. Here's some reading, it includes info about feeding and when and where to release. It sounds like you're doing a wonderful job! Smile

https://www.petmousefanciers.com/t4-wild-mouse-mice-care-and-information

by Miss Lily Sun 17 Sep 2017, 3:32 pm

Thank you Peachy, I will try to upload a picture

by Miss Lily Sun 17 Sep 2017, 3:34 pm

Thank you for the replies! Here is a picture of her when about 2 hours after we brought her inside.

by Peachy Sun 17 Sep 2017, 4:04 pm

I merged your topics since you were getting answers on both. lol She's a cutie. I missed your description of her in your first post, but she looks like a deer mouse to me. I hope you can convince your husband not to worry too much and to let you help her!

by AnonymousMouseOwner Sun 17 Sep 2017, 4:10 pm

Sorry to but in, but isn't hanativirus something that has to be inhaled? Wouldn't it be wise to wear a mask? Just wondering... That's what I've heard.

by Miss Lily Sun 17 Sep 2017, 4:12 pm

Thank you Peachy, I am sorry, I wasn't sure where to write. Smile

Thanks for helping us out. Right now he is on board to keep her for 3 weeks- then she will be around 5 weeks old. We have a seed mixture for our hamster, can I use seeds from there to put in her bin? I am worried about when I go to work tomorrow- will she be ok on her own for about 8 hours?! Any suggestions?

by CallaLily Sun 17 Sep 2017, 4:17 pm

AnonymousMouseOwner wrote:Sorry to but in, but isn't hanativirus something that has to be inhaled? Wouldn't it be wise to wear a mask? Just wondering... That's what I've heard.

Either touching something with infected poo/pee/saliva and then your eyes/nose/mouth or inhaling dust that's contaminated with pee/poo/saliva. A mask would probably be a good idea during cleaning. But I would think everyday interaction wouldn't be stirring up dusty dirty bedding.

by Peachy Sun 17 Sep 2017, 4:20 pm

I was gping to say, everything I've read talks about taking caution while cleaning up dust and such during/after an infestation. If the area is kept clean, there shouldn't typically be much to worry about breathing in.

At two weeks they start eating solids, so feeding her the formula when you can before and after work, and then on schedule while you're at home, should be okay. The hamster food should be okay too. Good news about your husband being on board! What a blessed little mouse.

by Miss Lily Sun 17 Sep 2017, 8:33 pm

Will she just know to eat the seed? I put seed all around in the tub and filled a poweraide cap with the formula mix. Anything else I can do for her right now?

by Peachy Sun 17 Sep 2017, 10:30 pm

Mice are very curious creatures. It's likely that she'll at least nibble at the food, and once she knows it's definitely yummy stuff she'll go back for more. Smile

If you have to have a bottle cap of formula for while you're away, make sure the formula isn't so much that she can't finish and it becomes rancid. It also might be a good idea to have a bottle cap with a shallow bit of water.

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